‘Arrow’ Episode 4.3 “Restoration” (8 out of 10) Starring Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Emily Bett Rickards, Paul Blackthorne. Guest Starring JR Bourne, Neal McDonough, John Barrowman, Echo Kellum, Katrina Law, Caity Lotz. First aired October 21, 2015
I mentioned in this week’s review of “The Flash” that both that series and “Arrow” are in the awkward position of not only telling their own stories, but also lining up old (and new)(and dead) characters to be in the new spinoff series “Legends of Tomorrow.” For “Arrow,” that means bringing back Dead Sarah Lance and Dead Ray Palmer. Last week’s episode had Laurel and Thea grave-robbing and heading to Nanda Parbat and the Lazarus Pit. This week’s episode has them trying to convince Malcolm Merlyn nee Ra’s Al Ghul and Nyssa Al Ghul to let them use the pit to raise Sarah from the dead. Ra’s says she’ll be crazed with bloodlust just like Thea is, and Nyssa says it’s selfish and foolish for Laurel to attempt it. Don’t try to bring back your dead sister and pretend life will be the same. Cuz it won’t. Of course no one listens to religious fanatics, so they dump Sarah’s corpse into the Lazarus Pit. She comes screaming out of it, and needs to be caged for the rest of the episode. They may have made a terrible mistake.
On the other side of the planet, Star City’s still under siege by Damien Darhk’s “ghosts,” but he’s added a new villain to the mix, a guy who calls himself Double Down. He’s a metahuman, with the unlikely superpower of being able to peel tattoos of cards off of his body, which then harden so he can throw them like shuriken. It’s a weird ability, but it works pretty well on screen. He attacks Green Arrow on the streets, and then makes his way into the Palmer Industries building and attacks Felicity and Curtis Holt, future Mister Terrific. In the process, Curtis figures out that Felicity is assisting Green Arrow, and as they go down into the temporary Arrowcave, Felicity gives him just enough information that he can help out, but doesn’t divulge the other team members’ secret identities. Felicity and Curtis make a great team of both brains and comedy; he’s a welcome addition to the cast. Toward the end of the episode, she gets a mysterious message via her phone screen, which scrolls through code until it forms the letters of her name. I can only surmise that it’s Ray Palmer, trying to contact her from beyond the grave. Because “the grave” in this case is the microscopic world he’s been banished to. He’ll find his way back. By episode 8.
Most of the Star City action takes place between Oliver, Diggle, and Felicity, the “original gangsters” as Felicity awkwardly puts it. This is fun. It also goes a long way towards healing the rift between Ollie and Digg, and having Felicity boss them around from the Arrowcave is a nice touch.
Even with all the moving pieces, this was a more enjoyable episode than “Arrow” was for most of last season. I’m still not digging the flashbacks, which have Oliver rescuing an attractive slave from a heroin poppy plantation on Lian Yu. But I guess the flashbacks are part of the “Arrow” thing, and I’m not getting out of them anytime soon.
Next week’s episode is “Beyond Redemption,” and it looks like Not Dead Sara Lance is coming home to Star City.