The Recruits
- Episode aired Oct 12, 2016
- TV-14
- 42m
Oliver recruits Curtis, Wild Dog and Evelyn Sharp for his team, but his training methods prove to be too much for some to handle. In flashbacks, Oliver continues his initiation into the Brat... Read allOliver recruits Curtis, Wild Dog and Evelyn Sharp for his team, but his training methods prove to be too much for some to handle. In flashbacks, Oliver continues his initiation into the Bratva.Oliver recruits Curtis, Wild Dog and Evelyn Sharp for his team, but his training methods prove to be too much for some to handle. In flashbacks, Oliver continues his initiation into the Bratva.
- Thug
- (as Lauro Chartrand)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhen filming the scene where Oliver Queen fights the recruits in the road, Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen) actually broke his nose.
- Quotes
Felicity Smoak: The isotope that made the cloth radioactive is very specific. It came from one of the nukes that Darhk launched on Genesis Day. Specifically, a nuke manufactured by a company called "Atomic Defensive Systems."
Oliver Queen: They're likely a subsidiary of AmerTek.
Felicity Smoak: [Sweetly] Aw, and people say he's just a pretty face.
Thea Queen: Mmm.
Felicity Smoak: [Oliver gives her a stern look] Bottom line is the subsidiary's connection with Genesis Day has made AmerTek's stock prices go...
[Felicity imitates an explosion]
- ConnectionsReferences Robin Hood (2010)
But I was actually on board with the idea during this episode for a while. Or maybe it was just the fact that seeing Ollie kick the crap out of a few cocky wannabes was just plain awesome. Either way, the episode started out nicely. It didn't hurt that the relation to the flashback's via the "on the line" training tactic seemed to be integrated well this time, though I am a bit tired of the flashbacks perfectly linking up the present.
I was also entertained by Oliver's attempt at balancing his time as mayor and working on a deal with Amertek amidst his late night activities. Or as Thea would say, a vigilante moonlighting as the mayor. The episode seemed to have a clear arc and grounded tone with these new recruits. Having Laurel's death still looming in the background and weighing on Oliver and Quentin was a nice approach. But then the episode kind of took a turn for the worse.
I'm not down for Wild Dog, Artemis (or whatever they will call the fake canary from last season), or even Curtis suiting up as a vigilante. But I feel like even they showed some promise. Wild dog complains a whole lot, but Curtis had some nice comeback's to Oliver's mishaps. But it was Ragman that really turned me off. We had just finished a season where the concept of magic invaded what was a pretty grounded show considering the other CW shows it shares a universe with. Damien Darhk was cool for a bit, but it got old watching a man with a bow and arrow fight who was basically an immortal god. I thought we were done with magic or people with meta-human like powers. I won't pretend to understand exactly what Ragman's powers are as of yet, but I just can't get excited for that on this show again. 'Legacy' was a brilliant episode that brought the show back to its grounded roots, this episode seemed to take a step in the wrong direction.
Ragman's mini arc finished with him unmasking to Oliver, whom he just met, and already agreeing to be a part of the new team. It just felt really out of place. As did Oliver's rushed turn of admitting he doesn't want to fail anymore at saving this city. So is he already eliminating going back to killing? Something he just went back to in last week's episode?
I know I'm being harsh, but it's because I care about the quality of this show. I don't want it to make the same mistakes previous seasons did. I wasn't a huge fan of the Diggle material this week but the flashbacks were cool, as was Quentin's potential position as deputy mayor. Those are story lines I'm interested in, however. I don't care about the new additions, but maybe that can change. Let's just keep the quality of the show consistent week to week.
+Oliver's training tactics
+Flashback's link
+Laurel's death still weighing on everyone
+Quentin's new gig?
-Ragman brought everything down
-Unmasking too early
-Wild dog's complaining
7.2/10
- ThomasDrufke
- Oct 12, 2016
Details
- Runtime42 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 HD