Team Arrow finally stood reunited as it delivered a reveal-packed episode. The flashbacks mostly focused on Waller torturing Oliver to find the Yamashiro’s, but it was the main story that was on top form.
The opening fight between Vertigo/Canary and a drugged Laurel set the tone for the episode and definitely deflected from the early reveal. We all thought this would be a more Laurel-centric episode, but then we got a curveball.
Oliver told Thea. And she took it well. The girl who has never responded well to learning she has been lied to finally took something really well. She was basically proud of what her brother had been doing. Later, all the truth being out led to her starting to turn on Merlyn, even if she was receptive to his help by the end.
On the Laurel front, the drug lord Vertigo was mostly used to foster some character development. Laurel came to terms with her striving to take her sister’s place and her role as the Black Canary. More importantly, she realized that she had to come clean to her father about Sara’s death.
Next week: Arrow and Speedy go to Lian Yu and Flashback Ollie and Maseo go to Starling.
Positives
While Stormare yes again delivered a fun performance as Zytle, he was not the standout of the week. Katie Cassidy and Paul Blackthorne win that title. Katie had some excellent early scenes, especially her drugged about shaking in the Arrow Cave. But that final scene with the honest confession of Sara’s death…Wow. Katie hasn’t always been dealt the best writing, but week’s like this prove that she is very talented.
Thea! Yes! She reacted well! She took the news well! Speaking of Thea, tonight’s episode really showcased just how much she has grown. Even the reference in the flashbacks to her substance abuse problems helped capitalize that growth.
Thea’s growth was showcased, but we saw some other great growth along the way. Roy came into his own a bit more with his outright willingness to stand up to Oliver. Laurel got it in spades, as she rightfully understood her goals as Black Canary. In addition, her moments of standing up to Oliver were great and were much more inline with the Black Canary of comic history.
Small thing but important: the DJ is dead. He had so little a point in this and now he’s dead. The Arrow world is a better place.
Negatives
Thea’s turn on Merlyn was a bit odd and easy. Hopefully the Sara reveal will come out soon so she gets to a firm place and isn’t wavering back and forth for several episodes to come.
DJ Douchey-Pants had a dumb plan. He had a multitude of opportunities to just stab her, and he decided to go with poison? I was disappointed he got to off himself before someone put an arrow in him. Were Roy and Merlyn watching their date? Because that’s a little creepy if they were.
The Verdict
“Canaries” was a surprisingly strong round of Arrow. Let’s see if this momentum keeps trucking back to the island where we will be seeing some familiar faces.
