TV Month - Arrow season 3 episodes 6-7 review - Guilty/Draw back your bow

I am sorry guys, the TV retrospectives on Arrow have been indefinitely delayed.  I hope to have them up soon but work commitments mean I can make no promises

But let's have a look at Arrow right now, as we dive into the the next two episodes of the season, with the big crossover in 2 weeks time

Episode 6 – Guilty

I am sorry, but this episode left me with an overwhelming feeling of meh. SHIELD is starting to run rings around you, Arrow, you're much better than the left over plot from Salvation crossed with a duel of the sidekicks!

On the plus side, boxing glove arrow! Squeeeeeeee!!!

Anyway, this episode did not do much for me, Roy clearly didn't kill Sara, they wouldn't have gone down that route with all the League of Assassins arc still in play. Besides, we already have Oliver protecting someone from the League.

The problem is this is the third time we've had this story in some ways this season. They find someone who may be responsible, Laurel wants revenge, and they find out it wasn’t him. CHANGE THE TUNE ALREADY! I don't mind misdirection, but the only thing we know more than when he started is the perp might have super-strength. Which narrows the list to about 200 million DC characters.

Not to say there isn't good. It was nice to see that Ted Grant had some Wildcat roots, the mystery was decently thought out and it had some repercussions for Laurel. And the links between what happened in China with Ollie and what was happening with Roy was solid.

I’m sorry to say, I don't have much more to say about this episode, the villain had a well-developed back-story but little personality. Cupid's appearance in the next episode is nicely foreshadowed, but I'm not sure I can take another misdirection episode without something new regarding this mystery being revealed

Rating 6.5/10

Episode 7 – Draw back your bow

So, this is Cupid's first appearance in the show, and it’s done well, mostly. I'm glad they immediately crossed her off the list of potential Sarah killers, owing to the fact that she dressed her victim up as the arrow. Helping also in not feeling like more of the same is the fact that Laurel isn't present in the episode.

This way we get to look more closely about the relationship between Oliver and Felicity. I realise it must be difficult for Oliver to watch as the last sheds of his identity as Oliver Queen are stripped away from him, both with Palmer renaming his family's company but his inability to open up about his problems is half the reason he’s losing it.

Cupid provides an interesting psychopathic villain. It seems the psychopaths are the more interesting minor villains in the show, mostly because it allows the actors to run wild a bit, sure it's a bit of a Batman play, but it works.

Ray Palmer is up to something, it was apparent before, and it's still apparent. Whilst his attraction to Felicity I suspect is quite genuine, his exo-suit does imply something amiss. Either he gets his shrinking powers or becomes a second-rate Iron Man. I personally don't mind which.

Meanwhile we have Roy Harper struggling a bit with the revelation that he killed a police officer. This plot is fairly in the background at the moment, but it’s an interesting development for Roy, and a good opportunity to let Roy and Oliver mirror in emotional states.

I've very little to say about Diggle, he was the messenger of reason throughout the episode, whilst doing very little to develop his character. When his baby finally is born, I hope they do something more with him.

I have 2 slight problems with the episode. The first is how the villain left. She was saved from the train, said "you do love me" and now she's a member of the suicide squad, makes sense to me.

The other is Chase, a character who's been introduced as a douchebag for Thea to become attracted to, yeah… I can’t wait to see where this leads…

In China, we see that A) Tatsu and her family are Japanese, not Chinese and upset some powerful people in Japan, and B) Tatsu can hold her own, which is hardly surprisingly really, since she's Katana in the comics.

Rating 8/10

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