Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Arrow: Home Invasion

It's a bit jarring when you see an actor who played a character you liked in one TV series playing a despicable character in an episode of another TV series. J. August Richards, who played Gunn in Angel, plays Mr. Blank, a ruthless killer, in this episode of Arrow. It's a bit like watching Angel turn into Angelus in season two of Buffy the Vampire Slayer... No, that was worse...

Anyway, back to Arrow. This episode was good. However, I was actually more interested in watching the flashbacks than scenes in the present. It's great to watch Oliver finally on his way to becoming the "fighting machine" he is now.

Observations:

Oliver on the island is starting to look more like Oliver five years later (other than the long hair - I really hate that bad wig). He doesn't look as much like a young kid.

Laurel talks about Edward Rasmus, and says that he's not known for "playing with kid gloves." The phrase is actually, "treating" or "handling" something with kids gloves, not "playing" with kid gloves. I'm not sure when people started replacing those two words with "playing." Just sayin'.

This was a hard episode to watch a second time. I hated seeing all of the people get shot.

I don't like Tommy as the angry, jealous, ex-best friend. And I'm sure that he's going to remain that way for a while. Darn it.

Why did Oliver only shoot Mr. Blank's arm? Why didn't he shoot him so he couldn't go anywhere? He's a better shot than that. I know, there's still 40 minutes left in the episode, so it couldn't be that easy, but come on!

Oliver's making a lot of promises. Which one is he going to have to break?

Detective Lance sets up a fake police report about a Vigilante sighting so he can catch Roy who stole his police radio? Doesn't he have better things to do than bring two cop cars to get his radio back from Roy?

How does Diggle know the perfect place for Oliver to wait for Deadshot when Diggle doesn't know where Deadshot will be?

When Oliver has the choice of whether to go for Deadshot or Rasmus (help Diggle or Laurel), he makes the obvious choice for Oliver. We definitely know that Oliver still has deep feelings for Laurel.

Deadshot only kills people if he's being paid to? It seems like he's killed a lot of people he wasn't getting paid to kill.

Oliver on the island is an enigma. He cheated on Laurel with her sister, taking her with him on the yacht with his father, but when he kissed Shado he ended the kiss because there was "someone" else, and he felt guilty.

Won't the police be suspicious when they see that Rasmus is dead and it's just after his "lawyer" visited him? What about all of those policemen who "saw his face"? Won't he have to kill all of them too?

I laughed when Thea went into the police station looking for Roy and asked a police officer if he had seen Roy by describing him as having "piercing blue eyes."

Doesn't the thunder storm add so much atmosphere? We know something's going to happen just because of all of those thunder claps, pouring rain, and lightening strikes.

Oliver really isn't being very subtle with Laurel. He was so accepting of Laurel having moved on with Tommy prior to this. What happened?

The scene where Oliver hugs Laurel in the hall was perfectly accompanied with a thunder clap and lightening strike immediately after, and then the camera panned to Tommy. Oh, I feel a storm brewing there. *wink*

What's the purpose of knocking the doorknob off of the door where Laurel and Tommy are hiding with Taylor when Mr. Blank could simply kick the door down? And wouldn't it be obvious that they would be hiding in the room with no doorknob on the door? Hmm.

Oliver's fight with Gunn, I mean Mr. Blank is quite epic.

Tommy tells Oliver that he believes Laurel would choose Oliver over him if she knew that he was the vigilante. I think that would show Laurel to be a pretty shallow if she chose to be with Oliver only if she knew who he was. If she doesn't choose to be with him now, when she doesn't know who he is, why would she change her mind if she found out the truth?

What was Laurel going to talk to Tommy about? Before he interrupted her by telling her he was leaving her?

Roy wants to find the Hood and join him in his quest to save Starling City. And Thea wants to help Roy find him. So, will Thea be the next person to discover Oliver's secret?

So, will Diggle stay away for long? Or will Roy take Diggle's place as Oliver's partner in vigilantism?

I'm more interested in seeing what happens on the island next week than I am to see what happens in the present.

Quotes:

Felicity: I thought it would be helpful to track ARGUS's manhunt for Floyd Lawton, a.k.a. Deadshot, so I decrypted their communications logs. Which mean I just hacked a federal agency. Which kind of makes me a cyber-terrorist., which is bad because I really don't see myself fitting in well at Guantanamo Bay.
Oliver: Don't worry, Felicity, they don't send blondes there.
Felicity: I dye it, actually. (pause) I keep your secret.

Oliver: I wear a hood and I put arrows into criminals, so when it comes to complexity, I grade on a curve.

Laurel: Taylor? Sweetheart? Are you hungry? You know, I make the world's best macaroni and cheese.
Tommy: It's the only thing she knows how to make.

Laurel: You constantly surprise me, Merlyn.

Moira: You must be Taylor. How about I show you where I hide the good cookies?

Tommy: You're the reason we are here, and trust me, that wasn't easy to admit.

Roy: You set this up just so you could get your radio back?
Lance: Well, I do love that radio.

Felicity: So, you're sniping a sniper. Kind of ironic, don't you think? (Oliver doesn't respond) Me neither.

Felicity: Deadshot or Rasmus. Your choice.

Oliver: Something to say, Felicity?
Felicity: Nothing you want to hear.

Shado: You're thinking too much.
Oliver: Nobody ever accused me of that before.

Thea: Hi, I'm looking for my boyfriend. He's kind of a regular around here. Piercing blue eyes and may or may not have stolen a police radio.

Lance: Well, well, if it isn't the wonder twins.

Lance: The vigilante, he doesn't have to answer to anyone but himself, and that's a very dangerous power to give to any one man.

Mr. Blank: What happened to you on that island?
Oliver: You're about to find out.

Roy: I know. You think I'm an idiot.
Thea: I always thought you were an idiot. Now I think you're brain dead.

Oliver: I want us to get back on the same page.
Diggle: Oliver, we're not even in the same book, you and me, not anymore.

No comments:

Post a Comment