Review: Arrow ‘Home Invasion’

After a few weeks off and just a handful of episodes left before the season finale, Arrow is finally back.  When last we left off, Oliver was promising to help Diggle find Deadshot and get some revenge for the death of his brother, Tommy had joined forces with his father and, in the past, Oliver was finally learning how to shoot a bow.  This week, we get resolution to pretty much nothing and a build-up of plotlines that were better left dead.

The main driving plot is about some of Laurel’s clients that are working to sue an evil bad guy that stole all their money.  The bad guy doesn’t like this, however, and sends a hitman to take them out.  But their kid escapes, leaving a loose end.  The kid ends up in Laurel’s custody, which means the hitman, Mr. Blank, has to pay her a visit.  Luckily, Arrow is there to come crashing through yet another window to rescue her, Tommy and the kid.

The bad guy that hired the hitman tries to flee the country at the exact same time that Arrow is supposed to help Diggle take down Deadshot - go figure.  So Oliver must make a choice to either help his friend or get the fleeing fiend.  He chooses to leave Diggle hanging, which ends in Diggle getting butt-hurt and breaking up with Oliver.

But wait, that’s not all.  Mr. Blank is still coming after the kid, to make sure no one can recognize him.  The kid, Tommy and Laurel are hiding out at Oliver’s house, so there’s where the final showdown occurs.  Luckily, Oliver is there to kick the guy’s butt and put a poker through his chest.

One of the other plots involves a growing and painfully artificial transition back into the Oliver and Laurel romance storyline.  This results in Tommy breaking up with Laurel so that the writers are free to continue what was ended in the early part of the season.  Another plot follows Thea and her new boyfriend, Roy.  Apparently, he wants to meet Arrow once again, feeling that the vigilante is somehow connected to him reforming his life.  Despite getting angry at Roy for doing petty crimes, Thea seems OK with the thought of her man joining up with a known killer and so she offers to help.  And meanwhile, in the past, Oliver and company get captured AGAIN.  Sigh.

This week plays out like an echo of previous episodes.  Oliver and Laurel are revived, despite their relationship being one of the worst things in the series.  Tommy is once again jealous.  The Oliver of the past seems like he’s getting captured every other episode (when will they just shoot him and get it over with?).  I expected a bit more after the show left off on such a good note, but this has to be some of the worst writing on Arrow that I’ve ever seen.  This isn’t because of the usual “bad guy of the week” mediocrity, but more because every plotline was like a square peg being hammered relentlessly into a round hole.  “Accept this!” the writers seemed to scream.  Most reviewers seem to disagree with me on this point, though I have to wonder whether their minds have become flaccid from watching too much prime-time television.

But I haven’t given up on Arrow yet, and hopefully next week will prove better.

Deadshot and Diggle still courtesy of cinemablend.com