What if Arrow were called "Diggle" instead? I'd sure like that.
It occurred to me last night, Oliver is probably my fourth favorite character on the show, after Diggle, Thea, and Merlyn. Hell, sometimes I like Laurel more than I like Oliver. Oliver's kind of tough to be around, what with all the grim self-righteousness and the lying. All the lies! He's the Obi-Wan Kenobi of Starling City, not the Rich Man's Lindsay Lohan. I do like that both Moira and Thea know Oliver's pants are perpetually on fire and call him on it. Which only makes Oliver grimmer and more evasive.
I'll say this, I liked Helena Bertinelli less than Oliver Queen. In that way - as in many, many others - the (unnamed) Huntress and Arrow are made for each other. They're both attractive. wealthy, damaged twenty-somethings hell bent on revenge, and they kill. Batman would blow his stack over these two. A couple of killers! Helena wants to kill everyone in her family's Mafia, including her father. Oliver merely wants to kill everyone on his father's List, including anyone in his way. Oliver's holier than thou attempts at moral justification hold less water the more he opens his mouth to explain why what he does is "good" or "justified".
I was a little unclear on whether Frank Bertinelli's Luca Brasi, Helo from Battlestar Galactica, was working off book or not with all the murdering he did in the episode. Did Helo kill Helena's fiance on her father's orders or did he do it on his own? I did like all the neck snapping. Helena snapped Helo's neck about 45 minutes after Oliver (jokingly?) threatened to snap Merlyn's neck if he hurt Laurel.
Tommy Merlyn's the guy who does seem pretty noble these last couple of weeks. I'm rooting for him to get together with Laurel, but how's he gonna do it when he's cut off from all his money? This is a real crisis for the guy. And now we know John Barrowman is Merlyn's father. I looked up both actors: John Barrowman is 45 and Colin Donnell is 30. Although, I think Tommy is Oliver's age, about 27. Still, it's a bit of a leap to buy Barrowman as Donnell's dad.
No Flashbacks to the Island this week. First time in the series. Also, no voice overs from Oliver. Now that he has Diggle to talk to and to provide exposition, there's no need for narration to the audience. Plus we get Diggle needling Oliver about his choices and Google image searching Helena Bertinelli on the web.
The only DC Comics reference I spotted was "Michael Staton", Helena's dead fiance, who was probably named for artist Joe Staton who illustrated The Huntress in the comics.
Next week, gang war. China White is back and the thing Detective Lance has been dreading looks like it'll happen: full scale gang war between the Bertinelli Mafia and the Triad. So many people for Arrow and Huntress to kill, so little time.
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