ARROW Episode 2.19
Episode Title: “The Man Under the Hood”
Story by: Greg Berlanti & Geoff Johns
Teleplay by: Andrew Kreisberg & Keto Shimizu
Director: Jesse Warren
Previously on “Arrow”:
If everything had gone as originally planned, next week’s episode of “Arrow” would have been the back door pilot of “The Flash” and featured the return of Barry Allen (Grant Gustin). But it’s hard to see how that could have fit in the current storyline of “Arrow” without bringing the forward momentum of the series to a screeching halt.
That’s pretty much what happens in “The Man Under The Hood” when the ongoing Deathstroke storyline awkwardly introduces Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) and Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) from “The Flash.” On top of some really horrific writing (“Are you getting a bad VIBE from him?”), Caitlin and Cisco’s scenes were forced and awkward. As a long time comic book fan, I know who Iris is to Barry and it was still painful to watch that info dump. Sometimes, “Arrow” makes the DC references work seamlessly. This wasn’t one of those times.
Aside from that largely pointless diversion, the ongoing Deathstroke storyline is still the best part of the show. Manu Bennett has a great villainous presence as Slade Wilson and he’s the only adversary since Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) to represent a real threat to Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and Team Arrow. Slade is so formidable that he almost doesn’t have any excuse for not slaughtering the heroes when he easily beats them here.
There are full spoilers ahead for “The Man Under the Hood,” so if you missed last night’s episode of “Arrow” then you should probably skip this review or else Thea will refuse to sign anything.
In the world of the show, Oliver is “The Man Under The Hood.” He’s the Arrow. He’s the hero this city needs if it can’t ever have Batman. That’s a point that’s driven home by Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne) and his Commissioner Gordon-like devotion to the idea of the Arrow as a symbol and not a man. Which is fine, but Lance is a pretty bad detective if he hasn’t already figured out who the Arrow really is.
All it took for Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) to deduce the Arrow’s identity was a visit from Slade Wilson. Then it’s as if Laurel suddenly realized that the female vigilante who looks just like her sister… is probably her sister. The episode plays it off as if the matching scar tissue of Oliver and Sara (Caity Lotz) is what finally clues Laurel in on their secret. But it’s not as if Sara doesn’t have a very distinct jawline that her sister should have immediately recognized.
This is all part of the “Arrow” creative team’s plan to rehabilitate Laurel in the eyes of the audience after earning the collective hatred of the fans earlier in the season. I don’t think the writers on this show realize that it’s the smaller gestures that will make Laurel endearing. Laurel’s hug with Oliver near the end actually worked as a moment between them. Laurel’s confrontation with the Arrow and her willingness to trade Oliver’s freedom for her father’s release were simply the same Laurel antics that the audience has already rejected.
Weirdly, the episode played Lance as helpless to defend himself in prison when he should have been able to hold off a single attacker in his own cell. Lance’s sudden release and reinstatement was another case of the writers taking the easy way out… and even Laurel’s on-screen boss brings attention to how ridiculous it’s been for Laurel to blackmail the DA’s office on this show.
Oliver’s sister, Thea (Willa Holland) occupied the largely meaningless subplot of the week. It is significant if Isabel Rochev (Summer Glau) is stealing the Queen family fortune along with their company. But building a subplot around Thea’s refusal to sign a document that could save the family financially was a terrible creative decision. As amusing as it was for Thea to realize that she was crushing on her dead half brother, this has got to stop. I know “Arrow” is a CW show, but it doesn’t have to be a bad CW show. There are plenty of fantastical elements in “Arrow” that are more convincingly portrayed than this crap.
Getting back to the more entertaining part of the show, Oliver, Sara, Diggle (David Ramsey) and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) open the hour by bombing Queen Consolidated’s lab facilities to prevent Slade from making more Mirakuru. Slade’s response is to attack Team Arrow in their own headquarters and beat the crap out of them. I do enjoy a villain who is direct. But it’s no longer convincing when Slade doesn’t go in for the kill. We know that Slade wants Oliver to suffer, but there’s nothing stopping Slade from doing more harm to Oliver’s friends if he chooses to do so.
It was a good reveal when Oliver discovered that Slade had already captured Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) and used him as a blood source to create new Mirakuru powered soldiers. For once, Diggle tagged along and he seemingly killed Isabel while Oliver rescued Roy. But Slade apparently saved Isabel with the Mirakuru and his plan to empower the escaped criminals seems to have worked.
Isabel disappeared during a long stretch of time this season. The “Arrow” creative team has indicated that they didn’t really know what to do with her. For all of that indecision, they’ve stayed fairly close to Isabel’s comic book roots. She had an affair with the late Robert Queen and she felt entitled to what his family had. It was a truly funny moment when Oliver realized that he had slept with his father’s former lover. Giving Isabel the Mirakuru powers is probably going to elevate her status as the show’s secondary villain of the season. Note that Sebastian Blood (Kevin Alejandro) was nowhere to be found in this episode.
The island flashbacks finally dealt with the demise of Professor Ivo (Dylan Neal) while introducing the idea that Mirakuru powers can be cured. Felicity enlists Caitlin and Cisco to help come up with the cure, but it’s just another forced way to involve these characters from a show that technically doesn’t exist yet.
Roy might eventually be cured of the Mirakuru and so might Isabel and the rest of Slade’s army. But I think this season is it for Deathstroke. One way or another, Slade Wilson’s story will probably be over in a few episodes. That’s the nature of TV. But the Deathstroke plotline has been one of the highlights of “Arrow” Season 2. And maybe the creative team will be smart enough to leave Slade alive to reappear down the line.
