Arrow Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 5 - Human Target

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




Plot

When Wild Dog gives up Green Arrow's secret identity to Tobias Church, Oliver will seek the help of an old friend of John Diggle. Meanwhile, Felicity finds her secret life and her personal life intersecting when her new boyfriend joins the SCPD's special Anti-Crime Unit as Wild Dog and Digg work through their issues together.


Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Judd Winick, Kevin Smith's Quiver (Oliver's line about Tobias Church looking like he's seen a ghost) and Peter Milligan's The Human Target comics. 


Goofs

Team Arrow is once again all over the place on using lethal force. Yet Oliver doesn't kill Tobias Church, who knows his secret identity, when he killed one of Church's underlings earlier in the season when escaping Church's clutches.


Performances

The high point of the episode is the interactions between David Ramsey and Rick Gonzalez as John Diggle and Rene Ramirez - two former soldiers whose moral codes took them outside of the structure they swore to serve - bond over their mutual need for redemption.


Artistry

Good fight choreography throughout the fifth segment.


Trivia

Christopher Chance is the second hero to take the name The Human Target, though he is the better known of the two. He first appeared in Action Comics #419 (December 1972). A body-guard, detective, method-actor and master of disguise, Chance filled a unique niche, impersonating his clients to keep them out of harm's way. Chance appeared sporadically in various books, eventually earning a Vertigo mini-series in 1999 and a monthly comic which lasted for 21 issues. The final issue was published in 2005.

Despite his relative obscurity in the comics, this is the third time Christopher Chance has been depicted in a live-action TV series. The first came in 1992, when singer/actor Rick Springfield played him in a short-lived Human Target TV series on ABC. The second came in 2010, when Mark Valley played him a new Human Target TV series. This series lasted two seasons on Fox.

The original Human Target was a man named Fred Venable who appeared in Detective Comics #201 (November 1953). Vernable had a gift for impersonation and offered himself out as a body double to help people in need. Batman came to his aid after Venable's daughter was kidnapped to force him to aid a criminal gang. Ironically, Venable had to come to Batman's aid in the end by using his talents to impersonate Batman!

When confronting Tobias Church, Green Arrow says that he looks like he's seen a ghost. These were the first words Oliver Queen said in the classic Green Arrow story Quiver.

The four cities making up Tobias Church's criminal empire are Bludhaven, Hub City, Keystone City and Whiteholland.  In the DC Comics Universe, Bludhaven is the home turf of Nightwing. Hub City is the home turf of The Question. Keystone City is the sister city of Central City and home of the Jay Garrick Flash and the Wally West Flash. All of these cities have been mentioned in previous episodes of Arrow and The Flash.


Dialogue Triumphs

(A thug is caught by a snare arrow. He finds himself hanging from a fire escape, facing Artemis.)
Thug: Hey, you're a lot cuter than the green guy!
Artemis: Awww.  You're kinda cute too, in a "I feel sorry for you" kind of way. Where's Church?
Thug: Yeah? Who wants to know?
Green Arrow: (from behind Thug) The Green Guy!

(After Diggle walks into The Bunker.)
Ragman: Do people just walk into your secret base of operations?
Felicity and Curtis: Yes.

Diggle: You guys must be the new kids on the block?
Curtis: More like The Backstreet Boys.
(Nobody except Felicity laughs.)
Curtis: It was funny in my head.

Oliver: I'll be fine.
Felicity: Have you ever - (turns to John) Has he ever actually said that and it turn out to be true?

Anatoly: To survivors of Amazo. May we experience as much sorrow as drops of wine about to be left in glass.

(Team Arrow is watching Quentin's press conference on Oliver's death.)
Felicity: He never did say anything that nice about you when you were alive.
Oliver: Probably didn't deserve it.
(The elevator to the bunker opens. Out steps Oliver Queen in a suit full of bullet holes.)
"Oliver": Sorry about the suit.
("Oliver" pulls off his face to reveal that he is Christopher Chance.)
Chance: Ah. We haven't been properly introduced. Heads up.
(Chance throws his mask at Felicity, who fumbles with it, grossed out. Chance shakes hands with Oliver.)
Chance: Christopher Chance.
Oliver: John referred to you "The Human Target". 
Chance: Well, that works better as a job description than it does as a nickname.

(Anatoly notices an attractive blonde woman making eyes at Oliver.)
Anatoly: There is old saying in Russian. Okay - maybe not Russian, but it still works. "There's no problem beautiful woman cannot fix." Now go talk to her before I do.

Oliver: So thanks for doing this.
Chance: Being killed is basically my job.
Oliver:  But, uh - not just for taking the bullets. I heard that you got Kullens to cave.
Chance: Yeah. And scored you a very pretty girl's phone number.
Oliver: I - I heard that too.
Chance: No, but the truth is you did that.
Oliver: I was under the impression that I had been down here all day.
Chance: I don't just put on faces, Oliver. I become my target. And to do that, I've got to learn everything there is to know about them. More than they know about themselves. I've got to become them.
Oliver: (laughs) My apologies.
Chance: What for? Man, you've got a great life.You're the mayor.
(Oliver makes a face.)
Chance: But you'd still rather be The Hood than Oliver Queen.
Oliver: Oliver Queen... has - has never really been my better half.
Chance: Nobody moves forward in life when they're hiding behind a mask. Trust me. You know, it's why you're struggling as mayor? And it's probably why you won't call that girl.
Oliver: That's not the reason.
Chance: Listen, I'm the last person to give dating advice, but...Felicity moved on. You should too.
(Ollie shifts a little. Chance reads the gesture perfectly.)
Chance: You didn't know? Sorry....

(Oliver just climbed onto the balcony of Felicity's loft.)
Felicity: You do remember that this apartment has a front door, right?
Oliver: Well, front doors are more for people who haven't just faked their own death.

Diggle: When it comes to guilt and recrimination, the line forms behind me. I didn't think I was ready to face what I had done but I'm wearing this suit again because I think it's a path to redemption.
(Diggle holds up Wild Dog's mask.)
Diggle: And it could be for you too.


Continuity

The first scene of this episode occurs some 20 hours after Tobias Church started torturing Wild Dog.

Tobias Church is trying to take over Star City because of its harbors. He plans to start the largest drug-smuggling operation ever by consolidating the criminal underworlds of five cities.

Wild Dog breaks under torture and tells Tobias Church that Oliver Queen is The Green Arrow.

Prometheus tries to kill Tobias Church again. He lets him off with a second warning, saying there will not be a third.

Christopher Chance is an old colleague of John Diggle.

Tobias Church hires a "freak" (i.e. costumed mercenary) who is fast enough to catch arrows as a bodyguard. We never find out his name or backstory.

Oliver Queen (really Christopher Chance) gets Susan Williams to agree to hold off on hit-pieces for one month and gets her personal phone number. He also discovers the secret past of Councilman Kullens as a crony capitalist and his current connections to a real estate developer that would lose money on a rezoning deal he's helping to kill.

John Diggle makes reference to being tortured by his brother during the conflict with HIVE.

Wild Dog was dishonorably discharged from the Navy for beating a prisoner of war.

Christopher Chance tells Oliver that Felicity is dating Billy Malone and that Malone seemed to think Oliver already knew this.

The Brace is the local nickname for Halpin-Brace Airfield - a private airstrip outside of Pennytown.

Bludhaven, Hub City, Keystone and Whiteholland were the four other cities under Tobias Church's control.

Oliver tells Felicity that he is fine with her dating again.

Susan Williams has a source named Ian who gives her a picture of Oliver Queen in Russia, with the Bratva, five years earlier when he was supposed to be stranded on a deserted island. He also tells her of Christopher Chance's involvement in helping fake Oliver Queen's death. She apparently knows who Christopher Chance is.

Prometheus kills Tobias Church, just after Church tells him Oliver Queen is Green Arrow.

We find out in this episode that Oliver did not visit Taiana's family before he joined The Bratva.

Though Oliver didn't know it, he had an encounter with Christopher Chance five years earlier in Russia. Anatoly hired him to kill the underlings of another Bratva named Viktor before they could kill Oliver.


The Winick Factor

Artemis and Mr. Terrific get their asses kicked by Church's hired "freak". The only thing that saves them is Christopher Chance's arrival in disguise as a gang member.


The Bottom Line

Like many episodes of Season One and Two which seemed to be simple filler episodes meant to throw out throw-away references to an established DC Comics character, this one suddenly becomes significant in the final five minutes. The writing is strictly standard but the established ensemble manage to sell the material on pure charisma rooted in the audience's love of the characters. Not a great episode but an enjoyable one.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 4 - Penance

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



Plot

When Lyla asks Oliver for help in breaking John out of a military prison, Oliver goes off despite Felicity's objections. While Oliver's gone, Tobias Church launches a serious of vicious attacks on the police, requiring the rest of the new Team Arrow to move against him.


Influences

The TV show Prison Break and the Judd Winick run on Green Arrow.


Goofs

Team Arrow moves to confront Oliver in costume but without their masks?

The circle Oliver makes in the hole of Diggle's cell looks far too neatly cut for something created by an aerosol compound.


Artistry

The script does a fine job of drawing parallels between various sequences. For instance, the flashback plot mirrors the current events, with both stories involving Oliver breaking into a prison. There's also some brilliant interplay between Oliver and Diggle's escape from a military prison and Team Arrow and the Police escaping the police building being attacked by Tobias Church's men.


Trivia

The briefcase Team Arrow recovers in the opening sequence was stolen from Kord Industries. This is a nod to the business run by Ted Kord who - in the DC Comics Universe - was a scientist superhero and the second hero to use the name The Blue Beetle.

This episode marks the first time that Evelyn Sharpe is seen using a bow and is addressed by the codename Artemis.

The original Artemis came from the Young Justice animated series. Artemis Crock was the daughter of two super-villains - The Sportsmaster and The Tigress. She and her sister Jade were trained from a young age to take over their parents roles. After Jade ran away from home and her parents divorced, Artemis began looking for a better life. She met Green Arrow and became his protege, with Green Arrow coming up with a story about her being his niece to hide her connection to a criminal family.

In the original comics, Rory Regan's father was a pawn-shop owner named Gerry Regan and a Veteran. The DCTVU version of Rory Regan's father is also a pawn-shop owner and a Veteran, but his name is also Rory Regan. This is taken from the origin of the post-Crisis Ragman from the comics, who was the latest in a long-line of Ragmen.

John Diggle's cell number is 1138. The number 1138 has been used in a number of media - mostly as a reference to George Lucas' first film THX-1138.

The IP address Oliver is given for communicating with Kovar is 108.166.7.161. This is the IP address for The CW Network's website.


Technobabble

Oliver steals an anti-molecular compound capable of dissolving any material from PalmerTech. This is used to break the floor of John's cell.

The item stolen from Kord Industries by Tobias Church's man was a 6800 computer processor available for purchase in any computer store. Curtis notes that it makes no sense for this to have been stolen given the more valuable cutting-edge technology Kord Industries makes that could have been taken.

The man Oliver talks to communicates with Kovar through a digital dead-drop on the Dark Web. The IP address is 108.166.7.161.

Felicity is able to predict where Tobias Church and his men are heading by cross-plotting his prior locations into a projection algorithm.


Dialogue Triumphs

Adrian Chase: Public service isn't easy. Sometimes you get a little dirty clearing out the filth.

(A black-clad figure moves into a secure area at Palmer Tech. Suddenly, their phone begins to vibrate. The figure stops and pulls up their mask. It is Oliver Queen.)
Ollie: What's up?
Felicity: Hey. There's been a break-in at PalmerTech. Are you still in the area?
Ollie: Uh, yeah. I can look into that.

(Ollie enters into The Bunker, still wearing his burglar blacks. Felicity is waiting for him.)
Felicity: How was PalmerTech? Before you answer, you should consider that your phone has GPS. And if you were thinking about lying, I do admire your consistency.
Ollie: I wasn't thinking of lying to you. I was't looping you in after you made it clear you didn't approve of the decision
Felicity: John's the one who doesn't approve of the plan.
Ollie: John's not thinking clearly.
Felicity: Well, I'll bet Roy is. And if he were here, I think he would tell you that life on the run is no life at all. And I seem to remember you not being on-board with that plan.
Ollie: Roy was making a bad choice. Just like John is making a bad choice. He is currently locked up in a military prison for a crime he didn't commit!
Felicity: To atone for a crime that he did commit! And what does it matter? John doesn't want to leave! It is not your choice! Why do you always have to make decisions for him?!
Ollie: He already abandoned the team. I am not going to let him abandon his family.
Felicity: Is that what this is about?  John leaving the team?
Ollie: This is simple. I am going to stop John from making a decision that he will come to regret. You should consider doing the exact same thing with Rory.
Felicity: You do realize that me having a chat with Rory is completely different than you committing half-a-dozen felonies, right?

Adrian Chase: Did you ever think you'd be doing this again? Handling evidence?
Quentin Lance: No. Didn't think I'd be Deputy Mayor either, but here we are.
Adrian Chase: I was surprised you took the job, to be honest. From what I hear, you and Queen have a, uh... complicated history. Got a lot of hatchets to be buried there.
Quentin Lance: Yeah. Well, at least I know where they're buried. That's something you can't buy or steal.

(Oliver easily took down the rest of Team Arrow when they tried to stop him from leaving town.)
Curtis: You know, Felicity? Could you please explain to me again how you thought this was all gonna go down?
Felicity: I thought that if he saw you all united against his crazy plan, he'd reconsider.
Curtis: Right. Because Oliver Queen is known for thinking things through and taking input from others.

Ollie: Tell me where I can find Kovar.
Pytor: You think you scare me more than him?
Ollie: No, but he's not locked up in here with you. I am.

Sergio: I'm not rolling on Church. You think you scare me more than him?
Adrian Chase: No. But he's not here with you. I am.
(Chase stands up and begins to roll-up his shirt sleeves.)
Sergio: Hmm. You're not going to a beating on me. You're a D.A.
Adrian Chase: Yeah. Haven't you heard?  All of the justice in this town comes from vigilantes.

Evelyn: Things have really fallen apart without Oliver, haven't they?
Oliver: (entering the room) A good thing I'm back then.
(Everyone turns to look at him.)
Rory: Was he waiting for an entrance line?
Curtis: Nope. He's just that cool.

(Tobias Church walks into the room where his men are torturing Wild Dog.)
Tobias Church: Man. (gestures to a bruise on his face) Been a long time since someone tagged me like this. Respect.
Wild Dog: Oh, my pleasure. But I promise you if you untie me, I'll show you a hell of a lot more than respect.
Tobias Church: Oooh, man, you've got spirit. And I am duly impressed. But I'm gonna break that spirit. I'm gonna break your soul. And when we're finished, assuming that you're still alive - now, I wouldn't bet no money on that, though - there's gonna be very little of you left for The Green Arrow to work with.


Continuity

Curtis Holt was a bronze-medalist in the Decathlon.

Evelyn Sharpe is identified by the codename Artemis and seen using a bow for the first time.

Curtis Holt is identified by the codename Mr. Terrific for the first time.

Wild Dog served in the US Navy, but was dishonorably discharged.

As of this episode, Quentin Lance hasn't had a drink in a week.

Rory Regan is a sculptor who welds scrap metal together.

Rory Regan's father was a pawn-shop owner.

Rory Regan's father was a Gulf War Veteran - 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines. He was also named Rory Regan and he too wore The Ragman costume before passing it on to his son.

John's cell number is 1138.

18 Mill Road is where the Anti-Crime Unite of the SCPD is bunkered.

The Ragman costume is capable of deflecting a bomb blast and repelling bullets.

Oliver sets up John in an old HIVE hideout until they can find a more permanent solution.

Wild Dog is captured by Tobias Church and is being tortured by him and his men as the episode ends.

In the flashbacks, Oliver passes his third and final test to join The Bratva. This requires him to kill a person on orders from Anatoly with no questions asked.


Location

U.S. Disciplinary Barracks - Langham Penitentiary

In the flashbacks, Oliver goes into an unnamed Russian jail in an unnamed Russian city.


The Bottom Line

Not bad but a far cry from the quality of everything we've seen so far this season. It's telling that the most interesting interaction is between Adrian Chase and Quentin Lance and the hints at Adrian Chase becoming a Vigilante himself. Everything else in the episode is competently executed, but is awfully repetitive up until Wild Dog sacrifices himself to complete the objective. 

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 2 - The Recruits

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



Plot

Oliver seeks out Wild Dog and Evelyn Sharpe with the intent of recruiting them for Team Arrow. Along with Curtis Holt, who seeks Oliver's tutelage of dealing with his own feelings of helplessness following a mugging, the three will start training to become a better class of vigilante. But will they be able to cope with Oliver's strenuous regiment? And how will Oliver balance training his new team with allegations of corruption in a company partnering with the city and the new

In the flashbacks, Oliver continues his initiation into The Bratva.


Influences

The Judd Winick run of Green Arrow (Oliver Queen tries to balance being mayor and a superhero.), Keith Giffen's Ragman miniseries (origin and powers of Ragman) and Grant Morrison's JLA (character of Prometheus).


Goofs

It's a little unbelievable that Curtis or Evelyn - who are supposed to be super-geniuses - wouldn't figure out the purpose of Ollie's "ring the bell" test was to encourage teamwork or at least hit on the idea of working together to overcome Green Arrow themselves. This is particularly damning in Curtis' case since he knows Ollie is trying to build a team!

The subplot with Diggle seems rushed and is a distraction from the main storyline and seems to be occurring only to railroad Diggle back to Star City as soon as possible. There's no logical reason why the corrupt CO should leave Diggle alive and try to frame him for the theft after Diggle refuses to sign a confession for the crime since he already has six soldiers willing to finger Diggle for his crime.

While it seems likely Tobias Church could have walked based on the evidence on hand - particularly with the corruption in the SCPD at present time - it still seems like we could have seen him being arrested after being knocked out by Ragman just as the police were arriving.


Performances

It's good to see Emily Bett Rickards bringing Felicity back to her previous levels of snarkiness. While I don't have the mad-on for Olicity shipping that some elements of the fandom seem to have (Personally, I'm still holding out for a Sara/Oliver romance in the end),  I do think Felicity was softened a bit too much during Season Four as she had tragedy after tragedy thrown at her. Her portrayal in this episode is much more in line with how the character was in the first three seasons. Yet there's more of an edge to her here where she is willing to call Ollie on his bullshit but also ready to drag him out of the doldrums when self-doubt starts weighing on his soul.

On that note, Stephen Amell perfectly captures an aspect of Ollie's character from the comics I can't recall seeing on the show before. Or at least, not handled so well - his tendency to lash out at others when he's doubting himself. We see that here as he plays Drill Sargent to the new recruits, being hard upon them because he blames himself for letting things get to this point in Star City and for driving away everyone else on Team Arrow.


Artistry

Excellent parkour and stunt work on the opening sequence with Wild Dog.

The transition between Green Arrow training the new recruits and the flashback of Ollie doing the same test as part of his Bratva initiation proves well directed.

On that note, the show's writing has done a great job this season of making the flashbacks more directly relevant to the story in the modern day.

The special effects for the Ragman costume are some of the best in the show's history.

It's a nice touch cutting to Felicity as she overhears The Ragman telling his story to Janet Carroll, showing her horror at what happened to this man because of the one missile she couldn't disarm. It adds another human element to an already horrific story.


Trivia

Green Arrow asks Rene Ramirez if he "wants to be a man in a hockey mask" or "something else". This is a bit of a riff on actor Stephen Amell, who also played vigilante Casey Jones - whose beats people up using sporting gear while wearing a hockey mask - in the second Michael Bay Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.

Another nod to the number 52 - the address Ollie has Wild Dog, Evelyn Sharpe and Curtis Holt meet him at for training is 52 Matthews Blvd.

Anther mention of Hub City - home of the vigilante The Question in the DC Comics Universe.

AmerTek is a military-industrial firm in the DC Comics Universe. They were original enemies of John Henry Irons (a.k.a. Steel) and first appeared in Steel #1 (February 1994). The company stole Irons' weapons and armor designs and attempted to use them against him and his family when Irons thwarted their efforts to sell military gear to criminal interests. They fill a similar role in this episode, as an amoral weapons manufacturer willing to sell military ordnance to Tobias Church.

Rory Regan a.k.a. The Ragman first appeared in Ragman #1 (August/September 1976). The series only lasted five issues, but is considered by many to be a classic of The Bronze Age of Comics.

A Vietnam Veteran, Rory worked for his father in a pawn shop he ran in Gotham City. Rory's father, Gerry, was a kind man, who frequently overpaid people in need for what they sold him or held on to items with no intent of selling them so people could buy them back later. His father wished to build a better life for his son and seemed to have had his wish granted when he discovered that a mattress he'd bought contained a small fortune. The money turned out to have been stolen during a bank heist and the mattress was meant to hide the money until the heat was off.

Gerry Regan and some of his friends were tortured by the thieves using electrical wiring in the shop and Rory himself was nearly shocked trying to free the elderly men.  The shock passed the abilities of the old men into Rory, giving him the agility of a circus acrobat, the strength of a weight-lifter and the fighting skills of a prize-fighter. Donning a raggedy costume his father had bought recently, Rory Regan became the Ragman and went on to help Batman with fighting crime in Gotham on several occasions.

This background would be modified by writer/artist Keith Giffen in a 1991 mini-series. The background would remain largely intact, with Rory Regan still a dutiful son to pawn-shop owner Gerry Reagan. The biggest change is that unlike the previous series, which identified the Regans as Irish, they were now Jewish and Rory was the latest in a long-line of Ragmen.

Rory became the newest Ragman shortly after he and his father were beaten and left for dead following their refusal to let their shop be used as a front by a local gang. Rory was released for the hospital and returned home, only to find it had been taken over by gang members posing as his aunt and uncle. He discovered the suit by accident, at which point it latched onto him and then attacked the drug-dealers, absorbing the soul of the woman posing as his aunt into it.

A rabbi later told Rory the origin of the suit and of his father's heroic life before journeying to America. The suit was created in the 16th century as a counterpoint to the infamous Golem of Prague. Knowing that some people feared The Golem as a creature that had no capacity for independent thought, The Rabbis crafted a suit that would give a single good man the power to fight great evil. Rory's father, he found out, had been The Ragman during World War II, and used its power to fight the Nazis by defending Jewish communities in Germany.

The Ragman suit allows its wearer to access the physical abilities, mental skills and memories of every evil soul trapped within the suit. This is not done easily, however, and attempting to draw on too many souls at once can leave The Ragman dazed. The suit can absorb the souls of truly evil people who The Ragman fights, but doing so leaves the wearer sick and weak for a time. The suit grants some degree of invulnerability and increases the strength, speed and stamina of the wearer. The suit allows the wearer to sense the presence of evil, albeit by trying to attack the evil in question. The suit can teleport The Ragman to wear he is needed and can remain hidden under other clothing, manifesting once it is needed. Finally, the suit can be reshaped at-will into other forms and weapons.

Comics historians note that Ragman undoubtedly had an influence on both Venom and Spawn, despite never being as popular as the later anti-heroes.

Though his name is not given in this episode, IMDB identifies the DCTVU Ragman as Rory Regan. We do not know the extent of his powers yet, but the Ragman costume is apparently protective enough to allow the wearer to survive a nuclear missile strike at ground zero. Based on how easily he throws people around, he also has some degree of super-strength and super-agility. The suit appears to have some shape-shifting properties, allowing the costume to elongated and entangle a target. Both versions are definitely Jewish and are devoted sons following in their father's footsteps.

Ragman says that his costume comes "from the time of Devarim." Devarim is part of the Torah, corresponding to the first book of Deuteronomy in the Christian Bible. This would place the rags as dating back to the time of Moses - a bit further back than the 2000 years Felicity cites earlier in the episode as Moses was believed to have died in 1200 BC.

The new masked villain who killed Lieutenant Conahan in the last episode identifies himself to Tobias Church as Prometheus. Prometheus is a super-villain who first appeared in the Prometheus: New Year's Evil one-shot (February 1998). 

Created by writer Grant Morrison and artist Arnie Jorgenson for Morrison's JLA, Morrison intended for Prometheus to be an anti-Batman.  The son of career criminals (who were loving parents, regardless of their other crimes), this unnamed boy witnessed his parents being gunned down the police following a tense stand-off. After growing up, he used the fortune they had hidden to finance his training as he swore revenge upon the ideals of justice, law and order. This led to him formulating a series of plans that would allow him to take on the Justice League single-handed in an effort to prove himself the greatest criminal of all time. He returned several times to plague The JLA before finally being hunted down and killed by Green Arrow in the Justice League: Cry For Justice mini-series.

Thus far, there seems little in common between the comics's version of Prometheus and his DCTVU counterpart aside from a costume that conceals most of his features, advanced training with a variety of weapons and a desire to attack and kill lawmen and superheros.


Technobabble

Diggle's team is sent to retrieve a trigger to a nuclear missile before Chechen rebels find it.

Felicity uses a KH-10 Spy Satellite to find footage of The Ragman's attack the AmerTek VP.

Green Arrow uses a grappling arrow to save Wild Dog's life and tries to use a net arrow to catch Ragman.

Analyzing the rag Wild Dog took off of the Ragman costume requires a gas chromatograph.

The rag Wild Dog recovered is found to be 2000 years old and radioactive.

The radioactive chemical on the rag came from a nuclear missile manufactured by Atomic Defensive Systems - a subsidiary of AmerTek - and launched on Genesis Day.


Dialogue Triumphs

Oliver (voice-over): My name is Oliver Queen. After five years in Hell. I returned home with only one goal - to save my city. Today I fight that war on two fronts. By day, I lead Star City as its mayor. But by night, I am someone else. I am... something else. I am The Green Arrow.

(Curtis and Felicity watch Oliver climb the salmon ladder with ease.)
Curtis: Impossible.
Felicity: It's really hot - I mean NOT!  It's not.
Ollie: (jumping down from the top of the ladder) Curtis, if you think this is hard, wait until I actually start training you.
Curtis: What happens then?
Ollie: The last guy got an arrow in the leg before he even started.
Curtis: That was Roy, right?
Ollie: ... also Roy, but I'm talking about Wild Dog.
Felicity: And you did put two arrows in Barry Allen's back.
Curtis: I'm starting to sense a pattern...

Diggle: Fear is part of war - the part that keeps us alive.

Felicity: (refering to the Wender attack) What's your interest in this, anyway?
Ollie: AmerTek is helping us with a charity event and all of a sudden one of their vice-presidents is attacked? It cannot be a coincidence.
Felicity: Not in this city.

Wild Dog: I'm hear to learn something, man. Not just get beat up.
Green Arrow: I told you. I am teaching you.
Evelyn: Teaching us what, exactly? Because actually I find myself agreeing with the scary weird guy.
Green Arrow: (sighing) The goal of this exercise... is to figure out the goal of this exercise. Now get on the line!

Ollie: It took me five years in Hell to turn into someone capable of going out there. You know who didn't have five years? Laurel Lance. And now she's dead.

Ollie: Curtis, do you know what the purpose of this exercise is?
Curtis: To figure out the purpose of this exercise?
Ollie: No! It's to work together because that is the only way that you win. That is what I've been trying to teach you!
Curtis: Well maybe there's a reason why you couldn't. We. Don't. Trust. You.
Ollie: That's on you.
Curtis: No, man. That's on you! Because you don't trust us. Because you don't want us!
Felicity: Okay. This is a set-back. We can salvage this. (To Curtis) They'll listen to you. Can't you just tell them how Oliver usually approaches things, and-
Curtis: I tried that. I told them all about how you and Speedy and Spartan were a family. And even though you were tough and scary and even a little abusive, they clearly trusted you because they stood by you. But then it hit me - no, they didn't. They left. And now I know why. You don't respect people. You don't know how to have partners. You don't build people up. You tear them down. I thought I could trust you. That we could trust you. But I was wrong. And that's why I'm out too.

Ollie: I failed these recruits as a leader.
Felicity: Well, that's because you're not a leader. But in your defense you never set out to be. You never planned on doing this with partners. Though I don't think you ever had any way around that one.
Ollie: How so?
Felcity: When I got to know you - the real you - I was in awe. I had never met anyone so passionate. So focused and determined to make a real difference. The recruits didn't get to see the real you, because all you showed them was this angry guy in a mask. Like, scary angry!
Ollie: I just thought that if they didn't know who I was it would make things easier.
Felicity: How is that supposed to make it easier for them?!
Ollie: For me. Easier for me.

Ragman: They all died in fire. Your fire. Your weapon. All for your money!
Janet Carroll: What are you talking about?
Ragman: I'm talking about the KN-08. Your pride and joy. Over 15,000 missiles launched on Genesis Day. Only one found its mark - yours.
Janet Carroll: (stammering) No! No, we definitely built those missiles to keep people safe! But it was Damien!  It was Damien Darhk, who...
Ragman: - couldn't have done anything if you hadn't given him the tools!  Your missile killed everyone in my home. I am the very last living soul of Havenrock. And I carry with me a message from all those souls you killed.
(Ragman steps in closer as tendrils emerge from his coat and wrap around Janet Carroll's neck. Close by, Tobias Church is trying to drive an arrow into the face of a prone Green Arrow.)
Green Arrow: Ragman!
(Ragman turns to regard Green Arrow, releases Janet Carrol, grabs Church and throws him to the ground, knocking him out. Green Arrow stands as Janet Carrol tries to run away behind him.)
Green Arrow: Thank you.
Ragman: Thank me by not standing in my way!
Green Arrow: Let her go!
(He nods in the direction Janet Carrol is fleeing, where red and blue police lights can be seen reflecting down the garage walls.)
Green Arrow: It's over.

(Green Arrow stands on the rooftop of the BAM2 Muay Thai Training Center. Ragman emerges from the shadows behind him.)
Green Arrow: Thank you for coming.
Ragman: Your offer sounded... intriguing. Why did you make it?
Green Arrow: Why did you give up your vengeance to save my life?
Ragman: I don't know.
(Ragman pulls down his cowl and mask. The face he makes as he does so suggests great pain.)
Ragman: I think it's what my father would have wanted me to do. He saved my life. On Genesis Day. Wrapped me in these rags. Said they were ancient. From the time of Devarim. That they would... protect me from the fire
Green Arrow: And they did.
Ragman: So you see why I have to avenge him?
Green Arrow: Your father didn't give up his life so you could become a killer.
Ragman: You don't know that!
Green Arrow: My father gave up his life to save mine. He made me promise to be better than him. To save this city in a way he never could. It's been nearly ten years since that day. So far I've failed.
Ragman: Why are you telling me this?
Green Arrow: Because I don't want to fail anymore. I can't do it alone. I need a team. Let's honor the legacies of our fathers. Together.
(Green Arrow offers his hand. Ragman takes it and shakes.)


Continuity

Lt. Conahan is confirmed to have been killed by an arrow and a sword.

Curtis confirms that Tobias Church killed all the gang leaders in Hub City to unite them under his leadership.

Reference was made to Oliver shooting Roy Harper in the leg before he officially started training him (208) and shooting Barry Allen in the back as part of his training (F108)

Three hospitals have closed within the past 18 months in Star City.

The "get past me and ring the bell" exercise was part of Ollie's first test in joining the Bratva.

Wild Dog was protecting the streets solo for five months.

Diggle is stationed at Camp Braidwood in Latvia.

The VP at AmerTek that Ragman attacks is Evan Wender. He was suffocated according to the ICU doctors.

Janet Carroll is the CEO of AmerTek.

The gas chromatograph.in The Bunker was destroyed by HIVE Ghosts.  Felicity has her new boyfriend run the tests for her in the CCPD lab.

Oliver never talks about his time in the Bratva.

According to Oliver, nobody in the Bratva knows one another's names or who they were before they joined The Bratva. This eliminated attachment

We find out the name of Felicity's new cop boyfriend - Billy Malone.

The men whom Oliver worked with to ring the bell in his Bratva test were killed. Oliver was chosen to move on because teaming up to ring the bell was his idea and the Bratva values intelligence. It was also meant to teach Oliver the lesson to not trust anyone.

The day the nukes destroyed Monument Point is now known as Genesis Day.

Janet Carroll made a bargain with Tobias Church - all the material he needs to take over Star City for 100 million dollars.

John Diggle is framed for attempting to steal WMDs and shooting a private under his command. He refuses to sign a confession.

Thea offers Quentin Lance the job of Deputy Mayor of Star City. He accepts it.

Oliver reveals his secret identity to Evelyn Shapre and Wild Dog.

In the final scene, Prometheus threatens Tobias Church and tells him not to try killing Green Arrow again.


Locations

Camp Braidwood, Latvia


The Fridge Factor

While Oliver is quick to point his recruits to look to the Laurel Lance statue as a source of inspiration, he also realistically reminds Felicity that Laurel was nowhere near as well trained as she should have been to take on the role of a vigilante.


The Winick Factor

Again, the writers are taking the base idea Judd Winick proposed in his run on Green Arrow following One Year Later but are doing it right.


The Bottom Line

Generally an excellent episode, but it suffers for tying to do too much. Between the training of the new recruits, introducing Ragman, the war with Tobias Church, Felicity making cute with the new boyfriend, Thea helping Quentin cope with his drinking and the flashbacks to Ollie's time in Russia, there's no room for the genuinely awful subplot involving Diggle. The whole is less than the sum of its parts, but some of those individual parts - particularly the Ragman sequences and the scenes of Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards playing off of one another - make it worth coping with the dodgier bits.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 1 - Legacy

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




Plot

In the wake of Speedy and Spartan quitting Team Arrow, Oliver Queen is finding it hard to balance both his lives as Green Arrow and Mayor of Star City. With a new crime lord named Tobias Church in town and corrupt police officers limiting the effectiveness of the few honest cops, Oliver may have to change his methods to save his city. But will that change require a return to killing? Or will he try and recruit some of the new vigilantes who have begun to patrol Star City in his absence?

Five years earlier, Oliver travels to Russia to keep his promise to Taiana and kill Kovar. He winds up running afoul of The Bratva - the Russian Mafia - but is saved by the timely arrival of an old friend.


Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Judd Winick (Oliver Queen tries to balance being a superhero and Mayor of Star City while fighting a corrupt police department, crime bosses and super-villains.)


Goofs

Unfortunately, there's little sense of drama to the Russia sequences since we know that both Ollie and Anatoly will survive. Thankfully, Anatoly at least makes the flashbacks amusing.

The "Oliver debates about killing or not killing" subplot is becoming increasingly repetitive. Hopefully it will be resolved (again!) very soon.

Ollie's unwillingness to risk more innocent lives seems fairly reasonable in the wake of Laurel's death. Lest we forget, Laurel's training was limited to some one-on-one training with a boxer/vigilante and some self-defense classes - to say nothing of the fact that she became Black Canary over Oliver's objections. And Ollie's only other attempt at trying to train an inexperienced vigilante - i.e. The Huntress - ended badly.

Some of the CGI is a little dodgy at times and the "Matrix slo-mo" scenes that appear in some of the fight scenes are random are a little distracting given the show's previous reliance on practical effects. On the other hand - Parachute Arrow.


Performances

Willa Holland's screen-time is limited in this episode, but her scene with Quentin is the emotional high-point of the episode. More than any other character on the show, she has suffered the most drastic upheavals over the past few years, having discovered the man who raised her wasn't her real father, her birth father was a murderous assassin, her mother was involved with a conspiracy to commit mass murder, her brother was a vigilante and she lost the only man she ever really loved, died, had to cope with murderous magically-driven impulses and the guilt of having been brainwashed into killing one of her friends and seeing her roommate/mentor die. Given that, her desire to live a normal, stable life in the wake of the insanity that surrounds Oliver is understandable and she doesn't seem the least bit selfish for it, given how she finally does get back into action when she thinks Oliver is honestly in danger and no one else can save him.

Once again, Paul Blackthorne is a marvel. Freed from the burden of propping up various Laurel Lance scenes, we are reminded just what he can do with quality material and a script that gives him a chance to do things besides sit in the background and be snarky.

Chad L. Coleman cuts a fine figure in his first appearance as Tobias Church. His performance here reminds me somewhat of Sidney Greenstreet and his various roles as larger-than-life gangsters whose friendly manner hides a sinister mind and a devious heart.


Artistry

The fight scenes throughout the episode are uniformly great and remain a strong point of the show.

That being said, the scene in which Green Arrow tries to fight his way inside Tobias Church's helicopter is something special.


Trivia

In the comics, Wild Dog is a vigilante hero who first appeared in Wild Dog #1 (September 1987).  Based out of the Quad Cities, Wild Dog was a man named Jack Wheeler. A football superstar in college, Jack joined The Marines after his athletic career was ended by an injury. He returned home after most of his squad was killed by a terrorist bombing. He fell in love with a young woman named Claire, who it turned out was the daughter of a mob boss who had fled her family to start a life on her own. She left Jack all of the small fortune she had taken for herself in her will and Jack used the money to buy the equipment he needed to become a vigilante. He was given the name Wild Dog by a reporter after a SWAT captain ordered his men to shoot the hero "like a wild dog in the street." He was willing to kill and fought crime using a Jatimatic GG-95 PDW and a pair of electrified shock-gloves.

The DCTVU version of Wild Dog is a man named Rene Ramirez. We do not see him using a gun or shock-gloves during his brief appearance in this episode but he attempts to disarm a bomb before Green Arrow stops him. His costume mirrors that of the comic-book version of Wild Dog, with a hockey mask and hockey jersey with a smirking cartoon dog on the chest.

"Mr. Ski Goggles", as  Felicity calls him, is modeled on the Adrian Chase version of Vigilante. Chase was the second hero to take the name of Vigilante, first appearing in 1983's New Teen Titans Annual #2. A district attorney in New York City who lost his family to mob violence, Chase became The Vigilante to strike against the criminals he could not bring to justice in his day job. Originally taking pains to not take lives and utilizing non-lethal weaponry, he became more jaded and violent as he became more and more conflicted regarding the damage he did as a costumed "hero", eventually committing suicide.

The police sketch of Vigilante we see in Felicity's profile was drawn by legendary comic creator George Perez, who co-created the Adrian Chase version of Vigilante with writer Marv Wolfman.

The hero profiles Felicity compiles include Wild Dog, Vigilante, Evelyn Sharpe, two unidentified people in costume and someone dubbed "Silver Girl" who wears a ski-mask and wields a baseball bat.

Tobias Church is a new villain, created specifically for Arrow. In terms of personality and role, he seems a lot like the comics version of the villain Brick, who also took over the various gangs of Star City in the wake of a disaster that did much to disrupt the police and local government. He also shares Brick's jovial personality and eloquent manner of speaking.

Tobias "Charon" Church is said to have torn up Hub City and Bludhaven perviously with his gangs. In the comics, Hub City is the home town of The Question and Bludhaven is the territory of Nightwing. Both cities are known for their corrupt police forces. Both cities have been referred to as criminal havens in previous episodes of Arrow.

Tobias Church's nickname is a reference to his calling card - leaving gold coins on the eyes of the people he kills. In Ancient Greece, it was traditional for a deceased person's loved ones to put coins on their eyes so that they would have something to pay Charon - the ferryman who traveled between Hades and the world of the living.

According to the credits for the show, the new boss of The Bertinelli Crime Family is a man named Pino Bertinelli. While no relationship is confirmed in the episode, Pino Bertinelli was the name of Helena Bertinelli's brother who died along with her mother and father in the original Huntress comics.

Rumor has it that the villain in the final scene is the DCTVU version of Prometheus. A full entry of his history will be added once this is confirmed. Suffice it to say, Prometheus was created by Grant Morrison during his run on JLA as "the anti-Batman" - a genius with no powers who devoted himself to the destruction of law and order after his criminal parents were killed by the police.


Technobabble

Curtis says he was called in to fix Felicity's computer in the bunker because the secondary processor kept overclocking the GPU cache.

Church sets up a kill cordon around his hostages - a collection of laser trip-wires set up to explosives that will be triggered if anyone approaches the hostages and breaks the beams.

Ollie makes use of the hacking arrow (used to give Felicity an in to disarm Anarky's bomb), an explosive arrow, the grappling hook arrow and - after being knocked out of Tobias Church's helicopter - the parachute arrow.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Thea is reassuring a police captain that Oliver will be arriving shortly to a police gala.)
Thea: He will be here. He's just taking care of a little business first.
Captain: Blonde or redhead?
Thea: Brunette, actually.
(Cut to Oliver, as Green Arrow, fighting Anarky and his men.)

Green Arrow: I thought I told you to stay off the streets?
Wild Dog: It's my city too!
Green Arrow: You want to help?
Wild Dog: Yeah!
Green Arrow: Then make a donation to the police department. And keep that elevated.
Wild Dog: Keep what elevated?
(Green Arrow spins around and shoots Wild Dog in the calf. Wild Dog falls to the ground screaming.)
Green Arrow: I don't want to see you out here again!

(As a team of corrupt cops gun down a drug dealer and get ready to take his money.)
Tobias Church: (emerging from the shadows, clapping) Bravo! Cleverness and efficiency. Very Robin Hood! But.. I doubt that you'll be providing the poor with any of these ill-gotten gains. Enlighten me?  I'm new in town.
Head Cop: Kill this prig.
Tobias Church: No! Any attempt to kill this prig will result in your swift demise.

Ollie: Sometimes saving the city takes priority over running it.

Felicity: Church runs with a crew and yours is not coming back.
Ollie: You don't know that...
Felicity: Yes, I do! It's called not being in denial. You really ought to give it a try!

(Church has Oliver and several other city council members tied up and hooded as hostages.)
Tobias Church: Gentleman and lady! This is not personal. (chuckling softly) I know it feels personal, but it is not. You are here as a means to an end. I finally figured out a way to make politicians useful-
Ollie: You want the Green Arrow?!
(Church walks over and pulls the hood off of Ollie.)
Tobias Church: Oooooooh. Yeah.
Ollie: Listen - Green Arrow is not coming. You're wasting your time.
Tobias Church: Just for the fun of it, how is it you know so much about Mr. Arrow?
Ollie: I have it on pretty good authority that he's tied up at right now.

Tobias Church: You think I'd go through all this trouble without a plan?
Ollie: Yeah.
(Church raises his eyebrows at that and nods for Ollie to continue.)
Ollie: (looking up to face Church head on) But that's because I think you're stupid.

Anatoly: Oliver Queen. My brother.
Ollie: (chuckling) Anatoly. It is very good to see you!
(Anatoly chuckles and moves behind the tied-up Oliver.)
Ollie: What are you doing?
(We don't see what he does but Oliver suddenly screams in pain as Anatoly moves around in front of him.)
Anatoly: I just dislocated thumbs. Useful if getting tied to chair is to become habit.
(Anatoly slips Oliver's hands out of the bonds and around to his front.)
Anatoly: This is going to hurt a little.
(Anatoly snaps Oliver's thumbs back into place.)
Ollie: (pained) You son of a bitch!
Anatoly: With a bit of practice you can do yourself, any time.
Ollie: Anatoly, can't you use a knife next time?!
Anatoly: What is fun of that? (laughs)

Thea: For the first time in a long time I'm really starting to feel like myself again. I'm not a killer. I'm not a vigilante. I am... I am a normal version of me. And I think just after everything that happened with Laurel I - I really needed to know that a life like this was even possible. And now that I do, I - I don't want to give it up.
Quentin: Yeah. Yeah. I-I get where you're coming from. I lost my job. I lost my daughter. I lost my girl. And you know I just wanted to hit pause on the world, yeah?
Thea: Yeah.
Quentin: But then I, uh...you know what, I listened to Oliver's speech, you know? And then I realized I can't do that. I can't hit pause on the world. I've got to get on with my life, you know? (pauses) Even if that life isn't what I want it to be.

Ollie: If you hit me again, I'm going to kill you.
Dirty Cop: You're delusional. You're zip-cuffed to that chair.
(Ollie holds up his hands to reveal that he slipped out of his bonds.)

Ollie: "Akula, kotorya Ne plavayet, Ne tonet." The shark that does not swim, drowns.

Church: I thank you all for coming out. I want to thank you all for deciding to hear my vision. The Green Arrow cannot be stopped unless - unless we all work together, under a singular command.
Gang Leader: And I suppose that leader would be you?
Tobias Church: You need someone from the outside. I know this because it took me less than twelve hours to get inside your organizations. All of them.
Pino Bertinelli: What's that mean? Get inside?
(Pino Bertinelli is shot in the back by one of his own men. He falls to the ground dead.)
Tobias Church: It means - that - Mr. Bertinelli.

Ollie: So. First you say that this is going to kill me. And now it looks like you want to initiate me.
Anataoly: Unless you are careful, it will be one and same. 
Ollie: Okay, Anatoly. So I survive this...and I'm Bratva?
Anatoly: You survive this? You can begin process of becoming Bratva.


Continuity

Anarky is seen for the first time since 422.

In the flashbacks, Ollie is trying to find Konstantin Kovar - the government strongman Taiana told him about in 422.

Felicity makes reference to Evelyn Sharpe - the teenager who impersonated Black Canary in 419 - as one of the vigilantes working in Star City without Green Arrow's sanction.

Quentin Lance returned to Star City several weeks earlier. We find out he broke up with Donna Smoak and started drinking again shortly afterward.

"The List" is seen again in the flashback. We hear some of the names in it - some of which will be familiar to long-time Arrow-heads. These include Adam Hunt (corrupt CEO Oliver went after in the first episode), Daniel Brickwell (the gangster Brick from 310 & 311), Pino Bertinelli (new mob boss of The Bertinelli family, first seen in 107.) Jason Brodeur (responsible for framing an innocent man of murder in 104.) and Leo Meuller (German arms dealer from 105.)

Oliver makes reference to ditching John Diggle in explaining how he's able to easily ditch his security detail as mayor - a frequent occurrence during the first three episodes of Arrow.

Oliver is surprisingly knowledgeable about Greek mythology, knowing who Charon is without Felicity having to explain it.

Anatoly Knyazev - the Bratva Captain who was a prisoner with Oliver and Sara on The Amazo -  was last seen in 223. Here, he saves Oliver's life from the Bratva and agrees to help him with Kovar... if Oliver can survive being inducted into the Bratva.

Oliver repeats back to Thea her words about the dead not wanting anything from 102, when she tries to remind him of his promise to Laurel and justify her quitting being a vigilante because of what Laurel would want. Ollie also references Merlyn's words in 422 about Green Arrow's biggest weakness being his unwillingness to do what is necessary because of his moral code.

Quentin puts together a list of honest cops to help Green Arrow and agrees to rejoin Team Arrow as a commander from The Bunker.

We find out the promise Oliver made to Laurel before she died in 418 - that she would not be the last Canary.

The Russian proverb that Oliver quotes to Quentin was taught to him by Anatoly, five years earlier.

Oliver creates a special Anti-Crime-Unit of the SCPD that will report directly to him, made up of four cops recommended personally by Quentin Lance.

After being mugged while looking for Wild Dog, Curtis Holt asks Oliver to train him to become a crime-fighter.

Diggle is stationed overseas - somewhere in Eastern Europe based on the map on the wall of the communications tent where he calls Oliver. He approves of Oliver's plan to start training the city's new vigilantes.

Felicity has a new boyfriend, who is waiting for her when she gets back to her loft.

Lieutenant Conahan - the highest ranking honest cop that Quentin trained - is killed by an arrow fired by an unidentified costumed character.


Location

The flashbacks take place in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.


Untelevised Adventures

We don't see how Oliver got to Russia or how he spent the five months before we find him fighting a battle to the death in an underground club.

We also don't see the last five months of Ollie trying to keep the peace alone in Star City, while dealing with other vigilantes getting in his way.

We also don't get confirmation of where Diggle is stationed or what he's been doing since reenlisting in the US Army.


The Fridge Factor

Again, Laurel's behavior on her deathbed is codependent, whiny and unworthy of the character of Dinah Lance from the comics. Hopefully this is the last we'll see of her for a while now that they've told us what her promise is and put up a statue.


The Winick Factor

The bad news is that it appears this season will be heavily based on Judd Winick's run on the comics. The good news is that - based on this first episode - the storytelling will be far better and more respectful of the Green Arrow legacy.


The Bottom Line

A solid start for the new season that evokes the memory of Arrow's first two seasons in both its direction and its script. Tobias Church is an immediately impressive villain and the episode takes care to focus on two characters - Quentin and Thea - who didn't get as much attention as they should have in Season Four. Granted, this does leave Diggle and Felicity without much to do, but we get enough mystery about the other two prongs of "The Original Trio" to drive the subplots of future episodes. All in all, this is a promising star.