‘Arrow’ Episode 3.14 “Nanda Parbat” (8 out of 10) Starring Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Emily Bett Rickards, Colton Haynes. Guest Starring Brandon Routh, Matt Nable, John Barrowman, Audrey Marie Anderson, Katrina Law, Karl Yune, Rila Fukushima, Marc Singer. First aired February 25, 2015.
This episode of “Arrow” moved a lot of storylines forward. And I’m glad it did. Where characters have been turning in circles since the mid-season hiatus, storylines are starting to gel, and characters are finding their new balance and direction. No one more than Thea Queen, who just discovered that she was brainwashed into being Sara’s killer. Oliver swears her to secrecy, but within like five minutes, Thea goes and confesses to Laurel (Sara’s sister) and Nyssa Al Ghul (Sara’s lover). In an series where secrets are layered upon secrets, it was refreshing to have a character who confronted the truth openly, defies the ultimate secret-keeper, and then takes action. Thea has gone from annoying kid sister with a drug problem to nightclub owner to vigilante protege…she’s to the point now where I can see her becoming an additional sidekick to Oliver, getting her own costume and taking the name “Speedy,” Oliver’s nickname for her from the first season. That’s also traditionally been the name of Ollie’s sidekick in the comic books, so it would all come together nicely. A year ago I couldn’t have imagined a scenario where she would take that mantle, now I can.
It’s refreshing to see someone defy the ultimate secret-keeper
I’m also finally warming up to the Al Ghul clan. Nyssa has always intrigued me — partially because of her great costume and her vicious nature — but this episode is the first time that I’ve found her sympathetic at all. Her heart-to-heart with Thea in the Arrowcave’s shiny new jail helped that…but her conversations with her father Ra’s Al Ghul even more so. Some great moments there. I’m liking her a lot. Matt Nable’s Ra’s Al Ghul is also grown on me. He’s a slightly different take than the Liam Neeson of “Batman Begins,” or the elegant David Warner of “Batman: The Animated Series,” but there’s enough cultured, disciplined madness to be a solid Ra’s. I’m hoping he’s around a bit longer. He’s still growing into the character, not nearly as interesting or intense as last season’s Slade Wilson, but I’m enjoying him.
The meat of the story is really the Queen family’s alliance with Malcolm Merlyn being put to the test, with everyone wanting to kill everyone at one time or another. There’s more talk of revenge versus justice, and Oliver trying to convince Thea that she doesn’t want to kill Merlyn. Eventually Merlyn is taken back to Nanda Parbat, home of Ra’s Al Ghul, and Oliver and Diggle pursue him. It was refreshing to see John Diggle not sidelined, and have Oliver accept him as an ally on this mission. Part of me would still like to see Diggle suit up in some kind of leathery superhero costume, but I also really like him as a special forces soldier. He’s capable, he’s willing to serve…but you have to wonder how he hasn’t had his own identity blown from the number of missions he’s been on. Maybe that’s coming. Ra’s also makes Oliver Queen an offer…an intriguing one that he may not be able to refuse. And is that hot tub a Lazarus Pit? Hmmm.
I’m guessing/hoping we see some shrinkage later
Back in Starling City, Laurel gets beat up, Roy hangs around the Arrowcave, and Felicity gets all worked up over all of her superhero boyfriends going off to their deaths. That last note does get more upbeat, as she and Ray Palmer finally get over their own personal losses, and get their naked on. After “clearing his mind,” Palmer wakes up energized and inspired and scribbling equations, completes his A.T.O.M. suit, and takes it for a test flight. Yeah, flight, because evidently this Atom is more of an Iron Man-type suit than a shrinking to microscopic sizes suit. I’m guessing/hoping we see some shrinkage later. Perfect spot for a joke, but I’m a bigger man than that. Not…much bigger…but…ah damn.
“Arrow” has a few weeks off, and like “The Flash” will be back the third week in March. That final arc of episodes looks like it could be big for both series–I’m expecting great things from CW’s DC Universe.