My Name is Oliver Queen – Ra’s al Ghul and The League of Assassins arrives in Starling City to deliver the Alpha & Omega bio weapon and cleanse Oliver’s home. Can the extended team put aside their issues to stop him? In Hong Kong flashbacks, Oliver turns a new corner when dealing with General Shrieve.
Year 1 was an earthquake, year 2 was a super minion takeover, so how does Arrow up itself again for the hat trick? The short answer is it doesn’t. Arrow offers decent enough final chapters to many of the season's running stories, but at painfully few points does it actually feel like a climax, certainly nothing in comparison to last year. It even falls down the same whole as last week by revealing too early. Oliver comes clean to Ra’s al Ghul over deceiving him (delivering the episode title of course). While this sets up the final events, just as before, it feels like it would have been better to hold it off for a bit longer. Then, for various reasons many of the big dramatic events are lacking.... well drama. The biggest arrow in the foot is the much expected re-match between Oliver and Ra’s. In itself, this is great; it builds on the previous events of the season. The damn location heightens things nicely and the fight choreography is a good fats and swirling affair of sword and feet. Yet just one detail absolutely destroys so much of this: the hoods. It's an iconic emblem of the show. Having Oliver and Ra’s pull up their hoods allows for easier swapping in of stunt doubles, but for the majority of the fight, we actually can’t tell who’s who! Then all the fancy swordplay in world becomes redundant when we don’t know who to root for. Similarly, the bio weapon release has minimal effect to it. The brief scenes of panic and victims we see just feel a lesser duplication of the Hong Kong release. While having to stop opponents without them bleeding is a fresh challenge and a good embodiment of the teams non-killing stance, it’s still overly rushed and a little confusing. Finally, the Damien Dark tease for next season ultimately felt needless. Admittedly, it did provide some of the episodes best action moments as the different team members complete their individual assignments against Dark’s minions in quick succession, but this should of had a bigger story impact to be worthwhile. The writers missed a great chance to imply killing Dark was the plan of Ra’s all along, and Oliver’s entire ascension was just a covering rouse including deliberately not killing him (stabbing him away from the heart) on top of the mountain.
While the main events may have missed the target, the episode does handle the character interactions well. The rest of the team are appropriately pissed with Oliver for everything he’s put them through, and Stephen Amell delivers the conflict and regret well as he speaks of having to sacrifice everything for the chance of defeating Ra’s. It’s good to see some of these disputes carry through the episode past the main events. Although the team puts things aside for the greater good, there’s no illusion that everything is all good in the hoods. In any show’s finale, there’s often a “back to normal” element to it, but it’s good to see Arrow allowing for some changes and evolution to its character dynamic rather than resting on its laurels (the non-Canary kind). The best case is the former best friendship of Oliver and Diggle. They may depart under mutual respect as the team has its Avengers-like dispersal, but both understand that their relationship has undergone a permanent change. Merlyn becomes a great wildcard element. It's Oliver’s confiding in their bitter enemy over themselves that cuts the deepest. Their reluctance at accepting him as both a good guy and a stand in leader gets some good laughs. Merlyn’s final scenes also provide the episode’s biggest bombshells, making one hell of a prospect for future seasons. After becoming a genuine asset to the show as a supporting character, Nyssa/Mrs Queen (technically they’re still hitched) looks set to still play an important role this season as does the League itself. If Damien Dark’s enmity towards Ra’s still extends towards the League and indeed his daughter we could see the assassins again becoming unlikely allies with Team Arrow.
The flashback scenes fair a little better this week. They don't deliver for the story's content, which is basically an exclamation point on last week’s concluding events, but in Oliver’s reaction to them. They’re clear indicators of Oliver’s evolution as he finds the unquestioning killer instincts of the Oliver that came back from the island. As he willing.y tortures General Shrieve, he’s under no mission or obligation other than his own desire for justice. After a whole season of trying to escape being the man, Amanda Waller wanted he finally embraces it; my name is Oliver Queen and I am a killer. We even get the first outing of a signature catchphrase as Oliver declares Shrieve has failed the city. Maseo’s departure from Tatsu was a firm anti-climax, and it's nowhere near delivering on all the build up it’s been afforded. The Hong Kong scenes also have one very big ace up their sleeve and that is their ending. It’s no spoiler to say Oliver leaves Hong Kong as we know the returns to the island, but his new destination raises much curiosity over a heavily speculated topic; he boards a boat for Coast City. Yes, I know, we’re Green lantern teasing again, but building on the recent flash episode’s Hal Jordon clue (“Ferris Air, I thought this place got shut down?... it did, one of their test pilots disappeared”) everything is escalating towards at least some feature of the character being involved. The most likely bet is that we’ll see flashback Oliver meeting a pre-ring-slinging Hal Jordon and forming a friendship over a series of events (the climax of which could see Hal disappear as his origin story begins). Then if they did want (and of course have permission) to bring him back into the present day as Green Lantern the show would have logical basis for him to seek Oliver out as a friend for help with something. Or maybe by even simpler means as the roads of the final scene looks highly familiar of Barry Allen’s pizza run to Coast City, implying certain characters are now heading there in the present.
This less successful episode does not really reflect the season Arrow has had. Sure, it’s had its troubles but it can depart for the summer with many wins under its belt. The Danny Brick/Canary trilogy was a particular highlight. Ray Palmer/has been a season long riot as depends for the Legends of Tomorrow spinoff with a bang. Even if it’s central focus on Oliver’s identity didn’t quite pan out the deeper exploration into League of Assassins society certainly did. These final episodes may have missed their mark, but Arrow still flies true as it heads towards the Dark of Season 4.