Article first published as ARROW Review Season 3 Episode 4 The Magician on Seat42F.
This
week’s episode of the CW’s ARROW, “The Magician,” picks up right where
last week left off, with Nyssa al Ghul (Katrina Law) standing in Team
Arrow’s base, an arrow pointed at our heroes. Fans of the show know why
she’s come; her love, Sara, is missing, and Sara is last known to be in
Starling City. We also know what happened to Sara, short dead by an
archer. Is Nyssa here for justice or revenge?
I
don’t think most people believe Nyssa will shoot Oliver (Stephen Amell)
or the others, at least without good reason, and it’s clear very
quickly she doesn’t believe they did Sara harm. They are Sara’s friends.
Plus, Oliver tells Nyssa the truth right away, and offers to help hunt
for the killer, since Oliver has already been looking. Nyssa declines,
blinded by anger and grief, but it’s not too tense a scene, and kind of a
wimpy cliffhanger.
Since Oliver and
Nyssa are both looking into the same thing in “The Magician,” their
paths can’t help but cross anyway. Much of “The Magician” concerns their
hunt for the responsible party, and while they do not find them,
tension does eventually erupt between them. Nyssa suspects Malcolm
Merlyn (John Barrowman) of being guilty and Oliver steps in to protect
him. Now, Nyssa has her father, Ra’s (Matt Nable, Riddick), and his
League of Shadows mad at Oliver, which surely will lead to further
conflict.
It’s always sad when good
guys are at odds with one another. The League of Shadows isn’t
completely altruistic; they are a group of assassins, after all. But
considering Sara, a likeable, noble character is part of their
contingent, they can’t be all bad. With Team Arrow and the League at
odds, players who don’t deserve to get hurt very likely will.
Why
does Oliver protect Malcolm? He’s a horrible dude who has done horrible
things, responsible for many unwarranted deaths. Yet, he is also
Oliver’s sister’s father, who steps in to protect Thea (Willa Holland)
when she’s in danger. Perhaps Oliver feels that the more people looking
out for his sibling, the better? Especially when one of those protectors
is as capable as Malcolm? Still, it has to cost Oliver something to
stand up for a guy so undeserving, someone who should be behind bars.
It’s
really interesting how Thea lies to Oliver about Malcolm. She is angry
for a very long time at the secrets Oliver and her mother keep from her.
She makes peace with Oliver’s continued evasiveness, given the story he
tells her earlier this season, but for her to keep the things she knows
about Malcolm from Oliver is a turn for her character. I guess as she
moves into that darker realm, training under Malcolm as a fighter
herself, she starts to see the need for secrets. Or she’s just lost a
bit of her soul and no longer cares. It’s a shame to see Thea go down
this path, but it’s also understandable, given what she’s been through.
This
does mean Thea probably won’t be getting back with Roy (Colton Haynes)
any time soon. Sure, she’ll give him a job, and it’ll be nice to see
them working together, but Roy is now a Goody Two-shoes who is honest
and always does the right thing. He and Thea have reversed their roles,
which means they are still out of sync with one another. They could be
destined for a happy ending, but ARROW is nowhere near that point right
now.
Speaking of people who have
flipped, Laurel’s (Katie Cassidy) behavior is worrying. She still won’t
tell her father, Quentin (Paul Blackthorne), that Sara is dead. Neither
Nyssa nor Oliver understand this choice, but acknowledge it’s her
decision, not theirs. Even with Quentin’s heart condition, though, it
doesn’t seem a good idea to keep him in the dark. He’s in semi-regular
contact with Sara and eventually he’ll figure out that something
happened to her. He’ll be really pissed, then, knowing Laurel has
explicitly lied to him about Sara.
“The
Magician” is a fun little hunting episode with some decent character
development, especially as it pertains to Sara’s death. As usual, the
flashbacks in the hour feel completely unnecessary, but that’s a staple
of ARROW at this point, so they’re probably not going away any time
soon.
ARROW airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on the CW.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.