Arrow - S3E22 - This is Your Sword
The flashbacks to Hong Kong really do nothing for me. Why are they so yellow? Why is Oliver’s beanie so unflattering? If America has Starling City and Gotham and Metropolis, why is Hong Kong just Hong Kong? Am I supposed to care about what’s going on? I have enough trouble caring about what’s happening in the present day some weeks.
On that note, Ra’s Al Ghul is still very enthusiastic about marrying off the very unwilling Nyssa to Oliver, which leaves me (as a queer woman myself) immensely uncomfortable. Maybe the storyline would work better if Ra’s was in any way intimidating, but he comes off more like a regular abusive father than an abusive father who is also an impressive leader of a league of assassins, and his character motivations are verging on the absurd in a show about an archer who fights crime, which really says something.
Back in Starling, the few remaining likable characters are doing a pretty good job fighting crime in Oliver’s absence. I wonder what they could all accomplish if they used their resources to stop street crime in ways that don’t involve hitting people. I guess that would make for less entertaining viewing.
Diggle and Laurel make for a good team, but Diggle has a few anger issues that he decides to take out on the face of a gang member, much to Felicity’s disappointment.
Thea is off to see Roy, now that she finally knows he’s alive. I’m still mad that it took so long for them to tell her.
Oliver and the Al Ghuls sit down for the most uncomfortable family dinner imaginable. At least the food looks good? Oliver wanders off to clear his head while Nyssa steals herself a knife. Oliver goes to meet up with Merlyn, who he is working with. Again. And keeping important plans from the team. Again. There was literally no reason to keep the plan a secret (unless you count ‘for the drama’ as a good reason).
Felicity goes to see Ray, who successfully deduces that her sad face is Oliver related. He has her sign some forms without looking at them – not a good habit to get into Felicity – which give ownership of his company over to her. Rich people, am I right?
I still don’t care about the virus in Hong Kong, but Maseo is awesome which makes up for it somewhat.
Tatsu comes to Starling to help Merlyn convince everyone that Oliver has been secretly undercover the whole time. This goes about as well as you’d expect. It’s hard to buy Merlyn’s good guy act when literally none of this would be happening if he hadn’t FORCED HIS DAUGHTER TO KILL SARA!
Thea finds Roy – sorry, Jason – working in a garage. He takes her back to what rich people apparently think is a bad apartment. Sexy times ensue. Any excuse to make Roy shirtless, right?
The gang head to Nanda Parbat to stop Oliver from releasing the virus. Seriously how long is the flight for them to keep coming back and forth? Do any of them even have jobs anymore? Surely being an ADA doesn’t leave Laurel with a lot of time off?
We get a good look at Tatsu in her Katana costume. It might be racist, or it might just be overly patriotic like a Japanese Captain America, I honestly cannot tell. It at least looks a lot cooler than the weird mask that Maseo is wearing when he comes to stop them. Once he takes that off they look pretty badass fighting one another #powercouple
Tatsu is just a better fighter than Maseo, and stabs him through the chest. Since his last name isn’t Queen, I’m gonna assume Maseo’s death is going to stick.
The plane with the virus takes off, but luckily Felicity’s called in Iron Man – uh, I mean the Atom – for backup, and he proceeds to blow it up (which I would have fought would be a good way to spread a virus, not contain it, but I’m no scientist).
Unfortunately for Team Arrow, this was all a ruse for Ra’s to figure out if he was being betrayed. He throws them in the dungeon, but not before dropping the Oliver’s betrothed bombshell. Predictably, Merlyn tries to save himself by throwing Oliver under the bus, but at least Diggle and Felicity get to have some nice BFF bonding in the dungeon.
The Oliver/ Nyssa wedding goes about as well as could be hoped, with only one attempt at murder. As the unhappy couple are enjoying their nuptials, the team are left locked up in the dungeon with the virus.
Excuse me if I’m skeptical about the vast majority of the major cast (and the leader of the spinoff!) contracting a deadly virus.
Quote of the week:
Felicity hit’s the nail on the head when it comes to trusting Malcolm Merlyn: “He’s a mass murderer who has lied to us so many times it should be a drinking game.”
