Arrow
Episode Title: “The Fallen”
Channel: CW
Director: Antonio Negret
Writers: Wendy
Mericle and Oscar Balderrama
Genre: Action,
Adventure, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Runtime: 42
min
Rated: TV-14
Original Air Date: April 22,
2015
“The Fallen” was a drama heavy
episode. Ra's has finally forced Oliver's hand, and with Thea's life
hanging in the balance he had no other choice than to accept Ra's
offer and become the Heir to the Demon. Throughout the entire
episode Stephen Amell shined, conveying his grief over Thea's
circumstances and leaving his friends behind, and the resigned
acceptance of his place in Ra's plans. He was asked to carry the
majority of the episode, and succeeded.
In an episode filled with powerful
scenes the audience was treated to a good one very quickly. With
Thea stabilized, but likely to never awake, Oliver was at her bedside
when Malcolm came in. The devastated look on his face was a perfect
moment from John Barrowman. His sorrow helped humanize a character
that has become easy to dislike over the course of the show. After
Maseo revealed to Oliver that there was still a way to save Thea's
life, by accepting Ra's offer and joining the League, Malcolm argued
against it. He claimed that the Thea that emerged from the Lazarus
Pit would not be the one that she had been in life. His prediction
proved briefly correct as she attacked Oliver and had severe gaps in
her memory, but seems to have returned to normal after her initial
confusion. This was a bit disappointing and I hope in coming
episodes we are treated to more side effects of her resurrection.
Both Maseo and Ra's were the recipients
of important character moments. One of the best scenes in the
episode occurred between Maseo and Diggle. With Diggle accusing
Maseo of cowardice, Maseo finally revealed what we all had presumed
to be the case, Akio, his son is dead. That conversation would prove
to be very important later on in the episode. Ra's himself was the
focus a good piece of dialogue between himself and Felicity. He
explained how he had come to be who and where he was an encouraged
her to do something that had been impossible for him to do and tell
someone she loves how much he means to her. This wasn't just a great
scene because of the background information the audience got
regarding Ra's, but it also served as one of Felicity's better
moments this season.
Really Felicity was good this whole
episode, which isn't something that can be said for her character
much this season. She told Ray Palmer and Oliver how she really felt
about her romantic entanglements, did her best to verbally confront
the Demon himself, and when it looked like everything was lost
formulated half of a plan to get Oliver out of Nanda Parbat. Even if
that plan didn't go the way she wanted it was good to see her do more
than flip flop her stances on things and follow others around.
During her failed rescue attempt Maseo showed up trying to help,
showing the audience that maybe the good man Oliver knew is still in
there somewhere.
At the end it was all for naught,
there's just no way for Oliver to break his commitment to the League.
Although it seems like team Arrow has to say goodbye to each other
far too often; this week's round of goodbyes was pretty touching.
Oliver told Diggle how highly he thought of him, and once again had
to leave Felicity teary-eyed and convinced that she'll never see him
again. The whole scene was handled well and featured quality
performances from everyone involved.
As has been the case for this entire
season, the flashbacks were rather lackluster. This week they were
used to inject some action into what was a drama heavy episode. The
chase involving the cargo truck was fun, although I'm not sure how
the team missed that transfer of the bio-weapon to the food cart. It
was a little ridiculous that the vial Oliver and company were after
was robust enough to survive the fight between Oliver and the street
vendor, but shattered on the ground. They were hitting each other
with the fist holding the vial, it simply broke when it could
conveniently add to the tension in the scene. With failure apparent
in the flashbacks it's hard to say where they go from here.
Conclusion:
Having been placed in a situation he could no longer avoid, Oliver
was forced to assume the role of Heir to the Demon. The character
interplay in the present day scenes helped to keep the action-lite
episode engaging. Now if only the flashbacks could be so successful.
Rating:
8/10
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