Last week’s episode of Arrow was weak, but the rebound was well worth it. Laurel Lance’s story is drawing to a close and things are slowly drawing into a tighter focus as the second season rolls into its true back half. Seeing Deathstroke in full gear was a definite highlight, and I’m glad that the writers won’t be dragging us through the silly spiral that was Laurel Lance’s character arc.
At the end of ‘Blind Spot,’ Laurel is left with nothing and can only go up. Now–NOW–Katie Cassidy has a chance to shine as an actress. If she fails, the show will take the hit. I’m rooting for her. She was one of the bright spots of the first season, and I hope she can get back to where she needs to be. And that is one day wearing fish net stockings. But that’s a hope for another day.
1. What is it?
Arrow Season 2, episode #211, titled ‘Blind Spot.’
2. Who’s in it?
Stephen Amell stars as Oliver Queen/Arrow; Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance; David Ramsey as John Diggle; Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak; Colton Haynes as Roy Harper; Willa Holland as Thea Queen; Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance; Manu Bennett as Slade Wilson; Guest stars this week include Kevin Alejandro as Sebastian Blood; Caity Lotz as Sara; Dylan Neal as Professor Anthony Ivo; Ana Mercedes as Miya Rezik; Dylan Bruce as A.D.A. Dunn; Bex Taylor-Klaus as Syn; and Jesse Hutch as Officer Daily.
3. Who made it?
‘Blind Spot’ was written by Wendy Mericle and Beth Schwartz. The episode was directed by Glen Winter.
4. What is it about? (**spoilers galore**)
‘Blast Radius’ opens with Sebastian Blood (Alejandro) visiting his aunt/mother at the asylum and then killing her as Brother Blood.
Next, Arrow is still trying to track down the man in the skull mask by shaking down low level dealers and thugs. When another interrogation proves fruitless, Arrow begins to show his frustration.
Laurel Lance (Cassidy) learns of Miya Rezik’s death at St. Walkers, and escalates her secret investigation of Sebastian. She asks her boss, ADA Dunn (Bruce) for help, only to be denied, and finally she turns to Arrow for help. She gives the vigilante all that she has and Arrow looks into it. Team Arrow deduces that the sealed record of Sebastian Blood’s father’s murder is in lockdown and only someone in the DA’s office can get in. Arrow and Laurel have to team up to break in, only to be thwarted by a security guard with computer skills who calls the cops. Arrow and Laurel manage to get out with the file, only to find it empty.
Blood and Slade (Bennett) have a pow wow and Slade expresses his displeasure in how Blood has handled things. He alerts the Alderman that Laurel and the vigilante broke into the records office and that forces Blood to make a move.
Laurel goes home to find her place turned over. Officer Daily (Hutch) appears and arrests her for possession of narcotics (she had been stealing drugs prescribed to Quentin). With her addiction now out, all of her allies–including Oliver Queen–now ignore her cries that Sebastian Blood is not who he seems. Quentin (Blackthorne) confronts his daughter about her addiction–as he too suffered as an alcoholic–and in a powerful scene, he turns his back on her.
Alone, Ollie bails her out of jail and takes her home, only to be jumped by Blood and his men. Ollie awakes to find a message on the wall to meet at Starling Cannery. Arrow shows up and a fight ensues between Blood and Arrow, and Laurel, finding a gun from one of Bloods acolytes, shoots Blood dead. Together, she and the vigilante unmask the Skull-faced madman to find Officer Daily lying at their feet.
With the man in the skull mask dead, Ollie realizes that he almost turned on a friend in Sebastian Blood based on his love of Laurel and he tells Diggle (Ramsey) that she is his blind spot.
Laurel goes to work, only to be relieved of her duties by ADA Dunn. Now she is friendless, loveless, fatherless, and jobless. In other words, she is at rock bottom.
The episode ends with Blood once again confronting Slade in his penthouse to tell him the good news that Daily’s death will once again put their plans in the shadows, only to come face to face with Deathstroke–world renowned killer for hire. Deathstroke kills Blood’s men with frightening ease, and then pulls his mask off to reveal himself to be Slade Wilson. He informs Blood that he will not tolerate anymore failures, and that he just killed four of Blood’s men and will not hesitate to kill the fifth.
The subplots this week have Roy (Haynes) still at odds with Thea (Holland) and now letting Syn (Taylor-Klaus) in on his little secret: he is now super strong and almost invulnerable. Roy decides that he is ready to try out his new gift as a hero and targets the Starling Slasher, a prostitute stalker from the Crescent Circle district. Using Syn as bait, he confronts the Slasher and beats him to within an inch of his life. When Syn tries to stop it, Roy hits her, too. He knows that he is out of control but doesn’t know what to do, and that’s when Arrow shows up and offers to help train him.
On the Island, Sara (Lotz) and Ollie go back to the fuselage to find it empty. They continue their discussion about taking up Ivo on his offer and then they bunk for the night. Sara wakes up and takes the radio and calls Ivo (Neal) to try and broker a deal to get she and Oliver off the island. Ivo tries to sweet talk her and when she ignores it, he snaps on her, revealing that he is not the misguided savior that she had hoped and is, as Ollie thinks, a madman bent on nefarious deeds. Ollie watches all of this.
Despite all of this, Slade and the Mirakuru are still missing somewhere on the island.
5. Any revelations, tie-ins, easter eggs, etc.? (**SPOILER!**)
St. Walkers, the asylum, is an actual location from DC Comics. Other than that, this episode was essentially free from tie-ins and easter eggs.
6. Will we watch next week?
Yes. Arrow rebounded this week with a strong episode that cleaned up the mess that is the Laurel storyline and set Brother Blood on a new path to dominance. Slade appearing as Deathstroke–in full gear–was an awesome sight and I cannot wait to watch he and Arrow go head-to-head, presumably sometime this season. What I like best here is that Arrow doesn’t drag stories on too long, and if anything, cuts them short too soon. I fully expected Laurel’s addiction story to last much longer, and I am so glad that it’s wrapped for now. Just like I expected her crusade against the Emerald Archer to last much longer than a few early season episodes, or how I was anticipating five long years of Ollie stuck on the island. This is why I trust the writers and showrunners. They tend to surprise more often than disappoint, and I’m all in for the ride.
