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Arrow: 1.20 – Home Invasion

April 26, 2013 Amanda Broyles 1 Comment

We are in the homestretch of season one!!!

Seems like just yesterday we stumbled into Starling City and learned that Oliver Queen had a family and an ex-girlfriend named Laurel Lance and a best friend named Tommy Merlyn and now look where we are. There’s an entire Arrow posse that is teaming up to take down the baddies and looking fantastic while doing so. Hard to believe there’s only three episodes left until next October (I’d say September but the CW started in October this year and I imagine they’ll do the same next year), but let’s not focus on the long Arrow-less summer, rather let’s dive right in to this week’s episode, Home Invasion!

Home Invasion, Arrow — Credit to: GypsyHeartLove

I’m going to start with Thea and Roy because there were a small side story this episode with most of the time going to Laurel and Oliver and a hired gun but I felt it necessary to lead off with this moment from Felicity. I think she just gets better each week! Now she’s going from one moment lamenting a trip to Guantanamo Bay and the next she’s reminding Oliver what she could do to him if he were to let it be known she dyes her hair. This chick is just awesome.

Arrow, Home Invasion — “Is that a police radio in your pocket?”
Credit to: ScruffyDean

Okay, Roy and Thea. If I wasn’t already certain that Roy Harper was going to be THE Roy Harper, I am after this episode. He thieves a police radio so he can try and track down the vigilante, somehow Detective Lance who was completely unaware of a bug on his phone for an unknown period of time (for all we know it could still be there as they’ve never mentioned it again – annoyance) noticed this and devised a way to trap the hoodlum. Of course that leads to him telling Thea how much he feels he owes the vigilante and blah blah, he’s going to be Speedy, I imagine they’ll have both Thea and Roy find out about Oliver in the season finale.

I feel like it’s been way too long since we had a nice workout scene. This one was way too short thanks to that jackass fun ruiner Floyd Lawton, aka Deadshot. Let me just say, unlike the Count from episode 19 who sadly came back as a non-issue, I’m really liking how they’ve played Deadshot through the season. Of course, at first it seemed as if they were going to make him a one shot wonder, but the story line of Diggle distancing himself from Oliver’s list to start his own is really appealing. Of course he wants to go after Deadshot and of course Oliver will help him… or will he?

This week’s bad guy was an assassin hired by another dirtbag businessman Rasmus. Enter the home invasion of “Home Invasion”. That dude was rather efficient. You’d think as a seasoned assassin he’d at least attempt to go after the 10 year old that he wants to kill, but let’s not be foolish, it’s not as if a grown man can outrun a gradeschooler. No it is much better to just go ahead and leave that loose end to be finished off later.

Speaking of really bonehead moves…

I am really glad that Laurel’s father taught her how to handle a gun. However, I’m fairly certain that he probably also told her to make sure that if you are going in with only one shell, make sure it counts. Otherwise you do this badass move to pump the shotgun only to look like an idiot when it’s empty. Thankfully Oliver swoops in to save the day, somewhat to Tommy’s chagrin. Of course this was after Tommy had a little heart to heart with the poor little orphan boy.

Look at those teary eyes! If that doesn’t make you sigh then you have a heart of stone. That was a very endearing moment. Of course Tommy is having a very emotional couple of weeks. First his father is an ass, then his best friend tells him he’s been lying/withholding truth, and now he’s having to deal with now ex-best friend being the human equivalent of Mighty Mouse and swooping in to save the day. Poor guy, I just want to give him a hug.

So now Tommy, Laurel, and the kid are at the Queen mansion. How awkward is that? Nothing like playing house in the house of your ex-boyfriend while his mother tells you how much she liked her son dating you. Yea, that’s not cool. Even less cool would be Oliver, again. Although I do concede that this was a crappy decision to make, I’d probably go after the guy who has names of everyone he’s killed tattooed on his body, but I do recognize that it would be difficult to ignore the fact that your ex-girlfriend that you still love is target by proxy of the other contract killer. Really, when you are dealing with two assassins, perhaps it’s better to just flip a coin. Either way, someone is going to get hurt.

Unfortunately this time it was Diggle, quite literally. Well Diggle was hurt and his ARGUS cohorts were more than a little hurt. Best line of the episode was Deadshot telling Diggle that the reason he wasn’t going to kill him was someone hadn’t paid him to. Foreshadowing maybe? Hmmmm. What’s really got to chap Diggle’s ass though is yes Rasmus was jailed which was Oliver’s doing but in the end his assassin went off the reservation and went after the kid anyway. Well he did until Oliver stuck a fire poker through his chest. Ouch.

So not only has Deadshot gotten away, again, but the assassin his killed anyway. I sort of can’t blame Diggle for leaving. I mean I feel badly for Oliver, but Diggle has a better leg to stand on with this one. Of course I want him to stick around but man, Oliver might have to do a bit of groveling. Diggle isn’t the only one leaving because in a move everyone saw a mile away, Tommy is leaving Laurel. So now he’s working for his father, he’s kaiboshed his friendship with Oliver, and he’s dumped Laurel. He’s either going to take a long walk off a short pier or he’s going to go into the real family business. I’m banking on the second.

The island story was short but full. We get to see more of the shaping of present day Oliver as Shado is teaching him to shoot. Oh and how to awkwardly tell a woman that there’s someone else. Awkward.

Speaking of people dumping other people, Yao Fei and I are OVER!! Fool me once and all that. How many times is he going to give up Oliver to Fyers? How many?!?!? I’m officially disbanding the Yao Fei fan club. No more Fei, no more.

Overall, I really liked this episode. Moved the plot along quite a bit and sets up quite a bit of action for the remaining three episodes. Going to have to go with a four out of five.

Like Mr. Amell said, there are no breaks until the finale so we’ll be back next week – see you then!

Just because –

Arrow: 1.19 – Unfinished Business

April 5, 2013 Amanda Broyles

I figured when last week was such a good episode (Laurel’s ugly crying aside), that this week might be a bit slower but I was still looking forward to it, and the return of the Count. However, this was one of those weird episodes where certain parts were awesome but the episode all together was a bit bland. Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s difficult to keep up the intensity for 22 episodes so there’s bound to be some lulls. Hopefully this lull won’t continue but let’s dive into those great moments of “Unfinished Business”!

Awwww, shit. Vertigo is back on the streets and in the clubs. Not only that but people are taking it and then going and literally playing in traffic. Given the number of pointless internet fights I’ve seen the phrase “go play in traffic” uttered in, I found this to be quite amusing. Of course with the drug vertigo back out, people first thought that perhaps that Count Vertigo was also out. Hooboy, that could not be further from the case. I do like how the doctor put it though – “word salad”. I might have to start using that.

Arrow, Oliver Queen, Stephen Amell — “He’s sumasshedshiy”
Credit to: ninawaldorf

I’m going to stick to “word salad” and leave the “sumasshedshiy” to Oliver Queen. However, that look combined with the description? Perfect. Not so perfect? Everything else Oliver did in this episode. He thought Tommy was actually guilty of procuring the vertigo. Not only that, but unless I missed it, did he ever thank Tommy for the hiding of the Arrow Cave evidence? I don’t think so. He was an ass to Felicity when she was trying to comfort him about the Count. He was a major dick to Diggle about him going after Deadshot. Is Diggle’s job 24/7? Is Felicity’s? I mean come on, surely there is some down time during which they can pursue their own interests, perhaps get a hobby or read a book or something. Even if that something is going after a dude who shoots people for a living. Oliver, Oliver, Oliver… you need to get a grip.

I loved that they brought back “the Count” even if he was sumasshedshiy. However, I saw it as the doctor and orderly from a mile away. Rule number one when trying to implement a surprise plot twist – don’t go out and find the sketchiest and most guilty looking orderly out there. Surely there was a slight 5 foot nothing, 150 pounds soaking wet guy they could have used. Then I would have been surprised! I think we can all agree though, Diggle remembering to say “Clear” (as opposed to when he had to revive Oliver and Felicity reminded him he forgot) as he killed said orderly. Well done Dig.

Arrow, Diggle — Credit to: emberbrushiebrushie

Diggle actually had quite a bit of call back in this episode. He’s trying to hunt down Deadshot. He’s still dating the sister-in-law, and he’s continuing his life as a drug dealer/purchaser. I can not be the only one who laughed when he announced to the Arrow Cave that “The person of color (apparently emberbrushiebrushie is not of the American persuasion) has successfully purchased your drugs”. That Diggle, he’s a laugh a minute.

I am very very interested in seeing where this ARGUS thing goes. That and will Diggle and Lyla be more than just “old Army buddies”? I do love a good love triangle. Actually, that’s a lie, they usually annoy me (see Tommy, Laurel, and Oliver) but I do want to see more of Diggle’s life that doesn’t center around Oliver. That being said, I do like that Oliver finally came around and said he would help on the Deadshot front. Redeemed himself a little bit. Just a little though.

Arrow, vertigo — Credit to: mymarsrevolution

The rest of the Count/evil doctor story line was a bit predictable. By now, we know that Oliver has no qualms killing people even though he’s felt the need to admonish anyone else who even thinks about killing someone. In my perfect world, the writer’s would from here on out just forget that Ollie ever said anything about not killing and therefore never repeat it. Because when you stare down a man, high on the vertigo that got in your bloodstream before you puked what looked to be Nickelodeon slime, and shoot him with three arrows, it’s hard to say you aren’t a killer with a straight face. Not that he deserved to live, but still, they need to stop saying it.

Of course as soon as I say that, we have Oliver poised and ready to take out the Count for good, and he can’t do it. I’m actually really glad he didn’t because that just didn’t seem right. That and I’m holding out hope that he’ll find a way to unscramble his brain and come back to match wits with the vigilante once more. We shall see.

Best part of this episode, for me at least, was the island. Finally we get to see the real beginnings of the vigilante version of Oliver Queen as opposed to the whining mixed in occasionally with some dumb luck.

Shado is amazing. As much as I love Yao Fei, I might love his daughter that much more. Not only is she pretty bad ass when it comes to fighting, but she’s also very zen and she’s already filled in more backstory in one episode than we’ve gotten in the seventeen previous. Yao Fei was a Chinese officer, was the scapegoat for a massacre, sent to the island, and now Fyers is trying to make him a scapegoat once again for whatever he has planned. Makes you wonder who Yao Fei pissed off in a previous life. Damn.

Arrow, Slade Wilson, Oliver Queen — Credit to: htbthomas

The island parts also gave Oliver even more of a human side. Like I said, the whining has subsided a little but you have to imagine sitting there as a privileged silver spooner who has literally not had to do much for himself, watching two people who are very self-sufficient and know how to defend themselves. Not only that but they are talking shit about him as he’s sitting there. Talk about a blow to the self-esteem. The satisfied look on Oliver’s face when he is able to draw back the bow without difficulty pretty much said it all.

Which brings us to this.

Hey did you know that Laurel likes sushi? Yes, it was mentioned again but that’s not the issue here. When the show first started I thought that Tommy would end up being the Merlyn of the comics. Then he just didn’t seem like he was “that guy” so I figured they weren’t going to go with a Merlyn. Then John Barrowman showed up as Malcolm Merlyn and I was pretty darn sure that he was it.

Now that Tommy has left Oliver and Oliver’s club thanks to Oliver, again being a bit of a douchebag about it all, lying and maybe taking a little bit advantage of him, and has gone back to the man that he swore he’d never speak to again… his father. I guess when you’re dad ends up almost dying, talking to him again seems easy. Hell, asking for a job is even easy! I’ll have to remember this for the future. (Just kidding Dad, I’m sure no one will try to hire a big time assassin to take you out with a poisoned bullet)

Of course that’s what the episode ends with right as there is another small hiatus, only three weeks this time. Still – yet another moment that asks more questions than it answers! What is Tommy going to do when he finds out his Dad has been lying to him as well? Will that be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and he is going to go off the deep end? And when did he move in with Laurel?

So many questions, so few answers. Like I said, there were some great moments like the island and the last scene but as a whole, this episode was rather blah. Going to have to go with the middle of the road 3 out of 5.

Arrow will return on April 24th, have a good hiatus Arrow fans and I’ll see you next time!

Arrow – 1.18 Salvation

March 30, 2013 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

Wow. Just wow. I’ll be honest, when I saw the preview for this week I groaned a bit as there was a lot of Thea and Laurel involved but I was wrong because I loved this episode! There was so much going on and it was pretty much one person crying after another and damn if it didn’t tug at the ol’ heartstrings.

This dude though, he needs to stop neglecting his buildings/tenants/whatever and start working on his ability to hold a knife. He dropped that like it was a hot potato and look where it got him – kidnapped, stashed on an old subway car, and then killed while the internet watched. Speaking of, would you like to catch up on the latest that “Glades Betrayed” has to offer? Well you are in luck! You can find the site right here (note: googling “gladys betrayed” will not get you the result you were intending) and we can see that it is a really good think Oliver put that arrow in the Savior’s chest because he was not done with his list.

While the bad guy du jour was entertaining enough, it was everything else in the episode that really made it great.

How adorable and heartbreaking was Felicity this week? She really reminded me of Garcia from Criminal Minds with her “I just look at the computer screen I don’t really have to be a real part of all this” reaction to the whole situation. Pretty much every exchange between the Arrow Cave group was fantastic whether it was the funny parts or the really sad-ish “you can call me any time” part. You just know that all those Olicity (I think that’s what has been settled upon) shippers just died at this episode. DIED!

When Oliver was running from the first place Felicity sent him to the second, I can not be the only one who thought of this.

PARKOUR!! Seriously, that was both awesome and somewhat ridiculous. Apparently we are supposed to believe that Oliver can outrun a subway car. Right. That’s totally possible. Sure. I also really enjoyed Oliver busting down every door in an office building and it taking about ten seconds. He really is a superhero!

Superman being faster than a speeding bullet has nothing on Starling City’s golden boy Oliver Queen!

As much as I can not stand Thea (this is more of an ebb and flow kind of dislike), she was killing me this week

with her tears. Like they were little tears of acid tearing down the concrete walls surrounding my cynical heart. I’m trying to hone my maudlin teen angsty side, does that seem about right? Seriously though, that whole thing with her watching the internet feed and Roy saying that no one would miss him and he’s just a nobody, oh man just kill me now!

I do wonder though how long it’s going to take Thea to put two and two together. One second she says something to Oliver about Roy and next thing we know, Roy is being rescued by the vigilante. Come on Thea, you seem like a smart girl, you can do this. Especially when Roy hooks up with Oliver – only a matter of time and Thea is going to be a resident of the Arrow Cave.

If the Thea/Roy and Felicity parts didn’t make you feel things in the ice castle known as a soul, then surely to :insert deity of choice: the Lance family having their hopes shat upon did! Although I have a bone to pick with Laurel. If she thought her mom, Dinah Lance – if you’ve forgotten, was full of it and delusional thinking her sister was alive, why didn’t she just tell her that when she showed up at the door two episodes ago?

Instead, now we’ve got this family task force thing going and her parents are all excited and hopeful and all that is ruined by one call to the Chinese Embassy. Damn Chinese Embassy always ruins everything! I was a mess with that whole “I killed our baby” thing. A mess. Like “pull yourself together Amanda for you are a grown ass woman tearing up over a show that is really not all that deep and you are sort of making a fool of yourself here” mess.

I might have been boohoo’ing like a baby but at least I don’t have an ugly cry like Laurel. Yikes. They might want to keep the Laurel crying scenes to a minimum because she does not sob gracefully, at all. I am interested in seeing what happens between her and Tommy as all evidence is pointing towards them being on the outs and I can totally see her turning to Oliver in her “time of need”. Of course Oliver will be all over that, white knight that he is, even though she pretty much friend-zoned him when he told her he no longer wanted to be on an island. He reaches out, she keeps him at arm’s length. Ouch.

Now all of this was great and wonderful but the real action of this episode was the smallest portion and that Malcolm and Moira. I think we all knew that when Frank showed up a few episodes ago, his time with us was going to be brief. Oh so you have connections to the Triad and know all about “the undertaking”? Sorry Frank but it’s time for you to die. Now we’ve got Malcolm and Moira again as “partners” in whatever effed up thing they’ve got planned and Moira is in the car going all Lady Macbeth. I fear Moira is going to make a mistake and it will not be pretty.

I knew that Shado and Yao Fei were going to end up with Oliver and Slade Wilson somehow. I’m also beginning to thing that it’s going to be Shado that ends up teaching Oliver how to be the Green Arrow. Homegirl can kick some ass, and apparently speak English which will go far when it comes to the student/teacher relationship. Even though I didn’t really think that they’d be able to make the trade with Fyers for the circuit board, I was a little heartbroken for them when they found out that Fyers stole it. Of course that could have just been residual tears from the rest of the episode.

So Dark Archer is back killing people, Malcolm and Moira seem to be back on track with “the undertaking” that somehow involves the Glades and the old subway system, Felicity is a full-fledged member of the Arrow Cave, Thea and Roy are practically knocking down the secret door, Dinah is heading back to Coast City (and will be home in a “flash”), Laurel is pretending to be sticking by Tommy’s side even though we all know that’s a ticking time bomb, everyone is still on the island and….

Oliver is still working out.

A fantastic episode! I am starting to think that Walter is for real not coming back. Unless I missed it, there hasn’t been any “oh hey, Walter is gone for good” announcements but there is a good chance they are just stringing me along but that was pretty much the only thing missing from this episode. Going to have to go with a four on this one. Would bump up to a four and a half but it was a generic bad guy (not a bad thing really) and of course that ugly cry of Laurel’s is always going to knock things down a peg.

Arrow 1.17: The Huntress Returns

March 24, 2013 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

Before we jump into this week’s episode, let me just say if you aren’t following Stephen Amell on Facebook, then you are missing out. I actually don’t follow many actors and don’t even remember what prompted me to follow Mr. Amell but I am so happy I did. At first he didn’t really have much interaction but in the last few months he has really embraced both Facebook and Twitter and it has been quite fun as a fan. Of course there’s also the chance of a John Barrowman sighting which is never a bad thing.

https://www.facebook.com/video/xnxx-92/embed?video_id=327729107330514

While you’re there, you can go ahead and follow Grizzly Bomb on Facebook. I mean, since the page is already open and all.

Okay I lied, one more thing before this week’s review. DC has put out a comic series to tie-in with the show. Much like video games based on movies, it has that “okay this is ridiculous” sort of feel to it, but it’s not horrible. I’ve actually grown to look forward to each new release. Nice to see a little bit more of Starling City and the Arrow cast of characters than just on Wednesday nights.

Okay on to this week’s episode! After what seemed like an eternity after such a great episode, Arrow returned with the Huntress. I’ve made my feelings about the Huntress known (short story – I can’t stand her) so you can only imagine my reaction when the episode starts right off that bat with her posing as a stripper and killing her father’s lawyer. This chick has some serious Daddy issues and instead of just letting bygones be bygones, she’s going to hunt him down while he’s in protective custody. Blah blah blah. Thankfully there were other things happening in this episode that distracted from her annoyance.

Like this:

The club is finally open! Now, I am no master builder or anything but seriously it seems like in the episode where McKenna (oh McKenna, it was so nice knowing you) and Oliver are having their little picnic on the floor, there wasn’t much done in the club but now? Well it’s all done and ready to go! Not only that, but billionaire Oliver Queen was able to snag Steve Aoki for Verdant’s (we see what you did there) opening.

In addition to the awesome party going on, there is a lot happening at this club opening. Tommy is brooding, still butthurt over Oliver not telling him about the whole secret identity thing; Diggle is baffled that Oliver is even entertaining the idea of not ditching Helena like yesterday’s newspaper; McKenna is dancing like it’s her job; and Laurel is pissed that Tommy didn’t ask about her breakfast date.

Let’s discuss this breakfast.
1.) I feel awful for Quentin. There he is trying to apologize for being a complete ass to Laurel and in walks his ex-wife who disaster ditched him after Sarah died. He’s having to deal with Oliver coming back, alive and well, and now this? Dude is going to end up dying of stress. So sad.

2.) Laurel needs to go and watch Parent Trap at least one more time because that was the worst “I’m going to get my parents in the same room tee hee” move ever. Come on.

3.) Dinah Lance – did you give a boatload of money to Miss Cleo and she somehow, psychically and through the phone, led you to this mystery “tourist” who just happened to have a picture of your thought to be dead daughter who really is alive grunging it up on one of the HUNDREDS OF ISLANDS SURROUNDING HER SHIPWRECK?!?! I mean come on! I can suspend belief pretty far but this was ridiculous. The writers couldn’t find a bridge to this storyline that was at least remotely plausible? That being said, I love Alex Kingston and girlfriend is looking pretty damn good with her straight hair.

The best parts of this episode actually involved Helena but only when Diggle or Felicity were part of the picture. Felicity of course has that impeccable timing, walking into the middle of Helena’s “deal” with Oliver. Not only that but of course she has always wanted to hack into the FBI database. Saw that set up a mile away. As great as Helena wondering about the cast of characters in Oliver’s love life was, I think we can all agree that Dig commenting on how much she looked like the T-Mobile girl was the highlight of the entire “party in the Arrow Cave” if not the entire episode. It’s like he read my episode 7 “Muse of Fire” review!

So Malcolm suggests the name Green Arrow and Detective Lance calls Helena “Huntress”. Very nice. I did like how Helena was all shocked that Oliver went all Mighty Mouse and busted her out of the police station. Hello?!?! Did she honestly think he was going to let her sit there and just float his name out in hopes for leniency? I’ve watched enough Law and Order to know that it happens all the time.

Of course while all this is happening with Helena and Oliver, Thea is off trying to get in the ~~pants~~ good graces of Roy. Getting him a job, going and checking on him (in the incredibly bad neighborhood, lest we forget) when he doesn’t show up for said job… Thea, newsflash: these are not attractive qualities in a mate. Yes, he may have saved you from the very scary “Glades” muggers and gotten stabbed in the process but he has no job, apparently no desire to get a job, and is okay to live off money acquired by a life of petty crime. This is not a good thing. As a matter of fact, go ahead and take a moment to listen to the soulful and wise musical stylings of TLC.

But of course she’s probably thinking she’ll “save” him or some crap like that. Step one: solve his fear of needles. Check. Which is, by my count, the second reference to Roy Harper’s drug issue in the comics, the first being his ‘8-ball’ necklace. It’s really only a matter of time before Oliver takes this kid under his wing at Thea’s behest.

It was not at all surprising that Helena ignored Oliver’s offering of a new life in Rome. Nor that she went and

coerced Felicity to go ahead and follow that dream of hacking the FBI’s network. What is surprising is the speed at which Oliver check’s his voicemail! I only check my voicemail to get rid of the notification, I can’t imagine being in the middle of some “personal time”, hearing the voicemail go off and jumping in my car. That’s superhero dedication if I ever saw it. Good on ya Ollie.

Back to my Law and Order education, why would McKenna go ahead and go after Helena without backup? I mean come on, Being a Cop 101 clearly states that you wait for backup. Otherwise you’ll get shot by a woman who has spent time practicing trying to catch an arrow in midair (that was pretty badass, I will admit) and is hellbent on taking out anyone who stands in between her and killing her father!

However, perhaps that was McKenna’s plan all along because now she’s out of commission and can move to Coast City without having to find the words to say “I’m breaking up with you, Oliver, because while in the midst of some torrid love-making, you unceremoniously dumped me to check your voicemail and then run to the aid of your girl Friday“. Can’t say I blame her, “rehab my shattered femur thanks to your shotgun wielding ex-girlfriend” is probably the easier route.

The island flashbacks this week were mainly to show that Oliver is getting better at thinking like a person abandoned on an island with some dude and his army gathering SAM units rather than the silver spoon rich kid. I was sort of surprised that he used his “leverage” to request a way off the island as opposed to telling Fyers to release Yao Fei and Shado but I’m sure they’ll be re-appearing relatively soon, I hope.

Overall, not the best episode. It wasn’t bad but I just don’t like Helena and am glad she’s gone again. I’m interested to see how the whole “Sarah might be alive” thing pans out and of course Roy Harper’s further involvement with the Queen family. Speaking of the Queen family, I’m guessing that since Moira and her plan to kill Malcolm weren’t mentioned at all this week, that they’ll probably return to that storyline in the next episode or two. I can not wait because you know Malcolm is going to be uber-pissed and all about hunting down who put the hit out on him. Woohoo!

Gonna have to give this week a 3.5 out of 5.

Sadly there were no half-naked workouts this episode, but thank you Entertainment Weekly for filling our shirtless Stephen Amell quota this week.

Until next time Arrow fans!

PaleyFest: A TV Geek’s Dream

March 14, 2013 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

I imagine if I were to create a “bucket list” it would include items such as finding a way to convince Julie Andrews to adopt me (sorry Mom) and Gladys Knight to follow me around narrating my life in song. Also on that list would be to attend PaleyFest.

Named for William Paley, the man who took a small Columbia Broadcasting System and turned it into the CBS we know today (one would hope minus the dearth of crappy sitcoms), setting the standard for all modern television networks along the way, PaleyFest bills itself as “The Ultimate TV Fan Festival”. With two weeks filled with panels and autographs and things of that nature, it just might be. Luckily for those of us TV fans who do not live in Los Angeles, the folks over at the Paley Center for Media have teamed up with Hulu to bring the panels to the masses. The day after a panel, it’s been put up on Hulu in both clips and an entire session.

There have been some good shows like The Newsroom, Revolution and Once Upon a Time and even some shows we here at Grizzly Bomb watch and review such as The Walking Dead and Arrow. Panels like this are always fun because you get a chance to see the actors behind the characters and often get some behind the scenes/story info much like this clip for the Arrow panel.

Lest we ever doubt that writers and producers are listening to the fans’ reactions, we played a part in bringing Felicity Smoak up as a series regular! If you were looking for an example of social media having a direct impact on something, that would be it. Had Arrow aired even fifteen years ago, there’s a good chance Felicity would still have been this small character until enough people sent in letters and some email to the studio asking for more of “that blond IT girl”.

Another clip that I found to be interesting is to see Stephen Amell talk about how he approaches “island Oliver”.

These two clips are non-spoilers but there are a few in the rest of the panel session, which you can watch right here, so be warned. If you did not recognize the moderator for the panel, that would be none other than Geoff Johns himself, rocking the Aquaman hat.

The other show of note was The Walking Dead.

Now, I do not watch The Walking Dead (there is no need to tell me how awesome it is and how I’m missing out – I’m a big ol’ wuss and damn near pissed myself watching one episode and I’d rather not repeat that experience) so there is a chance these clips might have spoilers and if they do, I apologize.

However, I did watch the majority of this panel and if I’m honest, it’s because I’ve got a wee bit of a crush on Chris Hardwick. The man is just adorable, I can’t help it.

**Possible Spoilers**

I thought this was really interesting because in a show about the ‘zombie apocalypse’ and when pretty much everyone is on the chopping block at any moment (of course one would assume major characters would be safe, but stranger things have happened), I imagine the thought that they could be killed off is in the forefront of their minds.

Of course once this topic came up, there was no way I couldn’t include it. Living south of Atlanta, I can commiserate fully. Summer down here is awful. You step outside and you immediately start sweating and I can only imagine what kind of hell the makeup people deal with. It’s a good thing the characters are usually sweaty and gross because man alive, if they had to look fresh and clean? Those makeup people would be winning an Emmy each year and rightfully so.

Again, here is the whole panel, there may be spoilers so be warned.

So now that we all know what PaleyFest can include, who wants to go with me? I’m taking names for next year’s carpool, we can split the gas and all share a bag of beef jerky.

Arrow 1:16 – “Dead to Rights”

February 28, 2013 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

February 27th, 2013: the day the Arrow fandom collectively had a fangirl stroke and briefly died only to come back to life sputtering nonsense such as “River Song! Mom! Oh no! The bird! Hot Australian shirtless man!” and “he did that! His hood! Why? What does it all mean?!?!” and the ever popular “John Barrowman’s American accent is so good!” Minus that last one, I pretty much agree with everything there. This episode was insane. After last week’s somewhat ho-hum performance, I had a feeling this week would be killer, but I was unaware how good it would really be.

First off, I need to apologize to Geoff Johns because when it came to episode 7, I said that his writing style did not translate well to television. I wasn’t entirely wrong because Muse of Fire still wasn’t all that great, but Dead to Rights was exponentially better so perhaps he can write well for TV given that the story lends itself to his style. This week certainly did as it was fast paced but it didn’t feel like we were being torn in several different places just for the hell of it, rather it worked well with the frantic actions of the characters and situations.

We started off just like most other weeks with a bad guy coming to town. This time it was Guillermo Barrera, a high price hitman. At first the name didn’t set anything off in my memory but the moment those throwing knives hit the air, I remembered who he was and probably only because I’d just done some catching up on Nightwing thanks to Scott’s Bats and Birds piece over at GEEK. Guillermo Barrera is the name of Bludhaven resident and villain, Brutale. Of course we won’t be seeing any of Brutale as he was dead after the first scene, but it was a nice little shout-out to other DC Universe entities.

The whole “McKenna could have met you at the heliport” thing reminded me of something the show does that I find to be really irritating. They don’t go back and address small things. Perfect example: the bug on McKenna’s phone. Is it still there? Did Oliver take it off? Are we going to find out who the mole is? Granted there have been a few things they’ve gone back to and I appreciate that, but I wish they would address these things as it’s driving me nuts.

The island is pretty good usually at answer some of those little questions and this week it was “was Oliver always in such great shape?” Well the answer is no. Actually that’s not entirely true as apparently he was “more of a runner.” I do love little lines like that, makes the melodramatic ones much easier to take. Outside of that, the island didn’t do a whole hell of a lot this week. Oliver did show off his knowledge of The Odyssey again and fixed a radio while Slade did pullups and discussed Gilligan’s Island escape methods.

This makes two weeks in a row that there has been very little island happenings, and after the big Shado reveal I’m anxious to get back there and see how all that plays out. Of course he was on the island for five years and I suppose they can’t tell that entire story in sixteen episodes.

I’ll give the island a little leeway on not moving things along, the five years thing, but seriously there needs to be a Black Canary post-haste. I feel like I’ve been saying this for months now, just go ahead and slap some fishnets on Laurel and make it happen! All this pussyfooting around with the sushi and the martial arts, and then the picture of her sister and the black canary. Enough already. (While we are on the subject of things that need to stop, Laurel needs to go ahead and never wear that jumpsuit thing again. Might as well just go ahead and burn it.)

The only other part of the episode that wasn’t part of the main story was the beautiful friendship that is blossoming between Diggle and Felicity. I don’t think they could get much cuter. Working out together, cracking the arrow shot cell phones of high dollar hitmen together, dreaming of chinese food together… just adorable.

After the last scene of episode 16, it was obvious that this week would more than likely be about the plan to kill Malcolm Merlyn. I guess China White didn’t feel like she could handle the job on her own, so after Barrera was disposed of, she went and found the person I’ve been saying had to be still alive – Deadshot! Not only that but she ends up giving him his signature red-eye. It’s about time he came back and having China White in the last few episodes has given it more of an ongoing feeling than just the one bad guy per episode thing they had going for a while there.

I’ll go ahead and say it – I want to smack Tommy Merlyn and tell him to shut up. Yea yea yea Malcolm was a shit dad and he probably is still a shit dad but man up son! Either tell your dad to hit the road or take whatever likely half-assed apology he’s offering this week and move on. Man this constant whining is getting old. Of course it did lead to a nice moment between Oliver and him discussing their daddy issues.

However I think we can all agree that Oliver blinding some dude with sriracha is the highlight of that scene. Very heads up play on Ollie’s part.

The two big OMG moments were in the second part of the episode. Oliver runs into McKenna as the “Hood Guy” again but is able to avoid her recognizing him with a well placed fire extinguisher. So he makes his way upstairs to where Tommy and Malcolm are trying to escape both the Triad hitmen and Deadshot’s bullets. In a move I certainly did not expect, and that goes very much against his trying to keep the vigilante identity A SECRET, he shows Tommy who he is.

WHAT IS HE DOING?!?!?! That’s pretty much my entire reaction. Seriously Oliver, what on earth are you thinking? Not only that but hello, Malcolm was getting ready to show Tommy that he’s the Dark Archer until the grenade hits and then he’s shot and Oliver somehow knows that Tommy and Malcolm have the same blood type so let’s do an impromptu blood transfusion and I felt like throwing things at my TV for a good ten minutes. What is going on here? There’s just too much to process.

So now Tommy and Malcolm are all buddy buddy again and Tommy is pissed at Oliver for not telling him about being the vigilante. When Tommy was first introduced I thought he was basically useless. Now I’m looking forward to seeing how they turn this. Is John Barrowman on board with a long run on Arrow or was this the set up for Tommy to ultimately take on his father’s Dark Archer mantle and battle Oliver, the best friend who betrayed him? Intrigue. I like it.

The second WTF moment was the last scene. Laurel had gotten a phone call from her mother earlier, but of course ignored it. Of course like all good mothers, ignore the phone call and she’ll be at your doorstep. Even though I knew that Alex Kingston was going to play her mom and I knew that it was going to be this episode, I still had that immediate reaction of “OMG Laurel your mom, Dinah Lance, is standing right there! She’s the Black Canary and now you can too!!!”

Of course we’ll have to wait and see what all this talk of Sarah still being alive results in. I can’t imagine she really is alive. I mean come on, I saw her disappear off that yacht, we all did. It would be difficult to limp away from that.

Throughout all of this, the biggest thing I took from this episode is Moira has quite the set of steel balls. Even Frank Chan agrees. Even though there were a few moments of slight nervousness, her hand shaking and her obvious ill feelings towards Tommy being at the awards ceremony, she is cold as ice. Standing there as Malcolm declares there to be a traitor in their ranks? I’d probably have pissed myself and started crying.

Even though it lacked substantial island time, this was probably my favorite episode so far. It had pretty much everything else you could hope for. Going to have to give it a solid 4 out of 5. Add in Yao Fei and Walter (I miss you Walter) and it would have easily been a 4.5

Unfortunately we’ll have to wait awhile before we get any answers as Arrow is on break until March 20th, but I think we’ve got plenty to stew over in the meantime.

Until next time!

Conveyors of Common Sense…