Title: Arrow: “Inheritance” Review
Release Date: March 25th, 2019
Network: The CW
Genre: Superhero, Drama, Action
That was a pretty sweet cliffhanger, to say the least.
I’m pretty floored right now because Arrow just dropped a pretty big bombshell on us. These reviews are usually filled with spoilers but seriously, if you haven’t seen “Inheritance” yet, go ahead and watch it. I’ll still be here when you get back.
So, over the last few episodes, we have been under the assumption that a mysterious organization known as the Ninth Circle would be our “big bads” of season seven with a dude named Dante at the head of it. Well, we were kind of right. Dante is one of the higher-ups in the Ninth Circle and the group will be our primary antagonists. But, it turns out that Emiko Queen is actually at the head of this shadowy organization and has been orchestrating everything. It also appears that she had a hand in the sabotage of the Queen’s Gambit and her father’s death, making her sympathetic backstory a lot darker than we originally thought.
I absolutely love this twist. Arrow started off really strong with the prison arc but over the last two or so weeks, I have had this worry that season seven would cool off down the stretch. There has been a lack of focus on the main storyline or a goal to accomplish after Oliver got out of prison, which has left most of our characters in an aimless direction. The introduction of Dante in “Brothers & Sisters” was strange, as it felt that he was just promptly put into the series with no shocking revelation or cliffhanger to keep us guessing for weeks. Over the next few episodes, Arrow drifted in its focus with filler and flashforward-centric episodes. All of that changed here.
Can Emiko still find redemption later on? Knowing how these Arrowverse shows work, I would say that she will eventually be redeemed and swap sides again. But, Team Arrow is big enough as it is in my opinion. We have Spartan, Wild Dog, Black Canary, Overwatch, and the Green Arrow. The show had just trimmed some of the team over the past two seasons with Thea, Quentin, and Curtis’ exits. Putting Emiko on the Team Arrow roster now would just feel like a two steps forward, one step back situation. Emiko would have also just felt like a stand-in for Thea (She even had a similar suit this week!). As a character, Emiko needed something fresh to work with. She has had that Oliver-like personality since her reveal in “Unmasked”. With Emiko as the leader of the Ninth Circle, it gives us a new perspective on her character and we can finally delve into new territory.
Her flashbacks were entertaining enough to keep you on her side until that last reveal. After this week, I don’t think there’s anyone that is still on Robert Queen’s side or is at all sympathetic to him as a character. And if for some reason, you are. Why? Let’s run down a quick list of terrible deeds from Robert Queen, shall we? He has:
- Cheated on his wife many times
- Had a second family
- He abandoned said family with nothing
- At some point, he killed an innocent guy
- Was one of the orchestrators behind The Undertaking
- Killed another innocent guy to save Oliver
- Put his burdens on Oliver and told him to essentially clean up his mess
I honestly think I missed something there and that’s sad. Here’s my point. Robert Queen should definitely get the award for Worst TV Show Parent of the Year. Well, that guy from Umbrella Academy wasn’t much better but still.
Let’s get back to Arrow before I get too sidetracked. The reveal was fantastic and was definitely a huge reason why you see that five-star rating this week but there were other factors that contributed to it as well. Felicity’s comedy was on-point the entire episode, giving a few brief moments of relief to these tension-filled scenes. This is where I think Emily Bett Rickards shines. She has great comedic timing and her delivery is excellent. The dynamic between Diggle’s situation with Andy and Oliver’s dilemma with Emiko was great. I wasn’t a fan of Arrow season four but seeing Diggle give Oliver sound advice throughout the episode felt like a solid payoff for a disappointing arc that happened years ago. Dig has been through this before and he saw the writing on the wall before anyone else. He just doesn’t want Oliver to have the same outcome he did.
The Laurel stuff may be my one negative this week. And, I’m even not sure it was “bad”. It’s just strange. We’ve seen her character all season attempting to redeem herself and become a better person. So, when someone accuses Laurel of breaking the law or betraying the team, we as the audience know that Laurel didn’t do either of those things. But, the dialogue seems to suggest that we should doubt Laurel’s redemption. I’ll let it slide though because I did like how it all ended. Laurel is about to be outed as a “fraud” and she may have to come clean about some of the horrible things she’s done in the past. It’ll be intriguing to see how Arrow handles this and if she will be able to help take down the Ninth Circle later this season.
Finally, we have to talk about the amazing action pieces. Action scenes in Arrow at this point are a guaranteed “Pro” until proven otherwise and this week did not disappoint. The first scene where the team “Saved” Emiko was a little off but after the reveal, it all made sense. The scenes between Oliver, Emiko, and Dante were just superbly done. Arrow may have some problems with cheesy dialogue and drama-filled storylines but a lack of exciting action set-pieces are not among the issues.
Overall: Arrow has been stumbling over the past few weeks but “Inheritance” corrected all of that. With a clear definition of Team Arrow’s main focus and who is behind it all, Arrow can finally move forward into its own endgame for season seven. The Emiko twist should do wonders for the character and Oliver’s motivation going forward. Laurel’s arc may be a little weird but I’m hoping everything will get on the right track when the series returns in April.
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