The Man Under The Hood
Thea was a lowlife kid high on drugs, now she’s high on self-righteous anger. Oliver and co plan a risible attack on the Queen Consolidated Applied Sciences division. Laurel builds a wall of crazy. Quentin claims not to know who the Arrow is. Oliver has a monopolistic grip on grandiose self-righteousness. Isabel reveals the source of her vendetta. The Queens are almost broke, again. How do they still have stately Queen Manor? Slade invades the Arrowcave and administers an invigorating beatdown complete with gloating contempt to Oliver and co. Behold the monster you made Oliver.
Felicity is ever useless. Laurel comes to some realisations. Thea recalls Tommy, making Oliver look like he has gas. Two idiot guest stars who are obviously being set up for the ‘Flash’ spin-off annoy. I am not intrigued by the ‘Flash’ spin-off, the Flash and his gang are ostensibly annoying. I’m sick of Oliver’s bike and Slade’s scare chords. I’m sick of Oliver being a raucous jerk and his endless endless lying. Laurel becomes a secret secret keeper as she develops a resurgence of purpose. Oliver is really stupid. Flashbacks reveal how Ivo said he made a cure. He would have said more but Oliver shot him mid-sentence. This was not gripping and had no concision. Oliver could have saved Slade years ago but instead dismantled his own life and family, his lies killed Tommy and now they’ve driven Thea away. Why does Laurel continue to wander into bars?
Best Lines:
“The longer the chase the slower the kill.”
“I tried to kiss my half-brother before my real father killed him.”
“What I am is the daughter of two mass murderers. Not one but two.”
“He was a fool, not an idiot.”
“Now he’s not busy.”
~
If You Are Watching This, I Am Dead
Meg is dumb. Suzy declines to believe Finley’s story. Suzy looks like she should be working the floor at a car show not working for the FBI. Suzy is snooty and stuck up. The kidnapped kids have no equanimity. Suzy is all studied retrenchment. TPTB nullify any interest in this show. An ambassador (Faran Tahir) is asked to do something to save his son. There is profligate gun waving. Suzy needs to be ousted from the show. The kidnappers are inadvertently ridiculous. Mr Nash is oddly prudent. The betraying Secret Service agent is not a willing participant. Half the cast have been pushed to the periphery. Everything is wrong with everything. Meg isn’t pragmatic and Gillian Anderson really can’t act. It is inconclusive what the kidnappers want. The fat kid espouses sense. Meg lies. Mr greasy grump is bitingly unfair. Something is going on but I care not. This was neither seminal nor commendable.
Best Lines:
“You may speak when I point to you.”
“All airspace and borders still closed.”
“Back off food stamp.”
“Very not right.”
“We need time away from you.”
~
Turn, Turn, Turn
Things don’t de-escalate as the events of ‘Captain America: The Winter Solider’ play out. Crappy CGI drones menace the gang, Skye is Coulson’s lackey, Fitz and Simmons do not listen and defy conventional wisdom in maddening fashion. Coulson is not inclusive to May. ‘Don’t Fear The Reaper’ plays unsubtly. Hydra, conspicuously, rise. Fitz and his hectoring tone annoy. Simmons is the world’s foremost whiner. Coulson has a high opinion of himself. All the tech they assembled so far this season is on Hydra’s wish list. Hand isn’t Hydra but she thinks Coulson is as his smug arrogance comes back to bite him. Ward asks Skye out, admitting he is boring. Garrett talks too much and reveals he is Hydra. Coulson’s rank incoherence bores. Fitz has a good cry. This was very good, especially the ending as Ward shoots Hand dead concurrently revealing he is Hydra. Ward is interesting at last.
Best Lines:
“If you waver, you die.”
“Hydra always comes back.”
“Director Fury is dead.”
“The sound outside doesn’t bode well.”
“They hide in plain sight.”
“Hail Hydra!”
“This is you being a psychopath.”
“SHIELD has fallen.”
~
The Pavlovich Brothers (no 119 - 122)
A labour camp escapee is in peril as the mercenaries from 1x01 return. There is muttering about a germ weaponry programme. But Liz is more concerned with Tom. Liz acts like she’s on a satanic sugar high. Tom runs. Red has an agenda. Ressler sees something is going on. Liz is smug and hateful and doesn’t invoke any sympathy. Aram is more useful than Liz now. Liz and Tom fight and trash their house. Tom says he is one of the good guys and that Red is not who Liz thinks he is. This was good. What was in Tom’s safety deposit box? Liz is vituperative and incidental to the plot. But was she right to recoil from Tom? Red is unpalatable and yet Liz enjoys the toxic environment and brutish sub-culture around him. Liz is not the heroine here.
Best Line:
“Your husband never existed.”