Thursday, April 7, 2016

Arrow - Eleven-Fifty-Nine


The latest episode of Arrow answers one big question while raising several others. More than once during "Eleven-Fifty-Nine" I wondered if I had missed an episode somewhere. Yes, I remember the team letting Andy Diggle (Eugene Byrd) out of his cage and deciding to trust him but when did he become a trusted field agent of Team Arrow? And weren't we just seeing Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) mock Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) and telling the would-be conqueror that H.I.V.E. was leaving him in prison and moving on with their plans without him? Why, all of the sudden does Malcolm want to help Darhk? And, as for the Diggle storyline, is there anyone anywhere that didn't see how blatantly obvious his betrayal would play out?

"Eleven-Fifty-Nine" is a problematic episode because, despite Diggle's (David Ramsey) good will, it's far too obvious that Andy is selling out the team to Darkh. Of course Oliver's (Stephen Amell) trademark ability to completely mishandle delicate situations creates drama between himself and the Diggle brothers where none needs to exist, but the outcome is far too easy to see coming. Answering the big question of who dies this season, the episode provides some strong emotional scenes but it also foreshadows the Black Canary's eventual return in the scene the show not-so-subtly chooses not to show us concerning Laurel's (Katie Cassidy) request of Oliver (to fake her death, perhaps?). I'm betting we won't need a Lazarus Pit to bring this Canary back from the grave.

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