Synopsis:
A murderer begins taking out gang members in Starling City, and when a body shows up in Ted Grant's gym he becomes a suspect. Oliver follows Ted to another body, where Ted denies killing anyone and reveals to Oliver that he was once a vigilante who retired after a drug dealer was beaten to death by accident. The pair follow the clues to the location where the drug dealer was killed. The murderer shows, which Ted reveals was his former protégé Isaac Stanzler, and who was responsible for the death of the drug dealer, but is bested by Oliver before escaping. Isaac kidnaps Ted and Laurel, but Oliver and his team are able to successfully stop him. Meanwhile, Roy tells Felicity about his dreams and has her run tests on any Mirakuru that may be in his system still. The test reveals no Mirakuru, but Felicity shows Roy other evidence that corroborates his fears. Roy confesses to Oliver and Laurel that he killed Sara. Using a technique learned in Hong Kong, Oliver helps Roy access his memories to realize that he did not kill Sara; however, Roy discovers he did kill a cop while under the effects of Mirakuru.
Some good tension around Roy, and also the previous vigilante storyline. Generally, an engaging episode.
But there are a couple of concerns developing.
Firstly, Laurel is now the District Attorney for Starling City. This is a position of power she should be able to use to get justice. Instead, she now wants to become a street-fighting vigilante. That feels wrong in some ways. Granted, she is driven to avenge her sister, but it feels like a situation where male writers think that a woman can only be powerful if she's physically attacking things - "chick with a dick" as it's sometimes referred to - when simply being in control is the core of a character being powerful. As DA she has that power - and she is not being shown to use it to any degree.
Secondly, Arrow faces too many opponents armed with a bow and arrow. Malcolm Merlin, The League of Assassins, Sara, Roy, Huntress - and now yet another antagonist appears, whose main weapon is a bow and arrow. I mean, seriously? I know it's a flaw in comics that the superhero will face enemies who mirror their main power of situation, but this is getting silly.
Thirdly, in season 1 when Oliver was catching up on a trail of Malcolm Merlin, he did things such as try to identify the source and manufacturer of the arrows. So why has that not happened so far with those that supposedly killed Sara? Surely he's figured out if they're off the shelf, his own, or those commonly used by the League of Assassins? It's already been established that everyone's using their own - so why have we had no progress here? A little acknowledgement would be good.
A murderer begins taking out gang members in Starling City, and when a body shows up in Ted Grant's gym he becomes a suspect. Oliver follows Ted to another body, where Ted denies killing anyone and reveals to Oliver that he was once a vigilante who retired after a drug dealer was beaten to death by accident. The pair follow the clues to the location where the drug dealer was killed. The murderer shows, which Ted reveals was his former protégé Isaac Stanzler, and who was responsible for the death of the drug dealer, but is bested by Oliver before escaping. Isaac kidnaps Ted and Laurel, but Oliver and his team are able to successfully stop him. Meanwhile, Roy tells Felicity about his dreams and has her run tests on any Mirakuru that may be in his system still. The test reveals no Mirakuru, but Felicity shows Roy other evidence that corroborates his fears. Roy confesses to Oliver and Laurel that he killed Sara. Using a technique learned in Hong Kong, Oliver helps Roy access his memories to realize that he did not kill Sara; however, Roy discovers he did kill a cop while under the effects of Mirakuru.
Some good tension around Roy, and also the previous vigilante storyline. Generally, an engaging episode.
But there are a couple of concerns developing.
Firstly, Laurel is now the District Attorney for Starling City. This is a position of power she should be able to use to get justice. Instead, she now wants to become a street-fighting vigilante. That feels wrong in some ways. Granted, she is driven to avenge her sister, but it feels like a situation where male writers think that a woman can only be powerful if she's physically attacking things - "chick with a dick" as it's sometimes referred to - when simply being in control is the core of a character being powerful. As DA she has that power - and she is not being shown to use it to any degree.
Secondly, Arrow faces too many opponents armed with a bow and arrow. Malcolm Merlin, The League of Assassins, Sara, Roy, Huntress - and now yet another antagonist appears, whose main weapon is a bow and arrow. I mean, seriously? I know it's a flaw in comics that the superhero will face enemies who mirror their main power of situation, but this is getting silly.
Thirdly, in season 1 when Oliver was catching up on a trail of Malcolm Merlin, he did things such as try to identify the source and manufacturer of the arrows. So why has that not happened so far with those that supposedly killed Sara? Surely he's figured out if they're off the shelf, his own, or those commonly used by the League of Assassins? It's already been established that everyone's using their own - so why have we had no progress here? A little acknowledgement would be good.
