TV Month - TV Retrospective - Arrow Season 1 episodes 19-21

In the final (and a bit late) installment of TV Month, we'll be taking a look at the next 3 episodes of season 1 of Arrow (I may eventually get round to doing this with Season 1 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. once this is over)

Unfinished Business

Vertigo is back on the streets, and it’s driving rifts, and ironically building bridges.

It drove a wedge between Diggle and Ollie, as Diggle’s obsession with tracking down Deadshot stops him being at Oliver’s side during a vertigo siege, but Diggle’s obsession seems to be stopping him from sleeping at night, or enjoying time with his nephew apparently. Although this does seem to be resolved as Diggle shows up at the end.

It also drives a wedge between Ollie and Tommy when Tommy doesn’t tell Ollie about the money they paid to stop the inspection of the club, and Ollie suspects it might have something to do with the vertigo as a girl who died after leaving the club was taking it.

It sort of drives a semi-wedge between Laurel and Quintin after Quintin goes after Tommy, again. Another that was solved by the end of the episode. Laurel’s people can change is incredible foreshadowing for what’s to come.

But it builds bridges between Malcolm and Tommy as Tommy eventually took a job at Merlyn global

It was a nice twist actually that Count Vertigo was still catatonic from his vertigo overdose, and it was doctor capitalising on the events, and faking his escape from the mental hospital.

On the Island Oliver begins his training, by slapping water, and Shado gives the same generic guru advice everyone gives “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” I haven’t heard words to that effect before except Karate Kid, Raven and Kung Fu Panda.

Rating 8.5/10

Home invasion

Damn it Ollie, did you have to make things 3 times more complicated by asking Laurel out to Lunch! You could’ve at least invited Malcolm, sure he probably would’ve said no, given what happened, but it would’ve made it look less like a date!

Fortunately, the date’s off for now, as Laurel has a new set of clients, someone who lost their money to a guy named Rasmus. But sadly Rasmus does not play well, although CNRI is a small law firm, why did they think they wouldn’t get paperwork from Laurel herself. Never mind…

Sadly the clients are now dead apart from their son, and he spends his life training to take down criminals under the guise of Batman, ok, no that doesn’t happen, but it does show how big a cliché dead parents is becoming.

The killer returns, but thankfully Laurel being clever combined with the Arrow the killer is fended off, Tommy suggests that they stay with the Queens, but is clearly not happy when Oliver chooses to try and help Diggle with Lawton (stupidest idea ever to interfere with Argus operations!) and so it turns out, as he alerted Deadshot to the setup, although goes some way to redeeming himself by saving at least one of the Argus

Of course in Diggle’s mind it’s all Oliver’s fault, as he chose to get Rasmus over Deadshot, in his mind favouring Laurel. He leaves at the end.

But the assassin has other plans, killing Rasmus and going after the kid by himself. Fortunately, Oliver manages to defeat him using a non-hot poker, great action scene. Tommy then proceeds to leave Laurel because he’s a complete douche.

Meanwhile Roy attempts to track down the Arrow with a stolen police radio, but is quickly set up; that was a stupid plan.

On the Island, Shado is teaching Oliver how to aim, and it takes a while… But Yao Fei has lead Fyres to them, and they’re captured once again.

Rating 8/10

The Undertaking

It’s time to see how everything started. Including Walter and the Undertaking. Malcolm originally was using the list to extort money from the people upon it, but eventually got tired and wanted the glades levelled. Malcolm reveals his motivation, how his wife was killed in the glades, and everyone in there did nothing.

And we see Robert’s motivations too; he accidentally killed a glades patron wanting bribes. But Moira talked him out of the undertaking, hence her fault in Robert’s demise, it’s amazing how far things have come.

We also see why Oliver was with Sara on the Queen’s Gambit. Laurel asked him to move into a new place, but Oliver got cold feet about moving things forward

Oliver finds out from a laptop about Walter’s abductor, forcing Felicity to make a move into the casino because of the guy’s private army, but… he takes them out anyway, making the whole Felicity infiltration subplot…

But after working out Malcolm Merlyn is the head of the undertaking and that a) his mother was involved and b) Walter’s alive. The shortest rescue mission in history begins. And we see a small reunion.

The guy squeals that he think’s Walter’s dead, and Ollie compromises his secret identity AGAIN in revealing that to Moira and Thea. Using some bullsh*t about a buddy of Diggle. Moira is of course the most upset and instantly wants to verify Malcolm’s deal.

Meanwhile, Laurel talks with Tommy and discovers he believes that Oliver and Laurel belong together, and when she asks Ollie to say that he doesn’t he says no because it isn’t true, because he never lies, right? One lie leads to another, he knew that.

So in an act of intelligence before the finale, Ollie decides to reconcile with Diggle and reveal everything as the Earthquake machine enters the city.

Rating 8/10

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Images used in this review are from Arrow and the Nostalgia Critic and belong to their respective owners. All images in this review are subject to fair use.