Arrow S02E12 – Review

By: Marc Guggenheim & Drew Z. Greenberg (story)

The Story: Starling City takes the integrity of the political process to a whole new low.

The Review: Have you ever noticed that even though ninety-five percent* of all hiring decisions are based on how closely the candidates followed rules and conventions, the people who rise to the top are usually the ones who break them?  Fiction tends to follow suit.  Characters who stick to the program more often than not become the dutiful, straight-man sidekicks to the rebellious heroes, with the possible exception of Star Trek’s Spock.

So the chances of Roy actually following through with Ollie’s training regimen were pretty much nil.  Part of the issue is that instead of explaining how each exercise is supposed to help Roy, Ollie just repeats the same stale line about “control” a dozen times.  On the other hand, just taking Roy out in the field proves to be counterproductive as well.  What Ollie fails to recognize is that as serious as his new protégé’s physical symptoms are, Roy’s problem is essentially an emotional one.