It all culminates in a showdown at the Unidex auction, with stepdad Walter Steele being the final target. After saving Walter, Oliver settles up with Deadshot by shooting an arrow INTO HIS EYE. Well, monocle, actually, which makes for a nice image, as well as a perfect excuse for Deadshot to not really be dead. Disposing of him this early would be a waste, as his potential to become a real nemesis is still mostly untapped. Like China White, Deadshot is used mainly as a plot driver, without much depth given to his character beyond affectations, the most perplexing being the notion that he never misses a target, even though his wrist-mounted machine gun has the accuracy of an Onion headline.
His only dialogue comes just before Oliver gives him the John Dillinger treatment, waxing mildly philosophical about the murderous careers of both men. Oliver’s response is equally trite in its simplicity, which could be seen as him stating “I’m the good guy and I say you’re wrong, so you’re wrong,” but if my hopes for the series are correct (and next week’s preview adds credence to those hopes), Arrow will start delving into the moral grey area Oliver Queen operates within, and what it means to make a hero out of someone who kills people. It’s not like that’s exactly groundbreaking territory: interpreted as being anything other than completely earnest, Oliver’s opening narration that equates himself to a surgeon removing the cancer of the city smacks of Dexter, with a hint of Travis Bickle thrown in for good measure.
What does make a having a lead willing to get his hands dirty an interesting choice is that this is a superhero we’re talking about; even the Dark Knight doesn’t kill people. Rather, non-lethal vigilantism becomes the guiding law Batman lives by. Oliver on the other hand doesn’t have much of a code; he’s got motive thanks to his heaping helping of daddy issues (another Dexter nod), as well as his little black book of bad guys telling him who to off next. That’s it. Like I wrote last week, Arrow could go from junk food to gripping if it finds the hidden depth in its protagonist, and asking whether or not he really is -or even wants to be- the hero he sees himself as could be the first step in cracking that nut.
And like last week, there are signs of slow, but sure improvement to those cast members who weren’t busy bow-fighting psychotic snipers, this time pretty much across the board. The angsty-spoiled-brat who replaced the sister relieved that her brother is alive is still here, but Thea might finally be transitioning out of that territory thanks to the Queen matriarch doing something more than teasing the ongoing conspiracy angle. Thea’s insufferability effectively peaks after she drunkenly busts into a department store, with mama paying the store owners not to go to the police, but their therapy session that addresses how dysfunctional the two became without Thea’s father as common ground softens the edges on both characters. Now that some of her growing pains are out of the way, it might be a good thing that Thea is looking to be heavily involved in next week’s murder mystery.
If nothing else, at least she helped tie up one of the duller B-plots, by dropping the dud of a bomb that Laurel and Tommy were “screwing” in Oliver’s absence. For as overly dramatic as the conspirators act about it, their hookup gets a wonderful reaction out of Oliver: stone cold indifference. Well, he obviously cares more than he shows, seeing as Tommy and Laurel agreeing to try their relationship for real is the first step towards getting this romantic triangle going, but only three episodes in, the writers smartly focus Oliver’s attention strictly on which baddie he’s trying to bury his arrow in, not which gal he’s trying to…well, you know…
Anywho, “The Lone Gunmen” ends on quite the cliffhanger, with Oliver bringing Digg back to the Arrow-cave after he takes a stray bullet during the shootout with Deadshot. Rather than try to mask his identity, Oliver greets the freshly conscious Digg with an affirming “hey,” and a new dynamic opens up. Digg has been dropping hints that he knows what Oliver is up to when he gets loose, but we’ll have to see how the bodyguard reacts to having a client more dangerous than he is. It’s exciting stuff: the great moment in the episode featured Oliver having a one-sided superhero strategy talk with Digg, and now that they can speak openly about it, Team Arrow is starting to take form. Throw a cute and quirky techie into the mix, and Arrow might really start to takeoff.
- Stray Thoughts
-One person I’m not so enthusiastic about potentially joining Team Arrow is Laurel, despite her status as Black Canary pretty much being confirmed by the donnybrook at the club. Maybe once she’s more developed as a character i’ll buy her ass-kicking abilities, but an explanation better than “self-defence” courses would be nice. If being a cop’s daughter makes you a pro martial artist, than a zoo keeper’s kid can be a polar bear.
-Is Detective Lance turning his opinion on Green Arrow? Getting strong-armed by Oliver probably doesn’t help their relationship, but Lance does recognize that bullets aren’t part of Arrow’s MO.
-Though Christian Bale’s Batman voice was often a point of contention, I think it’s pretty well justified, what with trying to mask his secret identity and all. Oliver proves its usefulness here, as Detective Lance continues his “world’s worst detective” streak by not realizing the man telling him about where Deadshot will strike next sounds awfully familiar.
-The show’s attempts at social commentary remain pretty much non-existent, with Oliver’s plan to resuscitate The Glades being to build a nightclub there.
-And really, building a club over your secret hideout might be the most CW-ass CW thing this show has done. It seems incredibly ill-advised (drunk people like to explore), but at least the show can save money by setting all the party scenes in the same place.
-Island Update: Oliver’s hunter apologizes for shooting him with an arrow by pulling the damn thing out of his shoulder. There’s an island SWAT team present, but they don’t look so friendly. As expected, the scenes are set in caves and nondescript forests.
-Tommy makes the first, and hopefully last, “Oliver’s last name sounds sorta gay” joke that Arrow will ever do.
-Amell is a capable comedic talent even without saying anything. The long pause after Digg tells him he’ll be following him into the bathroom from now on was the first hearty laugh the show’s gotten out of me.
-The box of island treasure’s is the show’s bat-utility-belt, offering up herbs and spices to fix nerve blockers and bullet wounds.
-No ab-tastic workout or new trick arrows this week. Instead, Favorite Metaphor For Social Inequality: Detective Lance saves billionaire Walter Steele from getting sniped, only to cause a waiter to get shot in his stead. JUST LIKE REAL LIFE, MAN!
-Digg has a sister, Carly, who seems interesting, up until the moment she actually speaks. The writers make her horribly cliched (She’s black, of course she has to talk about the two guys entering her diner being white), and robotically expository (“Hey Digg, remember how this job got your brother killed? Huh? Do you?”) all in one scene.
-I would eat at Big Belly Burger.
