Arrow S03E09 "The Climb" (OAD 12/10/2014)

Are we not getting weekly Arrow threads because the show is in its third season, or because that third season has been just a bit meh? Either way, it seemed like the finale before the winter break had enough going on to warrant some discussion.



Like most of Arrow this season, I thought this episode had a mix of good and not-so-good, although the former was more prevalent than the latter. Starting with the not-so-good:

• I'm with Sepinwall that Oliver keeping his identity from Thea is an annoying contrivance at this point. The only reason he's doing it now is that the plot requires him to. I mean, every other character in the show except Captain Lance knows! And speaking of Captain Lance, now every other character in the show knows that Sara is dead except for him. There's no justification for keeping it from him at this point except, because. (It really seems like they could write Lance off at this point. He's had nothing to do so far this season and there isn't even the hint of an arc developing for him.)


• Actually, most of the Lance family drama stuff is boring. At the least, it doesn't play nearly as emotionally as the show seems to want it to.


• Thea's ridiculous fight with the Arrow doesn't make me optimistic about Katie Cassidy being able to take up the mantle of Black Canary. Willa Holland had all of one move to execute in that scene and she couldn't do it plausibly. Nothing about Katie Cassidy makes me think she'll be able to, either. The show had a plausible action actress in Caity Lotz and I think it's really going to end up missing her.


• I was a bit disappointed that Thea was under the influence when she killed Sara. I understand, I guess, that they need to keep Thea a plausible good character, despite her dalliance with Merlyn, so having her as his pawn achieves that and also makes him an even more effective villain. But it would have been more interesting if she had just killed Sara of her own volition, I think.


• The show has gotten as ridiculous as Alias in its regard for location and time. I really wish they would allow some scenes in the daytime, as it would make the time compression at least a little less ridiculous. For example, in the course of one evening, Oliver went from Verdant to Thea's apartment, back to Verdant, back to Thea's as the Arrow, back to Verdant to meet Malcolm, then to the secret location to demand to meet Ra's, then back to Verdant to pack, and then somehow got halfway around the world, or to wherever the secret mountain location was, to fight Ra's. Come on.

But to the good:

• The show continues to do action at a level above probably any other show on TV (or at least on network TV). Lots of exciting combat in this episode, and among multiple people at once. The stuntwork remains really good.


• Even thought I'd prefer that Thea had killed Sara outright, having her as the killer was a cool twist. I hadn't even considered it before this episode. Once Oliver's DNA turned up on the Arrow, I knew immediately it was Thea, which was a cool realization even though the show hadn't explicitly covered it yet.


• EBR continues to earn every dollar the show pays her. Half the scenes in this episode worked mainly because she was in them and playing Felicity just right. I especially liked Felicity knowing that she couldn't stop Oliver from taking on Ra's, and so she didn't try to talk him out of it. That was realistic and well-acted by both EBR and Stephen Amell.


• That ending! I was sure that Oliver would not kill Ra's, because it's only episode 9 and because DC would probably never agree to that. But I couldn't figure out how that fight was going to go, or at least end. Ra's wasn't going to be killed and he couldn't plausibly let Oliver live. A draw? Nope -- they went there.


• I suppose it's going to end up being eye-rolly how Oliver lives through that, but for now it stands as a genuine, holy crap! edge-of-your seat cliffhanger. I've seen some mild speculation online that Oliver actually is dead (or will die), and that the collection of heroes-in-training that have developed around him are going to take over the show (including perhaps Brandon Routh as Atom). Amell himself seems to be having some fun with that possibility, tweeting, "It's been a good run." I don't buy that for a moment, but congrats to the show for making it seem like at least a tiny possibility. Good stuff.