By: Wendy Mericle & Beth Schwartz (story)
The Story: Dinah’s lousy, no-good, very bad day.
The Review: The moment Dinah took on this mission to discredit and expose a man with as much goodwill as Sebastian Blood, she should have known there was always a possibility that it would backfire on her. Perhaps she can be excused for hoping that her father and closest friend might put more weight on her word than their own besotted view of Blood, but to do so without even a scrap of proof? That’s expecting a bit much, especially for an assistant D.A.
Therein lies the structural weakness of Dinah’s storyline, or at least the show’s treatment of it. It’s clear that the end goal was always to drive her into a corner then pull the rug out from under her. Each episode has been systematically doing that from the season premiere, eroding away what little competence and confidence she had left after losing Tommy. But even though the writers have accomplished their goal and finally left her reeling at rock-bottom, they had to take some major leaps to get there.
First, they had to turn Dinah into a hypocrite, declaring that she doesn’t need anybody’s help even after summoning the Arrow to pursue the lead she gives him. Then they removed most of her good sense when they sent her to the D.A., demanding justice against Blood without any evidence except hearsay from a now dead witness. You can chalk all this to the drugs, but her whole handling of this has been sloppy and unprofessional, going from a glint in her eye to a sure thing in a hop, skip, and a jump of logic. I’m not attorney—yet—but why doesn’t she take the first step of establishing that his aunt is in fact his mother? Hair-follicle tests, Dinah! Any clerk at the dependency court could have told you that.
But let’s lay off on Dinah for a moment, because it’s not like anyone else is exactly operating on full brain capacity in this episode either. Ollie and his team merely go through the motions of suspecting Blood, pitting the pro-alderman Diggle versus the skeptical Felicity as the angel and devil on Ollie’s shoulders. Yet even though they ultimately dismiss Dinah’s accusations (thanks to Blood’s zealously loyal devotees), they leave a gaping plot hole behind. Why isn’t it a blaring red flag in itself that the file on the murder of Blood’s father was stolen within days of Dinah’s witch hunt? For crying out loud, Felicity confirms from missing security footage that it was an inside job of which Blood was perfectly capable and (as Ollie himself noted) motivated. No matter which goon takes the fall for Blood, these are smoking facts the Arrow team leaves to blister, which just seems incredible in every way.
Despite these alarming defects in the plot’s foundation, Mericle-Schwartz do generate a lot of good tension and excitement out of it. But if you look to Roy’s ongoing storyline, you can get the trifecta of action, drama, and integrity. As cliché as his secretiveness around Thea seems, his fear of scaring her, this girl from the gentler side of the tracks who grows more accomplished and caring by the episode, is understandable enough. Most importantly, his secret finally places him on the same wavelength as his hero, which marks the perfect time for Ollie to take up the inevitable mentorship role at last.
In a strange reversal for the series, the island flashbacks are sporadic and brief in this episode, much more so than before. This strikes me as odd since the Mirakuru connection makes the island material more integral to the current plot than ever. Perhaps you can forgive this as long-term planning on the writers’ part. To maintain that connection, they’ll have to ration the progression of events on the island carefully to stay parallel to what’s happening in present-day Starling City. Here’s hoping to tighter weaving of the dual storylines in upcoming showings.
Conclusion: Even a forgiving examination of the episode reveals significant gaps in its logic, calling the characters’ credibility into serious question.
Grade: C+
– Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: – “His last name’s Blood. That can’t be a good sign.” Thank you, Felicity, for pointing out what a terrible name that is for a villain. The sad part is Sebastian chose that name for himself when he changed it.
– “This guy won’t know what hit him. Or girl. Whatever you’re into.” And thank you, Thea, for keeping Sin’s androgyny intact.
Grade
Conclusion