So I was right about last week’s “Suicidal Tendencies,” which ended with Maseo attacking City Hall – Felicity wasn’t shot. Duh. But Ray was, which was honestly really surprising. “Public Enemy” segued seamlessly from the “previously on” to the actual episode to the title screen, and it set the tone for a breathless hour of Arrow.
Since this episode is all about Oliver, it was important to sideline Ray early. He recovers from the arrow, but still has a potentially fatal blood clot in his brain. He has nano bots that could conceivably destroy the clot – “little tiny robots,” as he describes it to the doctor – but the hospital won’t sanction their use. Naturally, Felicity steps up to the plates and injects Ray with the nanotech, which fixes him pretty easily. Obviously Arrow wasn’t about to kill the Atom in a hospital bed, but Ray’s sunny demeanor is such a nice contrast to everyone else’s glum scowling that I welcome and accept the narrative excuse for what it is. And besides, he got to tell Felicity he loves her, which caused her to freak out a little bit because boo hoo, two handsome billionaires are in love with her.
The rest of “Public Enemy” concerned itself with Quentin’s increasingly Ahabian manhunt for the Arrow. Oliver, Laurel, and Roy go to confront the League, only to have the SCPD show up. They all have to scatter, and the whole sequence is lifted straight out of a video game, where the outcome changes depending on what character you play as. Choose LAUREL and your father will point a gun at you before being subdued by Nyssa al Ghul. Choose ROY and you’ll shoot a few cops, which you’ll feel really bad about. Choose DIGGLE and you’re on overwatch with a sniper rifle. If you choose OLIVER you escape in Diggle’s van.
You can see why Ra’s is getting so pissed. First of all, he takes “no” about as well as a fraternity member, and second, Oliver’s repeated escapes must be starting to embarrass him. So Ra’s deploys the nuclear option: he tells Quentin that Oliver is the Arrow. Here’s where “Public Enemy” intrigued me most: with Quentin changing the arrest warrant from “the Arrow” to “Oliver Queen,” Oliver rightly surmises that Ra’s is using the city as a weapon against him, and he really has nowhere to turn. To me, it seemed like his only viable option was to say yes to Ra’s al Ghul. Sure, maybe intellectually we all knew that there was no way that was going to happen, but emotionally, how cool was it to consider? That would be a bold choice for Arrow to take, and the way that it keeps raining shit on Oliver, I don’t think it’s completely off the table.
Anyway, Oliver turns himself in. While transporting Oliver to jail, Quentin has a nice monologue, and Paul Blackthorne relishes his chance to shine. His hurt and his rage are audible in every syllable Quentin says. “You’re not a hero, Mr. Queen,” he hisses. “You’re a villain.” Then Roy attacks the transport and says that he’s the Arrow, not Oliver. I don’t see this panning out, because not only did Oliver turn himself in, but what possible reason would Ra’s al Ghul have for lying to Quentin? I guess that’s next week’s problem, though.
A Few Thoughts
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That wasn’t Shado that Oliver saw in Hong Kong, it was her twin sister Mae. I…I don’t care about this subplot.
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Of all the decorations in Roy’s house, why is one of them a trumpet?
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What are the chances that the SCPD would storm Verdant and leave the basement completely untouched?
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