As each episode passes further away from the mid-season finale, it’s becoming more prominent that ‘Arrow’ is saving all the best Deathstroke and Brother Blood stuff for the season finale. But after this week’s installment of the Emerald Archer of Starling City, I think that I’ll be okay with that since we have a sidekick situation on our hands.
In the episode titled ‘Tremors’, Roy Harper’s training begins as Arrow takes him under his wing to start teaching him about how to control the youngster’s newfound power courtesy of the Mirakuru. But during their lessons, an old foe returns on a mission that brings up some past hardships for everyone in the city, but most especially Team Arrow. The Bronze Tiger was broken out of prison to retrieve the prototype of the earthquake machine used in the Undertaking. Naturally, this news prompts Oliver to jump into action with his new ward not far behind. Meanwhile, Detective Lance tries to get Laurel to confront her demons after being disbarred and Moira Queen considers a campaign for mayor against Sebastian Blood despite her involvement with Malcolm Merlyn and the Undertaking.
I have to start by saying that this was my favorite episode so far since returning from the hiatus. I’m such a sucker for young heroes and team ups, so if we’re not going to get into Slade’s present storyline just yet, I’m really pleased that we’re seeing Roy’s training. When he was introduced to Team Arrow for the first time, I was all about that moment. Now, I hope they give him a costume and a codename of his own so that he’s not just some kid in a hoodie roaming the city with Arrow.
Another moment in this episode that was pretty awesome was when Bronze Tiger was put back in jail. For the most part, I wasn’t excited about the character at all. His past appearance made him look like a glorified thug and this appearance made him look only slightly better, but when Amanda Waller approached him and said “squad”, I got super psyched. If we’re not getting Slade, the Suicide Squad is a suitable replacement for now. The question now is who else will make up the team roster? We’ve already seen Deadshot on the show and Count Vertigo was a member of the team at one point, but who are some newer enemies that could debut on the crew? My money is on Clock King, who is already slated for an appearance on the CW superhero show, and Captain Boomerang, who just seems like a fun villain that could fit into the world of ‘Arrow’.
Here’s the Amanda Waller that I remember.I was a little disappointed to see that Waller was put on a diet like she was in the New 52 version of the DC Universe since bigger people don’t often get prime roles like that these days, but it was to be expected unfortunately. What was unexpected was Walter’s insistence that Moira should run for office against Sebastian Blood. While Thea may be over her mother’s part in the scheme that leveled a good portion of Starling City, I don’t think some other citizens will be as forgiving. I feel like this is a stretch in what was otherwise a very enjoyable episode. We’ll see how it plays out in the coming episodes, but hopefully we’ll see some resistance to this decision.
Like I said before, this episode of ‘Arrow’ was my favorite since it came back from it’s hiatus. I hope that it keeps up the momentum going into the rest of the season and finishes strong by the end. Based on the final moments of this episode, things are definitely about to be shaken up by the return of the Black Canary, so we’ll see if the Lances’ storyline slips back into cliché soap opera drama or remains as compelling as the rest of the show.
Final Score:
‘Arrow’ starring Stephen Amell, David Ramsey, Emily Bett Rickards, Katie Cassidy, and Manu Bennett airs every Wednesday at 8:00pm on The CW.
