ARROW S1E23 – “Sacrifice”

May 19, 2013

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The s*** hits the fan!

Synopsis:

Mike-EL’s Review: Warning: contains *SPOILERS*

This episode took a few strange turns. First, Malcolm Merlyn admits his plan to Oliver, then Moira Queen reveals it to the public. While it was an interesting move on Moira’s part, it did erase the possibility of any dramatic irony we could have experienced and replaced it with some cliche Hollywood disaster-movie suspense instead. Detective Lance takes on Commissioner Gordon’s role (again) and defuses the bomb, only to have Malcolm reveals there is another. So, in the end, a second bomb does go off, killing Tommy Merlyn in the process.

While the threat of the bomb and its eventual outcome did make for an exciting season finale, it seems like the writer’s missed an opportunity to give the show something closer to a 9/11 style event, in which an (alleged) random act of terror is suspected (by some) to be a (supposed) inside job with a hidden agenda. With Merlyn’s motive now public knowledge, this tragedy will only result in the public seeking vengeance against him, with no impact on the socio-economic class he was aiming for (them’s the breaks, I guess).

In any case, Oliver foils Merlyn’s plan, defeats him in hand-to-hand combat, loses his best friend Tommy *SPOILER* (thus eliminating him as a rival for Laurel’s affection), watches his mother Moira go to jail and he suffers through another day with his Sarah-Michelle-Geller-wannabe sister Thea shout through her gritted teeth again. At least his two partners Diggle and Felicity (and one future partner Roy Harper) are unscathed, ready to go for Season 2.

Overall, a very satisfying ending to a surprisingly good Season 1 from a program no one expected to be this good. I’m hoping Season 2 dispenses with some of the soap operatics and superficial kitsch (bad pop music and cliche acting from some of the weaker villains) and gets more comfortable in its own skin. While it is clearly borrowing elements from the Dark Knight trilogy and the Spider-Man comics, there’s no need to sink into Smallville territory, wherein we are introduced to a slew of poorly adapted C-list characters from DC Comics.

I welcome the easter eggs for us comics fans, but I’m far more impressed with Merlyn and Deathstroke than I am with Huntress, Deadshot, (Count) Vertigo or even Roy Harper.

Looking forward to the next season of GREEN Arrow.

Arrow -- "Sacrifice" -- Image AR123a_0022b -- Pictured (L-R): John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn and Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen -- Photo: Diyah Pera/The CW -- Â© 2013 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved

Arrow -- "Sacrifice" -- Image AR123a_0065b -- Pictured (L-R): Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen and John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn -- Photo: Diyah Pera/The CW -- Â© 2013 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved