*spoilers if you are not caught up to Arrow Season 2 ep. 13*
I had extremely high expectations for this week's episode of the CW's Arrow. How could you not? It was advertised as a League of Assassins episode. Ra's al Ghul was name dropped in the promo for Pete's sake (hey, it's better than just plopping his name in an episode). Though when I first heard that the "daughter of Ra's al Ghul" would be making an appearance, my instant thought was: TALIA! I was mistaken, but, it was not an unfortunate mistake. In fact, I now preferred to have seen Nyssa rather than Talia (though I'm sure that if either died, the wrath of the demon would not be good, as Oliver so intelligently points out).
But let's get started with how things began in the episode:
We get the strongest character entrance of almost any "villain" of the series so far with Nyssa's complete decimation of Starling City's airport security. A close second would be Dark Archer Malcolm, but, we already knew Malcolm to be some kind of a bad guy since he was involved with the Gambit sabotage...well whatever. Really made me happy she was the villain, because last week we got Bronze Tiger, this week we have Nyssa, and next week we get DEATHSTROKE and Clock King (I think Clock King, don't quote me on that). By the way, I'm going to all-caps "Deathstroke" because he deserves it because he is a badass and if you disagree with me then that is your fault.
Everything in Starling kicks off with Laurel in the hospital. Really, she should have just stayed there and saved the audience of more Laurel. Her actions at the end of the episode just had me groaning and appreciate the scene with Sara and Oliver at the end. But we'll get to that soon. Anyway, after the mom, dad, and known-living daughter meet up, things start to really kick into gear. We get to see Sara on the salmon-ladder, and I really appreciated that. It was cooler than just seeing Oliver doing it. Plus Caity Lotz is attractive. Just saying.
What shocked me the most was the relationship between Nyssa and Sara. They were in love...like love-love, like the very first thing they do when they see each other is kiss. Which at first I was like:
But then I saw how Nyssa was not a villain. She was an ex-girlfriend who hadn't gotten proper closure on a relationship she felt very dearly for. Or, since Nyssa was actually the one who pulled Sara from the danger she was in (which, I still don't get seeing how she's with Oliver on the island right now), it was more of a Florence Nightingale effect that was happening, where she never really loved Sara. It's pretty evident that Sara loved her, truly, but, when she realized that her family mattered more than love, it seemed a little too easy to break that connection.
But folks that was just part of the drama. And like an obsessed ex, Nyssa did some pretty crazy things. First we learn that she poisoned Laurel--which, to be honest, I would have just thought Laurel passed out from being super drunk anyway. Then, she kidnaps Dinah Lance, which basically means Sara is the only member of the Lance family to not be kidnapped. So far.
There was absolute tension when the Arrow, Det. Lance, and Sara were looking for Dinah. The scene in the graveyard had be confused and frustrated. It was foreshadowing Black Canary's death. Of course, that opened me up to vast amounts of speculation (the episode was still a way's from being over) that Sara would die, Laurel would fix up her ways, and she would become the Black Canary and fully realize her true name to match that of the comics. Thankfully, that did not happen; I just really do not like Laurel if you have yet to notice it.
Obviously the best scene was the climactic battle with Nyssa. Sara's near-death was no surprise, seeing as she had the snake-venom and was seemingly about to take it at the grave. What was surprising was Oliver's lack of a reaction to Sara being held by Nyssa, who would have appeared to have killed her. Under most circumstances, there would be a scream from Oliver and a whole lot of arrows fired at the target. This time, though, Oliver was very composed. That's not to say there was no reaction though.
Arrow vs. Nyssa is probably one of the best fights we've had so far this season. The battle between Arrow/ Black Canary and Al-Owal/ Assassins still holds the trophy, but, this is definitely a close second. Seeing as how Nyssa is such a high-ranking member of the league, assuredly tied for second with Talia under their father, it was great to see Oliver hold his own against her, both as a fighter and an archer. The last time Oliver fought another League of Assassins archer he had to put an arrow through himself to defeat him. This time, it seemed, Oliver was much more prepared. In that sense I guess it's character growth, but, it's moreover Oliver learning his lesson, probably.
There were two big things this episode that bothered me (not counting Laurel): the flashbacks and when Oliver saves Sara. First, the flashbacks: they were unnecessary. I guess they built up Sara's tragic and surprising death, as well as showing the harmony in the Lance household before the Gambit's sinking, but still, it hardly did anything for me. Despite the impossibility, it would have been to cool to explore Nyssa and Sara's relationship (maybe we could have seen Ra's al Ghul). Second, the way that Oliver saves Sara is through the magic plant I guess he still has that Yao Fei gave to him way back in the beginning of season 1. What bothered me? He didn't have his voice changer active. He sounded just like Oliver. Shouldn't someone have picked up on that, like, I don't know, Laurel who was apparently standing there the entire time he healed Sara? It just seemed like they could have kept Oliver's Arrow voice instead of suddenly changing it for no explained reason (maybe it broke, but, they never showed it).
I suppose I'll touch on Moira, too. At the beginning of season 1, she was a bad-guy. I didn't like her. But as this season went on, I felt somewhat sympathetic for her. Particularly when I discovered the truth of Thea's birth, that's when I felt really bad. But when she basically threatened Felicity with death should Felicity spill the beans, that was when she crossed back into Evil Mom territory. So from now on, until Moira either redeems herself or suffers a tragic ending at the hands of DEATHSTROKE as it seems may occur in the upcoming episodes, I will now refer to Oliver's mother as Evil Mom, since that is probably what Oliver will call her now.
Despite there being a whole lot of drama for the Lance family this episode and the best scene being the climactic battle, the winner of the best dramatic scene goes to Oliver's speech preceding Evil Mom's announcement for mayor. Usually the music in Arrow is good for fight sequences, as was evident again in this episode, but when Oliver delivered his speech, the music was the most powerful point behind it. It felt similar to the music playing when the passengers in The Dark Knight were given the choice to blow up the other ships and the two men who volunteered had the detonator's in their hands. Yeah, I compared Arrow to The Dark Knight. Because Arrow is The Dark Knight of television, duh.
As per usual in season 2, also, the last five minutes were the most impactful. We got to see Brother Blood (always cool) have another conversation with DEATHSTROKE, and as I predicted, DEATHSTROKE announced to Blood that he will be taking matters into his own hands with regards to Evil Mom. Meaning house invasion. Meaning Arrow vs. DEATHSTROKE. Meaning you should watch...again, just saying. But besides this great anticipation, I finally got to see one of my most anticipated moments for the season: Arrow and Black Canary express their love for each other (they didn't have to kiss, but, it worked).
I know, I know. I should ship Olicity. But when Black Canary appeared, back when I didn't know who she really was, I was skeptical about Olicity. Then when I found out it was really Sara, I shipped it with all of my shipping might. First of all because Black Canary and Green Arrow are romantic partners in the comics, so, they have to be together. Second, I just liked Oliver being with Sara more than him being with Felicity or Laurel. With Laurel I felt the relationship would be too forced; with Felicity I felt them getting together would be too obvious. Of course the spunky IT girl would get together with the super hero! No way, man, I said. Canary and Arrow are perfect for each other for reasons I might post about later on. It deserves it's own post.
Overall, the episode met my expectations. Did it set anything up? Only the potential for a heck of a lot more DEATHSTROKE both in Starling City and on Lian Yu (Oliver finds the island DEATHSTROKE mask in the promo for the next episode, "The Time of Death"). I missed Roy, and hope to see him in future episodes. What this episode did confirm, though, was that Team Arrow now comprises of three official super-heroes. Anyone smelling a fourth coming to visit (aka Nightwing?).
See you next time!
P.S.:
Katrina Law is beautiful.Links to images:
Oliver Queen face: http://www.grizzlybomb.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Oliver-Queen-in-court-reaction-590x328.jpg
Nyssa Raatko awesome/hotness: http://media.comicbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/arrow-season-2-episode-13-nyssa-al-ghul.jpg
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