Article originally written for Seat42F.
The CW’s ARROW took an already crazy season and made it
insane in last night’s episode, “Public Enemy.” When Ra’s al Ghul (Matt Nable)
fails to get Oliver (Stephen Amell) to take the offered mantle, he decides to
reveal to Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne) that Oliver is The Arrow. Quentin,
who is still reeling from learning of his daughter, Sara’s, death, shares the
secret on television and turns the whole city against our hero. What will
Oliver do?
The third year of ARROW has been the best of the series thus
far, constantly letting its story make huge leaps, rarely in an expected
direction. By freeing the writers to do whatever they want with the characters,
or so it seems, the show has cast off any type of formula or traditional
structure and made it feel like a real world with real stakes. In reality,
there are always more players than the handful a TV show can follow, and
motivations are not easily quashed. ARROW embraces this and is better for it.
A prime example of this is Quentin Lance. The poor man has
suffered so much, losing a daughter, finding out she’s actually alive, and then
losing her all over again. Add to that, his surviving child, Laurel (Katie
Cassidy), is doing the same thing that got Sara killed and she lied to her dad
about it, and he’s reached a breaking point. He’s truly a good man, as we’ve
seen in the past, and he’s smart, admitting he always suspected Oliver of being
The Arrow. Yet, in his current emotional situation, he wants to punish someone.
Oliver is the unfortunate target of that punishment, and Quentin is so devoted
to carrying it out he will burn any bridge on his way to do so.
Oliver has a hero complex, as we know, and the further along
his path he goes, the less selfish he becomes. In early episodes of ARROW,
Oliver is willing to kill others and protect himself. Now, he’s concerned about
his family and friends and his mission, much more so than he is about himself.
Only the most noble of people would turn themselves into the police, especially
when it’s debatable if Oliver deserves to be jailed. His long-standing guilt
likely contributes to this decision, too, though most will see what he is doing
as heroic.
But Oliver isn’t the only one in this vein. Roy (Colton
Haynes) believes he deserves to be in jail, and so he tries to convince the
police that he is the real Arrow. It’s unknown at this time if Quentin will buy
this Spartacus-esque play. However, Roy dressed in the suit and stopping the
police van is a development that makes total sense for the character, even as
it makes the plot of “Public Enemy” more chaotic.
I don’t trust Nyssa (Katrina Law). She presumably helps Team
Arrow, and does assist Laurel in escaping her dad, but she’s the one who sends
Oliver into Ra’s trap. It could be that she doesn’t know that’s what she’s doing;
ARROW doesn’t show us one way or the other if she’s complicit in her father’s
plans. Until we see her do something against Ra’s, though, more than we’ve seen
this far, I don’t think Oliver should be listening to her.
There’s a great subplot where Ray (Brandon Routh) is shot by
Ra’s and lies in a hospital bed. Bureaucratic rules prevent the doctors from
doing anything for him, so Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) sneaks Ray’s tech in
and saves his life. Yet, as Donna (Charlotte Ross) points out to her daughter,
Felicity is in love with Oliver, not Ray.
“Public Enemy” neatly brings this love triangle to a close
in the way it needs to. Ray is a great recurring guest star, but he’s heading
to the new spin-off next year, and Felicity belongs with Oliver, no matter how
long it takes the couple to get started. Donna isn’t strictly necessary for
this story, but she has a way of speeding things along, and she’s so enjoyable,
who can complain about her presence?
As stated above, “Public Enemy” is a terrific installment
that once more expands ARROW’s story in major ways. It is exciting, fast-paced,
and full of surprises. It serves the characters in an authentic way, and
continues the serial story appropriately. Now, if only ARROW would drop the
boring Oliver flashbacks that persist in most episodes.
ARROW airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on the CW.
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