Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 7 - The Slabside Redemption

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

Faced with the realization that he helped frame an innocent man for murder, Oliver Queen is looking for a way to make amends to Ben Turner. Freedom is the last thought on his mind, until his friends and family arrange a plea-bargain to free Oliver in exchange for the captured Ricardo Diaz. Unfortunately, Diaz has his own mad plans and Oliver will be forced to make a choice that will forever change his life and the lives of everyone he cares for.


Influences

Supermax (David Goyer's unproduced "Green Arrow in prison" movie.), the Batman: Arkham Asylum video game (plot of a hero trapped in a prison with a number of villains, while his worst enemy taunts him over the public address system) and The Shawshank Redemption (title, plot involving a good man being sent to prison and his eventual escape)


Goofs

Oliver seems to shrug off the sedative Stanley gave him really quickly.

Slabside does not seem to have any kind of fire suppression system, in violation of numerous federal laws that not only require prisons have sprinkler systems but have specially designed sprinkler systems that cannot be tampered with.

The CGI fire effects are painfully obvious, particularly in the shot where Diaz says "I'm a lot stronger now."

John Diggle vanishes completely in the pull-away shot from the prison as Felicity and Oliver kiss.


Performances

Michael Jai White has a fantastic turn here as Ben Turner. Hopefully Oliver will be able to make good on his promise and we'll get to see him more in Season 7 as a special ARGUS agent.


Stephen Amell manages a perfect intensity as Oliver Queen in this episode, and you can see the change to the man he was in his eyes.


Artistry

Whatever else may be said about this episode, the fight scenes are all fantastic.


Trivia

Stanley's full name in this episode is conformed to be Stanley Dover. In the comics, Stanley Dover was the name of a serial killer and sorcerer who preyed on children, known as the Star City Slayer. He befriended an amnesiac Oliver Queen in the story Quiver, intending to use dark sorcery to place his soul inside Oliver's body. His plans were eventually stopped by The Monster - a friendly demon who had attached itself to Stanley Dover's grandson.


Technobabble.

Slabside Penitentiary is a Level 4 Super-Max Facility. It has 50 guards on duty at any time, each of them a trained professional.

When your femoral artery is cut, you have maybe six minutes before you bleed to death.

The Longbow Hunters left Diaz a device capable of blocking all the phone signals in and out of Slabside Penitentiary.

Diaz's device also allows him to trigger an electrical fire after pulling two wires out of the wall in the middle of the prison cafeteria and touching them together. This also shorts out the security system.


Dialogue Triumphs

Oliver Queen: I'm gonna speak to Lyla Michaels at ARGUS. And... I'll just... see if we can make some kind of deal. Okay?
Ben Turner: Yeah. I know how much promises are worth to people like you. Especially when you make them to people like me.
Oliver Queen: That's not true.
Ben Turner: Yeah? You think I'm a criminal. You said it yourself. And criminals belong behind bars. Isn't that right?
Oliver Queen: I think that years ago you saved Lyla's life. Now, I don't know if you can be that kind of hero again. But I think you deserve the chance to try.

Oliver Queen: Ricardo Diaz is here and he will not think twice about killing us all!
Brick: No. He won't think twice about killing you. You see, I just met him. He seems a reasonable chap.

(Ben Turner has just helped Oliver fight Brick and Derek Sampson)
Oliver Queen: Turner? How did you get out of your cell?
Ben Turner: How did you get out of yours?

(Oliver is trying to get Bronze Tiger to help him take on Diaz.)
Ben Turner: There's no "we." I saved your ass so you could get me a deal with ARGUS. Doesn't mean we're some kind of team.
Oliver Queen: Did you hear Diaz? He's killing hostages. You said I was wrong about you? You said you've changed?  Prove it.

Oliver Queen: Hey, maybe... maybe prison has changed me? Compromised my judgement of people?
Ben Turner: You sure that's a bad thing? (pauses) Look.... no offense, but the old Green Arrow? He wasn't the best. He saw the world in black and white. But now you? You know there's grey out there too. Maybe that makes you a better hero?

Ben Turner: I know it's bad for you, but do you really think you're going to stop Diaz with a can of soda?
Oliver Queen: We're about to find out.


Dialogue Disasters

Just about every moment of Kirk Acevedo's hammy performance.

Stanley's "I didn't have a choice" speech.

Diaz: I promised myself I'm never gonna die in prison and I'm gonna take you with me! (To make this worse, this line is said as he's standing in the middle of a prison cafeteria)


Continuity

Oliver is told to be ready to be escorted to Receiving and Releasing in six hours.

Ricardo Diaz paid off one of the guards taking him to Slabside to help him escape.

Stanley asks Oliver to get Laurel to help him with his appeal.

Oliver tells Stanley he knows he killed Dunbar and that he will see him face justice once he is out of prison.

Oliver tells Brick that he'll never see him again after that day, though Brick says Queen will be back in prison sooner or later.

Oliver tells Ben Turner that he is going to get him out of The Hole and try and get him released into something like the Suicide Squad program. He also makes reference to Ben Turner saving Lyla Michaels' life in 216.

Oliver finishes reading The Count of Monte Cristo and focuses upon the final words "Wait and Hope."

Diaz goes to visit Oliver in the visitor's area.

Diaz tells Oliver that he was told that Oliver was being released that day and couldn't let his last chance at payback get away.

Oliver kept the materials to create an explosive hidden in his shaving kit. He uses them to free himself from his cell.

Ben Turner escapes his cell as well and helps Oliver to save some of the guards.

Stanley drugs Oliver to try and get him to help him escape through the morgue.

Derek Sampson is set on fire when the cafeteria is set on fire.

Diaz rips up Oliver's picture of Felicity and William.

Oliver beats Diaz up, leaving him locked inside his cell.

Stanely's last name is confirmed to be Dover.

Stanley Dover kills Brick before making his escape through the morgue.

Ben Turner is Inmate 5545.

Oliver leaves his copy of The Count of Monte Cristo in Ben Turner's cell.

One of the guards thanks Ben Turner for saving his life.

John Diggle and Felicity Smoak are waiting for Oliver as he leaves prison.


Location

Slabside Penitentiary


The Winick Factor

Everything about Diaz's plan to attack Slabside Penitentiary requires a Winickian level of coincidence and plot convenience to work. From there only being one guard on the drive to the prison (who Diaz is able to convince to take a bribe on credit), to his being able to work his way into the visitors area without ID, to somehow managing to run into the only guards in Slabside whose response to people being where they shouldn't be is to ask them who they are instead of going straight for the taser.


The Bottom Line

A horribly uneven mess. The fight choreography is fantastic and Stephen Amell and Michael Jai White have great chemistry together, which makes their scenes together magic. By contrast, every moment Kirk Acevedo is allowed to make dramatic speeches with randomly emphasized words and dramatic pauses is like fingernails on the chalkboard of your soul and the CGI is horribly applied in certain key scenes. Still, the good outweighs the bad... barely... and promises a lot more good in the future.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 6 - Due Process

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

Felicity continues her odd alliance with Black Siren, who tries to use the power of the District Attorney to get Oliver Queen a new trial. Meanwhile, a guard at Slabside is murdered and everyone is a suspect, but the focus of the official investigation falls on Oliver Queen's one friend in prison, Stanley.


Influences

Supermax (David Goyer's unproduced "Green Arrow in prison" movie)


Goofs

Black Siren says that the FBI failed to keep their end of Oliver Queen's plea-bargain since Ricardo Diaz is still at liberty. It was pointed out repeatedly by Agent Samandra Watson that Oliver's surrender was contingent on the FBI bringing down Diaz's empire - not capturing Diaz himself.

Apart from that, Black Siren's plan is just idiotic and seems to confuse an appeal with a dismissal. She asks for Oliver's conviction to be overturned for reasons that have nothing to do with his original trial and the fact that he helped to expose corruption inside the prison he was being held in and was beaten for his trouble, while troubling, has no relevance to whether or not he was guilty of the crimes for which he was convicted or whether he made a plea-bargain in bad faith.

Additional: Everyone seems to have forgotten that Laurel Lance was once Oliver Queen's long-term girlfriend and Black Canary before her apparent death. Both of those should have been reason enough for a judge to deny "Laurel" the right to represent Oliver Queen in court, due to the massive conflict of interest.


Performances

Emily Bett Rickards continues to slay as she showcases Felicity's sliding down the slippery slope of idealism.


Artistry

The action sequences with the silenced sound and muffled effects continue to impress.  In fact, the whole of the fifth-segment action sequence is well blocked and well directed.


Trivia

This episode introduces a former KGB associate of Anatoly's named Pytor Roslov. This was also the name of the head of the KGB in the graphic novel Superman: Red Son, who was that world's equivalent of Pete Ross - Clark Kent's best friend growing up on Earth Prime.


Technobabble

There is a color variation on the hologram map of The Glades Felicity sent William. He thinks that is where she wanted them to go.

Felicity uses a Cyrillic dictionary to attack the table of hashed password to hack Roslov's computers.

BETAB-500 is a top of the line aerial explosive that can cut through concrete like it was nothing. Diaz buys two of them. It is later revealed that this particular model of the BETAB-500 is a newer model that can be attached to a pipe, like a gas line.

The bombs are wired together in such a way that they must be deactivated simultaneously. Otherwise, the other bomb is triggered. Each linking device is protected by its own cryptokey.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Black Siren tells Oliver that she is handling his defense.)
Oliver: Felicity would have told me if she was working with you. And the only reason that you would ever help me - or anyone - is if there was something in it for you.
Black Siren: That's not true!
Oliver: Yes, it is. You're the reason that Diaz got away in the first place. Do you remember?
Black Siren: (bitterly) You know the Ollie that I knew? He had a hard time taking responsibility for his failures too.
Oliver: You know what's amazing? (pauses) You are nothing like her. So go ahead and pretend to be Laurel. My Laurel. For as long as you want. You never will be. Ever. (pauses) Stay away from my wife.
(Oliver slams the phone down and gets up, walking away.)

(Diggle is trying to figure out how ARGUS, The SCPD and Felicity's team all wound up at the same ambush.)
Black Siren: We planted a tracker on The Silencer's belt. Obviously Diaz must have found it and was using it as bait against us.
Dinah: (To Felicity) How did you manage that? You were nowhere near The Silencer at The CDC!
Curtis: That thing at the CDC was you guys?!
Rene: Uh - Felicity wasn't near her. I was. We snuck her out together.
Dinah: So you two captured The Silencer?!
Rene: But Felicity and Laurel were the ones that tortured her.
Black Siren: Actually, I convinced her not to. You're welcome.
Diggle: (To Felicity) So now you're working with Laurel?
Black Siren: I'm standing right here!
Dinah: To be fair, she did help shut down that illegal psychiatric program at Slabside.
Rene: (To Dinah) Wait. Hold on a second. You're gonna give me crap about working with the new Green Arrow and meanwhile you're siding with the Black Frickin' Siren?!
Black Siren: Again. Still here.
Felicity (To Rene): You're working with the new Green Arrow?!
Curtis: Guys! I think that the whole point of this is that maybe we could pick up our phones a little more, huh? Shoot a text. (suddenly annoyed) Yeah. I am totally talking about the fact that everyone forgot my birthday last week!
Felicity: (having lost all patience) Your party is next week! Act surprised! Okay. Now that all of our deep, dark secrets are out, do you think we could switch our focus back to the psycho who just tried to blow us up?!
Anatoly: (having been sitting quietly watching this argument unfold) Sounds like good idea.

(Anatoly has said he is not helping ARGUS and that he intends to go somewhere tropical.)
Felicity: I think it's really hard to travel when you're on Homeland Security's Most Wanted List.
Anatoly: Yes, but I am on no such -
(Comprehension dawns as he turns around to regard Felicity)
Anatoly: You are threatening me?
Felicity: Call it an enthusiastic suggestion.

Felicity: I am willing to do whatever it takes to end this!
Diggle: But then what?  Felicity, I've known you for a long time and you are a good person. But I've been to the front-lines and I know exactly what that does to people. I just hope that when this war is over... you still come out a hero.

Anatoly: Regret. Guilt. These are demons you choose to live with. A trade you make to get what you want. How bad do you want to kill Ricardo Diaz?
Felicity: More than anything.
Anatoly: Well then you embrace demons. No more half measures. When I work with Oliver in Russia - he was not villain. But he did what needed to be done. You remind me of him then.
Felicity: What would that Oliver have done in this situation?
Anatoly: He would have ended Diaz. And he wouldn't care about the cost.

Dinah: (To Black Siren) Did you even bother to listen to yourself in court? You spoke from your heart. Big surprise, by the way - you do have one.

(Black Siren has just told Oliver that they lost his appeal.)
Oliver: Must be difficult to win a case when you're not a real lawyer.

(Felicity sees Anatoly drinking from a flask outside the police station.)
Felicity: Vodka?
Anatoly: What, because I am Russian? That is stereotype!
(Anatoly looks at her before offering her the flask.)
Anatoly: But, da. Yes. Vodka. I only have a bit left.
(Felicity waves it away.)


Dialogue Disasters

Black Siren: I don't want your thanks. I didn't do this for you. I did this for me. And no, I am not your Laurel. I'm not the old Laurel. I'm me! Everyone has good and bad inside of them and you can't put people in one box or the other. Ever.


Continuity

Diaz tortures Anatoly, saying he isn't killing him until he uses him to destroy Oliver Queen.

Level 1 has new guards that conduct cell-checks every half hour. The inmates also get less yard time.

Stanley hasn't suffered too much, apart from Brick having it out for him since he was the only one Brick could get to after Oliver shut down Brick's fight club in 703.

Dunbar, the guard in Brick's employ, got a slap on the wrist for his part in running the fight club. Still, he has turned on Brick and started harassing him.

The entire Bratva was apparently killed, according to chatter on the dark web.

Diaz sets up a trap using The Silencer's belt and Felicity's tracker to try and take out Team Arrow, ARGUS and Dinah's SCPD team.

Officer Dunbar is killed and Stanley is blamed and sent to The Hole.

Pytor Roslov is a former KGB agent with ties to the Russian military and a former associate of Anatoly's. Anatoly says that Diaz contacted him about a weapon capable of destroying a city.

Anatoly agrees to help get information on what Diaz bought in exchange for safe passage to The Maldives.

Oliver finds the knife used to kill Dunbar hidden behind a loose tile in the prison shower.

Dinah goes to watch Black Siren's petition hearing.

The federal judge denies Black Siren's petition to appeal Oliver's case, though she does agree there needs to be an investigation of Slabside's treatment of its prisoners.

Bronze Tiger's prints are found on the knife that killed Dunbar.  He is thrown in The Hole, while proclaiming his innocence.

Dinah says that she didn't believe Black Siren's talk of changing until she heard hear speak about how hard it is to be a hero when nobody expects you to be one.

Dinah stops Black Siren from killing the judge who ruled against Ollie.

Felicity determines that Diaz is planning on using a gas plant to set all of Star City on fire by blowing up the gas lines and setting them on fire with the BETAB-500s.

The new Green Arrow joins the fight against Diaz at the gas plant, stopping him from triggering the bomb and knocking him out.

The Longbow Hunters escape, but Diaz is captured.

Black Siren tells Oliver that the appeal failed but that the judge ordered an investigation of Slabside.

Felicity makes good on her promise and gets Anatoly a fake passport with the name Jason Brown.

Anatoly gives Felicity his gun and advises her not to look back now that she's captured a dragon.

Felicity almost kills Diaz but is stopped by Black Siren.

Black Siren tells Felicity that she made a deal with The Feds - if Oliver agrees to help them with their case against Diaz, he can go free.

Stanley is released back into general population.

Oliver asks Stanley how he knew the weapon that killed Officer Dunbar was Bronze Tiger's knife when he was in The Hole when word got out that Dunbar was stabbed to death. This indicates that Stanley was the real killer.

William doesn't drink.

Felicity was murdered several weeks before William went to Lian Yu.

Felicity became a vigilante and started calling herself The Calculator. She cut ties from the rest of Star City's heroes. Dinah says that she was running in dangerous circles.

William and Zoe apparently knew each other pretty well before William left Star City. He calls her the girl who loves getting into trouble. She calls him the boy who has to know everything.

Roy says that the message he found in Oliver's bow in 702 that convinced him to come to Star City was something called The Mark of Four.

Roy says that he and Dinah should keep the Mark of Four secret from the rest of the team.

Dinah says nobody has seen William Clayton in years and they have no reason to trust him. Unlike Roy, Dinah doesn't think the fact that he is Oliver's son makes William trustworthy.

Felicity has a lock on her hideout that requires three bouncing balls be shot with arrows to deactivate the security system. This is a nod to how Oliver used to train in the Pilot episode.

The last file Felicity accessed were structural maps of key buildings in Star City, including city hall, the central library and the old Rockets arena. There are also semantics for explosives and the money to build them. This would result in destroying all of Star City that is not The Glades.

It is unclear if Felicity was part of the plan to blow up Star City and got cold feet or if she was trying to stop the plan and summoned help when she got in too deep.

Feliicty's last call was to someone called Blackstar.


Untelevised Adventures

Diaz is said to have killed all the Bratva off-camera.


The Bottom Line

A solid episode, that finally gets Team Arrow on the same page and shows what happens when our heroes actually work together and stop keeping secrets from one another. It has a few flaws, particularly in how it handles an appeal trial, but I'm willing to forgive this given the whole thing subtly shows what a crappy lawyer Black Siren is and how she has no interest in redemption or being a hero. Much as I loathe the character, I find her embracing her wickedness far more palatable than the wishy-washy "will-she-or-won't-she" redemption arc from last year.

Strangely enough, the flash-forwards this time fall kind of flat, with no real new information being revealed and a lot of mysteries (like this Mark of The Four) that don't give enough clues for the viewer to guess at their meaning. Still, not bad at all.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 3 - Crossing Lines

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 




Plot

Still in prison, Oliver faces his greatest challenge yet as he forms an alliance with his former enemy, Brick, to get the information he needs on Diaz. Felicity is in similarly dire straits, as she tries to win the support of the woman who put Oliver behind bars. Meanwhile, Diggle and Lyla go overseas with Curtis to do a special mission for ARGUS in Zurich, with a surprising revelation at its heart.


Influences

The Jeff Lemire run on Green Arrow (concept of The Longbow Hunters) Supermax (David Goyer's unproduced "Green Arrow in prison" movie) and the novel The Count of Monte Cristo (parallels to Oliver's life, as it centers around a man who adopts a new identity to avenge himself on those responsible for ruining his former life before going on to take a series of actions that hurt innocent people as well as the guilty.)


Goofs

Locking a bunch of terrorists inside a lab full of infectious disease samples seems like an incredibly stupid plan, even by the standards of The FBI in The Arrowverse.

On that note, Agent Watson seems way too quick to switch sides and agree to Felicity's plan.

How did Brick make contact with The Demon is The Demon is confined to Level 2 of The Slab?

Diaz's story here about breaking every bone in his body after being blasted off the roof and into the river in the sixth season finale doesn't match up with the injuries (or lack thereof) he displayed during the final scene of that episode.


Performances

Michael Jai White has been largely wasted in his appearances as Ben "Bronze Tiger" Turner. This was largely due to the show-runners plans for developing a Suicide Squad for the Arrowverse being sidelined and them not being able to touch his character for five years. What we see here though, with Turner taking Oliver to task for judging him based only on the main times they fought five years ago, hints at the odd character from the comics and makes me wonder if we might get a more comics accurate Ben Turner this time.

I can't recall Emily Bett Rickards and Rick Gonzales having a lot of interactions in the past, but the have amazingly good chemistry in this episode.


Artistry

The fight scene between Oliver, Bronze Tiger and Brick's other men is a great one, which uses its camera angles to great effect to emphasize the claustrophobia of the setting.

The silent fight scene between Dinah and The Silencer somehow tops the one from last week.


Trivia

The Silencer is revealed to have the first name Honor.  In the comics, The Silencer's name is
Honor Guest.

Brick says that the only way out of Level 2 is through the Morgue. In the comics, Slabside Penitentiary was nicknamed The Slab because the only way an inmate left it was "on a slab" (i.e. dead).


Technobabble

Someone (later revealed to be The Silencer) hacked into the CDC security protocols. Accessing that normally requires a Level 5 Security clearance. Felicity is able to hack into the CDC and says it was easy.

Curtis develops a nanotech-laced paint that allows him to turn a forged painting into a wi-fi point that can be used to hack nearby computers.

The name of the criminal bank Digg tries to infiltrate with Lyla - Schatten & Soehne - translates to "Shadow And Sons" in English.

Felicity determines that when The Silencer hacked the CDC, she only looked at the inventory records for Glutathione Hydrate - a bio compound that helps protect red blood cells against diseases like Ebola and Lassa Fever. The only place that it can be found is The CDC and a shipment was just sent to the CDC in Star City from Central City.

The Silencer has some kind of sonic disrupter that allows her to block Felicity's ability to hack the door locks in the CDC building.


Dialogue Triumphs

Felicity: My husband spent the last six years fighting for the people of this city, risking everything, and now he sits in prison, his life on the line, while this monster gets to walk free! That isn't justice.

Felicity: I back-traced The Silencer's hack.
Rene: Wait. We're calling her "The Silencer" now?
Felicity: It's better than "The Belt Lady"
Rene: Noted.

Stanley: First rule of prison - trust no one.
Bronze Tiger: Ah. The kid's right. Now, how did he manage to figure that out before you did?

Bronze Tiger: You and your team only saw me as one thing - the enemy. But now look at us. Both in prison. So I guess we're not that different after all.

Lyla: (To John) Sometimes you have to cross a line for the greater good. I would expect you to understand that.


Continuity

The opening scene of Oliver stabbing a guard takes place 12 hours after Felicity's meeting with Agent Watson.

Brick doesn't know where Diaz is but says an informant called The Demon does.

John and Lyla's babysitter is a woman named Ella.

John and Lyla's first honeymoon was in Hawaii.

Lyla makes reference to the events of 317 - her trip overseas with John, Deadshot and Cupid.

Felicity bugs the FBI to spy on Agent Watson. She learns that Agent Watson honestly is working to find Diaz, but her bosses keep shooting down her requests to investigate new leads as too circumstantial.

Rene is aware of what Felicity is planning. He's letting Felicity sleep on his couch. He says that he is all for getting Team Arrow back together.

Brick arranges for the cell doors to open that night. It is later revealed that, with the assistance of the guards, he is running a fight club in the mess hall and taking bets on the victors.

Stanley follows Oliver to his meeting with The Demon, saying he doesn't want to be alone with all the other inmates loose and no guards around.

Curtis, Lyla and John are sent on a mission to Zurich to get a copy of the private bank records of a bank that holds the valuables of a number of criminal organizations.

Felicity persuades Agent Watson and Dinah to work with her to set a trap for Diaz in the CDC.

Diaz is looking for a particular bio-compound at the CDC.

The meeting with The Demon turns out to be a trap and Bronze Tiger tries to ambush Oliver.

Lyla secretly made a copy of the data Curtis hacked.

Oliver and Bronze Tiger discuss their past encounters and Bronze Tiger's time in The Suicide Squad.
These include his saving Lyla Michaels' life (216), his theft of an earthquake generator (212) and his working for China White (202)

Lyla reveals that she stumbled onto something big but her superiors wouldn't let her investigate. The copy of the bank information was traded to a criminal for a lead. John is hurt that she didn't tell him, because they agreed to have no more secrets.

Brick is revealed to be running a fight club in the mess hall which some of the guards were aware of. When Oliver enters, he declares the next fight will be Derek Sampson vs. Green Arrow.

Brick says the is no way Oliver can get to the The Demon, because the Demon is confined to Level 2 of The Slab.

 Oliver responds by stabbing several of the guards and surrendering. The episode ends with him being sent to Level 2.

Agent Watson is taken off the Diaz investigation and transferred to a desk job in Washington D.C.

Digg and Lyla agree to keep no more secrets between them.

Rene is revealed to have captured The Silencer, without Dinah or the FBI knowing.

The Silencer's real name is revealed to be Honor.

Diaz has used the bio-compound to give himself super-strength and durability.


Location

Slabside Maximum Security Prison
Zurich, Switzerland


The Bottom Line

A solidly acted episode, despite a less quippy script than usual. I do wish we had seen Agent Waston established as a more sympathetic character who honestly was trying to catch Diaz sooner. Of course now between her indifferent bosses and the news that Lyla's bosses are also hampering her efforts to investigate in-house corruption, I wonder how soon it will be before we learn that Diaz' connections go even higher than we realized.

Curiously, the episode does a lot of minor things to try and reconcile some of the bigger mistakes at the end of last season, such as Watson's attitude and seemingly indifference to trying to arrest Diaz until Oliver offered himself up as well and Diaz's comments on how he broke every bone in his body after being shot into the river by Black Siren. The problem is that while this is a realistic turn of events, it doesn't match up with the earlier episodes.  Still, it was completely free of Black Siren, so it had that going for it.

Arrow: Season 2.5 #12 - A Review

I have only one word to say after the latest issue of Arrow: Season 2.5 - More!


The recent Suicide Squad: Crisis In Khandaq Special has proven superior to every Suicide Squad comic since the New 52 reboot and I would love to see this as a regular feature alongside the regular Arrow and The Flash comics.  Like John Ostrander before them, Marc Guggenheim and Keto Shimizu have drawn upon real world events to tell a tale that takes advantage of the setting of the DC Comics Universe while still being grounded in a gritty reality.

And yet there are a number of little touches that are offered up with surprising subtlety, such as Deadshot showing the outrage only a father could at the thought of little girls being endangered.  And Khem-Adam - this world's version of Black Adam - proves a frightening foe even without magical powers.  It spoils little to say that not everyone makes it out of this issue alive but hopefully Khem-Adam will return someday... perhaps even on Arrow itself.!


The artwork by Szymon Kudranski is as excellent as ever.  Comparable to Tony Harris in his photo-realistic style and use of shadow, Kudranski's also an excellent caricaturist who perfectly captures the likeness of the actors from the show.  This book has never looked as good as it has under his pencils.

Arrow: Season 2.5 #11 - A Review

About the last thing John Diggle wants to do is go back overseas in the company of Deadshot - the man who killed his brother. But when the alternative is his pregnant ex-wife going overseas in the company of the man who killed his brother (i.e. the very last thing John Diggle wants), he didn't have much choice but to volunteer and lead Task Force X into a war zone. He may be signing his own death warrant but that's why they call it The Suicide Squad.


I asked for it. And boy did I received it!  A full-length Suicide Squad special worthy of the name! I said in Arrow Season 2.5 reviews past that the back-ups by Keto Shimizu and Szymon Kudranski needed to be their own full-length book.  And what we see in this issue more than justifies my belief in the creative team.


I'm reluctant to say more about this issue save this: if you're a fan of the classic Suicide Squad comics of John Ostrander, you'd do well to check out this issue even if you're not normally an Arrow viewer.  Fans of military adventure fiction will likely enjoy this comic as well.  And Arrow-heads?  You'll like it too, especially for the cameo at the end.

Arrow: Season 2.5 #4 - A Review

Arrow: Season 2.5 #4 is primarily concerned with the back-story of the new Brother Blood and how one of Sebastian Blood's underlings came to acquire his boss' mask and formed a doomsday cult in Starling City. The writers do a good job of delivering this information without it seeming like an exposition dump.  Nevertheless, this issue does feel somewhat repetitive as much of it repeats scenes from the show verbatim before building on the established material.  Nice as it is to see the "Bitch With Wi-Fi" scene again, it would have been better to see more new material.


The artwork by Joe Bennett and Craig Yeung is largely excellent, save that it loses fine detail in the middle and far distances.  A larger problem is that Bennett draws nearly every page as if he were emulating a camera that was in the process of falling to one side when it took its shot. I can understand wanting to vary up perspective but there's a number of pages where one wonders if they need to tilt their head to view the artwork properly or if someone changed the alignment of their monitor.


Personally, I found the all-too-brief back-up story involving the Suicide Squad far more interesting, if only for the revelation that Barack Obama is the president in the DC Television universe.  That's not to say the plot - based on current events involving religious extremists in Africa - isn't gripping stuff.  It is and I wish this comic devoted more than a page every two weeks to it.  I'd also like to see more of the photo-realistic artwork of Szymon Kudranski, whose previous work on Green Lantern I enjoyed.

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Arrow Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 16 - Suicide Squad

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

As Ollie prepares for the coming battle with Slade Wilson, Sara tries to back him up only to be pushed away.  Meanwhile, John Diggle is called away by Amanda Waller to assist with some ARGUS business.  An Afghan warlord who Diggle once saved is believed to have stolen a lethal chemical weapon and it's felt that Diggle may be their easiest connection to getting close to him.  Naturally Diggle is all too eager to help... until he is introduced to the rest of his team.

Enter Task Force X - a program that offers time-off to criminals in exchange for service in off-the-books operations.  Everyone on the team is a criminal The Arrow helped to bring down... including Diggle's own sworn enemy, Deadshot!  With the lives of millions at risk, can Diggle afford to hold on to his black and white morality in a world full of greys?


Influences

The 1980s Suicide Squad by John Ostrander, the 2001 Suicide Squad by Keith Giffen, Gail Simone's Secret Six and the 2005 Deadshot mini-series by Christos N. Gage.


Goofs

Why is a civilian like John Diggle allowed to walk into the cell-block housing Deadshot and the other Task Force X members?  Particularly after he told-off Amanda Waller and said he wasn't working for her anymore?


Performances

After spending the better part of Season Two on the sidelines, Diggle is finally given an episode in the spotlight and David Ramsey rises to the occasion.  Ramsey can steal a scene with one good line and the whole episode does a fine job of highlighting his talents.

This episode marks Michael Rowe's longest appearance playing Deadshot so far and it is the first episode where it feels like we really get a glimpse at the complex character that is Floyd Lawton.  Rowe captures both Lawton's death-wish and his dark sense of humor.  He said in an interview that the most interesting thing about Deadshot - and the main reason he loved playing him - was that there is something oddly likeable about Floyd and yet Floyd doesn't like himself at all.  To my mind, that sums the character up perfectly.

Though their parts this week are relatively small, Stephen Amell and Caity Lotz both capture Oliver Queen and Black Canary perfectly in this episode.  Pushing people away when he needs their help the most is vintage Ollie as is his desire to protect the woman he loves, even when she's perfectly capable of protecting herself and probably more capable than he is in a straight-up fight!  Lotz perfectly captures the comics' Canary's loving nature and desire to comfort her man, in spite of her frustration over what an ass he's acting like.


Trivia

Lyla texts Diggle and asks  her to meet him at Room 1141 at the Ostrander Hotel.  This is named in honor of John Ostrander - writer of the 1980's Suicide Squad comic and the co-creator (along with Len Wein and John Byrne) of Amanda Waller.

The nation of Kahndaq is mentioned during Diggle's briefing at ARGUS.  In the comics, Kahndaq is a fictional nation and home to the supervillain Black Adam.  It is in the Middle East, located between Israel and Egypt on the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula

Part of the episode takes place in Markovia.  In the comics, Markovia is located in Western Europe between France, Belgium and Luxembourg.  It is home to the hero Geo-Force.

The blonde woman with the squeaky voice on the Task Force X cell-block is credited as "Deranged Squad Female".  Given that she is played by Tara Strong, and that the woman claims to be a licensed therapist,  it seems clear the woman is meant to be Harley Quinn - a member of the Suicide Squad in the New 52 Suicide Squad series.

The robbery that Ollie goes to stop only to find the robbers already killed by Slade Wilson is located at 5th and Giffen.  This is in honor of Keith Giffen, who wrote the 2001 Suicide Squad comic.

Diggle's call-sign with The Squad is Freelancer. 

As in Gail Simone's Secret Six, Waller's call-sign is Mockingbird

As in Ostrander's Suicide Squad, explosives are used to keep the criminal members of Task Force X under control. 

The idea of Deadshot having a young daughter, whom he provides for using his earnings as an assassin was first introduced in the 2005 Deadshot mini-series by Christos N. Gage.  This series centered upon Floyd Lawton discovering he had a four-year-old daughter in Star City and - lacking anything better to do - deciding to turn his skills against the corrupt cops and dangerous gangs threatening the neighborhood she was being raised in.  His activities gained the attention of Green Arrow, who - finding out the reasons for Lawton's rampage - agreed to patrol the area more often in exchange for Deadshot agreeing to leave town.

Gail Simone would later pick up on this thread in her Secret Six book, where Floyd actually visited Zoe and made an honest attempt at being a father.  He would later decide it was better he not expose her to the dangers of his life and he told her mother as much over the phone.

Deadshot is depicted as having a death-wish and not really caring about whether he lives or dies.  This is consistent with his characterization in the comics, where the kindest thing to say would be that Floyd has issues.  Serious issues.

The detonation code for Deadshot's implant is BATB-25.  This is likely a reference to Brave And The Bold #25 - the first comic to feature the original 1959 Suicide Squad. 


Dialogue Triumphs

Amanda Waller: They're designated Task Force X.
Deadshot: Give me a break!  This ain't no task force.  Let's call it like it is.  Welcome to the Suicide Squad.

(To an arguing Diggle and Lyla)
Harley Quinn: Do you two cuties need some counseling?  I'm a trained therapist!

Diggle: A girl needs a father.
Deadshot: Nah.  Not this father.  Best thing I can do for her life?  Not be in it.

Ollie: I can't...I don't know how to stop him.
Sara: You start by letting people help you.
Ollie: But he's going to come after you!  You're alive... because Shado isn't.
Sara: And when he does do you think it will make a difference whether or not we're together?  Let him come.  I'm not the girl he knew on The Island.  I'm not that easy to kill.  Together?
Ollie: Together.

Lyla: What about us, Johnny?
Diggle: Last night the man who killed my brother showed more character than the woman charged with protecting the world.  Good and Bad, it's not so clear to me.  One thing I do know for sure- Black and White - is that I can't ever lose you again.


Continuity

Ollie and Sara are seen sleeping in the Arrow Cave at the start of the episode, indicating Moira's threat to kick Ollie out of her house in 215 was not an idle one.

Oliver makes contact with Alexi Leonov - his contact with the Russian Mafia in Starling City, last scene in 112.  By episode's end, Ollie with have cut all ties with the Russian Mafia and Alexi is dead by Slade Wilson's hand.

Waller's Suicide Squad is made up of villains Arrow was responsible for catching.  They include Bronze Tiger (last seen in 212 ), Shrapnel (last seen in 210 ) and Deadshot (last seen in 206).  We also see Amanda Waller for the first time since 212.  Shrapnel is killed after he attempts to escape.

We see John Diggle's current girlfriend/former wife Lyla Michaels for the first time since 206.

Ted Gaynor, whose death we witnessed in 111,  is seen in the flashback scenes.

The mask Slade leaves at the robbery scene is identical (if not the same mask) that we saw on The Island in the pilot episode.

By episode's end, Waller says they'll implant the kill-chips for the Squad members in their spines.

Ollie and Thea both hated swimming as children.

In the episode's final moments, it is revealed that Oliver Queen and Amanda Waller have some manner of prior relationship and that Oliver is aware Amanda knows his secret identity.  He also has some reason to hate Amanda but notes that she is much lower down on his list these days.

Waller reveals that Slade Wilson's assassin alter ego has been dubbed Deathstroke by ARGUS.


Location

The flashbacks for the episode - six years earlier - are set in RC South, Kandahar, Afghanistan.

The majority of the episode takes place in Markovburg, Markovia.


The Bottom Line

For once, the interplay between Ollie and Sara isn't the focus of an episode nor is it the best part.  Forget a Flash TV series next season - I want more Suicide Squad!  With Harley Quinn as a series regular!  And Clock King as a part of the Squad!  And blackjack!  And hookers!

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 12 - Tremors

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

As Laurel Lance continues to sink deeper into an alcohol-fueled downward spiral and Moira Queen considers a run for office as Mayor against Sebastian Blood, Oliver Queen busies himself with the training of Roy Harper.  But Roy is itching for a chance to prove himself in the field and he is quickly given his chance as Bronze Tiger is sprung from jail to retrieve a dangerous device - the prototype of the machine that Malcolm Merlyn used to destroy The Glades!  With the city endangered once again, can Roy finally learn the focus and control needed to harness his super strength?  And how far will Ollie go to gain Roy's trust?

In the island flashbacks, Ollie and Sara race against time to stop Slade from using Eddie Fyers' last missile launcher to destroy Professor Ivo's ship.


Influences

Green Arrow: Year One (The Island sequences), Green Arrow:Quiver (Roy's flashback regarding how Oliver trained him to be patient) and John Ostrander's Suicide Squad.


Goofs

How the heck does Roy track down where Bronze Tiger and Armitage are meeting? 


Artistry

The fights between Arrow and Bronze Tiger are well choreographed.


Trivia

The arms dealer who hires Bronze Tiger  to steal the prototype earthquake generator is named Milo Armitage.  This is also the name of a villainous arms-dealer from the original Green Arrow comics - one who was the step-father of the second Green Arrow, Connor Hawke.

Milo Armitage warns Bronze Tiger to stay out of Markovia in the immediate future.  Markovia is a fictional European country in the DC Universe.  It is primarily known as the home nation of the earth-manipulating superhero Geo-Force.  Curiously, the Earthquake machine was officially referred to in Episode 121 as "The Markov Device."

The "squad" Amanda Waller offers Bronze Tiger a chance to join is a reference to The Suicide Squad.  The Suicide Squad was a comic series built around the idea of the federal government offering time off the sentences of super-criminals who agreed to work dangerous missions on their behalf..

The population of Starling City is approximately 600,000.


Dialogue Triumphs

Ollie: (disbelievingly) You hacked into a prison system network?
Felicity: Is that judgement I'm hearing?
Ollie: Pride!

(After being told her name-being well known could help her become Mayor)
Moira: Charles Manson is rather well known and no one is going to vote for him.

Arrow: You cannot bring Thea into this.
Roy:  But how am I supposed to lie to her and protect her at the same time?  How do you do it?  How do you keep secrets from the people in your life?
Arrow: By remembering it's the only way to keep them safe.
Roy: No. Keeping them safe is what keeps them safe.

Thea: (To Moira) Can I make a suggestion?  Instead of punishing yourself because you think you destroyed the city, how about you start by saving it? 

Roy: (looking at the unmasked Ollie)  You're...
Ollie: .... yeah.  Yeah.
Roy: Last year you saved my life.  I don't mean from the guy who kidnapped me, I mean you... you saved me.  You gave me a purpose.
(Roy offers Ollie his hand.  Ollie shakes it.)
Ollie: We're just getting started.

Amanda Waller: I have an offer for you.  A way to work off your sentence.  As it turns out, I have need of someone with your... singular qualifications.
Bronze Tiger: For what?
Amanda Waller: For a unit I'm putting together.
Bronze Tiger: What type of... unit?
Amanda Waller: Actually... it's more of a squad.

Roy: Is this the part where you kill me because I know your secret?
Ollie: You actually think that I'd kill my sister's boyfriend?!
Roy: Well, you DID shoot me in the leg.

Roy: So does this group have a name?  Team Arrow or something?
Ollie: We don't call ourselves that.
Felicity: I do.  Occasionally.
Ollie: Stop.
Diggle: Whatever.


Continuity

Bronze Tiger was first seen in episode 202 and has apparently been in prison since then.

Ollie has Roy slap water to learn control, just as Shado had him slap water in 119.

Ollie confirms that he put an arrow into Slade's eye and that Slade eventually learned the truth of how Ollie was indirectly responsible for Shado's death from someone besides Ollie.

Joanna De La Vega - Laurel's co-worker from CNRI - appears for the first time since 123.  She has apparently helped start a new law firm since that time but lacks the pull to get Laurel a job there.

Laurel is informed that disbarment procedures have officially begun regarding her conduct.

Roy is now strong enough he can break a gun with his foot.

We see a mysterious man slipping something into Laurel's drink at Verdant as Thea calls her a cab.

Roy refers to the events of 118.

Walter Steele is aware that Thea is Malcolm Merlyn's biological daughter.  Apart from him, the only one who knows besides Moira and Malcolm is Moira's ob/gyn.

Amanda Waller, last seen in 206, approaches Ben Turner about joining her Suicide Squad.

Sara Lance comes back to Starling City to check up on Laurel after Ollie calls her. 


The Fridge Factor

More of Laurel playing the victim who needs to be saved from herself.  Ho-hum.


The Bottom Line

This is a very busy episode but its largely an enjoyable one.  The focus on Roy pushes his story arc into a whole new place but all of the supporting cast get some time to shine, from Moira's new role as aspiring Mayor to Quentin's quiet desperation to get his daughter some professional help.  As usual, the bits dealing with Laurel's addiction issues are the weakest but at least it seems they are finally bringing said arc to an end.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 2 - Identity

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



 Plot

Newly committed to being the hero Starling City needs, Oliver Queen still needs a place to start his war on crime anew.  He finds his direction thanks to Roy Harper, who tells him (in the process of being bailed out by Thea after his latest run in with the law while playing Hood Junior) about the local Triad robbing the FEMA trucks that are supposed to be delivering life-saving medicines to the overburdened hospital in The Glades

Ollie tries to stop the robberies as The Hood but finds the police are more interested in capturing him than the crooks robbing the hospitals and the martial-artist muscle in their employ.  His efforts to aid the hospital directly as Oliver Queen are met with suspicion, thanks to Alderman Sebastian Blood whipping up the people and the press against him.  Ollie tries to reason with Blood and assure him that the sins of his family are not his own.  But when Ollie's double life requires him to be in two places at once - a charity fundraiser or the latest robbery - how will he choose to save his city?

On the island, Ollie fears what he's becoming because of his time on the island.  Shado tries to calm his worries but there's no time for introspection with mysterious invaders closing in.


Influences

Green Arrow: Year One (the island sequences), Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunter (Ollie's reaction to Shado being tortured is similar to his response to Black Canary being tortured in this book) and various Elliot S! Maggin Green Arrow stories (theme of Ollie wondering what good he's doing in either of his lives).


Performances

I've always found Felicity much more tolerable as a character when she's not fawning over Ollie or playing the Manic Pixie Geek Girl who is ever so delightfully quirky.  This episode turned her into Pepper Potts on speed... and I liked it!

Manu Bennett does some great non-verbal acting as Slade in the bits where he is watching Shado and Ollie.  There's clearly something bothering him and I think it's something more than simple jealousy that the one woman on the island is showing affection to the only other man besides him.   


Artistry

 The nice dissolve shot in the new intro text, where we shift from Ollie in his street clothes to Ollie in the hooded costume, all while staring at the same arrowhead.

By the same token, the shot taken through the clear water turning red as Ollie washes his hands following his defense of Shado during the island sequence is quite striking.

Finally, there's the sequence where Sebastian Blood gives his speech about how Oliver Queen doesn't care about the city, intercut with footage of Ollie changing into his costume, retrieving his gear and riding off to stop the medicine robberies once and for all.



Trivia

China White addresses Ollie as "The Emerald Archer".  This is one of Green Arrow's more popular nicknames in the comics, similar to how Superman is called The Man of Steel or Man of Tomorrow.

The muscle brought in by China White is an assassin known as The Bronze Tiger.  Originally a heroic martial artist who trained alongside Richard Dragon (of Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter fame), Ben Turner was abducted and brainwashed by The League of Assassins into adopting the title and mask of The Bronze Tiger.  He eventually broke his programming and served as a "good" member of The Suicide Squad.  He is one of the few characters in the comics to have defeated Batman in a one-on-one martial arts fight.


Technobabble

Lots of new toys, this time around.  Ollie uses a smoke-screen to evade the police along with the Grappling Hook arrow we first saw last week.  He also makes use of a Taser Arrow against Bronze Tiger and saves Diggle from China White through what seems to be a bola-based Handcuff Arrow. 


Dialogue Triumphs

The new intro - "My name is Oliver Queen.  I spent five years on a hellish island.   I have come home with only one goal: to so save my city.  But to do so, I can't be the killer I once was.  To honor my friend's memory, I must be someone else.  I must be... something else."

Ollie's Elliot S! Magin response to Roy's disbelief that Ollie knows how he feels. - The world doesn't work anymore. It broke a long time ago but it was like you were the only one who noticed. That makes you angry. And you're afraid that anger is going to burn you up inside if you have to live in the world for one second longer knowing that you could do something to fix it.

Diggle's glib response to Felicity's complaining about her new "secret identity" as Ollie's personal assistant - Well, it could be worse.  My secret identity is his black driver. 

Every moment involving Ollie, Felicity and her making coffee. 

Ollie: Well, I'm just lucky that Oliver Queen has a reputation for not showing up on time.
Diggle: You know, I've been meaning to tell you it really weirds me out to no end the way you refer to yourself in the third person like that.   

Blood: Crucifixion has such a bad reputation.  The Romans used it to punish people who acted against the public good.  

China White: (The Police) still won't see you as anything more than the enemy.  Yiou'll never be anything more than a criminal to them.  Which means you'll never be a hero.
The Hood: As long as this city is safe, it doesn't matter.



Continuity

The stone pendant Ollie gave Thea back in The Pilot makes an appearance, as Thea gives it to Roy as part of her ultimatum.  In a flashback, we discover that Ollie originally took it from the body of a dead WWII-era Japanese soldier on the island.  China White, first seen in 102, appears again leading the Triad thugs stealing from FEMA.  Roy makes reference to there being other vigilantes in The Glades besides The Hood but Laurel Lance is only interested in The Hood.  Precisely 503 people died in The Glades because of Malcolm Merlyn's earthquake machine.  First appearance of Sebastian Blood.  John and Carly broke up because Diggle felt guilty dating his brother's widow while his killer (Deadshot) still roamed free.  Laurel saw The Hood walking away from Tommy Merlyn's body sometime after the events of 123 and blames him for Tommy's death, claiming Tommy might have lived had The Hood not been busy dueling Malcolm Merlyn.  Roy has one of The Hood's arrow-shaped throwing darts, but he painted it red.  The Hood tells him to put it in the alley behind Verdant when Roy needs to contact him.  Roy is officially recruited to work for The Hood as his eyes and ears in The Glades. 


The Bottom Line

This episode is amazing from start to finish.  And then it hits the cliffhanger and your mind is completely blown.  They are not pulling any punches this year.  In the words of Willy Wonka, "The suspense is terrible.  I hope it lasts!"