Let’s get the obvious out of the way: just like I said in my review of “Nanda Parbat,” there was absolutely no chance that Arrow was going to have Oliver take Ra’s al Ghul up on his offer. But in all fairness, “The Offer” did a really good job at suggesting that he might. This episode took the Queen siblings to some of the darkest places they’ve ever been (mentally speaking), and did a fine job at showing the existential toll that their lifestyles have taken on them.
Ra’s pitches Oliver pretty hard, offering him the chance to lead a crusade for justice on a global scale, with, as Ra’s puts it, “unlimited resources.” (Where the League of Assassins gets its funding from is anyone’s guess.) Oliver asks the obvious: how much justice can be expected from a group called the League of Assassins? Fair point. Ra’s says that if Oliver doesn’t want the League to kill, then they won’t. I don’t know about you, but if I joined the LEAGUE OF ASSASSINS and my very first order from the dickhead in charge was “no killing,” I’d feel pretty ripped off. Anyway, Ra’s releases Diggle and Malcolm (who I’m convinced will never, ever die) as a show of good faith, and Oliver goes back to Starling to consider the offer.
And by “consider the offer,” I mean “act like a cold, distant asshole.” He won’t tell anyone, even Diggle, about the offer. Instead he wants to go bust a warehouse robbery, which is cool, we all need to blow off steam every now and then. The team bites off a little more than they can chew; the gang of robbers is surprisingly competent, and they manage to escape. Their leader is Mike Lamar, aka Murmur, thusly named because he sewed his lips shut. Which is a cool, creepy image, but it raises a whole host of logistical questions, like how do you eat? and how well-executed can your plans really be if you have to outline them to your crew using a series of gestures and grunts?
Lamar’s escape just pushes Oliver closer to accepting the offer. He reasons, not incorrectly, that the Arrow hasn’t made that much of a difference. Moira, Tommy, and Sara are dead; Quentin has shut him out after learning of Sara’s death; Felicity is with Ray Palmer; and crime hasn’t declined at all. Oliver admits to not knowing why he wears the hood anymore.
Elsewhere, Thea continues to be a joy to hang around. All she does is mope and drink red wine and try to remember who she was before Malcolm turned her into a killer. Even on a show as dark as Arrow, Thea remains the biggest bummer to hang out with, Willa Holland’s fine performance notwithstanding. She’s trying to get someone, anyone, to kill her, and Nyssa al Ghul doesn’t take the bait. So Thea decides to have a downward spiral, at the end of which she shows up at Roy’s house in tears, ultimately kissing him. These crazy kids, I knew they’d end up together.
Oliver gets his groove back when Murmur and his gang attack the police precinct with diamond-tipped bullets (DIAMOND-TIPPED BULLETS!). He subdues Murmur and hands him over to Quentin, who’s still mad. He finally feels like he’s making a difference, and that’s what leads him to turn down Ra’s al Ghul’s offer. Maseo – whose League name I absolutely cannot pronounce – warns him that there will be consequences. No shit. Ra’s dresses up like the Arrow and kills three of Murmur’s crew, leaving one alive to tell everyone he knows that the Arrow is a stone-cold killer. Or should that be…assassin???
Hahaha, see you next week.
A Few Thoughts
- This week in “Malcolm Merlyn Will Never Die” – while he convalesces at Thea’s loft, both she and Laurel have ample opportunity to kill him. Needless to say, they don’t
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Nyssa and Laurel look to be striking up an unlikely friendship after the former’s exit from the League. Gotta say, I’m okay with this. Also, how close is Nanda Parbat to Starling? Nyssa and Ra’s make the trip, like, all the time and never seem to be jet-lagged
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Ra’s more or less confirms the existence of Lazarus Pits, although it’s more in line with Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth. Don’t bullshit me, Arrow, I know a goddamn Lazarus Pit when I see one
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This week in “Shado Will Never Die” – Oliver sees Shado in Hong Kong
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