To say Arrow's Tommy Merlyn has a lot on his plate right now would be an understatement.
After learning that his best friend Oliver (Stephen Amell) is the hooded vigilante cleaning up Starling City, his girlfriend's mother returns with news that her late sister may still be alive. Then there's the small detail that the upstanding guy still has to learn: that his father, Malcolm (John Barrowman) is the Dark Archer -- who is heading for a confrontation with his hooded best friend.
The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Colin Donnell to preview what's ahead on the CW's DC Comics adaptation and what's ahead for Tommy.
The Hollywood Reporter: How will we see Tommy grapple with Oliver's secret identity?
Colin Donnell: It's going to be interesting. That revelation throws everything into turmoil and all the relationships start shifting -- especially the one between Tommy and Oliver. The impact doesn't end there; because of the closeness between Oliver, Tommy and Laurel, it's going to seep into the relationship between Tommy and Laurel and the relationship between Malcolm and Tommy shifts, too. You might see the two of them being pushed closer together.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
After learning that his best friend Oliver (Stephen Amell) is the hooded vigilante cleaning up Starling City, his girlfriend's mother returns with news that her late sister may still be alive. Then there's the small detail that the upstanding guy still has to learn: that his father, Malcolm (John Barrowman) is the Dark Archer -- who is heading for a confrontation with his hooded best friend.
The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Colin Donnell to preview what's ahead on the CW's DC Comics adaptation and what's ahead for Tommy.
The Hollywood Reporter: How will we see Tommy grapple with Oliver's secret identity?
Colin Donnell: It's going to be interesting. That revelation throws everything into turmoil and all the relationships start shifting -- especially the one between Tommy and Oliver. The impact doesn't end there; because of the closeness between Oliver, Tommy and Laurel, it's going to seep into the relationship between Tommy and Laurel and the relationship between Malcolm and Tommy shifts, too. You might see the two of them being pushed closer together.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Good interview
ReplyDeleteI hope there's a big twist coming in Tommy's character evolution because I've had the sinking feeling that I know exactly where he's headed ever since it was revealed that Malcolm is his father.
ReplyDeleteAre you also thinking:
ReplyDeleteOliver kills Malcolm and Tommy can't forgive him, so he becomes Dark Archer in his father's place. Or something like that?
Cause that's what I'm afraid of.
Yeah, that's the basic idea. All the signs are there:
ReplyDelete- Tommy has major issues with the fact that Oliver kills people.
- This article mentions that the rift between Tommy and Oliver will bring Tommy closer to Malcolm.
- Keeping Oliver's secret will put a strain on Tommy's relationship with Laurel. I'm also guessing that Laurel's acceptance and/or infatuation with The Hood will drive him crazy.
I'm guessing that Tommy's relationship with Oliver will steadily start to fall apart because of the secret, because of Oliver's vigilante methods, because of the connection Laurel has with The Hood, and the eventual death of Malcolm will be the final nail in the coffin of their friendship.
I don't think that Tommy will necessarily become Dark Archer. It would take years of training to get to his dad's skill level. I think he'll take everything that he'll inherit from his father and use all that wealth and power to dedicate himself to taking down Oliver and all his allies.
Yes, unfortunately this sounds VERY much likely.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm not sure about the Dark Archer part. You're probably right. But anyway, it's such a shame. I really like Oliver and Tommy's friendship and it's gonna be so sad to see it completely falling apart soon.
The problem with this theory though is that the Dark Archer is worse than The Hood, Merlyn is responsible for the deaths of Robert, Sara, and many other people, and he is on a mission that would cost the life of thousands unless Oliver stops him, whatever this mission may be.
ReplyDeleteIf Tommy can't accept his best friend being a killer, how could he accept his dad being a killer and killing his father-figure and how could he support him? How could he accept his father's goals after he reveals them to him, knowing that they are against his mother's wishes as she supported the Glades? Choosing his dad's side would be choosing evil, so I won't be able to accept Tommy filling in his dad's shoes so easily.
Isn't that exactly like Spiderman?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, this is exactly the kind of stupidity and hypocrisy that plagues TV characters all too often. Tommy finds out his dad is the Dark Archer and responsible for the deaths of many people, and then he's like "Oh well... but he's still my dad and he loved me... so I'm sure he had a good reason to do what he did!" while deciding that Oliver is a monster for doing less. And then he vows to hunt Oliver down to avenge his dad because Family Is Everything. Sigh. The insta-fix of Tommy and Malcolm's relationship in the latest episode is already pointing in that direction.
ReplyDeleteWhat annoys me in that is that whatever Oliver is, this is Malcolm's fault. Malcolm is the one that sabotaged the yacht and had he not done that, Oliver would've never reached the island.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen those movies in a while but IIRC it's not because he didn't know in Spiderman that Spidey was his best friend when he went after him for killing his dad, but in this case, Tommy does know and will know exactly who Oliver is if he decides to turn against him.
ReplyDelete"The problem with this theory though is that the Dark Archer is worse
ReplyDeletethan The Hood, Merlyn is responsible for the deaths of Robert, Sara, and
many other people, and he is on a mission that would cost the life of
thousands"
Dark Archer didn't exist when those things occurred. That was the collective will of The Undertaking, most likely carried out by Malcolm. Besides that, by the time Tommy finds out the whole truth about Malcolm he'll be so consumed by the death of his father and the dismantling of all the important relationships in his life that his vendetta will be entirely personal and any issues of "who did what" and "who's really worse" won't mean a damn thing to Tommy.
But people will say that it's too similar to Spiderman.
ReplyDelete"Dark Archer didn't exist when those things occurred. "
ReplyDeleteSo his name was Merlyn then, whatever, Moira already told him she knew he was respoisble and he didn't deny it, sabotaging the yacht was done on his orders and it was his fault.
"by the time Tommy finds out the whole truth about Malcolm he'll be so consumed by the death of his father and the dismantling of all the important relationships in his life that his vendetta will be entirely personal and any issues of "who did what" and "who's really worse" won't mean a damn thing to Tommy."
And how do you know that? Malcolm wanted to tell Tommy in this episode already, that was why he opened the door of his secret room before he got shot, and I won't be surprised to see him telling Tommy the entire story during episode 21, before (if) he dies.
I suppose that depends on how it is done. If Tommy knows all about both Oliver and Malcolm and chooses his side before their season finale battle, then I think it'll be more like Regina choosing Cora after realizing Cora was at fault for everything that ever happened to her with Snow than Spiderman personally.
ReplyDeleteWho the hell are Regina and Cora?
ReplyDelete"And how do you know that?"
ReplyDeleteThis is all theory and speculation. My theories are no more or less valid than anyone else's.
Once Upon A Time :D another of my favorite shows.
ReplyDeleteNever seen it, sorry.
ReplyDeleteYup, it's a theory, and we still don't know what the writers would do. The impression I got from the Paleyfest panel is that Malcolm will too confide in Tommy and tell him the truth (well, some of it) and I hope Tommy does finds out the truth about his dad before he chooses sides.
ReplyDeleteI concur with both of you. Let's hope they don't go down that route.
ReplyDeleteThe TVguide interview with Colin also mentions that Oliver will think Tommy is guilty in the murder of the girl in episode 19. I guess Oliver not trusting him would be what nakes Tommy choose his father's side.
ReplyDelete