Arrow - S5E5 - Human Target

Previously on Arrow, “Penance”

Arrow - S5E5 - “Human Target” | Starring: Stephen Amell, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Emily Bett Rickards, Paul Blackthorn, Echo Kellum

Diggle is back in action, and the show is far better for it. People tend to think of Oliver and Felicity as the parents of the Team Arrow family, but since the very first episode Diggle has been Oliver’s true partner, the calming presence needed to counteract Oliver’s intensity. I’m not a fan of how they brought about his return, but now that he’s home I think it may have been worth it.

Images: The CW

The Good

Given the absolutely terrible job that Oliver has done, it’s good to see Diggle take on a mentoring role for Rene. The two get to bond on the fact that they are both former military victims of torture. Fun stuff!

Oliver and Felicity actually had a conversation about their relationship and her bland, bland boyfriend. It’s nice to see them acting like adults who care about each other.

The Bad

The Human Target has no superpowers. The entire fake death plan hedged on Church thinking Oliver was dead, and yet the guy they hired to fake his death was just a guy in a vest. You know who could have also worn that vest? Oliver FRICKING Queen. If the assassin had shot at any part of him that wasn’t his torso, or tried any other weapons the gig would have been up. You know who is actually bulletproof? Rory Reagan. They really outdid themselves in the ‘terrible plans that miraculously work’ department this time.

It also would have been nice to get a little more information about Diggle’s old pal, who is apparently really good at making masks and at impersonating people. With the lack of explanation I assumed that he had popped up on another of the shows in the Flarrowverse, but some hasty Googling shows that that isn’t the case. Side note: Was anyone else super disappointed to find out that the only time Oliver has ever done a good job as the mayor was when he was actually another guy in a mask?

Can Evelyn and Rory get some personality, stat! They have done a good job of fleshing out Rene, but now the other two look especially dull in comparison. They could be completely deleted from this episode without the plot changing at all. This is made worse by how overpowered Rory is. Why does anyone else need to do anything when you have a bulletproof magic guy who could be taking care of it?

A huge pet peeve of mine is shows where the heroes have no problem killing wave after wave of faceless underlings, but as soon as they get to the actual bad guy they send them off for a fair trial.

Quote of the Week

Diggle: “You must be the new kids on the block.”
Curtis: “More like the Backstreet Boys.”

Felicity: “That’s a bigger leap than Curtis took at the Beijing Olympics.”