Arrow: Season 3, Episode 18 – Public Enemy

As I watched the recap at the beginning, saw Maseo kill the mayor and then line up the next shot, part of me was clinging to the hope he was still the same man, still Ollie’s friend. But then he let the arrow fly, and that was the end of that. My disappointment was short-lived though, because I got to see Ray play the hero and take one for the team – stepping into the path of the arrow and saving Felicity’s life. Not a bad start to the show!

The moment the news broke, and Captain Lance began his tirade, I knew things weren’t going to go well for Team Arrow. For a start Lance re-established the anti-vigilante task force, issued a shoot to kill order (if necessary), and labelled the Arrow as a killer and a criminal. That’s actually the nicest thing he said about him in this episode.

Roy seemed to have recovered after his run-in with Atom last week, though Thea might have had something to do with that. They were looking pretty cosy. Who knows, they might actually have a shot this time. It was a strong week for Roy in general, I think. He showed his loyalty to Oliver and had some pretty impressive action scenes.

The team spent much of the episode running from the police, with Diggle acting as their eyes in the sky. The cohesion was great and they are definitely working as a unit again – fighting for each other, and for the cause. It may have started with Ollie, but it is so much bigger, and I think the episode reflected that. No matter what Captain Lance said, or how many obstacles were thrown in their path.

Those traps were laid by Ra’s, and in terms of a smear campaign he pulled out all the stops, which was oddly entertaining. Perhaps it’s his confidence, the way he holds himself – you can almost believe he owns the whole town! The scene with Captain Lance, and the way he toyed with him before revealing the Arrow’s identity, really added to the drama. Lance took this a step further in a scene with Laurel, when he clued her in to his new knowledge – clearly he was taking notes!

But, let’s go back to Ray for a minute. I kind of left him hanging there, with an arrow in his chest. His scenes were fun this week, especially his self-deprecating humour. He took the news of a life-threatening blood clot pretty well, and why wouldn’t he? He has nanotechnology, or as he put it, teeny, tiny robots capable of entering his blood stream, travelling to the clot and shrinking it without damaging his brain!

Not surprisingly the doctor was reluctant to sign off on this experimental procedure, in fact he completely vetoed the idea. Luckily, Felicity and her mother were on hand, and Felicity injected Ray with the Nanotechnology, eradicating the clot and solving his problems. Or that’s what they would have us believe. We all know those teeny, tiny robots are causing mischief in that large brain of his. I’m trying not to be happy about that! In fact, I really felt for him when he confessed his feelings to Felicity and she bolted – nothing says I love you too like a hasty exit.

I haven’t mentioned the flashbacks yet, and they were quite eventful. We caught a glimpse of a woman who looked deceptively like Shado last week, and as it turns out there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation – she’s her twin sister. I can’t quite figure out where the writers are going with that story arc, but they’ve thrown it into the mix so it must be going somewhere. We’ll find out soon, because Maseo and Tatsu have caught up with Ollie at last.

The major surprise this week, at least for me, was Captain Lance announcing Ollie’s identity to the world. I know he’s still angry, and bitter, but it was pretty huge. It was a nice touch when Ollie turned himself over – the way he walked calmly into the police station was an absolute classic move. I was okay with the situation, right up until the point Captain Lance told Ollie he isn’t a hero, but a villain. Needless to say, I was not at all happy with that little speech! Still, Paul Blackthorne was terrific as always, so I can forgive him – almost!

And Roy, let’s not forget Roy, stealing the show with his ‘I am Spartacus’ routine and declaring that he is the Arrow. That certainly threw a spanner in the works. We’ll have to wait an extra week to find out what happens because Arrow is taking a week off. The show returns on the 15^th of April, so my next review will be on the 17^th.

Until then – do you have any predictions? What is going on in Ray’s brain? Who will Felicity choose and do you care? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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NB: Images used within this review are the copyright of The CW Network. All rights reserved.

 

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