Arrow's fourth episode this season was spawned from last weeks 'cliffhanger' where Lyla asked Oliver to break John out of prison, but I have a few gripes with this episode. Disregarding the fact that the series has already done prison break episodes a few times before (Roy's escape from Starling City and the time Laurel was rescued by Oliver), this episode contributes nothing new to the show and revolts back to the same aimless, clichéd writing that littered the last two seasons of the show.
For a starters, Arrow so easily throws around terms like "John's in prison" or "Everyone in Havenbrook was killed!", but the thing is: I don't care. As heartless as it sounds, the writers need to make the audience care about characters if they want 'drama' to come off as more than, well, drama. After a whole season of John complaining about his brother, I don't need another episode of Diggle crying about it, because people don't do that in real life, they do that on soap operas. If Arrow wants me to care about these scenarios, show me the red fire engine that John and Andy fought over when they were younger, tell me who Andy said he wanted to become on career day in elementary school . Give me an episode on how Ragman's father inherited the rags as a wide eyed young boy, then juxtapose it with him as a father, fear in his eyes, trying to save his sons life.
On another note, I'm also still waiting for Curtis to become a hero. I had the same issue with Laurel when she first transitioned into the Black Canary (although I liked her a lot more later on), and that is, these versions of the characters written by the writers are not 'vigilante' material. The word 'ex-olympian' keeps getting thrown around Curtis a lot but he's not characterized as a fighter or as someone bold enough to become a costumed vigilante which makes him come across as silly next to streetwise kids like Wild Dog and Artemis.
This episode's story arc of a prison break also leaves me perplexed with wondering what story the writers are trying to tell. Oliver may be a vigilante, but he's also the Mayor of Star City. It's unethical to jump the gun to breaking someone out of prison without first exhausting every measure available in the legal system. Oliver can't inspire the people of Star City to have hope in their officials if Oliver can't have faith himself. This extends into another problem with the series: What is the point of Oliver Queen? In the comics, the Green Arrow was a symbol of progressivism and hope for those who had been exploited by the rich and powerful. This Oliver Queen? He abandoned his crusade against the wealthy long ago, and its clear that the series has a focus on Oliver trying to beat up "the bad guys" rather than him trying to actually help the people by inspiring to be better.
All up:
+ (Some) exciting breakout scenes
+ Kord Industries shout out
- Bland direction and editing in action sequences
6.4/10