‘Arrow’ Episode 3.18 “Public Enemy” (8 out of 10) Starring Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Emily Bett Rickards, Colton Haynes. Guest Starring Brandon Routh, Matt Nable, Charlotte Ross. Written by Marc Guggenheim & Wendy Mericle. First aired April 1, 2015.
Starling City’s mayor was killed at the end of last week’s episode, struck down by…an arrow. It was fired by Maseo, Oliver’s friend in flashbacks, and current lackey of Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Assassins. Maseo let some other arrows fly, and in this episode we see where they land. Ray Palmer’s hit, Felicity, Laurel and Captain Lance are safe. Ray’s rushed to the hospital, where his life is saved, but it turns out he has an inoperable thrombus–a blood lot that’s basically a ticking time bomb. His only hope is his own invention — nanobots that can be injected into him that will target and shrink the clot, destroying it. The doctor’s not willing to do that, but by the end of the episode, Felicity has injected them right into Ray Palmer, saving his life. Are these shrinking nanobots the source of (eventually) the Atom’s shrinking superpowers? Time will tell.
The bigger story is that the vigilante known as Arrow has been branded a public enemy, and Captain Lance issues a “dead or alive” warrant. There’s an extended chase scene that’s one of the better set pieces the show’s had for a while, with cops trying to round up Arrow, Arsenal, and Black Canary. Across rooftops, through alleys, down streets, eventually getting separated. Captain Lance ends up backed into a corner himself, abducted by Ra’s Al Ghul (brought to a mysterious building where evidently he’s brought all of his weird brazier torches from Nanda Parbat), and is told straight up that Arrow is in fact Oliver Queen. This has Lance redoubling his efforts, pursuing Oliver with a vengeance that combines his outrage at the murders in Starling City with the heartbreak over the loss of Sara (and Tommy Merlyn, and Moira Queen). What has been an abstract pursuit for the last few episodes comes into sharp focus.
This episode is a lot like “Batman: Year One,” or the end of “The Dark Knight,” where our costumed hero has become an enemy of the police department, so you have the good guys being pursued by other good guys. Arrow and his sidekicks can’t kill the cops, and don’t even want to hurt them — but being captured would compromise their mission. But hey, Roy and Thea are back together, so good for them.
Team Arrow is in a can’t win situation; Laurel’s in trouble with her dad in and out of costume, Roy’s still torn up over killing a cop when he was poisoned by the mirakuru, Felicity’s caught up with Ray, Diggle’s acutely aware that each mission could take him away from his wife and daughter. What can they do? Ollie could flee to another city (and may, with some “The Flash” crossovers coming up), but that’s delaying the inevitable. Oliver asks his allies to follow up a bit longer, to see this play out, and then turns himself in to the cops. The episode ends with an ally who evidently has decided not to keep following Oliver, and who also claims to be the Arrow, in a kind of Spartacus moment.
Team Arrow is in a can’t win situation.
“Arrow” continues to be a strong series, kind of The CW’s answer to Batman. It may not be the hero I expected, but it’s the hero I hope I deserved. “The Flash” is lighter, and (appropriately) faster-paced, but this is a solid show. I think we’re starting to see the end game for Season 3, and I like where things are headed.