User Reviews

That's what I call an episode to shake things up a bit. It's unfortunate that we don't get a legit Arrow episode follow-up to the shocker at the end of the episode, but I'm sure the crossover in a few weeks will be just fine.

I've been pretty set on Adrian Chase being Prometheus for weeks now. And I knew that Adrian Chase is Vigilante in the comics, but I was still pretty sure that either he would be masked up as both characters, or he wouldn't play vigilante at all. Of course, we don't know for sure that Chase was suited up as Vigilante, but I think we can safely assume that he was. So what does all this mean? And what does that Artemis reveal at the end mean? Is Prometheus building a team (with Artemis and Vigilante) just like Arrow? And what exactly is Prometheus having Artemis do undercover on the team? These are all questions this episode has raised in what was one of the better episodes this season has offered.

Right from the get-go I was enjoying Vigilante as a character. The infrared vision, sleek suit, and the punisher-esque qualities help make him easily the best villain of this year so far. There will be obvious comparisons to Punisher, especially the comparison to the Punisher/Daredevil dynamic in season 2. And that's fine, I think the villain has an opportunity to gain notoriety and respect with continued appearances. I'm all for it, I thought he was great. Whoever it ends up being…

The flashbacks saw a continuation with Dolph Lundgren's Kovar. Is anyone not enjoying his extended monologues? He's not always the easiest to understand, but his very presence just exudes charisma, something the flashbacks have been lacking for quite some time. But we got a mention or two or Taiana from last season. From what I gathered, Kovar seemed to be a few steps ahead of Oliver in regards to Taiana's hope of Kovar's death, but we shall wait and see.

The new Team Arrow enjoyed some solid screen time tonight. Whether it was Curtis' clumsiness in the foundry, Diggle and Wild Dog's bonding moment through John Jr's bday, or the staged robbery, this was one damn good episode for the team. The jury is still out on Ragman as a whole, his character is a total cop out in combat, but I'm beginning to enjoy the rest of the team's dynamic. Heck, even Felicity got to help out with the staging.

A few other non-heroic but still nicely written scenes were Oliver and Susan's date, and Quentin and Thea's scenes. While I admit that Oliver's romance with Susan is an unnecessary plot point, I'm very intrigued with Susan's character and who knows, maybe she is Prometheus? On the other-hand, I really adore the scenes between Thea and Quentin. In a show where they have both lost so much over the years, this relationship between the two of them is so refreshing. It's also a nice break from all the high octane action.

So while this episode did more things to question who I thought Prometheus was, it also might be one of the few episodes this year to really amp up my excitement level for what's to come. I can't believe I'm saying this after all the times it has let me down, but I believe Arrow is back!

+Vigilante could be a nice mid-level villain

+The team as a whole tonight

+Prometheus teases

+Thea & Quentin continue to be my favorite side arc

+Lundgren monologuing

9.0/10

I'm sitting here right after this episode, flipping and flopping on whether or not this was a perfect episode for me. In a way, I'm kind of happy that this is my situation because I would have never thought that this season would be at such a high quality to what we have gotten. This season has been fantastic and I think that this was probably my favourite episode of this season.

I'll start with Vigilante. I thought he was really good this episode. He was a nice contrast with what we have gotten the past few weeks with the team learning of Oliver's past as the Hood. I'm not sure whether to call him a villain of the week because chances are is he is going to show up in the future and I'm all for that. The only downside for Vigilante is that they announced that it was going to be Adrian Chase who plays him, which takes a bit of a shine away from his identity. However for future watchers, the reveal is going to come as a big surprise.

Something I have really loved this season however I don't think I gone into major detail in a review, is the relationship between Thea and Lance. Thea is a great character and I was worried how she was going to be used outside of the Speedy profile. I think what they have done with her is fantastic and they really set her up to play a role of power in past seasons. This episode I thought that both Thea and Lance shone their brightest for the season. They have such great chemistry on screen and you can see how their father/daughter type relationship plays out. What is also so great about it is that for the most part, everything they do takes place outside of team Arrow, and when we are spending time with them, we are waiting for it to be over so we can go back to joining team Arrow. Personally for me, I know this isn't a realistic expectation, but I wouldn't mind seeing a stand alone episode with them two at some point in this season. Even if it was just them talking with a bunch of flash backs, the two of them are just so appealing to watch and a lot of that comes down to Willa Holland and Paul Blackthorne.

To briefly touch on the flash backs, again they have been great. While I don't think they will ever get back to how fantastic they were in seasons 1 and 2 with Slade, they have been much more enjoyable that seasons 3 and 4. I really like how they are playing off what happened in season 4's flash backs because it is adding meaning to what we saw for that whole season. I'm sure one day I will go back and binge all of Arrow again and when I do get to those flash backs, I'm going to be thinking about what is happening now in Russia.

The biggest thing to take out of this episode was of course the big reveal at the end that Artemis is working with Prometheus. I'm yet to really theorised on who Prometheus actually is, but I think for the future episodes, this reveal will play into it heavily. If I have to have a go at guessing the biggest clue it gave away out of all this, it is that Adrian Chase, who is also Vigilante, is Prometheus. My reason behind that is when Vigilante took out the watch car of Artemis and Mr Terrific, we never actually saw what happened to Artemis, only being told she is alive. However, it wouldn't surprise me if Vigilante is simply working for Prometheus and had been told not to hurt Artemis.

Overall, a fantastic episode of Arrow. After thinking about it long and hard, while it had a few nit pick things that I didn't like, this was close enough to a perfect episode that it might as well be. By far it is my favourite episode of the season

10/10

I thought this was an amazing episode. It was exciting, tense/suspenseful, and had some very emotional scenes between characters. I liked the balance between the action, the ArrowCave scenes, the Mayor's office/mayor stuff, and the flashbacks in Russia. This episode was much lighter on the "recruits" driving all the scenes-- keeping the recruits more in the backseat and just involved in the action scenes.

I am worried about the "thoughts" going on in Oliver's head about regressing back to a killing machine --returning to the mentality of the Hood when he first came back and suffering from PTSD. Oliver usually regrets going this direction--afterwards. After resorting to killing in the past, Oliver has admitted that it upsets his dual life and creates an internal struggle between being Oliver Queen and being a vigilante/superhero.

SPOILER!!! **** I am overjoyed that Evelyn/Artemis has paired up with Prometheus! Most shocking part of this episode. I was desperately looking for a reason to hate any/all the recruits. Up to this point, I have just found Artemis overly judgmental, childish, and arrogant. Now, she is also a traitor, backstabber, and enemy to all of Team Arrow. Can't wait for this arrogant, Queen B, teeny-bopper to bite the dust! I have more respect for WildDog and Mr. Terrific after this episode.

Overall, very enjoyable episode. I am looking forward to how Vigilante / Green Arrow may one day learn each others' true identities. Oliver's relationship with this Vigilante is very interesting and was built up very well in this episode. I am really looking forward to seeing how this will all play out.

Spoiler only if you have not seen the episode. The opening scene was so good, I rewound and watched it again. We did not see the Vigilante, but we saw the criminals sailing across the room. Then the hostage's chains snapped and freed her. We saw a lot of action in this episode and that made it very exciting.

I noticed right away that the men who were tied up and left outside the police station were arranged to form the letter "V". The Vigilante believes killing is necessary to rid the city of criminals and that the Green Arrow is not getting the job done.

An underlying theme is that there are unlikely allies, and some of the alliances betrayed Oliver.

The Bratva leader, Gregor, betrayed Oliver and formed a partnership with Kovar; in addition, Oliver joined Bratva because they promised he could kill Kovar in retaliation for Kovar causing Taiana's death, but Tiana's mother is working for Kovar.

Evelyn Sharp/Artemis joined Arrow's team, but she is working with Prometheus. She might be the one who has been giving him information all along and helped him to frame Quentin as the throwing star killer.

Diggle and Wild Dog becoming friends was unexpected, and it was wonderful the way Wild Dog arranged for Diggle to see his son on his birthday.

Thea is the youngest family member and it is ironic that she is being a mentor to Quentin Lance and arranged for him to go into rehab. She has matured into a person I admire.

I was not in favor of Oliver and Susan, the reporter, becoming friends. However, she has kept her promise to stop telling stories that make his administration look bad and she does seem to really like him.

Arrow has some awesome gadgets this season and I love the arrow that formed a bullet-proof net to protect them.