It was bound to happen. After 14 stellar, action-packed, compelling episodes, Arrow was going to have a less-than-thrilling hour. And despite the arrival of Roy Harper (welcome to the Arrow universe, Colton Haynes! I’ve missed your jaw line since Teen Wolf’s season finale…), tonight’s episode, “Dodger,” left me a little underwhelmed.
That’s not to say the episode was terrible! I still quite enjoyed it, but compared to what we’ve been given all season, it’s safe to say “Dodger” is not in my top 10 favorite episodes. Especially after last week’s amazing hour, where the majority was spent in flashbacks to the island and yet the plot was moved forward in major ways, not much happened tonight. Let’s get into it, shall we?
So Moira officially wants out of the “undertaking,” whatever that is (seriously, when are we going to get specifics on that?). Turns out, she isn’t completely, 100 percent evil! She’s worried that with the vigilante on her tail, her kids will be left orphans seeing as how her shady deals resulted in her first husband’s death and her current husband’s disappearance. Moira is a much more complicated character than we initially thought. Could there be hope for redemption in her future? She started out to fix the Glades, and cure the city. But what has her mission become, this mysterious “undertaking?”
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Any hopes of redemption are shot in my opinion, however, because the end of the episode found Moira issuing out a hit on Malcolm Merlyn via… China White! Seems to me that there could be better, less illegal ways of solving her problems, but hey, let’s see where this goes. And, thanks to the promos for next week, we know that China White is bringing Deadshot back into the picture. Awesome! Can’t wait to see how he deals with his grudge against Arrow (last we saw him, Arrow put an arrow through his eye…).
Meanwhile, now that Felicity is Team Arrow-lite (only working with Oliver and Diggle to find Walter), methinks she is starting to really get on board with Arrow’s mission. When Oliver decided to veer from The List to take down The Dodger – a man who uses hostages to steal for him – she started to see him in a different light. He truly is working for the good of Starling City. Little by little, she’s going to give in and join Team Arrow full time. She just doesn’t know it yet!
Team Arrow – well, the men at least – was also doing some work tonight when it came to ladies. That’s right, both Diggle and Oliver got dates! Diggle finally worked up the nerve to ask out Carly, his dead brother’s wife, which is definitely a weird situation but they were both clearly into each other. Oliver worked up the nerve to ask out his old friend, McKenna Hall, even though it started out as a diversion so he could plant tech on her cell phone in order to track The Dodger. Oliver didn’t protest too much when Felicity told him to flirt with McKenna, so clearly it wasn’t just for the mission.
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The boys of Team Arrow are out of practice when it comes to dating, however. Both Diggle and Oliver messed up their dates. Diggle made the smart decision to bring up his dead brother slash his date’s dead husband… bad move, dude. And Oliver… well, to be fair, McKenna was really giving him the third degree about his years on the island. Honey, you aren’t on Team Arrow. That’s too much, too soon. Back off. Understandably, Oliver got a little short with her when she wouldn’t relent on the island questioning, so his date also self-imploded.
Also not going great? Team Arrow’s mission on stopping The Dodger. They baited him with some expensive authentic artifact, but he knew Felicity was on to him. He gifted her with a new necklace – one that did not go well with her fancy dress, since it had a bomb in it. That’s right, The Dodger found his hostage. Thanks to Oliver’s quick thinking and driving, he was able to best The Dodger (duh.) and Felicity was able to make it through the night with her head still attached to her body.
Team Arrow’s dating lives were also saved: both Diggle and Oliver managed to turn things around and get their ladies to forgive them! Diggle made out with Carly in a park, and Oliver got a second date with McKenna. But with the good comes the bad: McKenna got a promotion to work with Det. Lance on finding the vigilante. That’s right, Oliver’s girlfriend is now hunting him! That’s not going to end well, now is it?
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Like I mentioned before, tonight’s episode also featured the arrival of Roy Harper, Thea’s new love interest. Their meet-cute occurred when Roy stole her purse, and when she had him arrested, he gave quite the sob story of why he steals so much. His mom was hooked on vertigo, and even though she kicked the habit she took so much of the drug that she is permanently messed up. Her hospital bills are out of control, and he needs to help her out. But something seemed a little too… well, too sad. Roy got teary-eyed a little too easily, didn’t he?
My suspicions turned out to be correct. His sob story was just that: a sob story. Roy lied about the whole thing to get Thea to take pity on him and drop the charges. At least he returned her purse! This is one relationship I can’t wait to see evolve. Plus, you know, that jaw line! Love me some Roy Harper/Colton Haynes.
In this week’s portion of island flashbacks, we see Oliver start to make some choices that truly changed him. When he was out getting herbs to help treat Slade Wilson’s infection from his gunshot wound, he found another guy tied up and beaten bloody. The guy said he was a shipwreck survivor and the army men beat him, but Oliver couldn’t take a chance on another person who might betray him. He left him in the cave still tied up and nursed Slade back to health without even mentioning the prisoner. His survival instincts truly kicked in, and he’s living by Slade’s code: everyone on the island is living for himself. I’ve been wondering when we were going to start seeing Oliver become Arrow, and I think we’ve just commenced that journey.
The best quotes of the night:
“You’re not going to last an hour out there.” -Slade Wilson
“I guess you better hope I make it back in 45 minutes then.” -Oliver
“You really have no idea how rich his family is, do you?” -Diggle
“I’m not Robin Hood.” -Oliver
Follow Sydney on Twitter: @SydneyBucksbaum
[Photo Credit: Jack Rowand/The CW]
