Arrow
Episode Title: “My Name is
Oliver Queen”
Channel: CW
Director: John Behring
Writers: Marc
Guggenheim and Jake Coburn
Genre: Action,
Adventure, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Runtime: 42
min
Rated: TV-14
Original Air Date: May 13,
2015
It's no secret that season three of
Arrow has fallen short of the
promise the show presented the audience in season two. Much of the
season felt aimless, with the main villain appearing halfway through
the season following a mostly pointless investigation into the murder
of Sara. Although there were flashes of the quality we had become
accustomed to it didn't feel like the show had the same fire. Now
we're wrapping up the season with an episode that served to remind
everyone of all the good and the bad we've seen so far.
I'm
going to start off with the flashbacks. They have been lackluster
all season, with nearly every one of them revolving around the
capture of one fluid filled tube or another. After last week, with
Akio dead and the ruin of the Yamashiros' marriage coming to light,
it was hard to imagine what the point of this week's flashbacks would
be. Oliver, Maseo, and Tatsu skirmished with General Shrieve's men
and captured the general. They then left to have Akio's body
cremated and Tatsu distributed the ashes in three urns to each of
them. Oliver returned to Shrieve and tortured him, fully embracing
the darkness that Amanda Waller had seen in him. He left Shrieve on
death's door, and Maseo put the general out of his misery. Then,
during the good bye sequence, Maseo fled his responsibilities as a
husband. Tatsu decided to go to a monastery near her childhood home.
Oliver made reference to keeping the darkness he had found in
himself away from his family in Starling City, leaving us to believe
that he intends to return to Lian Yu. There were no big reveals
here, we already knew where these characters would end up. This
season's flashbacks could have been condensed into half of the number
of episodes they were featured in.
In
present day, Oliver and Ra's were riding in an airplane towards
Starling City. The plan began to experience malfunctions and Oliver
revealed that it was all a sham to Ra's. Ollie then tossed a blade
to Nyssa and they went on to take out the League men. Ra's was one
step ahead of them though, grabbed the plane's only parachute and
jumped out with the Alpha/Omega bioweapon. Luckily for Oliver and
Nyssa, Oliver is apparently capable of emergency landing a cargo
plane. They then set out to stop Ra's before he can release the
weapon on the unsuspecting citizens of Starling City.
Back
at Nanda Parbat we learn the fate of team Arrow. It wasn't some sort
of knock out gas in the tube that the team was exposed to. It was
the actual virus, luckily Merlyn had someone synthesize a vaccine.
He administered it to the team through skin contact. That does leave
the question though, how did the team know to fall unconscious to
keep the ruse alive? Does the vaccine make the Alpha/Omega a
relatively harmless sleeping gas? Whatever the explanation the team
is still stuck in the dungeon. Until the Flash shows up to take out
all the guards and release the team from captivity. This served to
highlight one of the complications in a shared universe. The Flash
has time for a quick jail break, but doesn't have the time to help
Oliver end the threat to a major metropolis? It probably would have
been better if the Flash had been left out of the episode altogether,
at least then those type of question would have remained in the
viewers' subconscious. As it was presented you couldn't help but
wonder why Barry couldn't take a half hour to save the day.
The
team got back to Starling City with no problems. (Where is Nanda
Parbat anyway? You have to take a plane from there to Starling City,
but if team Arrow took their plane how long did Ra's wait to put his
plan into motion?) Merlyn started giving everyone on the team orders
that they reluctantly followed and then Oliver showed up. Felicity,
after some initial anger, seemed ready to forgive Oliver for the
deception he had put them all through. Diggle was not as agreeable.
He agreed to help only to save innocent civilians, his relationship
with Oliver is very much a question mark now. After come computer
based voodoo Felicity managed to track down the four places Ra's was
preparing to release the virus. There was a tiny side-excursion by
Oliver to a man named Damian Darhk, who is Ra's nemesis and a threat
to the Demon Head's right to rule the League of Assassins. This bit
was only filler, and a way to keep that name in the forefront of the
audience's minds, presumably because Darhk will be a major player in
season four. Another side-arc revolved around Laurel's attempt to
get her father to help them track down the virus. Lance is drinking
again, but that really could have waited until next season before
coming to light
The
team goes out to stop the bioweapon's release and discovers that Ra's
plan was to infect four of his men and then have them spill their own
blood to release the contagion. One of the walking virus bombs
managed to complete his task after being shot by Thea, who is now
gallivanting about in Roy's old costume. The birth of Speedy! A
League member approached Oliver and invited him to watch Starling
City at Ra's' side. Just like that it was time for the final
showdown. This particular fight lacked the sense of dread that their
previous encounter and been steeped in. While they were fighting
Lance appeared at a post manned by some of the police force, who were
being ordered to take out Ra's and Oliver. Before they could carry
out their orders, Oliver beat Ra's, and in a poignant moment recited
the same prayer Ra's has used upon vanquishing a foe.
Ray
Palmer was busy during all of this, trying to figure out a way to
stop the Alpha/Omega. While he and Felicity were brainstorming ideas
they received a call from Captain Lance, sharing with them the amount
of danger Oliver was in. Felicity implored Ray to don the ATOM suit
and save Oliver, but he was having none of it; weighing Oliver's life
against the thousands that could die if he didn't finish his work.
When Oliver was shot he fell over the side of the Starling City Dam,
but was saved from being splattered below by the ATOM. The
television version of the ATOM's transformation into a discount Iron
Man is now complete, after Oliver finds out that his savior is none
other than Pepper Pots...I mean Felicity.
In the
falling action a lot of story lines were set up for season four.
Oliver and Felicity are going to run away together, with Oliver
maintaining only his real identity. Before they left Oliver gave
everyone a pep talk, telling them how certain he was that the rest of
the team would manage well in his absence. He welcomed Thea into the
fold and asked Diggle to keep fighting the good fight. Diggle is
still not 100% on board, but if he continues his career as a
vigilante Oliver suggested he find a way to obscure his identity. In
the one big shocker of the finale Oliver is forced to pay the price
for Malcolm Merlyn's help, that little bit of finger jewelry that
serves as Ra's al Ghul's symbol of office is now in Merlyn's
possession. This gives him control of the League, but Oliver
reminded him that there were stipulations concerning how the League
was to be run. I'm sure Merlyn will hold to his agreement for as
short a time as possible. I hope that next season we see Merlyn OR
Darhk as the villain, in my eyes both would be too much. The episode
closed with Oliver and Felicity driving off to happier times, with
Oliver admitting that he was finally happy. The ending was
completely different from the finales of the previous two seasons,
giving it a strange feel. It is as if the ending was thrown together
in preparation for the show being canceled, finally giving Oliver a
chance at a real life. Since there's not much of a show without
Oliver Queen doing his thing it seems like a safe bet that something
is going to ruin his happily ever after before the first commercial
break of next season's premiere.
Conclusion:
A happy ending to the season was not what I was expecting. On the
whole “My Name is Oliver Queen” encapsulated much of what didn't
work in season three. Although it had its positive moments, large
chunks of the story simply fell flat. The evolution of Thea into
masked crime fighter and Merlyn's new position were the best things
to come out of the episode.
Rating:
6.5/10
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