Here’s what you need to know for Arrow 3.13 “Canaries”:
- Vertigo returns! (and is quickly beat down, again, sigh)
- Laurel faces Sarah, courtesy of a vertigo induced trip.
- Chase, the creepy DJ, reveals himself to be an assassin.
- Ollie comes clean to Thea!
- Ollie and Thea go to Lian Yu, which I don’t think will end well for anyone.
I would like to go on the record and say that this episode should have been called “The Rise of Speedy.” Clearly the central focus was on Laurel, her lack of training, and her struggles with fear and doubt. But I couldn’t help but feel like much of Laurel’s story was just a repeat of what we saw Oliver go through in the season premiere. Granted, this wasn’t exactly the same, but Laurel v. Sara still basically breaks down to Laurel being forced to confront her fears. It was a storyline that needed to be told, both for Laurel’s growth and Oliver’s acceptance of her into the group. But, overall, it seemed like a story born out of necessity more than anything else. It allows the story to move forward without the continued tension of Laurel’s place on Team Arrow. Although, I doubt that this will be the end of her struggles, particularly when she learns the truth about Thea’s role in Sara’s death.
Unfortunately, my complaints about Vertigo’s lack of development from the first episode still stand. I feel like Peter Stormare’s interpretation could really break out from being just a dime-store version of Scarecrow, but so far that’s not been the case. Although, admittedly, I assumed that Vertigo was being setup to be a key adversary, sort of the Joker to Arrow’s version of Batman. After seeing the machinations of Malcolm Merlyn, I’m now inclined to think that any connection between Vertigo and The Joker is limited to Seth Gable’s tortured imitation of Heath Ledger.
It also gives me hope that we’ll see yet another Vertigo, and this time he’ll more closely resemble the character as interpreted by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino. This seems very likely given that the name “Vertigo” can apply to anyone who traffics the drug, and mirrors the trajectory of the other characters toward becoming more like their comic counterparts.
Which brings me back around to why the episode should have named after Speedy. Let’s set aside the fact that Roy has never technically been called Speedy and just accept the fact that, codenames aside, he’s filling the role of Speedy I from the comics. Thea, aka “Miss Mia,” Dearden Queen, who has been known as Speedy since the start of the show, is now in the loop. Surprisingly, she was grateful for being brought in on the secret and for the work Oliver and Team Arrow have done so far.
As an aside, I’m not entirely sure what to make of her response. The cynic in me thinks that she’s playing a part to help move Merlyn’s plans forward. However, the part of me that is unicorns and rainbows really wants to believe her response was completely sincere. The pragmatist thinks it’s probably somewhere in the middle and just hopes that any latent tension between Ollie and Thea is resolved quickly.
Back to the point with regards to the rise of Speedy; we saw Roy come into his own while Oliver was gone. He took huge steps in that regard when he stood up to Oliver. Granted, he was defending Thea, which is kind of Roy’s primary motivation for most things, but he was in the right and didn’t hesitate to put Oliver in his place. This is a big step for him. That was a “hero” move, not a “sidekick” move. Ergo, Speedy I took a major leap forward in his progression in this episode. Thea, who has been trained well, but not too well, not only learned the truth about Oliver, but she also learned why the League of Assassins are not to be taken lightly. It’s one thing to accept that Oliver is the Arrow, it’s another thing entirely to accept that and decide that her place is at his side as he prepares to face Ra’s for a second time.
As the episode closed we saw both Ollie and Thea on Lian Yu. I would argue that we didn’t see a brother and his younger sister so much as we saw the dawn of Green Arrow and Speedy.
The Good:
- Roy standing up for Thea, and doing so against Oliver, shows just how far he’s come along. Goodbye passive, brooding Roy, hello Red Arrow.
- Thea is a part of Team Arrow. Speedy II anyone??
- I often find the costumes to be somewhat ridiculous, bordering on laughable. However, they’ve almost always been better than their comic counterparts. This week I noticed the subtle use of fishnet on Laurel’s costume. It was a nice nod to the character’s comics history, sans the blatant sexualization. My kudos to the costume department.
- The story has been a little slow through this middle stretch. This episode picked up the pace a bit, it’s nice to have the storyline moving forward again.
The Might Be Good:
- Thea coming into the fold, and Laurel telling her father about Sara’s death, should mean that we get fewer stories being driven by secrets and deception. So many stories seem to revolve around the fact that one character is being dishonest to another. It will be refreshing if this plot device gets significantly reduced moving forward.
- Daggett Pharmaceuticals? Name drop, easter egg or foreshadowing?
The Bad:
- Oliver basically came back to pick up Thea and then leave again? I feel like his return was a bit rushed in general, but he was back for something like two weeks before leaving again? I like what happened with Merlyn in Oliver’s absence, but I don’t really feel the same about Oliver’s story.
- I hesitate to call Vertigo’s return a bad thing, but I’m kind of frustrated by the fact that he was, once again, little more than a plot device. Once again, the lack of character development there tops the “bad” list this week.