Arrow S07E02 Review: Quirky Miniboss Squad

Arrow, Season 7, Episode 2: The Longbow Hunters

This episode of Arrow was... all right? I'm still unconvinced about the flash-forwards as a storytelling mechanic, because this episode's flash-forward brings to mind some of the worst habits of the show's less-spectacular flashbacks (the Baron Reiter and Konstantin Kovar ones, in particular) of just giving bits of a smaller story that honestly just feel like a distraction. This time around, Future-William convinces Future-Roy to... return back to Star City after looking at an enigmatic note. Honestly, there's not much for me to say there.

Honestly, with Oliver in the prison, I would argue that it would be enough to tide over the show's love for separate subplot that tangentially affects the main story, and do away with the flash-whatevers. In this episode, Oliver's sort of forced into a tight position because Brick and company tells Oliver to... get rid of the warden in some way. Oliver can't blackmail him, and he straight-up refuses to kill him, and the warden hates vigilantes so he refuses to take Oliver's warnings seriously. With Brick threatening to murder the warden himself (or get someone else to murder the warden), Oliver ends up getting the job done by... making it look like the warden stabbed Oliver, making it so that the warden's suspended or some shit? I dunno. It's all right, I suppose.

The rest of the cast is sort of divided in this duck-and-goose chase with Ricardo Diaz, who actually does some actual fighting in this episode instead of throwing non-combatant women around in an apartment. I still have a hard time that a dude like Ricardo Diaz gave Team Arrow and ARGUS so much problems because in the past six seasons we've dealt with immortal magic men, assassins and terrorists holding the city hostage. Even with a flamethrower on a train, I have a hard time buying into Ricardo Diaz as this super-elusive threat no one can capture. Or, honestly, the Longbow Hunters as being 'better than anyone'... did we not have an entire League of Assassins a couple seasons ago? And the whole Legion of Arrow Enemies bit last season? But, sure, dude with a shield is totally more threatening than Ra's al Ghul or Anarky or Vigilante.

Still, we do get that pretty badass fight scene between Diaz and Diggle on the train, which, again, is pretty damn badass.

Also, Diaz's little quirky miniboss squad, the Longbow Hunters, show up. For obvious reasons the comic-book team is kind of out other than Red Dart, so we get two new characters -- some bloke with a bladed shield, and a lady whose powers is to make a cone of silence, and seems to exist just to counter the Canaries. They're.... they're all right, I guess?

The various character subplots in this episode are done well. We get an argument between Diggle and Felicity, with Diggle wanting to do things by the book and take things slow, while Felicity is way, way too wrapped up in her own personal issues of getting revenge on Ricardo Diaz. I think the episode does a pretty good job of having both characters scream at each other while being mature enough to recognize the other side's argument.

Meanwhile, Laurel II (a bit easier to type than Not-Laurel) and Dinah are... sort of barely tolerating each other. Laurel II is actively hunting down Quentin's killer and apparently developed a soul  and apologizes, which is a good moment, while Dinah's angry at her but still vows to protect her. They team up against the silence-dome Longbow Hunter lady, and sort of bond. Or become frenemies. Or something.


Speaking of frenemies teaming up, Felicity goes up to Agent Watson to team up and hunt down Ricardo Diaz more effectively... and honestly, I'm actually applauding Felicity's restraint in her talk to Watson. Because for all of Watson hoo-ha about bringing Diaz down, apparently six months in and her holier-than-thou crusade ended up with absolutely nothing, and vigilantes and ARGUS (whose jurisdiction is definitely not gangsters) have to pick up her slack. Watson easily takes the cake for the most incompetent-competent-character in the entirety of CW.

Overall, though, despite some of my hang-ups with the threat levels or competence levels of some characters, this episode's honestly kind of an okay one. We've got a fun little introduction to a bunch of recurring enemies, some team-ups, and even some character development on some characters' fronts. Also, how refreshing is it for arguments within the team to not spiral out of control into an ill-defined poorly-handled sub-plot that lasts for half a season?

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• The silence-cone lady and the shield-dude's names aren't revealed yet, but the dart-throwing woman that's part of the Longbow Hunters is clearly Red Dart, specifically the New 52 version of the character, who is a dart-wielding woman that was a member of the Longbow Hunters. Previous versions of the Red Dart have also been Green Arrow villains.