Arrow: Missing
May 18, 2017 4:47 AM - Season 5, Episode 22 - Subscribe

 
sooo it's bad guys vs bad guys and Oliver? I'm hesitant about bringing back Deathstroke, but at least that would be interesting.
posted by numaner at 12:37 PM on May 18, 2017


This episode ticked me off. Oliver finally clears Green Arrow's name, then proceeds to embark on an arrow-shooting extravaganza to take out all sorts of cops/feds/whoever they are guarding Chase. Why didn't Mayor Queen just get on the phone to halt the transfer and prevent Chase from being taken to the chopper? What are all of those cops going to say that playboy Mayor Queen beat them up and stole their truck? And going back to an earlier point, if Oliver has enough power and prestige to beat a prisoner bloody while that prisoner is in custody, surely he should have enough pull to stop the transfer.
posted by sardonyx at 7:04 PM on May 19, 2017 [1 favorite]


Oh, yeah, the other thing that bothered me was Malcolm showing up with no explanation as to whether this is current continuity Merlyn (if that's even possible) or time-travelling LoT Merlyn.
posted by sardonyx at 7:06 PM on May 19, 2017 [1 favorite]


What are all of those cops going to say that playboy Mayor Queen beat them up and stole their truck? And going back to an earlier point, if Oliver has enough power and prestige to beat a prisoner bloody while that prisoner is in custody, surely he should have enough pull to stop the transfer.

I thought that until I remembered that Chase was being held by Argus rather than the police.
posted by garius at 6:20 AM on May 20, 2017


Oh, yeah, the other thing that bothered me was Malcolm showing up with no explanation as to whether this is current continuity Merlyn (if that's even possible) or time-travelling LoT Merlyn.

Ooh, I think I can answer this one! Thawne and 1987!Darhk picked up Merlyn from his crappy apartment the night that 2016!Darhk died in the finale of Arrow season 4. After the Legends defeated the Legion of Doom, Sara Lance said that they took Merlyn back to his apartment on that same night and wiped his memory of his Legion adventures. So, from Merlyn's perspective (and everyone else in Star City), he never went anywhere.
posted by Servo5678 at 6:22 AM on May 20, 2017 [2 favorites]


Thanks for that explanation, Servo5678. That detail somehow escaped me.

Even if the security guys were Argus, it's still bad form for Oliver to act as he did. Even if it is more shady and clandestine than other security branches, Argus is still a government agency, so shooting Argus guys should have roughly the same consequences as shooting cops/feds/etc.

Oh well, next week's episode should be interesting. At least we should be able to look forward (fingers crossed) to some good fight choreography.
posted by sardonyx at 7:59 AM on May 20, 2017


Okay, the whole recurring trope of Powerful Anti-Arrow Bent on Revenge thing is so stale. And they have too many episodes. The "Oh, haha! It's all part of Bad Guy's perfect plan!" thing is just a yawn. It's not surprising, not interesting, and it feels like the result of having too many episodes to fill with too few ideas. It makes watching the show feel like a chore.

The Flash has a similar problem with the repetitive nature of its villains, but at least the Arrow characters are spared from behaving idiotically (at least to the degree the The Flash characters are forced to).

This show will never return to its original glory if they persist in thinking they can just retread last season's big bad but make it more intense. They need to pivot into finding new and different challenges for the character and the team. But that would require imagination and risk, two things that are obviously in short supply on Team Berlanti. They've got the production aspects down cold, but it really feels like the good seasons of their shows were beginner's luck. The writers are really doing a disservice to all the really talented, skilled and dedicated people who work on this show.

I'd love it if they had a season that tested Oliver's skills rather than his ability to survive torture.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 8:22 AM on May 24, 2017


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