“I’m the one torturing your bratty sister! YOU’RE WELCOME!”
Generally, Arrow is at its best when it reinvents back-bencher DC villains and when Thea gets handed a dope-slap by reality. And tonight’s episode has both!
Actually, this might mark a good moment for the show. One of the key ongoing problems is that there’s the action plot, and there’s the family drama plot, in a given episode, and never the twain shall meet.
Here, however, Ollie is going after the dealer of “Vertigo”, a designer drug that caused Thea to crash her new car in the last episode. The Starling City PD are on the ball for once, and currently Thea is in handcuffs, wondering why everybody is so meeeeee-an. So Ollie has something both immediate and personal at stake as well as an abstract daddy issue problem to fulfill, a good step forward for the series.
Also of interest is that Count Vertigo is being pretty heavily reinvented here, with the show aiming rather deliberately more for Joker-type sadist than royal pretty-boy with an accelerometer in his skull. The show’s propensity for bumping off villains notwithstanding, it could use a more active overarching antagonist than just Malcolm Merlyn running around occasionally firing arrows and being a douche to his son.
The shenanigans start at 8pm EST, so drop in and join the fun.
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They killed Fire Fly in the last one, right? I’m a little surprised they’re killing of super villains without a second thought. They could have built up to a Sinister Six like story with a few bad guys coming back and Arrow being overwhelmed so he needs to call in Huntress, Diggs and some other DC hero they’re allowed to use. (Apparently Batman and co. are off limits)
Which, come to think of it, was one of the best things about The Cape. The villains didn’t die, at least not right away. I miss The Cape.
That was two episodes ago that he “died” but I don’t believe things like that until I see a body. They could always write them back in using goofy TV magic.
I miss “The Cape” myself. Also, apparently Deadshot is not dead according to interviews. Pissed, though, what with the arrow in his eye and all.
Could we see The Question eventually as an ally?
All that I know about Count Vertigo is from that Batman TAS episode from 20 years ago. I’m still upset that they cancelled Green Lantern TAS this week. I wish you guys did more stories about comic book related animation.
This week? Geez, it didn’t even pop up on my Google Alerts. That’s… kinda sad.
They axed Young Justice too.
Whoa, I’m reading about it and wow.
Yeah I learned about it in the comments from the article on Tron Uprising.
I always thought Constantine Drakon would be a great villain to have on Arrow, since he’s a badass GA villain who doesn’t wear a costume. I just looked it up, and it turns out that he was in the pilot, as the head of Adam Hunt’s security. I had no idea!
Hey, it’s just getting right into it!
This may be the first episode to not show his abs in the first 30 seconds.
Or a recap, and then another recap.
Yeah, I recommend fearing the guy with the bow who can pin you to a steel beam with an arrow.
Man, screw Thea and her trial. She was driving stoned.
I hope she gets some of his anger and not just the dealers.
He is chronically incapable of chewing out his family, so probably not.
Stop trying to make Speedy happen, Ollie. It’s not going to happen.
Hey oh guess whos back!
Didn’t get a chance to reply to this. HOORAY!
I wish dad were here, to see my court appearance for DUI with drugs.
This judge has a pair under his robes. He’s probably dead meat.
Wow life Thea got fucked since I’ve been watching huh?
Yep! DUI!
“They cannot do this! They cannot send her for jail for the crime she committed!”
This judge kicks ass
She’s high right now!
OK, how did the mom not just slap the shit out of her?
That’s what I’m wondering.
Whose better to make an example out of than the rich brat who uses the drug and gets into a car accident. The judge’s reasoning was pretty solid.
I was going to say, he’s absolutely in the right here, and it’s interesting how the show refuses to play him off as an asshole.
I also like that Ollie’s not pissed at the judge. This was well thought out.
Hey, there are other cops in Starling City.
Yeah, ten to one she’s in the Count’s pocket.
What cop hands dossiers over to civilians and how did no cop in the POLICE STATION not just see him steal the file.
To be fair, there’s Quentin, who’s competent, and the rest of SCPD, who blow.
I almost forgot about their incompetence, almost.
Aaaaaaand here’s Starling City’s other cop.
OK, he is asking a cop for help getting his sister off for a crime she absolutely committed. A hot cop, but still.
A hot partying cop.
What are the chances the island is something like the league of shadows headquarters from batman begins?
Pretty high, I’d say.
So, Count Vertigo is a campy metrosexual goth Joker?
It is the CW.
That literally sounds like what the executive producer’s notes were.
He seems more Scarecrowish than Jokerish so far.
Good point.
Ok what exactly does this drug do? make you susceptible to suggestions while feeling like your drunk?
Apparently it messes with your nervous system.
Shivakamini Somakandarkram!
That’s her undercover alias as she tries to bring down Dr. Nosedick.
HA! GODDAMN! You’re right!
Jack the Giant Killer… I’m torn. It really seems to have a variable tone.
Ever since Once Upon a Time did reasonably well, there has been an avalanche of Fairy Tale movies and TV shows.
I’d like to see how Beast does in a lead role as a “cool” guy.
I’m hoping when Ollie asks someone where the Count is they respond: Sesame Street, AH AH AH!
“…Chockula?”
I literally did not realize the episode had just started because of the generic music and dialogue.
I thought it was a Windows 8 commercial.
Hey, Tommy did not apologize. Progress.
It was implied in his face.
OH YEAH OLLIE, HER DAD IS YOUR BIGGEST FAN HE’LL GET RIGHT ON THAT.
He is asking every cop in town to get his spoiled brat sister off for a crime she did committ. Her dad is 100% correct.
Didn’t the night club burn down?
Eh, it was all sheet metal.
Let’s see here… killed his daughter, broke his other daughter’s heart, leading to the collapse of his marriage…
This is the tack you’re taking, Laurel? Really? “My sister was a bitch.”
What the hell did Thea “go through?” Being rich and sad?
He reminds me of Walton Goggins in ten years.
Laurel was not on the High School debate team.
You know, Ollie is a very hands-off Russian Mafia captain.
He is the worst Russian Mafia captain since that dude in Eastern Promises.
Pretty much.
I was about to ask about that.
Oh, NOW they’ve put it together.
Russian mobsters don’t read many tabloids.
They have already established he has few qualms about killing ramdom bad guys.
I think he just choked him out.
He would not be dead. unless… is the other mechanic on his side?
Well, sensei, it was nice knowing you.
Does not seem a fair fight. Does not hold a candle to zombie fight club.
Yeah, he has a low opinion of you, Ollie, you’ve only killed, what, twenty guys?
Well only 1 of them was in cold blood.
Even so. Ollie’s a murderer.
Since when do cops have the ability to make a person a new identity?
Well, they can “make” an identity in the sense that’ll it’ll hold up under criminal scrutiny.
Apparently Ollie has learned some Vulcan Death Grip techniques.
Well, nerve pinch instead of death grip, but yep.
Sucks for that guy, though. Unconscious, wake up, and then knocked the f*** out.
Dont worry I gently knocked you out to fake your death but now im going to wake you up then break your jaw.
“Eh, he was probably a crappy person.”
Can someone give me a quick run down of what happened on the island recently?
Sensei is a double agent. I guess.
Ollie killed a mook, went to rescue sensei in enemy outfit, and got caught by Eddie Fyers. The big reveal last episode was Sensei joined the enemy outfit.
OK, T-Bag from Prison Break may be the most unlikely star of a CW show ever.
Is this girl fucking retarded!?!?!
500 hours community service and two years probation… and a shitty office job! Works for me!
Some Theas just want to watch the world burn.
And you, sir, win the liveblog.
Ollie, this verbal bitchslap is waaaaaaaaaaaay overdue.
I wish he added a physical one at the end just to finish the point.
To be fair, if I had the choice between jail and spending 200 hours around Laurel, that would be a hard choice.
Would you rather have to spend 200 hours with Thea?
Laurel deserves Thea.
That accent does NOT help with calling him “The Count”.
Ollie is pretty good with cover stories, actually.
Wait if dude is so into staying safe wouldnt he recognize what I assume is one of the more well known cops in town?
GO… QUENTIN.
Numbersix nailed it with the Scarecrow comparison.
Yeah, got to agree.
A pistol stopped an SUV?
It’s the curse of the Shiva.
It was a Chevy.
Cop, Doctor, Shapeshifter. Shiva can do it all!
Wait that beautiful creatures movies is coming out in theatres? Looks like a straight to DVD from 4 years ago.
Yeah, I had to check that it wasn’t a parody.
I thought it was a new CW show actually
It’s like they turned the cameras on and told Seth Gabel “Be as Scarecrow” as you can.
He is overacting to beat the band.
PAIN IS THE MINDKILLER. Like, literally in this case.
No! Choke Thea not Diggle.
He’s hallucinating that it’s Thea.
Heh, OK, that was a good one.
Oh, good, at least Diggle has a sense of proportion.
Ollie, just give them the goddamn sketch.
He wants to kill him he doesn’t want him to face a real judicial system.
I would like to know Ollies past with the Russian mob.
It’s tied to the island. I’m guessing we don’t learn that for a while.
Thea, you have all the maturity of a preschool on pixi-sticks.
Do I feel sorry for Laurel being stuck with Thea, or vice versa?
even Laurel does not deserve that.
I feel sorry for Tommy.
And Tommy is sorry for everything.
Well Mrs Queen your daughter is a stubborn whore… so she may soon have a daughter…
I’m a little surprised Ollie didn’t have a bunch of paternity suits waiting for him.
Right like there is a Queens Daycare somewhere… I mean he was gone pre Plan-B
Aaaaaand suddenly we’re in Far Cry 3 again.
Need some Skrillex in the background then.
Ugh, don’t remind me. During the weed field mission I wound up turning off the music entirely.
That was an odd mission. When the music kicked in I was caught off guard…
I hope there’s a kickass action scene to end the episode, but I don’t see it happening.
I think Ollie fights through his spins and beats the Count like a veal.
Oh, Felicity, you’re so adorable.
Quite
And for someone so smart she is so dumb… but I guess she is supposed to be “TV Ugly” cause glasses, so she is just in awe a “handsome” man will talk to her.
OH COME ON OLLIE ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
Seriously, either Felicity really wants to jump on that, or she is autistic.
That may be the worst lie ever told.
Hey, how about analyzing the actual drug? Anybody think of that?
“Hey Felicity can you analyze this drug that got my sister fucked up I want to make sure this guy pays” That would have worked.
Can they bring her on the team and make her Green Arrows version of Oracle already?
I will give Diggle credit for bailing the second he hears Ollie’s bullshit excuse.
Stop him now, like in the next 15 minutes Ollie? Really?
I think they’re trying to make the point that Ollie is just as stubborn as Thea.
How about you just shoot him?
Diggle and Quentin may be the only sane people on this show.
Yeah, basically.
This is Batman Begins.
Definitely taking a few cues from it.
Not the worst thing to copy.
Id say it isn’t, but it really wants to be batman begins.
I don’t see it… Rich Playboy loses his father disappears for a while comes back as a vigilante in the shadows, his ex is a altruistic lawyer and he is fighting a guy who created a drug that messes up peoples minds and another villain who alludes to a dark mysterious group hell bent on destroying a major metropolis? No similarities at all.
DAMN.
I did like Ollie just straight punching his way through a drug lair before jamming a drug dealer full of his own product. Cold-blooded Ollie is the best Ollie.
There was the action sequence I wanted.
My solution to improve this show: Kill off Thea, bump Felicity up to series regular.
SECONDED.
Felicity it turns out you were secretly a Queen family member all along.
UGH STOP CALLING HER SPEEDY.
OK, I guess the flight from the cops was easy for the Hood.
Practice makes perfect!
So now he has a map in Russian and Chinese. Neither of which he can read.
Yeah, just say cyrillic and chinese letters there.
Ooh, flashback within a flashback.
Oh, thank God, Felicity is not a complete dimwit.
Hallelujah…
Can I trust you? He has lied to her like every other sentence he has uttered.
Another lie
Seriously!
Aside from having the count overact that was probably my favorite episode so far.
I still like the pilot a little more, but this was a great episode.
Overall, I really liked this episode. Good action, the overall plot was a cohesive whole, and Felicity was not a total dimwit.
I liked it quite a bit. Other than every scene Thea was in.
Now its how to kill an hour before “The Americans” debute
I thought it was above average. Could have used less Thea, which is what you can say about every episode so far.
I hope if the show gets renewed for a second season, they set it up to have these actors return as reoccurring villains, much like the old Adam West Batman show. Starling City is going to need its own Arkham Asylum soon enough.
I’m sure it will I think it’s a fairly good hit for a CW show.
It got a 1.1 share last week, which is pretty good for a CW show. If Supernatural can pull a .9 and still be on the air…
Finally watched this on Hulu and I enjoyed the episode. Though I agree that it is very similar to Batman Begins. Vertigo is going to come out of this even more like the Joker next season though in my opinion. I kept getting the silly Dead Space 3 commercial with the In The Air Tonight cover in it. Not sure how Phil Collins and action horror go together.
I… did not get that air.
Did you see the disposing of a body than sex scene in “The Americans” set to “In the air tonight”? Phil Collins has gotten some royalty checks from that song this year.