Arrow S3E12 Review: Merlyn versus Brick

Arrow, Season 3, Episode 12: Uprising

Another solid episode, that completes the 'Starling City without Oliver' mini arc. It didn't go where I expected it would go, but I did end up liking the direction they took. This episode is nowhere as depressing and downheartening as the previous two because at the end they actually fucking won against Brick. Arrow's been on a streak of great episodes lately, it's just that the past two has been so 'aww, look at them falling apart without Ollie' that it's hard to keep myself in good spirits while talking about it.

A good chunk of the episode's conflict is the moral debate on whether the outnumbered and outgunned Team Arrow should accept a deal from the devil you know, the lesser evil and all that, in accepting the aid of a revenge-happy Malcolm Merlyn to get rid of Brick. Eventually Team Arrow puts it to a vote and apparently no one can say no to Felicity Tears, so Merlyn gets rejected... but he shows up to beat Brick anyway. It kind of makes the whole ethical debate feel pointless, but it's interesting just how they try to keep the torch alive... and the past two episodes show that while Team Arrow might be barely holding their own, they can't hope to actually overpower Brick.

This time around, Merlyn steals the show, moreso than ever. Not only does the few flashback scenes center on him dealing with the death of his wife, it appears that in a plot twist, Brick was the actual murderer of Merlyn's wife... because apparently he's the only idiot who hung on to the same gun over twenty, thirty years. (Brick does lampshade this, saying how every kill he did was with that gun). But Merlyn gets into a little debate with Thea while training her to be a killer in anticipation of future battles, and later on with Oliver. Merlyn gets to beat the fuck out of Brick which is absolutely cathartic, and the anguish and rage and raw emotion that he displays during his argument with Oliver on what a piece of shit Brick is, how Brick killed his wife and how Brick deserved to die, et cetera... Merlyn's awesome. He basically acknowledges how he's already a fucked-up villain and there's no return for him, so what's one more death? Also despite all this he still views Thea as his sole chance of redemption and will do anything to protect her. Which is nice.

The flashback also helps to humanize him a lot, and I do like how the show (and Merlyn himself) isn't shy to whiplash back and remind us that Merlyn is a mass-murderer that killed 500 people including Tommy. We see Merlyn back when he's a loving father, and how losing his wife truly fucks up his mind that he goes out, gets beaten up by the man who he thinks killed his wife and ends up killing the thug. And somehow hears about the League of Assassins from... somewhere. It's never made clear. But he shows up and his little magic trick on a little Nyssa manages to get him the epithet 'the Magician'. (I only just now realized that Merlyn's Brotherhood name, is a reference to his comic book title 'Merlyn the Magician'.) Apparently the writers are edging for Merlyn to get this big redemption arc, or at least turn him into an anti-villain... or whatever. The flashbacks were short but absolutely hammers home Merlyn's grief and backstory.

Thea gets a couple of great moments too, talking his father down from killing and revenge, and it's touching to see the dysfunctional relationship between father and daughter. Even if you factor in the totally fucked-up things that Merlyn made Thea do. There was that nice speech about protection and how despite how twisted the things Merlyn did, in Merlyn's mind he was protecting the city. And considering how fixated Thea was to the fact that Merlyn had rescued her in her greatest time of need when no one else did, it's probably dropping hints to why she so readily accepts Merlyn's invitation back in season two.

Quentin Lance gets a couple great moments, immediately recognizing Roy, as well as being confused over all these superhero nicknames. And at the end Sin tells him that, no, the Canary isn't Sara... which will be interesting to see the ramifications of. It's not going to be pretty for all parties involved.

Roy also gets a couple of nice scenes where he kind of manages to show how he's the more pragmatic one of the group, being the strongest advocate for siccing Merlyn on Brick. Also, one of Brick's thugs totally mistook Roy for that 'Red Streak' from Central City, which I found hilarious. Diggle also gets a great scene with Merlyn, giving a great answer to Merlyn's "the first step to what" question.

We also finally see the return of Wildcat! And Sin! Which is nice, because I was wondering where she went after Sara died. Sin joins Quentin Lance and Thea in a rapidly-expanding list of people who knows who Arsenal is even when he's in full getup. And Sin is part of the big Glades cavalry recruited by Team Arrow to fight against Brick's massive army, which would certainly lead in a pretty big bloodbath had Brick not been taken down in a timely manner by the unexpected arrivals of Merlyn and later on Oliver... which kind of proves Roy's point. But, hey, all that ends well, I guess? That final showdown was kind of underwhelming since despite Brick's men armed with shotguns (even Diggle carries a big one), no one actually fires them other than Brick, which is odd.

Anyway, back to Sin. I do like how Sin plays a minor yet impactful role here by being someone who is super-close to Sara, but not to Laurel, and thus is the only one who knows something is up. I'm curious to see how Team Arrow breaks the secret to Sin and Quentin. I'm pretty sure Laurel's self-righteous throwing-her-weight-around isn't going to affect Sin at all.

Wildcat also returns after a while, and while he dresses up in a generic vigilante ski-mask makeup, he does call himself Wildcat and gets to unleash a couple of awesome martial arts moves on the nigh-invincible Brick and bloodying his face before being taken down... did he die? He looked like he was in pretty bad shape. I hope he doesn't die.

Also, Oliver is just making his way ever so slowly back from Nanda Parbat to Starling City... and kind of gatecrashes the whole climax and makes the 'Team Arrow can stand on their own' thing pointless. The conversation with Merlyn was probably necessary, but gatecrashing his buddies and that speech to the reporters felt a bit forced.

Oliver and Merlyn's dynamic is pretty awesome. Not only does Oliver manage to successfully talk Merlyn down from killing Brick, by the end of this episode Oliver shows up at the Merlyn abode (in front of Thea, too!) and apparently asks Merlyn to train him to fight against Ra's al Ghul... despite the whole 'we will not parlay with Merlyn' stance that everyone but Roy took. And Felicity... oh dear god, Felicity does not take it well. I thought it was a bit of an unnecessary drama wrench, but it's a naturally-evolving one, I guess. Felicity's parting speech to Oliver kind of stabs him right through the heart, and with all the character work Felicity's gotten in the past few weeks, it's hard not to feel sorry for the poor girl. Granted, in Oliver's defense he really needs some backup to go up against Ra's.

Overall, a solid and good episode, but I am absolutely ready for something bigger. Bring on the League of Assassins!