‘Arrow’ season 2, episode 10 review: An ‘Olicity’ moment; a supercharged Roy

“Blast Radius” was too us a pretty important episode of “Arrow” season 2, at least in that it started to continue reinforcing that there can be superpowers within this version of the DC Universe, and they can both add something to the story and not take anything away. We’re not completely sold on it yet, but “Blast Radius” was definitely a very nice step in the right direction.

Giving Roy Harper at this point super-strength was a risky move, especially since this is a guy who to this point has shown that he has no problem getting in all sorts of dust-ups with people on the street. He could certainly be an asset to the Arrow in the future, but only if he can figure out how to reconcile his abilities and not let them get the best of him mentally.

This is probably the best thing that “Arrow” did on Wednesday’s episode: They made sure that there was a price to having these sort of abilities. Even though he can now save lives like he did with Moira, the side-effects of the serum could make him insane, emotional, or completely isolated. Just look at what happened when it comes to Cyrus Gold, or what happened on the island to Slade Wilson so far. (We only imagine it getting worse from here on out.)

As for the other parts of the story, there were some nice Oliver / Felicity moments in how he came to terms with the fact that he does care about her enough that he gets upset when she’s not around. It’s a bummer that he manifested it by being a jerk at first, and while he may not be able to admit to romantic feelings just yet, it’s clear that there is at least something present. With the way that this show is teasing this story, they are going to drive everyone insane by the time that these two make the decision as to where their relationship actually stands.

We now turn to who has at times been the greatest albatross on “Arrow” in Laurel, and we have to say that she was at least interesting this week. While her addiction problems are under-reported and severely damaging to her credibility down the road, she did follow her initiative enough to learn that there is at least something off about Sebastian Blood. Is she a little too trusting of a woman who is locked in an insane asylum? Sure, but we like that she is at least asking tough questions and really trying to do something independently of everyone else.

As we sign off here, let’s give a little love to Sean Maher. The “Firefly” alum may not have had the biggest role out of any in the show’s history as Shrapnel, he did a great job of descending into this character. We weren’t sitting here thinking that he was the doctor aboard the Serenity. Just like the episode as a whole, it was a very nice job. Grade: A-.