ARROW Season 4 Episode 2: "The Candidate" Dissected



This week’s episode opened with Team Green Arrow (I'll call them TGA from now on) taking out bad guys left and right, with Green Arrow swapping quips about code names with Felicity proving just how much they needed him back in Star City (though admittedly, he ultimately finished the job by disarming the bomb meant destroy a water plant). I really don’t want to become an Olicity hater but could they just focus on the mission at hand?

Oliver’s big take away from the night’s crime fighting, however, was that his sister was out for blood and one day soon may go too far and take a life in the pursuit of justice; a line Oliver doesn’t want her to cross (ignoring the fact Oliver killed dozens of people in Season 1). Shrugging off her brother’s concerns, Thea elects to get ready to meet with an (I’m pretty sure) hitherto unmentioned family friend, Jessica Danforth.

Rich power player of Star City, Danforth (Jeri Ryan), announces she is going to run for mayor after being inspired by the Green Arrow's speech given at the end of last episode. It was good to see the show tackle the idea that real civic leadership will be needed to turn Star City around, not just masked vigilantism, but literally within seconds of announcing her candidacy she’s attacked by anarchist for hire Lonnie Machin (Alexander Calvert). Ollie and Thea are present so they obviously manage to thwart his attempt on her life (or was he just abducting her?) in their civilian identities without raising too much attention. This seems like it may be the formula for this season, with comic book villains debuting on the show as they are hired by Damien Dahrk to help further his agenda... one I worry may get old fast.

At Palmer Tech, Felicity is seen in her “day-to-day” life as, you know, CEO of a multi-billion dollar company. I honestly expected her to be fired from the position by the end of the episode returning us to the sort of status quo from Season 1 and 2, but surprisingly no. Forced to make lay-offs to save money, we’re introduced to new character Curtis Holt (Echo Kellum), the brilliant Palmer Tech employee whose algorithm was unfortunately used to create the list of people to be fired — ironically, including himself. Sanguine with his fate, Holt casually mentions he can finally take that trip his husband has been nagging him to take.

And there it is folks, LGBT inclusion. No agenda, just a gay relationship mentioned in conversation like it was any other relationship, which of course, it is. I know Holt is destined to become the superhero Mr. Terrific, whom I know next to nothing about, but what I do know is this television version will be a significant addition to the CW's ARROW / THE FLASH universe as one of the first openly gay superheroes on TV.

Felicity ends up managing to bluff the board of directors into believing she and Holt have an amazing need-to-know project that can save the company. They give her six months to present something, giving us a sure-fire sub-plot to turn Holt into a superhero and, interestingly, a ticking clock that lines up with the six month countdown to the mysterious death revealed in the flash-forward last week.

Finding Machin’s methods a little too anarchic for his liking, following the abduction of Danforth’s college age daughter, Damien Dahrk decides to give him up to the Star City police via his man Captain Lance. Lance receiving Machin’s location, we get a glimpse the captain is definitely not a fully paid up member of HIVE, with Dahrk having to threaten Laurel’s life to keep him in line. Which is what makes what happened next all the more questionable. Passing Machin’s location on to Oliver, Lance allows TGA* to save the girl instead of sending in his cops. Essentially sending his daughter into harm’s way. He seems to have come to terms with her being a vigilante and going out and fighting crime, what exactly does Dahrk have hanging over the Lances that the good Captain doesn’t think TGA* can stop? I beg the ARROW writers, make this good.

During the rescue of the girl, Speedy manages to burn Machin alive with Green Arrow barely saving him — he escapes his ambulance setting up his return a a full on comic book super villain I’m sure. When he later confronts her about this they get into a vicious, albeit brief fight, with Speedy going full Damien Wyne on us — sorry for the Batman references, but this show is heavy with allusions to Batman lore. Oliver is forced to reveal the risk he took bringing Thea back to life via the Lazarus Pit and the warning he received from R’as Al Ghul on how it changed people, with the cast clumsily questioning why it’s only just affecting her now — proving nothing really happens off season because it doesn’t suit the writer’s needs.

Pulling a bait and switch on us, Danforth pulls out of the running for mayor of Star City even after her daughter is returned to her (can’t say I blame her) leaving Oliver to question if he has what it takes to offer the people of Star City that which the Green Arrow can’t, namely hope, as the new mayor.

Oliver was the titular “Candidate” of this episode all along? Further reading leads me to believe Oliver Queen was Star City mayor in the comics? I have no idea where this is going to lead us.

There’s a hint of death in the air as we near Halloween, as for the second episode in a row we find characters next to a grave at episodes' end. This time it’s Laurel and Thea exhuming Sara’s body, who by my reckoning has been dead about a year. Creepy CG effects to make Caity Lotz look like a cadaver aside, this feels like a really stupid idea. I know they want Sara to return as the White Canary for LEGENDS OF TOMORROW, but in an episode that has just spent a lot of time telling us how the Lazarus Pit negatively affected Thea, Laurel seems pretty ready to risk it to bring her sister back. I know this will back fire in the team’s face. But I also know the show producers have a secret weapon waiting in the wings to solve the issue.

Written by Nick Whitney, ARROW Beat Writer

[* - Team Green Arrow]