‘Arrow’ season 2, episode 2 preview: The Bronze Tiger … and the ‘Emerald Archer’?
Is the Bronze Tiger everything that you were hoping for from a villain on “Arrow“? In the sneak peek below from tonight’s “Identity,” we can at least figure out that the guy at least looks pretty cool. It’s easy to draw comparisons between him and Wolverine as they both have animal names, and they are each sporting a set of claws (or at least this incarnation of the villain is). The fact that the Bronze Tiger seems more interested in fighting than anything else seems to be the primary thing that really sets the two apart.
But, this villain like any other has a definite weakness. As feared and as strong as he may be, nobody with a set of metal claws is going to be able to withstand a series of bullets coming at him from all directions. This is what we see in the sneak peek below from tonight’s episode, as the cops arrive and ruin the party that Oliver and the Bronze Tiger were about to throw for themselves. It was a violent affair; there were punches thrown, insults fired away, and also a brief look that Oliver was going to be outmatched. While he has some hand-to-hand combat skills, he’s better off not trying to use them here.
These two characters are introduced for the fight by none other than China White (Kelly Hu), who seems to yet again have a habit figured out here of showing up, telling various bad guys to attack Oliver, and then run off before she has to get her hands dirty (though we’ve also seen that she is more than capable of kicking some butt herself). What is perhaps the most notable is the name that she chooses to call him in the “Emerald Archer,” which is almost comical in some ways. Is this a sign that the Green Arrow nickname is formally coming soon? This season does seem to be opening the door more for superhero mythology, and it’s obvious that there is a reason she used both an adjective to go along with the word “Archer.” (To be honest, we’ve always felt like he was more of a Forest Green Archer.)
Oliver still has many other terrible villains coming up on the show. We know already that Seth Gabel will be reprising his role as the Count, and there is also still Deadshot out there to deal with.
Photo: The CW