Arrow Episode 16: Dead to Rights - Rate & Review Thread

[The Squirrel]

Discuss the episode!

Deadshot is back and working with China White to kill Malcolm Merlyn. While Oliver goes after the two assassins, he struggles to help Tommy resolve his issues with his father and navigate a new relationship with old girlfriend McKenna.

 

[vantheman77]

Out of all the episodes shown this month and last, this is by far my favorite as a lot has moved forward. We have two villains for Oliver to deal with in China White and Deadshot and we learn more about the Merlyns. Dinah's mother, Dinah Drake Lance, makes her debut to try to make amends with her daughter and tell her the news about Sara being possibly alive. I'm hoping they have Dinah Drake Lance as the Black Canary.

Oliver reveals his secret Tommy and breaks his heart as he wouldn't tell him why he does what he does as this could change things between them. They also set up for the next several episodes where Oliver tells Diggle about Deadshot's return. The flashbacks with Oliver and Slade have also moved forward. Oliver and McKenna's relationship is is complicated in that while they're great as themselves, they're enemies in the field. Great episode written by Geoff Johns, whom it took to move things along.

 

[bbf2]

I absolutely loved this plot – it’s actually better for everyone if the hero fails at his goal and the “villains” win, because of information the hero doesn’t have that the audience does.

Ridiculous that they used the old cliché of “the Spanish speaker speaks entirely in English except he uses ‘Gracias’ instead of thank you to let you know where he comes from.”

Laurel making a reference to her father buying a canary was pretty cheesy.

The dialogue between Oliver and Tommy at the restaurant was great, they’re doing a great job giving the characters dialogue that actually seems like it would occur between mature adults. That being said I’m not sure why Oliver took someone who didn’t know his secret out to dinner with him while he was inspecting the Mafia front restaurant instead of taking Diggle or dining alone, however. Seems like they should have split those scenes up – Oliver eats with Tommy somewhere else and then crashes the Chinese restaurant later. And the fact he didn’t wear a mask and the henchman thought he must be a Chinese man because of the lack of accent is ridiculous. He was two inches in front of your face! Even in the darkness he should have seen that the guy was white. All of this could have been solved if Oliver just brought some sort of mask.

I’ve mostly thought Tommy seemed kind of pointless so far but he was great in this episode. The scenes with him and Oliver and him and his father (even though they look like they’re the same age) were great. Was definitely not expecting him to discover Oliver’s identity this early.

I’ve never seen her in anything else, but great casting on Laurel’s mom. The resemblance between her and Katie Cassidy is striking. She looked like a spitting image of what Katie Cassidy would look like in 25 years or so.

 

[Liam_H]

I really did not care about anything going on with Tommy until now for obvious reasons. Also is there a reason Malcolm opened the room to his Dark Archer costume? I mean what was the point of it unless he was about to tell reveal the secret to Tommy, which seemed like there was no reason for. Pretty confused about that especially the look on Malcolm's face as he looked in.

Plus its annoying me how Oliver hesitates to actually kill the big bads while he has no qualms about taking out henchmens.

 

[Mad Love]

The episode was really well directed and written. The dialogue had way more wit, humor, and character than before. Geoff Johns is the man! It flowed so well it went by quick. Really great characterizations. They made each character have more depth.

 

[Nathan]

He was two inches in front of your face! Even in the darkness he should have seen that the guy was white. All of this could have been solved if Oliver just brought some sort of mask.

You must have missed the part where Oliver sprayed hot sauce into the guy's eyes and blinded him.

 

[NosfeRomas]

More things happen to a single episode of Arrow than a whole Smallville season :P its awesome.

the show becomes more and more interesting and professional looking. The writting is more confident and it shows on both the actors and the direction. Great episode, not as good as the island one but easly the second best till now. I assume that Malcom would reveal his secrets to Thommy and maybe thats why he was so heartbroken when Oliver told him that he wasn't going to tell him he was the Vigilante. Its like im making progress with my a-hole father but my best friend still doesnt trust me....!


PS : Finally Deadshot, he is not quite there yet but progress has been made, he looks more like Deadshot and he talks more like Deadshot. Also China White a character i didnt care for turns out to be pretty bad ass.

 

[Indy Flash]

It was a great episode all around loved it.

 

[HighFivingMF]

Also is there a reason Malcolm opened the room to his Dark Archer costume? I mean what was the point of it unless he was about to tell reveal the secret to Tommy, which seemed like there was no reason for. Pretty confused about that especially the look on Malcolm's face as he looked in.

Pretty positive he was getting his suit/weapon to fight off the guys trying to kill him. And Tommy had just asked how he knew how to fight.

 

[godisawesome]

More things happen to a single episode of Arrow than a whole Smallville season :P its awesome.

Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner!

This show's pacing is leagues better than Smallville's, and the more episodes like this one come out, the more likely it is similar comic book adaptions will be proven successful. Maybe the next evolution of DC and Marvel properties is to live action television-it appeals to an older demographic than cartoons from the get-go so stations won't complain about the wrong types of fans, it allows you to tackle the subject matter with the same seriousness as the movies but with the time frame of the cartoons, and it can resemble procedural style shows enough to remain episodic.

I loved how many Easter eggs we had for DC in this episode, which is kind of the hall mark of any writing by Geoff Johns. Bludhaven. Nanda Parpat. Three different rogues in a single episode. A reappearance by a Dark Knight alum. It's somewhat sad how Geoff Johns can add in just a few small details to an average Arrow episode and make it instantly more comicbooky without sacrificing the real world setting while previous writers seem to be scared of those same elements.

Malcolm continues to be built as Oliver's polar opposite. Oliver is a Robin Hood style son trying to make good on his father's misdeeds operating out of a basement. Malcolm is an elitist out of touch father dishonoring his wife's legacy and son's character growth operating out a his penthouse. Oliver encountered a purgatory like situation after being shipwrecked, Malcolm sought out his own odyssey in Nanda Parpat. One ultimately deserves Tommy's trust but wanted to keep his secret from him, the other is a manipulative deceiver who was trying to pull the reveal on his son.

Speaking of Nanda Parpat, we now know that somewhere there's some kind of mentor for the Dark Archer who helped set him on his path and mold him into the man he is. This could be someone like the Sensei, the leader of the Kobra cult, or any number of regular human masterminds, but the inclusion of Nanda Parpat does seem to suggest there may be some more fantastical elements added to the show, especially in light of Deadshot's very sci-fi robotic eye. Maybe it will be someone more like Vandal Savage or Ra's Al Ghul, and the world will be expanded for more powerful characters.

We'll see.

 

[chamber-music]

Good episode like the DC references as well Bludhaven, Nanda Parpat and villain cameo from Guillermo Barrera aka Brutale.

Good to see China White and Deadshot back. China White gight was good. Can't wait to see Diggle get up close and personal with Deadshot as well as Deadshot get a rematch with Green Arrow.

Malcolm was just about to reveal his Dark Archer room to Tommy. I'm glad the plot is progressing so fast.

Awesome that they used a Foals song in Arrow as well!

 

[WildChild]

One of the best of the season.A good bounce back from Dodger which I thought was kinda weak.

 

[The Squirrel]

I enjoyed this episode a lot. I did not see that Tommy reveal coming. Wowzers.

 

[OnTheAir]

Fantastic episode...one of the best of the series so far!

 

[Mad Love]

I was afraid Tommy was going to end up like Harry Osborn

 

[Demon Hunter]

fanboiii, for a moment I thought that's exactly what's gonna happen, too! I'm so glad I was wrong! The episode was amazing and I hope the show has more of those. We've had enough fillers already. It's time for the main plot to move. We've almost reached 20 episodes!

 

[Lencho01]

I thought this was a pretty good episode. Better than last weeks. Wasn't expecting Tommy to find out about Ollie this early and I thought he'd learn about his dad first.

And it wouldn't be a Johns episode without the scenes lingering on some of the comics references for a good chuckle.

I was afraid Tommy was going to end up like Harry Osborn

"Avenge me!!!"

"No!!!"

*throws a pen at that pad to reveal Malcolm's gear*

 

[The Squirrel]

That black canary reference was pretty cheesy though.

 

[Mad Love]

They dodged a bullet

 

[riotgirl77]

More things happen to a single episode of Arrow than a whole Smallville season :P its awesome.

TOTALLY agree...and we're still in the first season of Arrow! If they can keep up this caliber next season the rest...my "Arrow is better than Smallville" article will have meaning lol

WOW this episode....much better than last week's although still think 'The Odyssey" is the high point of the season

 

[vantheman77]

Now four people know Oliver's secret - Diggle, Helena, Felicity, and Tommy.

 

[Mad Love]

Out of those 4, I think Helena is the most likely to give his secret away

 

[Roose Bolton]

"There must be some other way off the island!"

"Well I did have this one idea, you go could go out into the forest and get as much bamboo as you can..."

"Yeah?"

"..and then we can build a boat just like Giligan's Island!"


DAT SLADE

 

[gqxsensazn]

I thought this episode was fantastic. From the fight scenes to the dialogue and the reveals. I'm really rooting for Tommy to stay a good guy and not turn on Oliver. I didn't know Geoff Johns wrote the episode. No wonder there were more than a few comic book references. Arrow continues to impress me.

 

[Human Torch]

Great episode.I wasn't expecting Tommy to find out so soon,but it does turn those Spider-man comparisons on their head.Lots of terrific action.I'm looking forward to the showdown that's building between Diggle and Deadshot.

I'm glad Malcom isn't dead.I'm hoping to see the Dark Archer in action again soon.I'm not sure the whole "Sarah is alive teaser" isn't expected,but I'm looking forward to where they take it.If anything,I'm still not sold on Ollie's new love interest.There's so many characters to deal with already.

9/10