Arrow Season 1 Countdown: Ranking Episodes 14-18

As we (finally) approach the heavily-anticipated kickoff to Season 2 of Arrow next week, swimming in the possibilities of some new characters and plot fodder that look to expand the series in Amazo-ing ways, we thought we’d offer fun little coverage of the freshman year in recap. Over the next week, GATV reviewer Matt Tucker offers his countdown ranking of each of the 23 episodes of Season 1 in the run-up to the new season premiere, “City of Heroes,” on October 9th. Continuing our march, the next five episodes on the list…

Your “Arrow: Year One” countdown:

• Wed 10/2 – Episodes 23-19
• Today – Episodes 18-14
• Fri 10/4 – Episodes 13-9
• Mon 10/7 – Episodes 8-4
• Tues 10/8 – Season 1 Top 3 Episodes

Agree or disagree? Have your own rankings? As always, we welcome your feedback and discussion. Tell us what you think in the comment section below or over on the forums.

Number 18: “Vendetta”

Episode: 1.8
Original Airdate: December 5, 2012
Synopsis: The second half of the Helena introductory arc finds Oliver attempting to train Helena, providing her with both an outfit and a crossbow that will become her trademark. Diggle is unconvinced that Helena will change her ways, but Oliver is insistent. Initially successful in convincing Helena that they should seek justice and not simply to murder people, as well as pursuing an actual relationship with each other, the anger over her father pushes her to kill the head of the Chinese Triad and pin it on her father. China White and the Triad invade the Bertinelli home, but Oliver intervenes. Frank Bertinelli tries escaping but Helena pursues him, nearly killing him before Oliver steps in. Helena departs, bent on revenge, and warning Oliver that she’ll expose his secret if he ever gets in her way. Elsewhere, Tommy and Oliver butt up against each other as Tommy looks for work after his father has cut him off from his trust fund. Walter employs Queen Consolidated tech employee Felicity Smoak to look into his wife after his suspicions over her involvement in Robert’s disappearance and death start proving to hold weight.

A better episode than its earlier counterpart, with a more capable performance from guest star Jessica De Gouw, this gets to the meat about the introduction of this character to the Arrow-verse. Oliver trying to train Helena casts a spotlight on his own actions, which is a great facet to cover but still seems a bit out of place given that he’s still fairly young in his own career. The good thing about the episode is that Oliver actually fails in his efforts, which feels quite true to his own level of experience, especially that he hasn’t seemed quite as discerning in his approach as he’s trying to instill in Helena up to this point. The bad thing is that the episode exemplifies all of the worst tendencies of the soap opera aspects of a show appearing on the CW network. Romance and personal relationships should absolutely play a big part in the lives of heroes as they try to navigate their world. Exaggerated and unnecessary melodrama — such as the worst scene of the series contender in the dinner debacle with Oliver, Helena, Tommy, and Laurel — should not.

For more on “Vendetta”: Matt’s Review • Episode Guide

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anRMQEv4g_Y

Number 17: “Legacies”

Episode: 1.6
Original Airdate: November 14, 2012
Synopsis: Bank robbers, dubbed the Royal Flush Gang for the playing card-designed facemasks they wear, gravely wound a police officer during a heist. Diggle appeals to Oliver to go after the gang, but Oliver insists he’s not a hero and has a specific course to follow with his father’s list. When Oliver is face-to-face with the effect of the gang, he decides to help out. Discovering that the gang is a family and that the father was laid off from his job and desperate by the actions of Robert Queen, Oliver tries to offer the man a legitimate way out of his troubles. He’s saddened to learn that the family proceeds with a final heist, and the Arrow steps in. Meanwhile, Tommy gets relationship advice from Thea regarding Laurel, and Moira and Oliver reconnect. On the island, a starved Oliver hallucinates his father telling him to kill himself. When the gun to his head doesn’t work, he tears pages from the book he found on his father to fuel a fire and discovers that there is hidden writing on the pages.

While some might grumble at the “realistic” treatment that DC characters have gotten to translate into the world of Arrow, the Royal Flush Gang is a rather strong one. They aren’t as fantastic or technology-drenched as their comic counterparts, but the family dynamic and the connections to both Oliver’s fathers misdeeds and the reality of the Glades that will become so important by the end of the season make for very effective antagonists. Not to discount the work of the preceding episodes, but this is also the first episode since the pilot to feature truly cinematic action, including a fun little “trick” arrow that isn’t a wifi device or voice recorder. The hour also features a great closing moment between Moira and Oliver sharing Big Belly Burgers, an opportunity to start to let more of Stephen Amell’s buoyancy into the character of Oliver Queen.

For more on “Legacies”: Matt’s Review • Episode Guide

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Iqf0hWr0qA

Number 16: “Vertigo”

Episode: 1.12
Original Airdate: January 30, 2013
Synopsis: After wrecking her new car while high on the drug Vertigo, Thea is arrested and put on trial. Though a plea deal is agreed to, the judge throws it out in an attempt to make an example of Thea. Angry, Oliver attempts to take down the Vertigo trade by going after the designer and head dealer of the drug, a man known only as the Count. Oliver uses his friendship with SCPD Detective McKenna Hall to get what information the police have on the Count, which leads him to using his Russian Bratva mob connections to get a meeting with the criminal. His first confrontation with the Count results in Oliver being injected with a powerful dose of Vertigo, which Diggle is able to counteract with herbal medicines Oliver brought with him from the island. Oliver has Felicity use the sample of Vertigo they have to determine where it was made. Weakened, Oliver goes after the Count again. During the fight, Oliver manages to inject the Count with a deadly dose of the drug, and the police arrive and arrest him. Laurel convinces Lance to make calls to get Thea out of her charges. Felicity turns Moira’s copy of the list over to Oliver, fearing that he investigation with Walter got the man killed. On the island, Yao Fei helps Oliver escape Fyers’ captivity by faking his death.

If the Royal Flush Gang is an example of a stronger reinterpretation of characters, the Count is an example of a lesser one. Or rather, a more confused one. There are interesting things at play with the character, and guest star Seth Gabel makes some dangerous and engaging choices, but there is somewhat of a lack of focus to the character. Clearly inspired by Heath Ledger’s turn as the Joker in The Dark Knight, the Count never quite ascends to that kind of potency or effect, though he’s used well in this episode. Using the drug to channel the effects of the comic counterpart’s powers is a fascinating idea, but the whole is slightly off in that way that you’re still not quite sure if it works or not. There’s a lot of potential here, if they can just crack what would make this character work. The real landmark here is showing Felicity is no fool, and while she doesn’t know how Oliver can help, his odd requests for help up to this point lead her to believe his is more than capable of doing so when she presents what she’s discovered about Moira. This gets the ball rolling on the Undertaking endgame.

For more on “Vertigo”: Matt’s Review • Episode Guide

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekda-hdT0AY

Number 15: “An Innocent Man”

Episode: 1.4
Original Airdate: October 31, 2012
Synopsis: Oliver saves Diggle’s life following the altercation with Deadshot and reveals his secret. He asks Diggle to join him in his campaign, but Diggle wants no part of it, opting to quit his employment as Oliver’s bodyguard as well. Learning of a man falsely accused of killing his wife, who worked for Jason Brodeur, one of the names on Oliver’s list, Oliver enlists Laurel’s help to get the man freed. At the prison to talk to the man after learning of the truth, Laurel is caught in a prison break staged by one of Brodeur’s bodyguards so that he can kill the man. After forcing Brodeur to confess to the man’s innocence, Oliver infiltrates the prison in disguise and rescues Laurel, beating Brodeur’s bodyguard and scaring Laurel with his ferocity. Hearing Laurel’s account of the vigilante’s rescue, Lance reviews security footage of a business auction that was under attack and discovers Oliver pulling what appears to be the Hood’s costume out of hiding. Believing he can help people out and serve as a moral compass, Diggle returns to become Oliver’s bodyguard again and accept his offer to help the vigilante. Lance arrives and arrests Oliver on suspicion of being the Hood.

“An Innocent Man” directly addresses Oliver’s methods as the Hood that had drawn some criticism from the audience. There’s an age-old battle over whether a hero should kill to accomplish their goals, and one can find passionate and reasoned arguments on both sides of the issue. The device in this chapter of showing a ruthless Oliver capable of taking life towards his ends in the present juxtaposed with the island flashback of the naive Oliver not willing to kill a bird for sustenance was an intriguing one, even if the concepts don’t quite match up. By presenting Diggle as a moral sounding board — and surprisingly bringing him into Arrow’s fold so quickly — the show begins its first explorations of the vigilante-hero contrast, and Oliver’s reaction to Laurel’s reaction to his savage beating of the bodyguard offers some compelling themes that have yet to be fully explored. Though it would later be undercut by “Damaged,” Lance’s detective work in discovering Oliver’s secret provides so much needed gravitas to the character, and no one could’ve anticipated that ending so soon.

For more on “An Innocent Man”: Matt’s Review • Episode Guide

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zCnx68Sot4

Number 14: “Lone Gunmen”

Episode: 1.3
Original Airdate: October 24, 2012
Synopsis: When a hired assassin kills one of his targets before he can bring him to justice and injures him in the process, Oliver takes on the mission to stop the man. Discovering the bullet that injured him was coated in a neurotoxin called curare, Oliver reaches out to the Russia Bratva to learn the assassin’s identity and location. Oliver confronts Floyd Lawton, known as Deadshot for his stunning accuracy, who escapes. Learning that Lawson is killing businessmen who plan to bid for ownership of Unidac Industries, he realizes Walter is next on the list. Stretched thin, Oliver reaches out to Quentin Lance to help protect people. Using the auction as cover, Oliver slips away and grabs his hidden vigilante gear to go after Lawton when he begins firing on the auction. Oliver and Lawton square off, and Oliver manages to sling an arrow from a cover position that hits Lawton right in the large reticle covering his eye, dropping the man. He then realizes Diggle arrived on the scene and has been shot with one of Lawton’s bullets.

Many were up in arms over this proto-appearance of the character of Deadshot, as well as the seemingly ignoble “death” of a fairly well-known DC character. Personally enjoying the introduction, even if it was a bit light on character development for him, it seemed clear that this was much more an “origin” of the popular character than it was a quick and disposible use of an established name. The interesting mirror of Lawton to Oliver’s crusade could’ve used more time but Michael Rowe gives an enticing performance with really not much beyond the surface aspects of the character that you wanted to see him back. Establishing Oliver as a member of the Russian mafia, as well as Oliver putting Lance to work for him, were stimulating developments, but it’s the burgeoning relationship between Oliver and Diggle that really steals the show here. Diggle being shot and saved by Oliver all but ensured that the unveiling of Oliver’s secret life to his bodyguard that had been all but teased since the beginning of the series was happening a lot faster than we’d all expected. It was a necessary step for the evolution of the show, though, and one of those developments that really delineated the assured handle over plot that is a hallmark of the series.

For more on “Lone Gunmen”: Derek B. Gayle’s Review • Episode Guide

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YYw-IqHMQI

Join us tomorrow as we tackle the next five episodes in our countdown and crack into the Top 10. And make sure to stay tuned with GreenArrowTV as we bring you more goodies in this week running up to the new season!