Arrow, Episode 4.17, “Beacon of Hope”
Joey: In sports, you hear the term “rebuilding” all the time. “This is a rebuilding year.” This episode is the rebuilding episode of Arrow. Felicity’s off the team and focused on using her position at Palmer Tech to make a difference in Star City. Curtis works his way into the clubhouse and is immediately in the starting lineup as Felicity’s replacement. By episode’s end, he’s even got the whole “lie to the one you love” act down. Get this man his own green jersey!
Meanwhile, Darhk is pulling a Kingpin in prison. I ask you, readers… when it comes to prison jumpsuits, who wore it better, Damien Darhk or Wilson Fisk? DC or Marvel?
Our second Harry Potter reference on The CW this week. First, we have Barry running from dementors, now we have Ollie telling the rest of the team that Felicity is not Voldemort (she who must not be named).
Corrina: Someone must be either binge reading or binge watching. For the record, Felicity is totally Hermione, Oliver is Viktor Krum, and Diggle is Professor McGonogall. (Roy is Ron, of course. Gingers gotta stick together.) Harry? Nyssa!
Joey: Captain Lance is Snape?
There is a myriad of things wrong with Arrow right now, but I think that one of the more glaring issues is that, while the team is fighting to save the city, they no longer feel like a part of the city. In the first two seasons, we saw the innocent, the poor, and the oppressed that were threatened by Merlyn’s earthquake machines and Deathstroke’s mirakuru army. That’s where Sara was hiding. That’s where we met Roy Harper and Sin. That’s where Laurel’s office was located. Starting in season three and carrying into this season, it feels like the team is disconnected from all of that. Maybe it’s the continual upgrades to The Bunker. Maybe it’s the focus on the corporate and political stuff. Whatever it is, Star City doesn’t feel anything like Starling City, and that’s a character who is badly missing. If the series is in a bit of a rebuilding mode, the producers could do worse than to put Team Arrow back in the city.
Corrina: Hmm… good point, though when we had the short-lived focus on Laurel’s training by the guy-who-was-too-young-to-be-real Ted Grant, we saw some of the city. But it’s more an abstraction now, more than ever, save for police headquarters, Palmer Tech, the Bunker, and the various abandoned/captured by enemy warehouses. Maybe after all the city has been through, that’s all that’s left.
Lisa: On another subject, can we have a show with Curtis, Felicity, and Cisco, call it “Super Geeks,” and Barry Allen is only allowed to visit to bring ice cream cones, while Ollie is only allowed to visit if he’s not lying to “protect” people?
Next page: Legends of Tomorrow
Barry has to be the worst time- and dimension-traveller ever. On Earth-2, Wells told him not to allow himself to be amotionally entangled, and he did, and now heagain went and did everything he shouldn’t have. So far all we’ve seen is Hartley back and as a friend, but I think this opens a window for the writers to come up with anything they need… Well done Barry! 🙂