Arrow
Episode Title: “Canaries”
Channel: CW
Director: Michael Schultz
Writers: Jake
Coburn and Emilio Ortega Aldrich
Genre: Action,
Adventure, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Runtime: 42
min
Rated: TV-14
Original Air Date: February 11,
2015
Count Vertigo returns to Starling City!
Did he play a huge role in the episode? Well that can be debated.
He was the driving force behind Laurel's story this week, but didn't
do a whole lot otherwise. It's just good to see Peter Stormare back,
the guy does zany, wild-eyed villain better than just about anyone
else; it's always fun to see him on screen. While I'm still not
entirely sold on the masked vigilante aspect of Laurel's character
it's encouraging to see that she's not very good at it yet. If she
was just crushing bad guys I'd be more uncomfortable with where her
character is now, but I suppose if she's going to jump right into the
fight this is the best way to do it. The doses of Vertigo that the
Zytle hit her with forced her to confront a nightmare version of her
sister; echoing back the insecurities that Laurel feels about her
abilities and motivation. It seems like she's finally come to terms
with the fact that she can't be Sara, but she can still do some good.
The other side effect of her Vertigo-induced visions is that she's
finally decided to break the news of Sara's death to her father.
Naturally he was devastated and it's too soon to know if there will
be repercussions for her hiding the truth for so long, but the sorrow
Paul Blackthorne was able to show in that scene deserves a mention.
Oliver also had a big reveal to make in
“Canaries,” he finally decided to come clean to Thea about his
other life. I had feared that this revelation would result in a
schism between them, a way for the writers to add more drama to the
situation. I think that would have been one too many things going
wrong for Oliver recently and I'm glad they decided to avoid that.
Instead she takes it remarkably well, it erased the tension that had
sometimes been between them so far in season three. Her abrupt
change of heart regarding Malcolm though seemed a bit forced. Not
long ago she was talking him out of killing and vowing that they
would defend themselves against Ra's al Ghul as a family. She's back
to thinking of him as nothing but an evil schemer, but she doesn't
really know anything more or less about him than she did; so what's
with the sudden change in her view of him?
There was a scene following Laurel's
first dose of Vertigo where Ollie started barking orders at Thea to
go away. Roy immediately stepped in and stood up to Oliver. I knew
a moment like this was coming, but I hadn't expected it so soon.
While the team is very happy Oliver isn't dead, they discovered while
he was gone that they can operate without him. They had developed
their own decision making process, something that was much more
democratic. Although we see Ollie come to terms with the new dynamic
I would wager that it will create some additional friction in the
episodes to come.
The one really weak moment of the
episode followed the shouting match mentioned above. Thea fled the
club and ran into the DJ that's popped in and out of the season. If
you remember it was revealed last week that he's actually an agent of
the League of Assassins. I had hoped that the new information would
make the character a little more important, and a lot more memorable
since in all honesty I had to look up the character's name (Chase).
Instead after some physical comfort Thea realizes he has bad
intentions and they get into a brief fight. He bests her but before
he can finish her off Roy bursts in. Now I'm not a huge Roy fan,
most of the time he's just there, but he gets beat up again this
week. In short order. I know this Chase fellow is an agent of the
League, so it's to be expected that he can handle himself in a fight,
but Roy barely lasts fifteen seconds against the guy. This is just
the latest in a succession of martial failures for the character.
Does anyone remember that it was apparently such a foregone
conclusion that Cupid could defeat him that it didn't even happen on
camera? Cut the guy some slack and let him win a fight or two! It's
a good thing Merlyn showed up to bail him out.
The flashbacks this week centered
around the Oliver and the Yamashiro's attempted flight from Hong
Kong. Since Oliver still has two years away from Starling to account
for we knew that he at least would be unsuccessful. In a surprising
turn of events though the next mission that Amanda Waller has for
Oliver involves his return to Starling City. We'll just have to wait
until next week to see how she manages to keep him under wraps in a
city that's presumably pretty used to seeing his face plastered on
the tabloids. At the end of the episode Merlyn tells the Queens that
the only way they can overcome Ra's is to conquer their fear, which
for Ollie means a return to the Island. This will set up an
intriguing new format for next week's episode; the present day scenes
will occur on the island, and the flashbacks in Starling City.
Conclusion:
I've been waiting for Oliver to reveal his secret to Thea, and was
pleased with the way it was handled; even if the fallout is a strange
reversal of her feeling towards Merlyn. Laurel is growing into the
role of the Canary, and maybe if she stops trying to be her sister
I'll buy her evolution a little more. The secret of Sara's death is
finally out in the open with Detective Lance, and while it doesn't
seem to have killed him as Laurel feared it would I'm left wondering
if their teary embrace is only the calm before the storm. Finally,
we're finally going back to the Island!
Rating:
7.75/10
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