This week’s episode of Arrow was a special one for long time stunt coordinator James Bamford as he made his directorial debut. And while it was the weakest episode this season, it did show some promise.
Related: Arrow Puts the Lost in Lost Souls
Ironically, I am really unimpressed with the action sequences this week. There were a few glimpses of brilliance in the climax fight scene; but overall this episode was not a black belt. Right from beginning, we see an awkward fight between Laurel and a ghost, which just adds on to the confusing nature of the scene.
The first half of the episode was badly paced in terms of the edit, making it stand out of the rest of the episodes so far this season. Looks like James “Bam Bam” Bamford needs a little more experience in directing these before he directs his next episode.
Even the visual and special effects were below average for an Arrow show. The fights with the ghosts and the A.T.O.M’s appearance all seemed to be below par. While I do understand with most of the budget being saved for the crossover, the effects this week really brought us out of the moment.
Just like last week, we are back to square one with misplaced flashbacks. Sadly, the only thing that would link the flashback to present time would be the theme of brothers. Even that did not help save the flashback this week.
Moving to what worked this time round, Mayor Queen is very exciting as we have Oliver fighting Damien day and night. It’s really good to see him step out of the Dahrkness to make a difference in his city. This actually makes the showdown between the two all the more interesting. With the stakes rising each week, I can’t wait to see the lead up to the final showdown.
But the clear show-stealer this episode was the bromance between Oliver and Diggle. The notion of Diggle behaving like Ollie’s brother was addressed today with John referring to him as his “brother from another colour”–the green one. SQUEAL!
The scene between them was almost as strong as the scene between Ollie and Quentin in episode 4. Three seasons of them having each other’s back, their advice to each other and the care and respect they have shown for each other has culminated into them referring to each other as brothers. It’s a really good switch from them being at each other’s necks a few episodes back.
Related: The Flash Engages in Gorilla Warfare!
Next week on Arrow:
[divider]Easter Eggs/Theories[/divider]
Andy Diggle
Originally, John’s character was named after Andy Diggle, the writer of Green Arrow: Year One. However, when the brother played an important role, they named him Andy Diggle to honor the writer.
Merida
Damien Dahrk’s little dig at Speedy refers to the Disney Pixar character from the movie Brave. The easter egg is based on the character who is a young, female archer, much like Thea.
Lawrence Tanner
Lawrence Tanner is the name of the LexCorp employee Lex murders when he couldn’t explain who sabotaged the LexCorp technology. He appears in the one-off 1998 issue of Legends of the DC Universe.
Wolfman Biologics
The company of the week is a nod to Marv Wolfman, author of titles such as Teen Titans, Adventures of Superman and Crisis on Infinite Earths.
THIS IS STAR CITY!
Oh yes, they did do a tribute to Zack Snyder’s fight scene from his movie 300. It probably also has something to do with Snyder directing the DC movie, Batman V Superman, which comes out next year.