After what was a fairly good episode back to Arrow after a short break, I was worried that Arrow was going to pull an Arrow on use and start going down hill at the half way marks. From what I can see after this episode, they are far from it.
There were 2 main story lines that played out this episode as well as 2 side stories. I was on board with all of them. The first main story I want to talk about is of course the hunt for our new Canary. We first saw our new Canary, Tina Boland, or as we now know her as, Dinah Drake (one of the comic Black Canary's) at the end of last episode. I really like the origin they gave this new Canary. I think that going the damaged route like all the other members have been through is something that is really going to benefit this new Canary with the team. I thought her chemistry with Oliver with the mask and without was excellent and I can see them building a strong relationship in which ever way they take it. Importantly though, what stands out most to me is that she feels like she should be a vigilante. The biggest thing that didn't make Laurel work as Canary was that she wasn't suited to being a vigilante, she was more suited to being a lawyer rather than someone who runs around at night after a few karate lessons. Dinah is trained and has the drive to help that is required to not only be the Black Canary in this universe but be apart of Team Arrow.
The second big story line happened during the flash backs. As I have mentioned in previous weeks, I've really liked what they have done with these flash backs this season. I really liked what they did with Tahlia al Ghul during the flash backs. Of course this is just initial impressions after one episode but she is off to a strong start and I think much of that is credited towards to actress they have got. Not since Deathstroke have I felt a presence like this during the flash backs. I'm not sure if this is because of the parallels between the two mentor relationships but they have a screen presence where Oliver becomes a secondary character in their scenes.
The first side story I want to touch on is with Diggle. Last week I mentioned how much I'm liking the direction they are taking Diggle and while I thought they may have rushed this a little more than I thought it would, I'm still very on board with his story. As it appears now, he is going to be out of jail next episode but being such a long season, we know there is going to be some more twists and turns. Because of that, I'm excited to see what else this story has to toss up to us.
The final side story that played out this episode was one I didn't see coming and that was Felicity connecting with some Hackivists. What made Felicity such a good character during the first two seasons is how well she fit into that hacker role. Since season 3 she started to be pulled away from that role and moved to a love interest, which we all know how that went. So for me, it's great to see Felicity starting to head back to her roots and dropping back into that role of hacker. I'm interested to see where this heads in future episodes because it seems this new Hacker group is going to come into play at some point.
Overall, I really liked this episode. I'm completely on board with our new Canary as well as what they are doing with the other story lines both in the flash backs and modern day. This season is continuing to maintain a great level and all I can do is hope it doesn't drop off like previous seasons.
9/10
There were 2 main story lines that played out this episode as well as 2 side stories. I was on board with all of them. The first main story I want to talk about is of course the hunt for our new Canary. We first saw our new Canary, Tina Boland, or as we now know her as, Dinah Drake (one of the comic Black Canary's) at the end of last episode. I really like the origin they gave this new Canary. I think that going the damaged route like all the other members have been through is something that is really going to benefit this new Canary with the team. I thought her chemistry with Oliver with the mask and without was excellent and I can see them building a strong relationship in which ever way they take it. Importantly though, what stands out most to me is that she feels like she should be a vigilante. The biggest thing that didn't make Laurel work as Canary was that she wasn't suited to being a vigilante, she was more suited to being a lawyer rather than someone who runs around at night after a few karate lessons. Dinah is trained and has the drive to help that is required to not only be the Black Canary in this universe but be apart of Team Arrow.
The second big story line happened during the flash backs. As I have mentioned in previous weeks, I've really liked what they have done with these flash backs this season. I really liked what they did with Tahlia al Ghul during the flash backs. Of course this is just initial impressions after one episode but she is off to a strong start and I think much of that is credited towards to actress they have got. Not since Deathstroke have I felt a presence like this during the flash backs. I'm not sure if this is because of the parallels between the two mentor relationships but they have a screen presence where Oliver becomes a secondary character in their scenes.
The first side story I want to touch on is with Diggle. Last week I mentioned how much I'm liking the direction they are taking Diggle and while I thought they may have rushed this a little more than I thought it would, I'm still very on board with his story. As it appears now, he is going to be out of jail next episode but being such a long season, we know there is going to be some more twists and turns. Because of that, I'm excited to see what else this story has to toss up to us.
The final side story that played out this episode was one I didn't see coming and that was Felicity connecting with some Hackivists. What made Felicity such a good character during the first two seasons is how well she fit into that hacker role. Since season 3 she started to be pulled away from that role and moved to a love interest, which we all know how that went. So for me, it's great to see Felicity starting to head back to her roots and dropping back into that role of hacker. I'm interested to see where this heads in future episodes because it seems this new Hacker group is going to come into play at some point.
Overall, I really liked this episode. I'm completely on board with our new Canary as well as what they are doing with the other story lines both in the flash backs and modern day. This season is continuing to maintain a great level and all I can do is hope it doesn't drop off like previous seasons.
9/10