‘Arrow’ season 2, episode 7 review: Guess who’s back, and who’s (maybe) dead?
What we had from Wednesday night’s new episode of “Arrow” is the subject of what could be a very worthy discussion of whether or not it really benefits a show by continuing to keep alive so many main characters. Not only did “State v. Queen” feature the return of the nefarious Count Vertigo to the scene for the first time since season 1, but it also shocked us in the closing minutes with three major plot points (spoilers ahead): Malcolm Merlyn is back, he helped to pay off the jury to get Moira Queen a guilty verdict, and he also is supposedly the father of Thea Queen.
You can take the last one as fact or not, since there is no real evidence that we have to believe that he is doing anything other than trolling Moira and making her hate herself even more than she already does. But in reviving your most well-known villain, you’re taking an enormous risk. At one point do we bring someone back to the point where death does not matter anymore?
As a fan of John Barrowman, any opportunity to have him back on the show is something worth celebrating. But is he really the best addition to the show as a whole? This is what we’re still a little bit skeptical about right now, since it washes away so much of the impact of what happened at the end of last season. We already said goodbye to this character once, and aren’t there enough other villains to pick up the slack? Brother Blood is clearly being set up now as the new Big Bad, and the one who allowed Vertigo to be funded and free in the first place.
What Merlyn’s return makes us do now is wonder whether or not The Count is really dead, since he didn’t really put himself in the best position for his plan to come to fruition. Basically, standing in front of a window while a guy with arrows shoots them at you is like practically admitting to the world that you are ready to die. This is hardly the most-surprising end to a character in the history of the world.
While it sounds like we’re complaining a lot about “State v. Queen,” it had a number of wonderful moments. There was a nice little Oliver / Felicity scene after he rescued her from Vertigo, and we saw a little bit of Laurel’s humanity for the first time in a while. The story on the island is starting to finally become a little bit more clear, and that alone is worth a decent grade. Grade: B.
Next week the Flash arrives to “Arrow,” and you should definitely click here if you want to see a preview video revolving around what we can expect.
Photo: The CW