Instead, over dinner Noah drops the bombshell that he knows Felicity is Overwatch and that she works with the Green Arrow. Presumably he knows all of the team's identities too, but nothing is really made of that. Instead he tries to point out that as some kind of anarchist cyber terrorist, he and Felicity, a vigilante cyber hacker, are not so dissimilar. Felicity's mother warns her that her old man is just as he ever was, trying to charm his way back into their lives with an ulterior motive. Taking a leaf out of Oliver's book to test her dad, Felicity gives him an unrestricted tour of the labs at Palmer Tech, only to discover he couldn't help himself by smuggling in a data mining device. Upset that she can never have the relationship with her father that she always wanted, Felicity calls in the SCPD to get him arrested, as he is technically on the run from both the police and the F.B.I.
At this rate, I'm left wondering if The Calculator is going to turn up in Suicide Squad too. Whilst I'm sure we will see him again I really was hoping to get more mileage out of the character, especially with both he and his daughter's dual identities online maybe leading to some kind of Hackers meets The Departed scenario. Perhaps we will. We shall have to wait and see.
ARROW Season 4 Episode 11: Delving into More Personal Stories
On the island, Taiana has taken all of an episode to seemingly forgive Oliver for his killing of her brother, but not before taking the stone Oliver had, giving it to Baron Reiter as a bargaining chip. Reiter doesn’t release them but reveals the stone and its markings were the final piece of the puzzle he needed to lead him to what he has been searching for, something they’ll have to dig to reach. How could a woman in a dream give Oliver a magical stone that he could carry over to the real world? Did I miss something or is it just magic? To be honest the flashbacks are beginning to stretch a little thin and I’m struggling to keep up because I simply want something to happen.
This episode however was centred on the fate of Thea Queen and how she’s paying for her father’s machinations. Sins of the Father indeed. Despite being the worst villain that Oliver has faced during the course of the show, being responsible for hundreds of deaths including that of his own son Tommy, Oliver simply can't bring himself to kill Merlyn even given Nyssa’s ultimatum on handing over the Lotus. Instead he tries to make a trade. If Merlyn will willingly give up the demon's head ring and mantle of Ra’s Al Ghul, Nyssa will hand over the Lotus elixir. Nyssa agrees but when meeting to make the exchange, Merlyn has his loyalists attack Nyssa and her faction. This leads to the two ninja assassin factions warring on the streets of Star City, innocent bystanders getting caught in the cross fire of their arrows, a slightly ridiculous sight by bloody entertaining to say the least.
Furious at Merlyn for putting his position of power over his daughter's life, Merlyn points out that the League of Assassins has been an instrument of change, subtlety manipulating history for centuries, something that hasn't really be explored too well on the show. He hints that there are larger things at stake and he will absolutely not allow that power to fall into Nyssa Al Ghul's hands. Perhaps he's right? Perhaps he's the lesser evil here?
A trial by combat is set up on a rooftop to end this war over the league once and for all. And invoking League doctrine, as he is technically Nyssa's husband, Oliver takes her place in the fight against Merlyn. And here's where it all falls down. “Three years!” Oliver cries before launching himself into this final fight with Merlyn. Three years Merlyn has plagued him and his family and now he has to pay. A fight, three years in the making, over in 30 seconds. I'm honestly disappointed that the show runners didn't try harder to make this fight grander, bigger, more heartfelt with the highest of stakes. And of course, despite Nyssa's continuous guarantee that “Someone is going to die,” no-one died. Oliver pulled a Vader on Merlyn, cutting his hand off and knocking him out instead. I suppose I should be glad that the hero of the show managed to find a way out of the kill- or-be-killed scenario with a 3rd option, and I would be, if this were Spider-Man. But this is Green Arrow and Oliver Queen has taken lives, dozens of them, yet stops short at the man he himself says he hates more than anyone?
Nyssa is pleased with the outcome though and hands over the Lotus which saves Thea's life. It seems a shame that Thea had to sit out what may well be the final chapter of her most interesting story. But it's not quite over just yet. Instead of killing Merlyn or even having the League take him prisoner, he's let go. Nyssa, realising the horrors the League has caused, disbands it, somehow arriving at the logic that unleashing a small army of trained assassins on the world is smarter than, you know, governing it. Merlyn swears he'll make Oliver pay, which again, Oliver seems to just let slide, despite Merlyn letting him know he knows about his son William in Central City; Information he gladly shares during a clandestine meeting with none other than Damien Darhk.
Written by Nick Whitney, ARROW Beat Writer -- Click here to read Nick's posts.
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ARROW Season 4 Episode 12: Enter the CalculatorARROW Season 4 Episode 11: Delving into More Personal Stories