Arrow Arrow #3.21: “Al Sah-him

[zenith16]

Laurel looked badass doing her Canary Cry, the Canary Cry was just made weak for some reason.

I was Ok with it . But I see other's weren't satisfied or it's possible this is more of the usual(I'll never like her deal) with her. in which case it's just a lost cause.


Unless she's on the show flash. may be then she'll be come what she's supposed to be.

 

[b_boy]

I think the Canary Cry was better in the preview when we could hear her scream. On the actual episode it seemed like she was screaming for her life (wich I believe it's probably what Katie did when recording the scene), windows were breaking and all we could hear was a little sonic noise. If it was a really loud noise I think it would have looked much better.

 

[Mikelus]

Excerpt from a review:

All season, he's been paralyzed by this existential crisis and whether or not he can be both Oliver Queen and the Arrow, but he's been even less willing to do something about it than Hamlet trying to figure out if he should kill Claudius or himself or both. However, it's one thing when your protagonist is indecisive for 3 or 4 hours. It's another when that indecisiveness is stretched across 18 or 19 hour-long episodes. The romantic pining, all of the one-off bad guys, and all of the secrets were just distractions that Arrow inflicted on itself instead of committing to showing Oliver exploring what his dilemma meant for him, for his comrades, and for Starling City. Now that there's actual momentum, now that a decision has been made, the show's a little livelier. That it took us until the third to last episode to get here is really ridiculous, and this season has been too lousy for "better late than never" to be uttered in any way except for the most eye-rollingly exasperated way.

Of course, even this momentum is tainted by all the nonsense that preceded it. To complete his ascension to the Demon's Head, Al Sah-him must destroy Starling City using the Alpha-Omega bioweapon. I should've expected the bioweapon to show up somewhere in the present day, but I let loose a frustrated groan at not only its sudden arrival but that Arrow decided it wanted to do what will probably turn out to be another "city-threatening/race against time" finale. It makes sense, sure, because Arrow has done this two seasons in a row, and if anything will represent Al Sah-him's return to being Oliver Queen, it'll be the decision not to destroy his beloved Starling City.

http://www.tv.com/shows/arrow/commu...n-3-episode-21-al-sahhim-review-143017013695/

I agree, they have wasted most of the season and this Al Sah-him stuff is only going to last a couple of episodes, with the finale being titled "My Name Is Oliver Queen", things will go back to normal more or less. Maybe the Season 4 premiere will be titled "Green Arrow", which would be more than welcome, the quicker they get away from Bat-Arrow, the better.

The episode was decent, but Felicity being so melodramatic has been one of the season's many issues, is just too annoying, she should be tougher than that.

The problem with Ra's plan is that is just more of the same and too predictable: Starling City in imminent danger (again!), Oliver back to his senses and saves the city just in time. Now, will Oliver kill Ra's? Or Nyssa will be the one to do it? At least, Ra's fate is more interesting storywise and less predictable than the rest. Hopefully, Oliver's return will have nothing to do with another Felicity speech or shipper pandering moment... oh wait. Maybe the producers will be smarter this time and have Thea get to him, she's more important to Oliver than his last girlfriend, but we'll see.

 

[zenith16]

why not it has for thea side effects after big talk about it consequence wise . she's act like she was before she was supposedly killed minus the time she was like 3 year after being knocked out after coming out of the pit.

kinda like how they dropped video tape of her killiing sara . which poorly done from the jump. it'll be back to normal alright.

 

[Justin]

I loved the actual look of the canary cry. They could do a much better job with the sound and the effect it has (that window breaking in the gif looks terrible!).

That being said, what I'd really love for Laurel is to drop the wig. She's a stunning girl, and her hair while maybe not as blonde as some would want, is much better than this wig. I'd keep the domino mask though.

Also if he is legitimately brainwashed I too hope that it's his sister that breaks him out of it and not Felicity. It just makes a whole lot more sense, given that this whole thing was about saving Thea to begin with.

 

[BLACKVULCAN]

Laurel looked badass doing her Canary Cry, the Canary Cry was just made weak for some reason.

yeah i didnt see a problem with it( other than the sound effect was weak!) but i liked it... actually without that dumb ass wig i thought it was kinda sexy!! i was all wow!! she has a big mouth! and with leather on!!t:
hehe come on!! its not like everybody isnt running around in leather in the 1st place! with masks!.. the mind starts to wander to dark recess places!
Hehe... sorry! carry on!

 

[Rowsdower!]

Laurel looked badass doing her Canary Cry, the Canary Cry was just made weak for some reason.

I don't know; I think this may just be one of those things that works in a comic but looks silly in live action.

 

[Snow Queen]

Ra's: "We must punish Malcolm for trying to destroy the Glades!"
Ra's now: "Oliver, you must use this virus to destroy the whole city!"

 

[chamber-music]

The only reason Ra's was mad about Malcolm destroying the Glades was because he did without Ra's permission.

Leading the league to destroy Gotham Starling City is another Nolan Batman thing so I'm not surprised Arrow writers went with this plan.

 

[O'Haire]

To be fair, it's gotten pretty crazy in Starling the last few seasons. Can see why he would want to wipe it out now.

 

[Snow Queen]

The only reason Ra's was mad about Malcolm destroying the Glades was because he did without Ra's permission.

Leading the league to destroy Gotham Starling City is another Nolan Batman thing so I'm not surprised Arrow writers went with this plan.

Oh was that what he said? Alright well my mistake then.

To be fair, it's gotten pretty crazy in Starling the last few seasons. Can see why he would want to wipe it out now.

No thanks to him.

 

[Mister J]

Prior to this season, if you'd told me that I'd come to be far more interested in Laurel's development and practically groaning whenever Felicity was on screen, I'd have said you were right in line for a room at Belle Reve. As it turns out, not so much.

 

[Slade W]

Oliver destroying Starling is to prove he has the sufficient ruthlessness and cold-bloodedness required to lead the LOA. It is part of the ritual of becoming Ra's, the current Ra's had to do it too. Ra's did not see any purpose to Merlyn's Undertaking. If a member of the LOA was to commit such an atrocity, Ra's would want to know about it beforehand and what the reasons were behind it and if he agreed, then perhaps he would permit it. While Merlyn's Undertaking had some good intentions behind it, a lot of it was done out of bitterness and hatred on Malcolm's part and he wanted revenge. Such a matter would have been small-time, petty and needless in Ra's eyes so he would not have given it the green light. He would not have thought that the end would have justified the means.

In the case of Oliver destroying Starling, he would see it as necessary and important. Oliver is to be his heir and head of the LOA for a very, very long time. He has to show that he will be cold-blooded, that he will be unrelenting and merciless and will not hesitate to do what must be done in order to achieve the Leagues goals. Being Ra's Al Ghul does just mean that you are the leader of a small team that tries to do its best to help save and protect a city. No, being Ra's Al Ghul means that you are the judge, jury and executioner of the entire world and to be that you must not allow emotions or personal feelings to get in the way of your judgements and sentences. And what better way is there to prove you are capable of that than by infecting your old city and home and watching it crumble and die slowly from the inside along with those you care about. If Oliver is capable of such an assignment, then Ra's can rest assured that he has a worthy and well chosen heir.

 

[DrCosmic]

I don't know; I think this may just be one of those things that works in a comic but looks silly in live action.

You need the air disturbance of the soundwaves, like Banshee had in XMFC, otherwise... you're using the movement of using sound like an energy blast, but there is no energy blast.

Also the sound effect wasn't quite right, didn't have enough weight to it.

 

[Arrowshieldfan]

I highly doubt the city is going to be attack again......I don't really think Nolan batman is the first superhero movie for a city to get destroy......there is more to this than using some virus

 

[Bats1690]

Ra's: "We must punish Malcolm for trying to destroy the Glades!"
Ra's now: "Oliver, you must use this virus to destroy the whole city!"

People keep bringing this up as if it's a concept hard to grasp. It's not. Malcolm attempted to destroy the Glades without consulting Ra's or gaining his permission and thus violated the League's code. Oliver is required to do this because it's a tradition that has been carried out ever since the League has been founded.

There's nothing hypocritical about this.

 

[zenith16]

I highly doubt the city is going to be attack again......I don't really think Nolan batman is the first superhero movie for a city to get destroy......there is more to this than using some virus

it's alway been about the people that live in the city then it's is about the city being trashed when these things are done though. a city can be destroy just by kill isn't residence with any property damage

 

[Rowsdower!]

You need the air disturbance of the soundwaves, like Banshee had in XMFC, otherwise... you're using the movement of using sound like an energy blast, but there is no energy blast.

Also the sound effect wasn't quite right, didn't have enough weight to it.

Yes! That's a good point. It did look cool with Banshee because of the air ripple effect. But this just looked like a person yelling really loud.

 

[ThePreface]

The sound wave tanks from The Incredible Hulk '08 would be ideal.

 

[Seb]

People keep bringing this up as if it's a concept hard to grasp. It's not. Malcolm attempted to destroy the Glades without consulting Ra's or gaining his permission and thus violated the League's code. Oliver is required to do this because it's a tradition that has been carried out ever since the League has been founded.

There's nothing hypocritical about this.

Except that Ra's released Merlyn, Nyssa said so. That means that Merlyn was not a League member when he enacted his plan, therefore Ra's was acting purely on a supposed ethical standpoint.

And again, we haven't seen Ra's do anything that could even be conceived of as being for the greater good, he just tells us that's what he's doing. It's a pretty egregious writing error, completely ignoring the common rule of 'Show Don't Tell'.

So far, all we've seen Ra's do is hunt for Merlyn, threaten to kill civilians, murder a bunch of his own followers and all the rubbish to convince Oliver to be his heir. Sure, we've seen glimpses of his old humanity, but none of his supposed current plans to protect the world from itself. Maybe he has been doing what he says, but the show has been to bogged down in silly romances and convoluted plots by Merlyn to devote the necessary time to its villain.

 

[Mike Murdock]

He did,and news flash these stories were written in Batman comics not Green Arrows, GA never got the offer because the offer isn't just as offer,it's the core of the Batman/Ra's dynamic,the same reason Luthor envies Superman and not Shazam or Flash even though that can be transplanted from Superman to the latter two as well.

Arrow isn't a ripoff,it's a pathetic ripoff at this point.

Please, Arrow isn't ripping off Batman. It's ripping off Daredevil right now.

 

[Arrowshieldfan]

Please, Arrow isn't ripping off Batman. It's ripping off Daredevil right now.

more like daredevil ripping off Arrow Malcolm plan for the Glades/Hell Kitchen by getting rid of it and all that

 

[Paradox1]

Except that Ra's released Merlyn, Nyssa said so. That means that Merlyn was not a League member when he enacted his plan, therefore Ra's was acting purely on a supposed ethical standpoint.

And again, we haven't seen Ra's do anything that could even be conceived of as being for the greater good, he just tells us that's what he's doing. It's a pretty egregious writing error, completely ignoring the common rule of 'Show Don't Tell'.

So far, all we've seen Ra's do is hunt for Merlyn, threaten to kill civilians, murder a bunch of his own followers and all the rubbish to convince Oliver to be his heir. Sure, we've seen glimpses of his old humanity, but none of his supposed current plans to protect the world from itself. Maybe he has been doing what he says, but the show has been to bogged down in silly romances and convoluted plots by Merlyn to devote the necessary time to its villain.

Even if by Ra's only left Malcolm leave and not kick him out of the league. A distinction that was never made, he may have felt a sense of responsibility for his former pupil's action. Also I take it Ra's has been busy fighting this shadow war against H.I.V.E.

 

[mr. peasant]

yeah i didnt see a problem with it( other than the sound effect was weak!) but i liked it... actually without that dumb ass wig i thought it was kinda sexy!! i was all wow!! she has a big mouth! and with leather on!!t:
hehe come on!! its not like everybody isnt running around in leather in the 1st place! with masks!.. the mind starts to wander to dark recess places!
Hehe... sorry! carry on!

I think the biggest problems with it are two-fold:

1. It was introduced without much fanfare; with its origins taking place instead in a Flash episode. Not everyone watches The Flash. And those who don't would have no idea what it is, how she got it, and why she's only using it now.

2. Even if we did watch The Flash, we have no idea how it works - or more specifically, why it works the way it does. Maybe it's something I missed, but I have no idea why Laurel needs to scream in order for the Canary Cry to work. Without it, having Laurel do it looks a tad goofier than it needs to be.


Personally, I think rather than it being based on Sara's sonic devices, the show should've had the Canary Cry based on the voice modifiers that the team has been using since Season 1; with Cisco modifying Laurel's amplify her voice enough to become an offensive weapon when she screams. This way, there'd be a reason why she's screaming at the top of her lungs whenever she uses the Canary Cry; rather than the sheer theatrics of it.

 

[Snow Queen]

more like daredevil ripping off Arrow Malcolm plan for the Glades/Hell Kitchen by getting rid of it and all that

I'm curious, did you watch Daredevil or...?