Arrow: Season 3, Episode 15

Arrow

Episode Title: “Nanda Parbat”

Channel: CW

Director: Gregory Smith

Writers: Erik Oleson and Ben Sokolowski

Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

Runtime: 42 min

Rated: TV-14

Original Air Date: February 25, 2015

Arrow tried to go into a mini-break with the same kind of momentum that it went into the winter break with. The audience was left with a couple of cliffhangers, one of which will prove to be the driving force behind the remainder of the season. Unfortunately a lot of that was set into motion by characters doing stupid stuff.

First of all, after “Nanda Parbat” everyone knows everything. Laurel knows Thea killed Sara, Thea knows Roy killed a cop, Nyssa knows Thea is the one responsible for Sara's death, not Malcolm. The secrets and lies are off the table. This is actually a good thing, as the constant who knows what portions of this season had long since become tiresome. Laurel's not angry with Thea, instead she tries to confront Malcolm over his involvement in the whole mess. This led to a rather entertaining bit of 'action' in which Laurel manages to lose her weapon and fall down a lot. I was against Laurel becoming a vigilante so soon, but at this point her ineptitude is almost painful to watch. It's time to train her up so she isn't flailing about, more a danger to herself than the bad guys. Oliver managed to capture Nyssa during the leagues kidnapping of Malcolm, this serves two purposes. First, she reveals to Oliver where Nanda Parbat is located of her own free will, and it allows Thea to confess to Nyssa that she is the one that actually struck Sara down. Thea frees Nyssa and puts a sword in her hand, and the audience is left with a month of wondering what happens next.

Why did Oliver want to know where Nanda Parbat is, you ask? Well, he's of the opinion that Thea can't handle the stain on her soul that being responsible for her father's death would bring. So he's going to rescue Merlyn. Diggle goes with Ollie on the mission, with Diggle getting some much deserved action scenes. He really needs to be incorporated in the action stuff more, especially with Lyla reminding him that he can't just stop being a soldier. Aside from Oliver he's the most capable fighter they have, it makes little sense to keep him on the sidelines so often. They mow through a bunch of the League's men and make their way to Malcolm, who reveals, big surprise here, it's a trap! Oliver and Dig are captured, leading to a pretty touching moment when Diggle asks Oliver to be his best man. Eventually Oliver is brought before Ra's and it looks like Ra's is going to finish what he started in “The Climb.” Instead Ra's has decided that Oliver would be a good successor to his position in the League. Not sure I get the thinking behind that one, as Oliver has already proven himself not up to the task; but maybe they'll clear that up in the coming episodes.

There were some other things happening that deserve a mention. After Thea tells Roy everything (he knew it anyway) he takes her to the family of the cop he killed and tells her how he's trying to atone for what he did. It was a good moment for the character, and there have been few of those this season, so it was good to see a little time devoted to him. Ray Palmer and Felicity had their own scenes this week, which culminated in a little personal time for the two, after which Ray had a predictable epiphany that allowed him to complete the A.T.O.M. suit. We even got to see it in action, though I hope they reveal some of it's other features very soon, otherwise it's going to come off as an Iron Man clone. The flashbacks this week were relatively sparse, but action packed. Oliver and the Yamashiros are released from custody and told they can go home. They're attacked on the dock on the way to the ship that's to take them back to Japan. After a firefight Oliver and their son, Akio, are separated from Maseo and Tatsu, and Maseo tells them to run for it. I have a feeling we're close to finding out what happened that drove the wedge between the Yamashiros, and drove Maseo to the League.

Conclusion: This week's confrontation with Ra's al Ghul lacked the tension of “The Climb” but still managed to surprise at the end. I just hope they justify Ra's' interest in Oliver, as he doesn't seem like the kind of guy the Demon's Head would look to as an heir. With all the secrets in the open maybe we can see some growth in the relationships between various members of the growing Team Arrow. I was left wanting something more from the first Atom reveal, it felt like that could have been withheld until more time could be devoted to it.

Rating: 7.5/10