Oh Gee, Laurel. Um, so nice to have you back. Haven’t seen you in a while. Er, kind of let yourself go a little, huh?
I thought “Blind Spot” was a better outing than the previous week’s “Blast Radius,” but it still lacks the brilliance we’ve been getitng for most of the season. It slowed down the action a bit for some good old fashioned character development, but when your main character focus falls on Laurel, that’s bound to expose some weaknesses. The story with Laurel going to the vigilante with her suspicions about Sebastian Blood actually has merit on paper, but considering the meat of the story fell on the super skinny ADA, it was the equivalent of a winged creature taking off from a high cliff and suddenly crashing hard to the ground.
The problem is that Laurel is not a sympathetic character. Because of that, I didn’t feel much when her act of bringing justice to the bad guy ended up exposing her frailties and creating extreme doubt in her credibility. I mean everyone doubted her story, even Oliver and her own father! Considering Laurel’s only unwaivering supporter up to now has been dear ole dad, when his faith is gone, it’s time to retreat and get some cats. No, she wasn’t wrong about Blood, but she had to know that stealing pop’s opiate pain drugs and popping them like they were tic-tacs was bound to backfire. Going after an enemy with your own weaknesses behind a thin veil is likely not the smartest move – which is another reason why she rubs me the wrong way. Laurel isn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. I was wishing for dead Tommy to come back and give her the same pep talk he did for Oliver a few weeks ago. That’s about the only thing that would have saved her situation with any kind of entertainment purposes.
I felt far more sympathy for Roy, who finally decided to tell someone about what was happening to him. That someone was Sin, not Thea, but I’m okay with that because I actually like Sin. She handled it pretty smart and maturely, telling Roy he’s got a bad problem and that Thea has to know. Of course he didn’t tell her, but when Sin decided to help Roy catch a bad guy and he pummeled the man into a coma, that was a pretty good way for her to reinforce her point. He isn’t in control.
Slade isn’t in control either, as we found out when he went after Blood and crew after they framed the evil cop for being skull mask dude, thus making everyone believe Laurel is a drugged out junkie who accused the wrong man. Blood neutralized the problem, but Slade was unforgiving because there was a problem in the first place. But hey, how else were they going to show Slade in full Deathstroke suit? That visual was pretty wicked, even if the act was one of a complete madman. Now that is the definition of an unstable villain! Glad he’s sticking around for a while.
Oliver and his alter ego played the guy that tried to hold it all together, being there to help Laurel because he still cares, even though he doubted her story but wanted to believe she was right. That’s where the title comes in, she is his “Blind Spot.” While the action during the archive action scene was quite exciting, what sort of document storage facility has large swat teams storm in at a minute’s notice with automatic assault weapons? A little extreme for someone trying to find a folder of old sealed legal documents don’t you think? Fort Knox has lesser protection. Also, why did the entire assault team go into the room? Would any want to cover the ground in case the intruders escaped? Yes, I’ve griped about such setups on this show before, but it’s just too hard not to notice!
Oliver chose to give Blood the benefit of the doubt and didn’t tip him off to what was happening with Laurel, because even he is sold on the Blood being a good guy idea. The flashback with Sara eluded to the fact that Laurel will do things sometimes for payback, so Oliver had reason to doubt. When skull mask turned out to be a dirty cop, it certainly shook Oliver’s blind faith when it comes to Laurel. With that behind him, he decided to help Roy, knowing how much we was struggling. Thea and Roy fighting was a pretty obvious sign. It was a smart move to provoke Roy into trying to hurt him, and smashing the wall was all Oliie needed for proof that he’s influenced by the Mirakuru. He offers to teach him control and turn the curse into something positive. That’s something heroes do!
It’s funny, but I found myself actually hoping that Sebastian Blood turns out to be a character of redemption. One that will eventually work with Oliver and the Vigilante (yes, I know they’re the same guy) to become that idealist and save the city. One that actually believes his rhetoric and decides he’s not going to be weak anymore. He has John Diggle in his corner, so that should mean something! He got his second chance by finding his patsy for the Mirakuru experiments and Deathstroke didn’t kill him. Deathstroke can be the bad guy. We all like the story of redeemed hero better. Except I know this show. Sebastian Blood will likely get a pre-mature, violent death instead. But not this week!
We also found out through flashbacks that Ivo is a psycho, but we’ll just file that under the “something we already knew” department. At least Sarah proved her loyalty to Ollie. That’s nice.
Next week, training Roy to be a superhero. Should be fun! And it’s totally going to backfire too, because the kid has a bit of trouble listening. Oliver has his work cut out for him.
Hi Alice,
I totally agree with you about Laurel. At this point, I really just don’t care about her at all. And unfortunately, I do think it is the writing because I thought she was fine last season (which was a surprise for me, because I hated her on Supernatural). I think they’ve just used her too sporadically and when they DO use her, she’s an absolute basket case. Seems like too radical a change in too short a time. Now, she just annoys me and I roll my eyes when she’s on screen.
I’m still on the fence with Roy. Couldn’t stand him when he first came on the show, then started warming up to him and now I’m a little iffy. I have a feeling the whole training with Arrow thing is not going to be easy and I’ll probably dislike him even more before I start to like him again. I’m not even all that bothered with Thea anymore and really hated her whiny butt last season. I STILL don’t get how a person who’s not even legal can run a club/bar, but whatever. And how has she not found the Arrow cave??
I really wish that they’d give Diggle more to do! I love him and he’s felt really underused the last few eps.
Anyway, not one of the best eps, but still a lot better than a lot of shows out there! 🙂
Hi, Alice, Great review — as always. 🙂
Laurel is a ‘freaking mess’ and the more they do to her, the less I like and/or care about her. Shame too. And honestly, I have to wonder if Katie Cassidy is all right because she looks downright gaunt. It’s not a good look. Is she purposely doing this for the character? if so, well then, great for her and dedication to the part. However, apart from that, I wonder if she isn’t ill because this is too thin. She was lovely (and seriously thin before — but that’s what sells in Hollywood) but now…too much.
Arrow, as much as I like it, also typifies why I hate shows that are tipped so into the serialization category: lies, secrets, half truths, two steps forward, one and a half to three steps back. Laurel needs help, but rather than accept it — after falling a bit too far over the cliff to be believable, she pushes everyone away. And what really tipped the scales? Tommy died, yes, but even Oliver is dealing with that better. Sarah has been dead to Laurel for over six years, and she held on for her father’s sake, so that can’t be it. Her father is now on pretty solid footing but Laurel is unstable…it’s a bit contrived. So she’s drinking, taking pills and now out of her job — doesn’t make much sense. But then again, neither did her taking the DA job after her crusader of the little guy job in Season 1. It was just a way to make her have conflict with the Vigilante — now Arrow and then be involved in Moira’s case. Now, because both of those stories are resolved, she goes after Blood and now is fired. It’s all rather silly. Also, I hate that we the viewer know what’s going on while we watch the characters bumble around blindly on false trails episode after episode after episode. Have Oliver know it’s Blood that he’s going after. It would be far more interesting to watch Oliver ‘fake’ his friendship with the Alderman while working to take him down rather than watch him be set up for another failed friendship.
Argh! That’s why PoI is my must see, a much better balance of serialized and procedural, while Arrow stays heavy on the serialized — in its most annoying sense, while barely paying attention to the procedural, which makes the procedural part bland upon bland aside from cool action and stunt sequences. Thank goodness for Diggle and Felicity for the friendship, character, humanization part of the show. they remain my most favorite parts. More characterization please, less contrived drama. How to fix Laurel? At this point, kill her off and bring Sarah in permanently as the Canary. Shame too, I like Katie.
Still, all the annoyances I have with Arrow aside, as Stephanie said, it is still better than most of what is on television these days. And it does remain my 8:00 p.m. Wednesday night viewing. And, when it’s on, it is really on. 🙂
Thanks Stephanie and Elle2! I think it’s criminal how underutilized Digg is. The man can fight, and he looks awesome shirtless. I hope they can find ways to put him in the heart of the action.
Yeah, this show, much like Supernatural, struggles a bit with characterization from week to week. The serialized element does probably make it difficult, but it’s noticeable at times. I still don’t get what brought Laurel to that point. I don’t want to waste a lot of energy finding out either.