Arrow Arrow Season 3, Episode 3 "Corto Maltese" General Discussion

[Sawyer]

http://www.spoilertv.com/2014/10/cw-primetime-listings-for-week-of.html

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22

ARROW
“Corto Maltese” — (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET) (TV-14, LV) (HDTV)

OLIVER SEARCHES FOR THEA IN CORTO MALTESE WHILE DIGGLE TRACKS A.R.G.U.S. AGENT MARK SHAW — Oliver (Stephen Amell) decides it’s time for Thea (Willa Holland) to come back to Starling City, so he packs for Corto Maltese, where Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) has traced Thea’s whereabouts. Lyla (guest star Audrey Marie Anderson) asks Diggle (David Ramsey) to go with Oliver because one of her field operatives, Mark Shaw (guest star David Cubitt), has gone dark in Corto Maltese and she’d like him to look into it. Feeling responsible for Thea’s departure, Roy (Colton Haynes) joins Oliver and Diggle on their journey. Shaw double-crosses Diggle, putting numerous A.R.G.U.S. agents, including Lyla, at risk. Meanwhile, Laurel (Katie Cassidy) meets Ted Grant (J.R. Ramirez), and Felicity adjusts to her new job. Stephen Surjik directed the episode written by Erik Oleson & Beth Schwartz (#303). Original airdate 10/22/2014.

 

[godisawesome]

Why does every thing with Mark Shaw outside of his old solo have to make him the treacherous/brainwashed guy?

 

[Mike Murdock]

FYI, I don't think it's illegal to lie to a DA and it certainly isn't perjury unless you're under oath.

 

[Donut]

I think Laurel is going nuts again

 

[Ilikecomics123]

anybody else having television issues? it keeps cutting mid-sentence to a commercial... Oliver is saying something and the CW cuts right to commercial... wtf... it's done it twice now...

 

[Mike Murdock]

It's been fine for me. The only thing I had was the very very first sentence start mid "My name is Oliver Queen."

He just said "that's not ARGUS" if it helps.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

FYI, I don't think it's illegal to lie to a DA and it certainly isn't perjury unless you're under oath.

It could be considered Obstruction of Justice if he's proven wrong.

 

[Ilikecomics123]

wow Ive given up on this episode. I'll just watch it on CW website tomorrow.

I dont know how broadcasting and tv channels work but whatever is going on in my area is causing this channel and episode to be all jacked up.

It cuts to commercial mid-sentence, then runs commercials, then goes back to the episode but it's just an all black screen... then goes back to commercials, goes back to the show, plays 1, 2 scenes, cuts mid sentence to commercials, then shows a black screen again...

wow, never seen a tv show broadcast so messed up before.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

It's going fine for me. It's your local affiliate station that's screwing up.

 

[rashad]

Amazing episode.

 

[Mike Murdock]

It could be considered Obstruction of Justice if he's proven wrong.

To the District Attorney? Certainly to the police, but that's because they actually have the job to investigate crimes (as opposed to prosecute them).

 

[kguillou]

Malcolm must be letting Thea go for a reason. Theres no way he'd let her leave that easily.....right?

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

To the District Attorney? Certainly to the police, but that's because they actually have the job to investigate crimes (as opposed to prosecute them).

Hmm.....

 

[rashad]

Next week! Holy shiznit!!

 

[Mike Murdock]

Yeah, I'd be like "please don't shoot me, she's dead"

 

[Primal Slayer]

Finally, Laurel is the becoming the character I wanted her to become since the first season. Glad that they had Laurel approach Ollie for training just to get that question out of the way.

 

[TheComicbookKid]

Wow. I really liked Laurel this ep. The scene between her and Quentin was great.


Loved how Ollie made the makeshift arrow kits.

I'm guessing Waller and Palmer have some kind of connection. He wanted access to the weapons systems to attack Argus.

Loved Thea resisting the hot coffee. Very cool. "Mia!!"

How did no one realize a girl waiting tables shouldn't be able to afford that villa?

 

[Mike Murdock]

^ Maybe she took some money before they lost it all?

Finally, Laurel is the becoming the character I wanted her to become since the first season. Glad that they had Laurel approach Ollie for training just to get that question out of the way.

Yeah, and it makes sense too. Ollie has good reasons to say no, but it still comes off as somewhat self-centered.

Does anyone think Thea is becoming a specific comic character?

 

[Loki882]

Yeah, there's definitely SOMETHING else going on here. That was a little too easy and Oliver even said that Thea "seemed different."

 

[Orb]

O.m.a.c!!

 

[vantheman77]

Both Dinah Laurel and Thea seemed to be heading towards certain comic book character and we see something going on with Ray Palmer.

I like that we get Oliver, Roy, and Diggle out on the field in Corto Maltese together. Roy is doing well so far as Oliver's sidekick. I like the ending.

Looks like Felicity may not be in the next episode of Arrow.

 

[Human Torch]

Kind of a mixed bag.It's a relief to have Thea back in the show again.I generally liked all her scenes,particularly the one with Ollie talking about Roger's death.

The flashbacks devoted to her early training was a good touch.

Beyond that,the rest was fairly mundane.

I've got a peeve about any episode of a SH series that doesn't show "the suit" at least twice an episode.The Rule of Two (for those interested) was more or less established by TIH series,where you could always count on at least two appearances of The Hulk per hr episode.Basically that's what we watch for:"The Suit" scenes.

Without them,the ep came off more like an A Team episode without the kitschy humor.Ultimately,what would be more suspicious- Arrow in Corto Maltese,or Oliver Queen and friends kicking butt in Corto Maltese?

Digg got some more to do.Nice to see Lyla again.I wish they would commit to having some kinda relationship,instead of continuing to awkwardly fumble around terms when trying to describe what they are.I get the feeling something unusual will be up for Lyla before the season's out,courtesy of Waller.

The Laurel subplot: It is what it is and it's going as predictably as expected.

I liked the brief stuff with Felicity & Ray.Hopefully Palmer gets more time to strut his stuff in the future.

Next week looks promising.

 

[Human Torch]

Oh yeah,and "Gerry Conway".t:

 

[DigificWriter]

My review (cross-posted):
Greg Berlanti and Co. are IN THE ZONE, producing not one but TWO of the greatest shows on television right now, which is not an easy thing to do.

The last 5 episodes of both Arrow and The Flash have been phenomenally plotted, written, and acted, and "Corto Maltese" makes the streak 6 for 6.

A simple trip to find Thea and convince her to come back home becomes anything but simple when Diggle - accepting an unofficial assignment from Lyla - inadvertently walks himself, Oliver, and Roy into a crisis, which ends up leading to some crazy international Team Arrow action, complete with Oliver improvising to make some pretty sweet homemade archery tools.

We also get some action from both Laurel and Felicity back in Star(ling) City, as Laurel takes the first major step - ill-advised though it may have been - towards realizing her ultimate destiny as the Black Canary, finding some help along the way in the form of one Ted Grant, whose first interaction with her is anything but friendly, and Felicity finds herself being pulled in several different directions all at once by her new boss Roy Palmer, Team Arrow, and Laurel, leading to some hilarious and really well-acted scenes from Emily Bett Rickards and Brandon Routh.

Speaking of Palmer, his mission for Felicity - decrypting and restoring a Queen Consolidated Applied Sciences hard drive - led to an interesting scene as he browsed through the blueprints for a bunch of high-tech weapons. I have no clue where this particular storyline is headed, but I'm really intrigued by it.

I'm still working my way through the first two seasons of the series and consequently didn't quite understand some parts of Thea's storyline in this episode, but I nevertheless found myself really enjoying her interactions with Malcolm, who, despite being all kinds of bad, comes across as incredibly likeable and always has.

Getting back to Felicity, it hasn't been a secret that she'll be headed to Central City in this coming Tuesday's episode of The Flash, but I was expecting the setup for that trip to be a bit more flashy (no pun intended), and am kind of disappointed that it was handled so low-key.... although it was neat to see her browsing the same "The Streak Lives" blog we saw Iris tracking at the end of last night's Flash episode.

Arrow has gotten really good at episode-ending cliffhangers, but I think tonight's is my favorite. Having Nyssa so Ghul walk into the Arrow-Cave with bow drawn and demand to know where Sara is gave me the same kind of feeling I got when a bad-****-looking Rupert Giles returned to confront an ultra-powered Willow Rosenberg at the end of the Buffy Season 6 episode "Two to Go", and I cannot wait for next week to see exactly what happens when she finds out about Sara's death. I also can't wait to see how Oliver reacts when she tells him about Malcolm being alive.

Like I said at the top of this review, Berlanti and Co. are on a serious roll right now creatively, and if the previews for both this Tuesday's Flash episode and next week's Arrow episode are any indication, things do not appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Great ep, really liked the focus on Thea with both the flashbacks and the scenes with her and Oliver and her and Roy. I like that they are playing things with her and Meryln subtly, she hasn't suddenly become some deranged psycho, she's made herself stronger but doesn't seem brainwashed, I think Merlyn knows he needs to be more careful with how he turns her against Ollie.

It was cool to see some action outside of Starling City and Diggle gutting his action on with Ollie and Roy as his back-up for a change. Ollie got all MacGyver with those makeshifts bows lol. I like the way they are developing the Ollie and Roy partnership as well.

The stuff with Palmer/Felicity I'm on the fence about but I'm intrigued by what he wants with those weapons. As for the Ted Grant introduction and him training Laurel, I can't say I'm interested at all but I wont be letting it spoil my enjoyment of the show.