The Review at the End of the Universe
“Lian Yu” Arrow closes off its fifth season by focusing on Oliver’s final battle with Adrian Chase and bringing an end to the flashbacks. Last week set the stage for the conflict by outlining the stakes and setting up Oliver’s temporary team with the enigmatic cliffhanger showing him asking Slade Wilson for help. The opening…
“Missing” Arrow sets the stage for the season finale when the next phase of Adrian Chase’s plan is set in motion and Oliver struggles to counter it. One of the most frustrating tropes in modern genre storytelling is the villain being caught because it’s part of their plan. It can be clever when executed correctly…
“Honour Thy Fathers” Arrow deals with putting Oliver’s past behind him when Adrian sends one of Robert Queen’s long buried secrets. When I say “long buried” I mean this literally. Receiving a body encased in concrete is a really bizarre thing to receive especially when it has no connection to either Oliver or Adrian. On…
“Underneath” Arrow reflects on the Oliver/Felicity relationship when they are stuck alone together in the Bunker after Chase sets off an EMP blast. Regular readers of this site will know that I’m not a fan of angst driven by romantic relationships. I don’t think that these types of stories are always terrible but the writers…
“Dangerous Liaisons” Arrow returns from hiatus and deals with Felicity’s association with helix and how that relates to her role on Team Arrow. Felicity heading down a darker path has been a really interesting arc for her this season. She is a good character but there is often a tendency to leave her in the…
“Disbanded” Arrow picks up the pieces from Adrian’s brutal torture of Oliver and addresses his decision to shut the team down as the problem of Adrian still looms over the show. Last week made for a really strong episode and offered a fascinating deconstruction of Oliver as a character. What naturally follows that is a…
“Kapiushon” Arrow explores the dynamic between Oliver and Adrian while taking major steps forward with the Russian flashback storyline. It’s still too early to say for sure but it’s possible that Adrian/Prometheus is the best villain this show has had. Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke currently holds that title for me but Adrian definitely has the potential…
“Checkmate” Arrow turns the antagonistic relationship between Oliver and Prometheus on its head when Oliver learns his true identity and works to find a way to beat him. Last week’s reveal that Prometheus is Adrian chase behind the mask was equal parts surprising and unsurprising. This could be a personal thing as I had assumed that…
“Fighting Fire With Fire” Arrow deals with Oliver potentially being Impeached from his Mayoral position as Vigilante starts to gun for him. One of the interesting things about this season of Arrow has been juggling the story of Oliver as Mayor as well as Star City’s Vigilante protector. Both roles signify two different ways of…
“The Sin-Eater” Arrow deals with some lingering issues as Oliver’s accidental murder of Billy Malone comes back to haunt hiim while Susan’s research starts to become a problem. Susan has been looking into Oliver for quite some time and has gathered some fairly damning evidence of Oliver’s exploits. It is well known that he was…
