Superhero Weekly: Arrow – Eleven-Fifty-Nine

Yes, there will be spoilers.

It would seem the Arrow showrunners just shot the last arrow from their quiver. There was no Supergirl and no Flash this week, so this makes this episode just a little sadder. Now before we get to the actual ace that the writers play in this episode, let’s review what supposedly this episode is about. Damien Darhk… sigh, ok – hold on a minute.

I don’t think Neal McDonough is necessarily a bad actor. He’s just been given a very inconsistent character. Damien Darkh sometimes is a suave mastermind more on par with Bond supervillains. Sometimes he’s just a psychic metahuman spouting cheap wisecracks. Sometimes he’s enraged and just kills people on the fly and breaks stuff and screams. If we had stated from the beginning that he’s bipolar, it would make a heck of a lot more sense. So the idea is that Damien is going to flee the prison and for that Malcolm Merlyn will steal the idol back. The same one that took a visit from Vixen to steal? The same one that has been appearing on the flashbacks to the island?

This story just undoes completely that whole thing so that Damien can escape. But the episode shifts gears as Damien kills Black Canary/Laurel Lance. There’s a heart-wrenching scene as Quentin Lance arrives at the hospital. It takes one look at Oliver for Quentin to know that his daughter is dead. Seriously, I don’t know how Quentin didn’t had a heart attack then and there.

Katie Cassidy’s role in this show as Laurel and later as Black Canary has had its detractors, but I actually liked how she managed to become one of the team, got trained by Nyssa and even developed the Canary Cry (which incidentally is the name of the next episode). Also it seems like a cruel joke that Laurel Lance managed to put Damien away, at the cost of her father’s career in law enforcement for nothing. It’s all undone. I feel sorry for Quentin. He’s just lost everything. His remaining daughter AND his life’s job? Did Paul Blackthorne did something to piss off the writers?

As things go into grim mode plus, I’ve got this big question in my head. Can we get an enjoyable episode once in a while? The Flash (sorry but I gotta mention them) has managed to alternate serious cliffhangers with comedy and even fun. Arrow has become as dark and desperate as The Walking Dead. Plus, they just killed someone from the main cast to… Make things Darhker? Is this supposed to be character development / revenge material for Oliver Queen? Did Arrow just give Laurel the fridge treatment?

I think they just did. That was a very cheap stunt.

Highs/Lows/DepressingUltraLows

You don’t kill a strong female character just to further the story of the male protagonist. See: Women in Refrigerators.
The show wants us to hate Damien Darhk because he’s evil. I hate him because he’s a badly written character. Pick a personality, stick to it and develop it.
Quentin Lance has now lost his career in the police force and his remaining daughter. His sacrifices mean nothing because Damien is free again.
Thank you, Katie Cassidy.

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