Arrow 1.23 "Sacrifice" And Series Review

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rating: 3

This week sees the first season finale of Arrow, and many of the events for this week's episode have been worked up by the writers for weeks. The events of this episode pick up from where the last episode finished, after Malcolm and Oliver faced off, with Malcolm once again trumping his younger opponent. We also see a conclusion to the battle between Shado, Slade and Oliver against Fyers, as Fyers prepares to take out a commercial flight to China in order to destabilize the Chinese economy. Finally, the episode further develops the relationships between Thea and Roy, as well as ending the love triangle between Oliver, Laurel and Tommy for good. As the finale to the first season, the progression into the second season is also a key point as the series moves forward, as the show was signed for a second season back in February. After Malcolm discovered that Oliver was the vigilante, the final battle between the two seemed looming even larger. As Oliver once again manages to break out of the confines placed upon him, this time by heavy metal shackles and the watchful eyes of several Merlyn goons. Oliver manages to escape with some well timed assistance from Diggle. The plan to take down Merlyn before he can set off the Undertaking. While Malcolm's beat down of Oliver was great, the ease at which they allowed Oliver to escape seemed like a little bit of a cop out. However, it was necessary for the episode to progress, which makes it a bit more acceptable. After escaping Malcolm's clutches with the help of Diggle, the trio enlist the help of Detective Lance. This frees up Oliver and Diggle to go after Malcolm, and after Diggle is hit Oliver and Malcolm once again square off, with some brilliant fight choreography, with an array of punches, kicks and spins looked truly fantastic, however, due to the poor lighting it was almost impossible to tell which body was Oliver and which one was Malcolm, which took something out of the scene. The final confrontation, including Oliver's flashback to his father on the raft was touching. This episode also saw a conclusion to the first chapter to the story on the Island, as Fyers prepared to take out a commercial flight en route to China via his shiny new anti-aircraft missile launcher. Oliver manages to cut out of his shackles and push Fyers over, freeing Shado and Slade and continues into battle against Fyer's men grossly out numbered. While Slade covers, Oliver and Shado go to the anti-aircraft missile carrier beating Fyer's men, with Shado effectively telling Oliver how to override the missiles target system just in time to see the missile miss the target and fall back to earth, taking out most of Fyer's camp. After climbing off the tank, Oliver searches for Shado, but can't seem to find her. However, Slade is still alive, and emerges from the camp alive and in one piece despite the missile landing not far from his location back at the camp. After building up Fyers as an omnipotent power on the Island, the fact that his troops were so easily beaten by Shado, Slade and Oliver, and how feeble Fyer's was at not fighting back when Oliver merely pushed him out of the way seemed a big break from how he'd been portrayed as up until this point. Fyers deserved the same respect shown to Malcolm in the end but didn't get it. However, you feel that the Fyer's story line isn't done yet and he will once again re-group, and try again. Finally, back is Starling City, two major love arcs sort themselves out, with Thea and Roy getting back together, as Thea goes into the Glades to save Roy, and the Oliver-Laurel-Tommy love triangle also gets a last re-tread and has a slightly surprising end to the story line. While Thea and Roy's split was never going to be permanent, and Thea's mad rush into the Glades had the perfect coincidental timing as she stumbles on Roy while he is face to face with a gun, and saved once again by a Queen as Thea hits Roy's attacker with a bottle from distance. As they scramble out of the Glades, Roy stays behind to help people that are trapped, further developing his own story line towards being the vigilante's sidekick. At the same time, Tommy confronts Oliver after seeing Laurel and Oliver hooking up in Laurel's apartment, Oliver doesn't deny it, instead telling Tommy about his father's plans to level the Glades. This would have been the point which would surely send Tommy over the edge and joining his father on his crusade, swearing vengeance against the people Tommy once counted as being among his closest friends. Instead, Tommy confronts his father and once he learns the truth about his father's plans for the Glades. Tommy's change of alignment is both unexpected and, in my opinion, a waste as the writers had been building a confrontation between Tommy and Oliver for ages, and given Tommy all the motives to align with his father and pick up the family business which would have allowed them to naturally stride into season 2, with Merlyn donning his fathers Black Arrow uniform. As the finale for the episode, the events have ramifications for the second season of the show, while Fyers is no doubt going to reground and continue his attempts to destabilize China by order of his employees, who may become more of a part of the series as we've caught the first glance of her in a previous episode. However, where the series finale leaves Oliver and his team is another matter, as the list Oliver was making his way through was connected to righting the wrongs of his father, which centered around stopping Merlyn and the Undertaking. The question of whether Oliver will continue to hunt down the other names on the list, or whether he moves onto another season, one thing is for sure, it didn't appear that the writers tried to do an "Avengers" style last minute hint as to what may happen next. With season one wrapped and the cast on a well earned break until September/October, I can't wait to see what the next season brings and hopefully they can build on what they achieved in the first season.
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While Edan has predominantly studied History and Politics, he also has a deep affection for all things sports, and has been a fan of the wrestling since he was a child, and often had several of the professional wrestlers moves tried out on him by his older brother. Growing up in Melbourne, Australia, Edan is a passionate supporter of the Carlton Football Club in the AFL, and is a fan of Kane in the WWF/WWE. Edan also watches The Newsroom, Game of Thrones, Community, How I Met Your Mother, The League, Big Bang Theory, and Arrow.