It’s
a testament to how rich the storyline in Arrow
is that I was surprised that this is only episode three as I sat down to write
this review. I already feel like I’ve known these characters for some time, and
I’ve already come to care about many of them – and that’s without the benefit
of having read the comic. I’m going to attribute this to the fact that so far
every episode has shared teleplay and story credits among the three creators:
Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg. The writing has been
tight and consistent, giving each character a strong voice, personality and motivation.
There
was plenty of action in this episode, and the now to-be-expected shot of
Stephen Amell with his shirt off (that’s not a complaint!), but there was also
a lot of character development and moving the story arc along. Director Guy Bee
was an excellent choice to direct this episode as he easily handled the changes
from action to drama and back again. As a seasoned director, he was also able to
blend his own style with the atmospheric lighting and shots that are quickly
becoming signatures of the show.
We
also got to see a bit more of what happened on the Island. My one complaint
about the episode is that I am getting a bit frustrated with how slowly they
are teasing out what did happen on the Island. We now know at least that Oliver
was far from alone on the Island.
There
was so much going on in this episode that the hour flew by for me. The title itself, "Lone Gunman" had a dual meaning for me. In essence both Deadshot and Arrow are "lone gunmen" but with very different motivations. We begin
with Arrow’s latest target being killed, literally right under his nose, by
assassin Deadshot. We also see that Oliver learned more than just military
skills on the Island when he’s able to cure himself of being poisoned by
curare. It seemed a little ironic to me that Arrow would now go after someone
who apparently had the same agenda as himself. But, of course, as an assassin,
Deadshot would never simply limit himself to the people on Arrow’s guilty list.
I did think that it was a bit too easy for Oliver to win over the Russian
mobsters. It’s always nice to see Eugene Lipinski make an appearance – here as
the Russian contact. You may remember him as one of the chief observers in Fringe.
Oliver
begins to realize in this episode that he might not be able to achieve his goal
completely on his own. We have the benefit of seeing that Detective Lance is
actually helping him, though not intentionally, by being the only one to
realize that Deadshot’s signature is completely different from Arrow’s. In the
end, Arrow reaches out directly to enlist Detective Lance’s help at the
auction. He also reaches out to a new character, Felicity Smoke. She works in
the IT department at Oliver Industries, so this seems like a bit of a risk for
him to go to her as it could easily get back to his mother or Walter. I’m on
the fence just yet about this particular character. She is perceptive and smart
and hasn’t really learned to hold her tongue – see my first concern. However,
that does mean she blurts out what everyone who’s been watching the show has
been thinking: Oliver is a clear parallel to Hamlet. While Oliver maintains
that he never read Hamlet, I’ll be
interested to see if we find out differently or see him reading the play in a
future episode. He could learn a few things about how to expose a killer, for
instance.
This
episode does highlight Oliver’s family issues. He attempts to be a better
parent to Thea than Moira is and is rebuffed for his efforts by both Moira and
Thea. It does lead to a heart to heart chat between mother and daughter and we
learn that Moira had been jealous of the relationship between Thea and her dad.
Of course that’s not all Moira was jealous of... However, Moira does say she
wants her relationship with her daughter to change. Moira remains an ambiguous
figure. Susanna Thompson is doing a brilliant job playing her as completely
sincere, so it is impossible to tell which side Moira is really on.
Oliver
reveals his plans to build a nightclub in the old Queen Warehouse. It’s a
perfect cover for his spending all his nights there and it will be right over
top of his lair. Interestingly, Tommy is not very supportive, telling Oliver he
doesn’t know anything about running a business. Diggle, however, once again
demonstrates that there is more to him than there seems – especially given the
ease with which Oliver continues to elude him! But Diggle does see that Oliver
intends to use the new club to help the poor neighborhood that it’s in.
We
learn a lot more about Diggle in this episode, as he takes Oliver and Tommy to
a diner where they meet his sister-in-law and learn that Diggle’s own brother
died being a bodyguard. David Ramsey’s performance as Diggle is subtle and
consistent. He plays him as solidly unflappable but says a great deal with just
his eyes. The episode ends with Diggle learning Oliver’s secret. I’m hoping
that it becomes clear that this was Oliver’s plan and choice and not just
sloppiness on his part. He could have saved Diggle without letting Diggle wake
in the lair. The promo for next week would seem to indicate that Diggle may
have an issue with Oliver’s night time activities, but I’m hopeful he’ll get
over that quickly.
In
order to learn about running a successful club, Tommy suggests going to Poison.
Oliver resists because the club is owned by Max Fuller, and Oliver slept with
Fuller’s fiancé before being stranded on the Island. In a nice parallel, Thea, who
is at the club, tries to hurt Oliver by revealing that Tommy and Laurel have
been sleeping together. Oliver is not bothered by this news. Laurel later
points out to Tommy that Oliver already knew when Thea dropped the news because
he didn’t react, demonstrating that Laurel has greater powers of perception
than Tommy has, especially when it comes to Oliver.
In
direct contrast to Oliver’s reaction, when Max finds them in his club he drags
them to his office to have his bodyguards work them over. Surprisingly, Laurel
is the one to come to their rescue, demonstrating that she has some pretty
serious moves by taking out Max and getting the others released. Katie Cassidy
has obviously been working out with the fantastic stunt team on the show and it
is paying off! I’m very much excited to see her take a stronger role!
The
episode ends with Arrow killing Deadshot after another epic fight scene. Tommy
asks Laurel if they can try again and admits he wants a chance to be a better
person. Laurel softens towards him. The flashback shows us that the Archer on
the Island really is trying to keep Oliver safe. And perhaps most importantly,
Oliver reveals himself to Diggle. So how is all of this going to play out? I
really like how the show is giving us lots of on-going plot to speculate on
while still providing closure on the target of the week.
What
did you think of the episode? Let me know in the comments below.
