Arrow: The Promise

I feel that this is an episode the show has been building up to for a while now: the one in which the flashback sequences take over the bulk of the episode's run-time, while the contemporary scenes make up the framing device. By doing so, it amplifies the importance of what happened on the freighter; not only in providing a turning point for Oliver's transformation into Arrow, but also in setting up the root of Slade's vendetta (which I still have problems with, but  we'll get to that).

To a point the appearance of Slade in the Queen Mansion suffered from Audience Already Knows syndrome, which is what happens when a Big Reveal is lessoned because the audience found out ages ago and is just waiting for the characters to catch up with what they already know. Sometimes it can work brilliantly, playing on a viewer's anticipation (such as that scene where Spike gets out of his wheelchair in season two of Buffy the Vampire Slayer). In this case, I'm not quite sure the reveal of Slade in earlier episodes was a good idea, as by now it's taken too long for Oliver to catch on (though I suppose it could have been worse; they could have waited for the finale for the big confrontation).

But imagine if Oliver coming face-to-face with Slade in his living room was also the first time the audience had seen him in contemporary Starling City. I think in that case the scene would have felt more shocking than it did coming on the heels of a few Stingers that established him the man pulling the strings. Also worth taking into consideration is what the flashbacks have (or haven't) depicted. On some level we all knew that he wasn't dead, but perhaps his re-emergence in Starling City would have had more impact if we'd already seen his "death" on the island.

Or perhaps not. My point is that when it comes to shocks and surprises, consider the fact that there are dozens of ways in which a single event can play out. But wondering whether or not this was the right way for Slade's reveal to be handled is redundant now, and the episode picks up right where the last one left off:

Despite Stephen Amell's expression, we can presume that Oliver is actually horrified at the revelation that Slade is in the Queen Mansion, and as soon as Moira's back is turned he reaches for a weapon. That he does so off-screen before reappearing right next to Slade was a great bit of camera-work.

What follows is Slade doing some mighty fine trolling as he gets touchy-feely with Moira, directs loaded comments at Oliver, talks Thea into giving him a guided tour of the mansion's art collection, and discreetly bugs the whole place. It's all appropriately tense, and even a little funny considering Oliver's glowering in the back ground – though it does require Moira/Thea to be ridiculously obtuse about how strained the atmosphere is.

Oliver manages to get a phone call out to his crew, and Sara immediately recognizes Slade's voice (because honestly, how could you ever forget it?) They all head to the mansion, with three noteworthy details: a) Sara is clearly in charge, b) this is Roy's first official team mission, c) Felicity's parting words are "save Oliver." Knowing what I do about season three, is this the beginning of the slippery slope towards Felicity's storyline revolving exclusively around Oliver?

***

Over on the island flashbacks, which for the first time will not be relegated to Miscellaneous Observations, we get a quick preparation montage: Oliver practices his shooting, Sara crushes some Chekhov's Berries, and everyone burns the last of the mirakuru. Sara also delivers a warning: one so specifically phrased that it pretty much spells out exactly what's going to happen later in the episode. Basically, she advises Oliver to find and shoot Professor Ivo immediately so that he can't tell Slade what really happened when Shado was killed – and due to his gift for spinning words, Sara is sure he'll be able to convince Slade that her death was all Oliver's fault.

And of course, that's exactly what happens when Oliver hesitates, allowing Ivo to convince Slade that Oliver chose Sara's life over Shado's. At one point he's even given the line to Oliver: "I pulled the trigger, but you aimed the gun." NO HE DIDN'T. THIS MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL.

Sorry, but no matter how entertaining this show can be, I can't help but be infuriated that its entire storyline is based on the fridging of a female character; not only that, but a fridging that was hideously conceived and structured in the attempt to throw blame for Shado's death on Oliver, thereby giving Slade a reason for his vendetta, even though there's no way he could ever be held responsible for the whims of a lunatic (who had no real reason to kill either women anyway).

This is the entire crux of this season's plot, and it's awful.

I grant that there was some attempt to blame Slade's misplaced rage on the mirakuru, but for the most part I'm still not buying it – especially since that only robs him of his agency.

Okay, let's move on. We're given a quick reminder of that Russian bearded dude in the ship's jail cells, and an introduction (at least I'm pretty sure it is) to a young missionary – who considering we haven't seen him in the contemporary time-line, certainly doesn't bode well for him surviving the flashbacks.

Oh, and we also learn Professor Ivo's secret motivation. Yup, it's another sick woman dying off-screen. Wait, didn't we do this just last week with the Clock King? This is ridiculous! It reminds me of the first season of The Legend of Korra in which everyone's dead parent was taken out by a fire-bender. And as with the Clock King's sister, the fact that Ivo's wife (or daughter, I can't even remember which) remains a faceless off-screen device, you're left wondering why they bothered adding her in the first place. Why not just keep him an unsympathetic mad scientist for all the difference it makes.

There were more than a few contrivances in how Slade, Sara and Oliver get to the freighter. You're telling me that two crewmembers rowed back to the island to investigate a deliberately lit signal fire? That no one on-board saw the parachute that Slade and Sara use to fly in? That Slade actually managed to navigate it perfectly to land on the deck? That some crushed berries prevented Professor Ivo's truth serum from taking hold of Oliver?

Okay, whatever.

But there's some wonderfully choreographed chaos and explosions as Sara frees the prisoners, only for her to realize that they're completely overwhelmed by the ship's crew. Meanwhile, Oliver confronts Ivo, who does exactly what Sara said he would, and blames Oliver for Shado's death while Slade is in earshot.

As such, Slade catches Oliver mid-jump as he takes a dive off the side of the ship (this was cool) and takes command of the crew by squeezing the captain's head to death (somewhat cooler than it sounds). The big three-way confrontation between Oliver, Ivo and Slade takes place, with Slade shutting down everyone's arguments by using the most effective way of shutting down arguments: with a dispassionate "I don't care."

The words are in stark contrast to how Slade finds Oliver in Starling City: with his family and girlfriend, alive and thriving in the lap of luxury. Whereas everything Slade has done has been in pursuit of empty vengeance for Shado (who among all the other things that make this a terrible backstory, wasn't really that into him anyway).

Miscellaneous Observations:

It's been a while since I caught up on these episodes, which means some of the impact of new developments has been lost. For instance, how long has it been since Roy joined the team? Because that was treated like a pretty big deal at the time, and yet for the past few episodes he's just been hovering about in the background.

Slade seems to react with shock when he sees Sara on the staircase (man, everyone from the island save Shado came back from the dead) which implies he was under the impression she had died on the island. He also seemed to understand the significance of Roy's "particularly strong handshake."

In the night before their attempt on the freighter, it was poignant that Sara asks to be remembered by her family as the person she was, while Oliver asks to be remembered as the person he became.

That was a beautiful dream sequence Oliver had with Shado, but honestly – how many true loves can this guy have?

In the immediate lead-up to the attack, I liked that the show remembered the flashbacks serve one main purpose: to explore the genesis of Arrow. As such, the shot of Oliver putting on Shado's hood and Slade his mask were appreciated, though it's a pity Sara didn't catch a glimpse of a canary.

There were some interesting pans between the contemporary time-line and the island flashbacks; in past episodes the segues have been divided by white light and a "whooshing" noise; this time around they used plants and windows as the transitory devices – perhaps to drive home the fact that these particular flashbacks have a far more immediate effect on present day events.

Sara's line to Roy: "can I trust you?" was interesting. Trust him to follow her orders without losing control or just trust him in the general sense?

So was Professor Ivo's wife/daughter mentally ill or just the master of passive-aggressiveness? Her lines over the phone: "I knew a boy called Anthony, but he went away. He was a doctor, but he went away" leaves it up in the air.

Another thing that grated is that after all Oliver's talk about how it would be wrong to cold-bloodedly murder Ivo, the show never questions – not for a second – Diggle hiding in the bushes as a sniper to take out Slade. This was for strictly Doylist reasons: Oliver's people had to do something, but as there's no way that Slade can be taken out this early, there's no real need to question the fact that Diggle was preparing to shoot him dead. The show doesn't need to cross-examine the ethical implications of something that wasn't going to happen anyway; not like Oliver did for Professor Ivo's (more likely) hypothetical death.

Writing tip: always be consistent in how you handle the question of taking a life. If it isn't treated as a big deal, then your reader will probably assume there's no real risk of anyone actually dying.