ARROW Gets Shot Through the Heart
Episode 108 “Vendetta”
[photos: Jack Rowand/CW]
Black Canary and Huntress in the same room! Well, OK, not really. But it was fun to contemplate where this could go once Dinah puts on the fishnets. And you know that’s coming.
Ouch.
This episode wraps up the two-part Huntress arc, establishing Helena Bertinelli as the not-as-good-girl anti-heroine who plays fast and loose with the definition of justice, thus serving as a way to highlight the fact that — with Dig’s help — Oliver is slowly learning what it means to be a hero.
Oliver thinks he can pull a Luke Skywalker and turn Helena to the good side of the Force, and she seems to be OK with that. Until dinner with the ex. Helena gets the vibe that Ollie and Dinah aren’t quite as over each other as they want everyone to think. And to complicate things, Dinah embarrasses Tommy when she asks him if he’s asked Ollie for the job.
A nice little bit with the “toss anything up and see if Ollie can shoot it” scene. This shows that Oliver can actually cut loose and have some fun. Amell is playing everything so stiff. It has to be deliberate, but when he’s in disguise as Oliver he needs to loosen the tie a bit and relax. Sometimes I feel like I’m watching Robocop walk through the room.
See, Tommy came to Dinah (I know it’s Laurel, but come on…) with his hat in his hand, basically saying that his money didn’t matter as much as being with her. Which is one of those “aww, how sweet” scenes you get in a Hallmark movie. And since it’s the CW, we’re bound to get more than our share of those. Laurel (happy?) suggests that Tommy should go to work for Ollie, since the Queen boy is putting together a night club. Tommy would be a perfect fit for that, since he’s spent so much time in them…
Uhm, thanks?
Meanwhile, Dig is playing Jiminy Cricket for Ollie, calling it like he sees it when it comes to young Miss Bertinelli — who likes her new crossbow and Queen-supplied purple leather — and Dig sees the train wreck coming. Because Helena is too far gone for redemption. At least for now. And she proves this by escalating the mob war between the Bertinelli organization and the Triad by killing the Triad boss.
This leaves China White very angry.
Big fracas at Stately Bertinelli Manor, where Ollie manages to save Helena’s father from China only to have him get shot in the leg by his own daughter out on the grounds while making his escape — with the laptop that Helena was using to collect information on his crime cartel. Fighting with Oliver, Helena doesn’t see Dad go for the crossbow, and she ends up with an arrow in her — shoulder? Has to be, because Ollie fixes it (sort of) in the Arrow-cave.
What is it with caves and their healing qualities?
In the end, justice is served. Bertinelli and the laptop got picked up by the cops. He’ll serve time. And the mob war is sort of over before it started? I guess. But Helena isn’t satisfied. Her brand of justice — more revenge-oriented — has her feeling lost. Now that Dad is done in, what does she have to live for? That’s the question I’m asking as she drives off into the mist-shrouded night on her motorcycle. The door is wide open for her to come back after “searching for meaning” or somesuch… maybe in Gotham City?
Who wouldn’t watch a Huntress two-hour movie to fill in the gap this summer?
