Arrow has a lot of confidence in its ensemble, which is why it’s able to so successfully pull off an episode like “Sara.” Grieving episodes always tend to be bummers, and they’re usually pretty middling in quality, but “Sara” was by and large a success.
Laurel brings her sister’s body to the foundry, not knowing where else she can go (also, she doesn’t close Sara’s eyes, which is kind of ghoulish). This sets pretty much everyone on the warpath – Diggle, Roy, and Felicity all jump into the hunt for Sara’s killer with both feet, and Laurel seems especially consumed by a thirst for vengeance. Katie Cassidy, after getting minimal screen time last week, gets much meatier material this time around, and her rage and sadness carry with them echoes of Oliver from season one.
There are a B- and a C-plot as well, and its a credit to director Wendey Stanzler (Parks and Recreation, The Vampire Diaries) that nothing feels like an afterthought. Ray Palmer is aggressively courting Felicity (as an employee), and Brandon Routh is truly great in this role. He seems to really care for Starling City – sorry, Star City – and I wonder if Arrow will make him a villain or have him team up with Oliver. Elsewhere, in the Hong Kong flashbacks, Amanda Waller gives Oliver a task: assassinate a target, who just so happens to be Tommy Merlyn (a returning Colin Donnell). Moreover, in the present, Oliver can’t get a hold of Thea, and for once a Thea plot is actualy interesting. By not showing us what Thea is doing, Arrow is able to organically build some mystery and intrigue, and no one was more surprised than I was when I found myself wondering, “When is Willa Holland going to show up?”
In the flashbacks, Oliver thwarts the assassination attempt by faking a kidnapping. This is no surprise, as we saw Tommy extensively through season one, so there was no real suspense involved, but it was still an unexpected treat to see Stephen Amell and Colin Donnell in the same room again. Their chemistry is natural and believable, and as Oliver stood over his best friend, unable to tell him that he was still alive, Amell’s face conveyed heartbreak and resignation all at once. It’s impossible to overstate how good Amell is in this role. He’s a movie star gracing Arrow with this presence, and I can confidently say that this show would fail without him. He’s that good.
In the present day, Oliver and Felicity think they’ve tracked down Sara’s killer, an archer named Simon LaCroix, alias Kimodo. After foiling an assassination attempt at one of Ray Palmer’s benefit galas, Oliver and Laurel discover that LaCroix wasn’t the killer – he was getting drunk in Bludhaven the night of Sara’s death (“getting drunk in Bludhaven” is my new excuse for missing anything).
Admirably, Arrow doesn’t try to wrap everything up tonight. Oliver admits that the trail has gone cold, and rules out any involvement from the League of Assassins, reasoning that they don’t kill their own. So who killed Sara? Apparently it’s not Malcolm Merlyn, who was my first guess.
This is the shit that brings me back to Arrow every week. This show has been great since its first episode, and its ensemble has meshed in a way not seen in many other network programs. We’re lucky to have this on the air.
A Few Thoughts
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Quentin Lance looks awesome with a buzzed head
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Love love love that Diggle and Lyla named their baby Sara
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Great ending scene: Thea with a sporty new ‘do, training to be an assassin under her father’s tutelage. I never thought I’d say, but bring on the Thea!
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On another Sara-related note, it was downright heartbreaking that she was re-buried in the same grave in which she was interred after “dying” on the Queen’s Gambit
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