High drama in Star City tonight.

Thea returns. Rene still can’t decide if he wants to be a dad. Ollie’s dad is an accidental killer. The flashbacks return…

I was really excited to see Cody Rhodes’ character, Derek Sampson, return.  I’m a little bummed he wasn’t really used as much as I thought he would be, but that’s how the cookie crumbles, I guess.

 

Overall, tonight had a lot of moving parts in it. 

Some of it I thought worked well, while other aspects didn’t really click for me.  Truth be told, I was sort of lost on a couple things. 

I liked the idea of Prometheus drudging up Ollie’s dad’s past as a way to get to him, but I wondered to myself, “why now?”  I feel like that would have worked really well in the beginning of Prometheus’ terrorizing.

Why?

At this point in the game, Ollie is kind of numb to the Prometheus shenanigans.  And by “numb,” I mean that Ollie knows it’s him. So, that element of mystery and fright of “who is doing this to me and why?” is gone.  Who else could it be, you know? 

Add on top of that the fact that Ollie’s relationship with his dad seemed to be sort of hit and miss at best—at least from my perspective as a newcomer to Arrow.  He didn’t seem too torn up with Prometheus attempting to drag his dad’s name and reputation through the mud.  It felt more like a minor inconvenience/annoyance to him than anything else, because it might hurt his public image.  Now, if this had been a dad and lad relationship along the lines of Jonathan and Clark Kent, then I would expect a really emotionally charged response on Ollie’s part.  But, I just didn’t really connect with the emotion that was trying to convey.  I think if Prometheus was really looking to mess with Ollie, he would continue to go after members of the team and his son, since they’re living, breathing people that Ollie cares the most for.

Sticking with this part of the episode…

I’m not sure the concrete/chemicals tie-in with Queen properties was really needed.  I know it’s meant to show the genius of Prometheus and how he can weave together intricate puzzles that are a part of a much larger master plan, but I just felt myself getting a little confused.  I hit the rewind button on the DVR a couple times tonight because I missed information.

Prometheus’ surrender, though. That ended up being my favorite part of the episode.

However, at first, I was like, “You’re kidding, right…?”

I felt cheated. Here’s why…

A huge percentage (I’d say 80% +) of this season has been devoted to building up the sheer evil of Prometheus.  The guy is damaged goods and the show has done a nice job of showing that—every time we see him or one of his traps, there’s a new element of madness.

So, tonight I couldn’t believe it when he just gave up.

That’s how this psychopath goes out?  Ollie says that Chase’s dad knew he was crazy and Chase just crumbles?

It’s like when you’re watching a monster movie and there’s all this build-up to the creature and then you finally see it and you go, “That’s it?”

It seemed like a total let down. But then, after letting the episode sort of marinate on my mind, it clicked for me.

There’s no way this is how Prometheus goes out.  Like I said, if Arrow has taught us anything this season—aside from his insanity—Prometheus is ten steps (if not more) ahead of Ollie and gang. Could it be that Prometheus willingly gave up tonight because it’s part of his master plan—or some sort of new plan? 

Just look at that smirk on his face when he’s watching the TV in his cell.  He knows exactly what he’s doing.  There’s more to it and that’s where I think the episode did a great job.  No way they would take us this far just to end it like that.  There’s still so much up in the air.

In fact, Ollie and the team’s reaction to Prometheus behind bars is yet another great example of their naiveté and a hint that this isn’t over yet. Unless he’s dead, I would never assume Prometheus is done with his plans. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had things mapped out to continue on in the event that he is killed.  So why is it that Ollie doesn’t think the same way?       

Again, I ask, when will he get it?

What would be crazy is if Prometheus works on turning Ollie’s son on him or something…

Looking forward to next week!

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.