Arrow S01E14 – Review

By: Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Marc Guggenheim (story)

The Story: Past-Ollie steps on a mine; Present-Ollie gets shot by his mom.  Rough day.

The Review: I’ve been pretty tough on the most recent episodes of Arrow, occasionally to the consternation of the WCBR readers, but believe me when I say I’m not tearing down the show out of pure malice.  Mostly, my frustration has been with the show’s refusal to capitalize on its own potential.  It really can be so many things, yet it shirks on nearly all fronts, and nearly every time it tries a game-changer move, it winds up sticking with the same game in the end.

Nowhere does that appear more obvious than in Ollie’s fretful position on how to deal with his mom.  His adamant refusal to even consider Moira a threat last episode already reflected poorly on his integrity.  He had a huge opportunity to redeem himself here when he crashes through her office and convincingly scares the bejeezus out of her.  And then, in a moment that begs you to throw your popcorn at the television, he lets her go.