Arrow, Season 4, Episode 12: Unchained
Holy shit, this episode. It's really so easy for this episode to be bad. So many things are running along, we had the return of not only one but close to four older characters, we had the introduction of a new villain, we had the return of several secondary characters vying for screentime... and yet, well, it just works so well.
We've got the return of Roy "Arsenal" Harper, Nyssa Al Ghul, Tatsu "Katana" Yamashiro and in one way or another Shado in the flashbacks, not to mention Malcolm Merlyn and Curtis Holt make appearances as major characters after being absent or reduced to background scenery for quite some time. And this episode focuses on a lot of things -- Felicity's self-worth issues which ties in with both Holt and new tech-based villain Calculator, Roy being manipulated by Calculator to act as his stooge, Oliver having to trust his younger charges Roy and Thea to make their own decisions, Thea finally dealing with the aftermath of her bloodlust (appropriately, this week in Legends Sara Lance deals with hers), Dahrk's wife being involved in the mayoral campaign, and Nyssa breaking free and unleashing hell upon the League of Assassins and intent on reclaiming what is hers by blood.
This could've turned into such a big mess. But it didn't. Not one story really shone as being more important than the other, yet it just flows so well. Not to mention we get a fair amount of awesome le parkour scenes with Oliver and Roy, Nyssa's jailbreak, Oliver's dramatic entry and Nyssa and Katana going all swordfight duel.
Come on, let's be honest, with Amanda Waller shot in the head last episode, how many of you are worried that Nyssa will kill Katana in that fight thanks to the whole Suicide Squad embargo thing? I certainly was. And while it's still highly possible that Katana might die in the upcoming league of assassin's civil war, the point is that she's not dead now. And it's nice, bringing her back for no real reason other than to give a very atmospheric battle against Nyssa.
How the hell have we not gotten a mini-arc starring Nyssa al Ghul already? She's definitely more compelling of a villain-protagonist than Malcolm Merlyn, and I like Malcolm Merlyn. She might redeem some of the distaste I have from the league of assassin's insanely-written plot from the previous season, and her forcing Oliver to choose between saving Thea or killing Merlyn is a nice little blindside near the end that I honestly didn't expect. Nyssa's little questline with her (as of now) unnamed braided female comrade is pretty interesting mostly because, well, Nyssa's actually rather ironically filling Malcolm Merlyn's old role as a wildcard. We know her goals, we sympathize with her motivations, she's a proven badass... what's she going to do? Her little sub-plot this episode involves her going off to obtain plot device magic elixir Lotus, which itself ties in with Thea's problems.
Thea has gotten a fair amount of screentime during the Anarky episodes, and honestly Thea Queen has grown from 'that bitchy brat' in season one to one of easily my favourite characters in Arrow, and seeing her be a plot point is nice. She's apparently weakened by the 'white-knuckling' of her bloodlust, and while the show does leave a big gaping hole with why Oliver doesn't just call John Constantine over to help make Thea's soul whole or whatever -- obvious real-world guest star reasons, of course -- it's still some really great moments as Thea chooses to live her life on her own terms, and both Oliver and Malcolm get really touching moments. Malcolm as he describes to Oliver how he could've put a knife in Thea's hand and force her to kill someone, but he respects Thea's decision -- a very welcome character development for Malcolm Merlyn and John Barrowman's acting certainly sells the pain in his voice and expressions. Oliver finally learning not to succumb to making a deal with Damian Darhk, seemingly accepting Thea's fate, is pretty nice of him too.
Thea's moment with Roy, even if we know that Roy's not going to return to this show beyond guest star moments like this, was unbelievably sweet. Hey, Supergirl, this is how you do romance. Not... whatever convoluted bullshit you have running along. Roy and Thea's moment at the end is just utterly bittersweet as Thea is probably dying and Roy's choice to bear Oliver's burden means he'll never be able to settle down in Star City.
Roy Harper's return to the show certainly doesn't disappoint. From the grand, unexpected reveal when Oliver unmasked the mystery ninja thief (I wasn't following the news and I was genuinely whaaaat). While the 'ally turned evil' angle is a tired (if sometimes interesting) trope, and Laurel actually offers a fun alternative in shapeshifters, Roy's just being forced to do what he does, with a nice tie-in to why he was doing to protect the Arrow's identity, and this episode definitely offers him some much-needed closure with Oliver and especially, while bringing some really fun moments with the rest of the team.
"Just because you wear red, doesn't mean you're the Flash, Roy." "Guilt Arrow. That's your superpower". Rock on, Diggle. He doesn't get much to do other than hang out with Black Canary as the requisite backup, but Diggle gets all the best lines.
We also get some nice 'flashback morals that match the present-day plot' similar to the older season one/two episodes that doesn't feel too on-the-nose as Oliver learns not to bear the world's burden on his shoulders and trusting Roy and Thea that they can do their own thing. The flashback points are still weak and I don't care that much about Reiter wanting to find some mystical shit and Oliver confessing that he killed Taiana's brother, and I'm unconvinced that Shado's hallucinatory cameo was necessary, but it worked well in conjunction with the present-day scenes and wasn't too on-the-nose. Is Shado's return... part of the mystical thing that we're exploring now in the Island? Hard to say.
Now while Oliver refuses the temptation of using Darhk to lengthen Thea's life, what will he do about the Lotus? And will it 'cancel' the Lazarus Pit's effects and leave Thea dead anyway? I thought the Darhk bit was clever, too. Not the bit where HIVE went into hiding, because it's a piece of stupid writing to have HIVE just... hide their operations because Oliver saved one of their higher member's family one time. But the bit where Darhk's wife, who we thought was just a satellite character, ends up being relevant to the plot as she surfaces as Oliver's competitor in the mayoral fight.
The mental image of Darhk just waiting in their arranged meeting spot with an irritated expression on his face is hilarious to imagine too.
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| Before he became an evil hacker, Calculator actually is a calculator-themed villain |
Now all this would've made for a really good episode in itself, but it's not over! While the Flash this week had a weak filler villain in Tar Pit, Arrow had the introduction of the Calculator, one of my favourite modern DC villains. Despite his nonthreatening name (which Felicity refuses to acknowledge) Calculator in the comics is basically this mission control information broker character for the villains. Sort of an evil version of Oracle and in fact became Oracle's rival at times... which is ironic since we just established that Felicity is Overwatch, not Oracle. And enjoying her new code name!
But Calculator is definitely a suitable villain for our newly-minted Overwatch. Calculator being the man behind Roy's forcible recruitment and being a great hacker counterpart to Felicity is fun even if I don't really understand a lot of the hacking lingo that goes down. Calculator is suitably hammy, and the giant revelation in the end that Calculator is, in fact, Felicity's father, was a bombshell that I bet no one saw coming. I certainly didn't. I thought the similarities in pop culture references are just, well, to highlight how similar the two are, but no... Calculator is actually the shitty father that Donna brings up every now and then. How long has this been planned, though... it's a brilliant plot twist, though.
Meanwhile, Felicity has to deal with her own mundane plot. She slapped herself into confidence last episode, but that doesn't mean it's an instant process. Her fumbling as she tries the dry run to present the new PalmerTech power battery source (which also ties into Calculator's plan to build a web-nuke) and completely fucking it up is great, and Curtis Holt telling Felicity that she can be a human force of nature if she just feels confident in herself -- proven when she's on a one-woman crusade to batter down Calculator's firewalls -- is great. Curtis Holt himself, returning after several episodes of absence or being a wallflower, delivers some insanely hilarious lines, and actually engages in battle against evil Arsenal... actually making use of the prototype T-Sphere at one point!
That could be it, but we have a tonne of DC references in addition to all the awesome TV showing in this episode. Roy's hanging out in Hub City, which is the traditional city of superhero the Question. One of the places that Roy hits in his criminal spree is Cadmus Tech, a scientific group heavily associated with Superman stories and the source of many a genetic abomination enemy or ally. Another one is Amertek, a weapons company that features heavily in the backstory of Superman's ally Steel.
Sometimes, Arrow just fires on all cylinders and just absolutely shines. This is definitely one of those episodes. It really made me happy.
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