Arrow "Broken Arrow" (REVIEW)
written by Justin Prince (@prince_justin)
The countdown to the finale continues, and after the surprising way the last episode ended... what with Roy Harper taking the blame for being the Arrow... I hope you are prepared for a very Arrow-less episode of Arrow.
Roy Harper faces the music after claiming to be the Arrow
Roy Harper is behind bars and much to his chagrin, Captain Lance is forced to release Oliver Queen. All the while, a meta-human is dropping bodies all over Starling, forcing Oliver to weigh the pros and cons of whether or not to suit up and save his city... or accept a little help from his friends. With Oliver pretty much nerfed, Team Arrow looks to their more upbeat and awkward ally, Ray Palmer, to help tackle the meta problem.
Deathbolt makes his CW-DC verse debut a the first bon-a-fide meta-human super villain to appear on Arrow. I wasn't too keen on metas on CW's more "grounded" super hero show. Deathbolt felt out of place on Arrow and even though his presence served the purpose of teaching Ray Palmer a lesson about relying too heavily on tech, it still didn't feel quite right.
Deathbolt; able to control blasts of plasma to destructive ends.
As far as the flashbacks (UGGGH) go... Hong Kong continues to bore me to bloody tears! I haven't enjoyed the majority of the Hong Kong story and this episode is no different. I hope they are getting somewhere with this, because as far as the flashbacks are concerned... it feels like I'm getting gypped every episode. Oliver learns that Waller isn't behind the manhunt, the government is made into a villain again, and overall it was a pure snorefest... kinda removes the joy from each week of Arrow.
I was hoping that Arrow would pick up, and while last week's episode was full of the action that made me fall in love with the show... this episode felt like a big step backwards. Only a handful of episodes remain this season and I'm still holding out for the episode that brings about an exciting climax.
getting some Atom flavored backup
A surprise end to a longtime character and cast member left me wanting, and wondering why the show runners would get rid of such an integral character to the cast. I didn't want this character to go and I just hope that the minds behind CW's DC Universe has plans for this character in future episodes or even a future series.
I don't want to be too negative... but if the show continues to slip on me, I fear that the ratings will slip along with it. If a die hard comic book fan can get turned off, I can imagine that the comic uninitiated may respond to the direction more negatively than I would.
Here's hoping for a fantastic finale... don't let me down Arrow.
