Let’s ponder, for a moment, the lives of anyone who happened to be working late in the various high rise corporate buildings of downtown Star City last night. The town is under attack by random ninjas yet again. Innocent bystanders are dying in the streets, shot down in a hail of arrows. However, your boss won’t let you leave because those quarterly reports are due to corporate headquarters in Gotham/Metropolis by the end of the week. You can’t afford any kind of delay. So you toil away, crunching the numbers, convening for emergency meetings in the office board room. Just as Jim from Accounting is going through his latest slide about dividends you notice this on a neighboring rooftop:
You look across the way and see various other dumbfounded on-lookers crowding the windows in the other well-lit buildings facing the rooftop. Bob from Marketing, zooming in with his smart phone, cries out, “Holy crap! That’s Malcolm Merlyn!”
Suddenly anyone who had been trying to ignore all of this and keep working flocks to the windows to get a look for themselves. Malcolm Merlyn, the Butcher of The Glades? How could this be? Didn’t he die, killed by the vigilante Roy Harper? Susan from Human Resources claims she has a cousin who saw Malcolm standing in the middle of the town square talking to Oliver Queen just last year, and Becky from Sales swears she personally bumped into him on the street just last week. Various others chime in with their own “brushes with Malcolm Merlyn” stories, leaving you to wonder if you’re the only one who had no idea he might still be alive.
Everyone’s zooming in with their smart phones. “Hey, is that Oliver Queen?” someone cries out. “And that’s definitely Felicity Smoak!” another person excitedly proclaims. Jerry from Production has the great idea to take a close-up photo of the rooftop ceremony and posts it to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook with the caption “Oliver Queen’s version of a campaign fundraiser #He’sGotMyVote.” Everyone follows suit, enjoying the insanity of it all. “Maybe this is how they settle disputes at Palmer Tech!” someone jokes.
Just as Cherly, your boss, tries to get everyone to get back to work (“Let’s not pretend this is something we haven’t seen before in Star City”) this happens:
In a hastily put together press conference, Oliver will dismiss the video as being too grainy and blurry to be reliable, and Chief of Police Quentin Lance will publicly exonerate him of all wrong-doing, leading the entire city to conclude, “So, he’s pretty clearly the Green Arrow, but we’re all cool with that. Who wouldn’t want to cut off Malcolm Merlyn’s hand?”
Just another day in Star City. Now, back to those quarterly reports.
I joke because part of the fun of watching Arrow now is mocking it, even if the mockery comes from a place of love. I also joke because, frankly, I feel like my reaction to “Sins of the Father” is going to mostly be a repeat of what I’ve already praised about season 4 on multiple occasions. This is Oliver Queens’ first genuine hero season. They’re not simply calling him Green Arrow now because “The Hood” and “Arrow” got old. No, this show has always been the origin story of how Oliver Queen went from a bloodthirsty vigilante to a bonafide hero who always strives to do the right thing and protects the innocent, regardless of how boneheaded and quasi-boring that might make him seem.
The past 3 years have changed him, but being in love with Felicity has also profoundly changed him. Season 4 Oliver recognizes that his natural impulse to put the weight of the world on his shoulders and to act unilaterally when the chips are down is not always the best option. That type of growth received lip service in the past, but season 4 is repeatedly following through on it. In “Sins of the Father,” when a League of Assassins civil war breaks out and leaves Thea’s life in the balance Oliver sues for peace, desperate to find a solution where nobody gets hurt.
The fact that all of Oliver’s character growth might ultimately be responsible for whoever ends up in that coffin at the end of the season makes it all seem so tragic. His choice to spare Malcolm’s life in “Sins of the Father” could certainly lead to considerable heartbreak (surely it won’t be Oliver’s son in that coffin, will it?), the cost of trying to be the hero when some people simply won’t change.
In a way, this episode was the show’s course-adjustment, a reminder of how insane it is that these people have been working with Malcolm for around a full season now. More than that, it was Arrow‘s conclusion to its arc with the League of Assassins, an organization so nebulous Malcolm had to remind Oliver that they’re not just a bunch of ninjas running out killing people. It was a crucial point because it was the primary reason for Malcolm holding onto his ring instead of handing it over to Nyssa, fearing she would turn the League into a weapon of destruction. It was also a stupid point (seriously? like Nyssa would really be a more evil ruler than Malcolm Merlyn) and perhaps one which we weren’t meant to believe, a tale told by a man lying to himself to justify letting his daughter die. It’s disappointing that Nyssa wasn’t granted the same level of introspection, although now that she is finally free of the League perhaps the show will realize that her fierce loyalty and fish-out-of-water quality when placed in normal society makes her an incredibly interesting character they should be doing more with.
The whole episode was true to its title “Sins of the Father” as everyone seemed to be working through their daddy issues, be they fathers who’d already died (Oliver’s, Nyssa’s) or ones who were still around (Felicity’s, Thea’s). Oliver was backed into a corner and still figured out a way to win without killing anyone, for better or worse. It was an interesting change of pace to see Laurel, Diggle and Oliver actually working as a genuine team and glorified peacekeepers, and Oliver and Felicity have become an astonishingly well-adjusted couple, openly communicating and helping each other out with their individual crises. Also, good riddance to the League of Assassins.
But, mostly, the best part was imagining what must have been going on in those buildings overlooking the “Trial by Combat” rooftop.
Favorite Line
“In the interest of good taste, I’ll forego the shirtless provision”
Biggest Nitpick
Little fuzzy on the chain of custody on the device Felicity’s father used to try to steal all of the data in Curtis’ lab. She says he left it behind as a little “souvenir,” but it’s a different shaped device than the thumbdrive he gave her earlier in the episode. He never gives her anything during the tour of Curtis’ lab. So is the idea that he brought that device with him during the tour, but he accidentally left it behind/had it stolen from him by Felicity?
Second Biggest Nitpick
Still struggle to believe that Nyssa wouldn’t have been able to defeat Malcolm on her own.
Biggest Groan
Did they seriously have Felicity’s father say the line “We are not so different, you and I”?
Biggest “This Again?” Moment
When we realized that with William back we’re heading for a repeat of Oliver and Felicity’s idiotic break-up fight from the Arrow/Flash two-parter.
Biggest “They Better Handle This Very Carefully” Moment
Using Oliver’s son as a “kid endangerment” plot point could go so very wrong
Biggest Regret
That Laurel and Nyssa had multiple conversations, but none of them were over hamburgers and milkshakes.
Honest Admission
I have no memory of where that rock in the flashbacks came from or what it means.
Latest “Who’s In That Grave?” Theories
- Oliver’s son, and the person responsible is not Damien Darhk but Malcolm Merlyn
- Felicity’s mother, and the person responsible is Felicity’s dad
