Arrow: The Slabside Redemption
November 26, 2018 7:08 PM - Season 7, Episode 7 - Subscribe

Oliver makes a choice that will affect his entire life, as well as the lives of everyone he cares about.
posted by oh yeah! (10 comments total)
 


I'm behind in my viewing this week (deadlines), so I haven't seen this or any of the other Arrowverse shows yet, but this article did catch my eye. It's about the current episode and the stunt work in it.
posted by sardonyx at 9:05 AM on November 27, 2018


Excellent stunt work, camera work, and pacing. This episode, unlike the majority of Arrow eps, didn't have me yelling at me TV because everyone is being an idiot.

However, there's some real logic-breaking moments throughout this episode.

Oliver cuts Samson's femoral artery and tells him he's going to bleed out in six minutes. Later we see Samson in the mess hall with an absolutely tiny tourniquet tied around his thigh. Are you teling me that's all you need to stop an arterial bleed? I'm not a doctor, but I didn't buy it.

Oliver breaks out of his cell by destroying the lock with some kind of makeshift hairspray bomb, which okay, I can swallow that. But later in the same episode he locks Diaz in the what is presumably the same cell (all Oliver's stuff is in it). He doesn't just close the cell door and it's unlocked. You hear the sound of a lock locking. The lock he blew up earlier. That really annoyed me.
posted by runcibleshaw at 6:03 PM on November 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


I didn't hear the lock myself (maybe it's just my laptop's weak speakers), but I got the sense that closing the cell door was more symbolic than anything else. What I found unbelievable was that one stab to the chest and not the heart and a headbutt renders Diaz incapacitated. He's supposedly at his peak, beating Oliver senseless. I can buy that Oliver was just playing weak until the right time to strike, but it felt like Diaz went down to easily. Same with Brick, actually, I thought Stanley stabbed in the back right in the spine, which would bring down anyone, but no it was the waste, where we've repeatedly seen characters getting stabbed/cut/shot in this show and still kept going, and Brick is no weakling.

Another quibble is we clearly see Oliver getting stabbed by Diaz in the left shoulder, and the rest of the fight sequence really does have him struggle with that arm. But when he finally walks outside, he's holding his right arm still like that was the injured side. (Also when they pulled the camera back from Oliver and Felicity kissing, Diggle disappeared)

I did appreciate that they stuck with the continuity of Samson's inability to feel pain and the actor really acted like he didn't feel the slashes and punches, and only screamed when he was on fire. Speaking of, did Oliver leave him to die? And not admonish Turner for lighting the guy on fire? We didn't see the aftermath of that right?

Overall this was a fine action-packed episode aside from a few logic questions. It's nowhere near the level of the prison sequence in Daredevil season 3, but it was still pretty good. And the characterization was spot on. We also got a great scene out of Brendan Fletcher as Stanley.
posted by numaner at 6:53 PM on November 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


Wow, that was a hell of an episode! Diaz is finally put to bed, Turner finds a measure of redemption, Oliver is set free, and a serial killer escapes to menace Star City. Very well done and the best episode in weeks.
posted by Servo5678 at 5:01 AM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]


The fact that the combined a 'set someone on fire' stunt with a 'fall off an upper floor' stunt was the moment that most astounded me. I tend to zone out a lot during Arrow, but that definitely got my attention.

I wish that Diaz was left completely no-take-backs visibly dead at the end of the episode, but I guess even that would be no guarantee that the show couldn't bring him back again whenever they felt like it, so, I'll have to hope and trust that they got the message of how unenthusiastic most Arrow fans have been about the Diaz storyline and will finally shove him down the memory hole and move on to some other arc.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:30 AM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


Wow, that prison sure is one some beautiful oceanside property. Looks like a freakin' golf course. Was that the first time we saw such a pretty daylight exterior shot? Is Star City anywhere near an ocean? Maybe they annexed Carmel-by-the-Sea when they lost the -ling in the name.

I liked all the action in this episode, it was nicely choreographed. Although I got a little tired of the punching towards the end. My favorite thing was watching him be just an unstoppable force as they were clearing the upper levels of the cell block. Walk forward, take a kick, throw a punch, guy goes down. Repeat. Also I missed this when watching but apparently the improvised scissor weapon with the finger ring is a bit of an homage to his tiger claws.

And yeah, the Stanley conclusion was fantastic. I was unimpressed with his character all along, it was just so obvious he wasn't really Ollie's ally. But I'd guessed he'd be a Diaz agent or something stupid. This cowardly but murderous thing is much more interesting. The bit where he stabbed Oliver with the needle was just great, what a little rat. Presumably he's gotten away to be a future pain in the ass. maybe a replacement for the squandered promise of Cayden James.

Diaz can't be killed of course, he's the one actor they can count on to keep coming back to the show. But the way he got taken down was really baffling, after such an intense fight. Quick non-critical stab, a couple of headbutts, wut? Kind of nullifies all the great choreography to end on a dumb note.

Anyway, glad that Prison Break: Arrow is finally over. Curious how the show will breathe now. Diggle and Felicity have irrevocably changed in the time Oliver's been in jail, I hope they're allowed to stay that way.
posted by Nelson at 6:52 AM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]


Quick non-critical stab

Getting stabbed in the lung is non-critical? Dude was wheezing as he went down.
posted by Servo5678 at 7:30 AM on November 28, 2018


Meh, he has another.
posted by Nelson at 7:46 AM on November 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


Hmm. Didn’t Oliver shatter both of Samson’s arms during the prison fight club a couple episodes back? Samson’s arms seemed fine here.

Also, why bother saving the guards? This entire time they have been brutalising prisoners, standing by as prisoners beat each other senseless, taking bribes, assisting in the running of a fight club, torturing and brainwashing prisoners, assisting in the conduct of unauthorised and unethical experiments which resulted in the death of prisoners. They all seems to be scum. But Oliver claims they’re all innocent.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 4:35 PM on November 2, 2019


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