Episode Title: “Three Ghosts”
Story by: Greg Berlanti & Andrew Kreisberg
Teleplay by: Geoff Johns & Ben Sokolowski
Director: John Behring
Previously on “Arrow”
Do you remember when the first season of “Arrow” was held back by horrible writing, terrible acting, cheesy CW stock characters and piss poor adaptations of DC villains that barely resembled their comic book counterparts?
Seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it?
“Arrow” Season 2 has had a few occasional creative stumbles and bad performances. But when “Arrow” has been good, it’s been really good. And last night, “Arrow” was great.
It’s not hard to pinpoint the reason for “Arrow’s” turnaround. Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and his core supporting cast have had much stronger material to play with this season and the convergence of the island storyline and the present day plot has been impressive. The individual episodes actually feel like they’re going somewhere interesting, as opposed to randomly marking time for the next villain-of-the-week to drop by.
Plus, what comic book fan could resist an episode that had the origins of Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) and Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) as superheroes, the birth of Deathstroke, a very early appearance of Solomon Grundy, an old friend from the first season and the emergence of this season’s Big Bad… someone whom the audience is already well acquainted with.
On top of all of that, the Arrow finally got a mask; which brings him one step closer to his comic book alter ego, Green Arrow. It’s funny how that small touch makes his costume look so much better. When he put the mask on, it kind of gave me chills.
There are full spoilers ahead for “Three Ghosts,” so if you missed last night’s episode of “Arrow” then you should probably skip this review or else Barry Allen won’t make it home in time for the lightning storm.
Think back to the pilot episode of “Arrow.” On the island, there was a mask with an arrow through its right eye. Comic book fans know that the mask belongs to Deathstroke the Terminator, one of the best villains in the DC Universe. That mask was an Easter egg and a promise to fans that Deathstroke would have a major role in this series. That promise was kept when Deathstroke’s alter ego, Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett) was introduced as Oliver’s mentor and friend on the island.
Once Bennett was signed as a series regular, his emergence in the present was a foregone conclusion and he was a natural fit for this season’s major villain. The conclusion of this episode left no doubt that Slade is now the villain that we always knew he would be. The reveal that Slade is the man behind Sebastian Blood (Kevin Alejandro) was perfectly executed and it made sense. Slade was present during the island storyline, so it’s only fitting that he serve as the other link to Oliver’s past.
Because this show is on The CW, there’s a whole lotta shippin’ going on between the main characters, not all of which are executed well or even a good idea. The one thing I have an issue with about Slade’s fall from grace is that he’s so head-over-heels in love with Shado (Celina Jade) after barely spending any time alone with her onscreen. The reasoning behind it is that Shado unintentionally came between Oliver and Slade and her demise leads to the end of their friendship.
Back in the present, this episode also lays it on heavy and thick with Oliver and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards), a romantic pairing that the creative team behind this show seem desperate to deliver. I am definitely not an “Olicity” fan and their “special moments” are starting to get on my nerves. We’re also nearing cringe territory with Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) and her new suitor, Brother Blood! Okay, Sebastian Blood keeps his mask off for now, but isn’t it obvious that this is just a way to put Laurel in danger again so Oliver can save the day? Or maybe Black Canary (Caity Lotz) will swing back through town and save her sister. Who knows?
Those were the low points, but the rest of the show delivered some truly exciting developments. The payoff for the Flash’s origin was terrific and much closer to his Silver Age orign than I would have guessed. I think that the “Arrow” creative team made a mistake by only having Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) around for two episodes before he shuffles off to his spinoff series. I’m still not sure how Gustin will do as a lead character, but he really shined as the unofficial fourth member of Team Arrow. If Barry had stuck around, maybe we could have watched him grow into his own man while working beside Oliver and company.
Following up on last week’s cliffhanger, Barry saves Oliver’s life… by injecting him with rat poison?! Okay… sure. This leads Oliver to hallucinate visions of Shado and Slade that greatly disturb him. Shado calls on Oliver to join her in death while Slade embodies Oliver’s fear that he’s a failure who can’t even atone for his own sins on the island.
But much like Christmas Carols past, Oliver is visited by a third ghost, the late Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell). It’s the spectre of Tommy that absolves Oliver for his death and urges him to keep fighting. Did you notice that Amell and Donnell didn’t actually appear in the same shot? I suspect that their scene was taped on two separate occasions. That lack of interaction between them undercut the impact of Tommy’s return. .
Meanwhile, the stage has been set for Roy’s transition to Red Arrow, Arsenal (Speedy?) or whatever he’ll be known as on the show. Roy’s inept investigation of a friend-of-a-friend’s disappearance leads him straight into the clutches of Brother Blood, who wastes no time in experimenting on Roy with the same super soldier procedure that gave Slade enhanced strength. Thanks to Olivier, Roy survived and he may now be more than human.
Not that Roy will be sending a thank you note to the Arrow anytime soon. Last week, Oliver made the total dick move of shooting Roy in the leg with an arrow to prevent Roy from dragging himself, Thea Queen (Willa Holland) and Sin (Bex Tayor-Klaus) into further danger. Not only did Oliver’s plan not work out, he alienated Roy, one of his most fervent supporters as the Arrow. When Roy inevitably stumbles on to Oliver’s secret, he probably won’t let that slide by easily… even if Oliver was the one who got the arrow out of him and the Arrow saved Roy from dying.
Incidentally, it was a nice touch when Roy explained that arrow wounds are now treated like gun shot wounds by the local hospitals, because the Arrow only targets criminals… usually. As a justification for Roy to recuperate in Thea’s bedroom, it’s not bad.
Back on the island, Professor Ivo (Dylan Neal) forced a captive Oliver to play Sophie’s Choice: Sara or Shado? Much to Oliver’s regret, he unintentionally gets Shado killed when he gets in front of Sara to protect her. The writing was on the wall for Shado when Jade didn’t get the season 2 series regular promotion like her co-star Bennet. Still it seemed to be a little too early for Shado to be killed off as even her relationship with Oliver wasn’t very well developed. Shado’s relationship with Slade was barely there at all. I get the impression that Slade’s feelings for Shado were unrequited, but I guess we’ll never know now, will we?
The action scenes were another highlight this week, as Slade went Mortal Kombat on Ivo’s men and John Diggle (David Ramsey) was lucky to get away from Cyrus Gold with his life. Oliver’s fight against Gold was also well staged, but his best moment came when the vision of Slade fought Oliver in the Arrow cave and beat the crap out of him. The underlying emotions in that scene made it work. Considering that Slade was just a vision, it was really about Oliver punishing himself.
The “Arrow” creative team definitely picked a strong episode to close out its fall season. “Three Ghosts” had a few faults, but nothing that wasn’t overcome by how entertaining the episode was. “Arrow” has become a legitimately exciting show and I’m looking forward to its return.
