Before we jump in and discuss tonight’s episode, let’s take a minute to admire Curtis’ new costume….ahhhh, yes…it’s the comics coming to life!

I liked that tonight’s episode opened with a mention of Prometheus. I feel like that storyline was hot for a few episodes and has since gone a bit cold. Starting off with Ollie confronting Prometheus’ mom and then later with Ollie connecting that it was Prometheus that sent the letter to the police chief, helps keep that storyline stay somewhat alive and relevant.

Since I mentioned Prometheus’ mom, I have to ask…what’s up with some of these characters in the Arrowverse who seem to have their moral compass working backwards? Last week it was the counselor who almost refused to give Curtis and Rene the whereabouts of the guy who shot up the mayor’s office because of his strict code of confidentiality.

Then tonight had Prometheus’ mom refusing to cooperate with Oliver. So, let me make sure I’ve got this right…the mayor personally comes to your house to express concern that your son is possibly involved in activity that’s resulted in people being hurt/killed and he needs your help to locate him before anyone else is affected. Instead, you refuse to help, citing that whatever your son is doing is because “he is hurt and he is scared.”

What planet are you living on, man??

Maybe she’s in cahoots with him. Who knows?

Moving on…

I liked seeing China White, Carrie Cutter and Liza Warner as a team of pretty hard-nosed ladies bent on finding Church’s rainy day cash stash. To my knowledge, this is the first time they’ve all teamed up before and I really liked it! Their little group totally reminded me of the girls in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, but just way more dangerous. (Though, I’m not sure a dude like Jay would last too long with this Arrow group. Something tells me they wouldn’t put up with him at all… Snoogans!) I liked their chemistry as a team and thought they played really well off one another. Truth be told, I was a little bummed to see them all get busted at the end—I was hoping they would run amok in Star City a little longer.

What I did really like about the ending was the possibility of Oliver being impeached. I think it opens up a pretty cool angle for the show. One of the things I’ve always sort of found a little abnormal about Arrow is that a masked vigilante could double as the mayor of the city. Now, to be fair, comics (and this storyline is pulled right from the comics) and their characters are all fictional, and we buy into that through the suspension of disbelief, but I always thought him being the mayor was sort of a tough sell—for me, at least.

In our modern world of Internet, smart phones, cameras and social media, people in the public eye (and even average Joes) are almost always under the microscope. It’s very rare that anyone can do anything these days without being noticed—especially someone holding the high-ranking position of mayor in a major metropolitan area like Star City. Not only do I think someone would start connecting the dots (like Susan has basically done), but the sheer number of responsibilities that go into that type of role would make it seem almost impossible to live a separate life as a vigilante.  

So, if Arrow does go in the direction of stripping Ollie of his mayoral duties, I think it could open a whole new door for the show and grant Ollie a freedom to operate basically restraint-free as Green Arrow—which is something I think we would all like to see.

Now, if he’s no longer the mayor, you lose that angle of seemingly endless storylines you could write where he’s conflicted between his mayoral duties and his want/desire to be Green Arrow. This idea got me thinking of two of the biggest names in the DCU and how they’ve managed to be successful heroes while staying mostly out of the public eye—even though their jobs and names are highly publicized:

Batman and Superman.

Now, we all know Bruce plays the billionaire playboy, an act that brings him into the public eye quite a bit. But he’s able to dedicate a large percentage of his time to being the Batman because his responsibilities as Bruce only require that he attend some board meetings here and there at Wayne Enterprises—unlike Ollie, who is essentially in charge of a city and is always on call. Bruce has others he trusts to run the show for him, which allows him to essentially be a benefactor of the high dollars that roll into Wayne Tech. He’s a master at making enough appearances to never let anyone start sniffing around and ask questions. Ollie could have been the exact same way with Queen Industries, but chose to put himself constantly in the public eye as Star City’s mayor—making it difficult to really dedicate his time as the Green Arrow. Let’s face it, being a hero and enacting real change would be a 24/7 job on its own.

Clark works as a reporter for a major newspaper. It’s a smart move on his part because it allows him to fly under the radar but still enact social change as his reporter alter ego, while also granting him time to be Superman. Something that Oliver strives to do too, but is often conflicted between his two lives.

Warning: #DCTV Couch Club Soapbox Rant:

While on the topic of Superman, I don’t think Kal-El gets enough credit for being an incredible actor and master of disguise. I mean, the guy is the perfect specimen and most powerful being in the universe. Now look at his alter ego, Clark Kent. Looks-wise, the only thing that separates the two is a pair of glasses. So, he created this bumbling, uncoordinated nerd in baggy clothes that, when looking at him, there would be no way he was Superman. A great example of this is in Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s ALL STAR SUPERMAN.   

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Arrow column:

So, in the end, I think it could be cool if Oliver loses his duty as the mayor, disappears from the limelight and focuses on his obligation as Green Arrow. At this point, he’s made enough good contacts that serve the public who he can call on while cleaning up Star City’s underbelly as the Emerald Archer.

In short, we’ve seen what he can do as mayor and now I’m ready to see a potential new path for Ollie to go down.

Get out your “Impeach Queen” signs and start marching!

Until next episode,
Matt
 

Matt Ross covers Arrow as a part of the #DCTV Couch Club. Catch new episodes of Arrow Tuesdays at 8 p.m. (7 p.m. CST) on The CW.