Arrow Takes On His First Real Villain in “Lone Gunmen” [Review]

Deadshot comes to town in this week’s exciting episode of Arrow, “Lone Gunmen.”

Season 1, Episode 3: Lone Gunmen

As he attempts to intimidate another businessman into doing the right thing, Ollie is taken aback by a sniper who downs his target, and then takes a shot at him. Upon arriving back at his safe house, he feels the effects of a poison in his blood, and thus we are shot forward into the third episode of this year’s most exciting new series.

So here we follow Ollie as he goes on the hunt for his first super villain. Yeah, he’s faced Constantine Drakon and China White in the two episodes prior, but this is the first real super villain he’s faced. The first one that originates from and has appeared often in the pages of comics that Green Arrow has not. A full fledged threat, long in his own career of badassery, and one that will give our hero his first challenge. Except that he doesn’t. Not really, anyway. Ollie’s history is complex, we know, but apparently he has pull with the Russian underground, and this serves as an easy out for his investigation into Deadshot, which leads him to both his safe house and his plans. Its really kind of over convenient when you stop and think about it. Yeah, it was awesome and fun while watching it, but when you pause to think, it just seems all too easy. That said, it lead to a great encounter, which itself lead to a big finale for the episode, but still. All this combined with the lack of focus given to Deadshot’s character, outside his tattoo fetish, and the fact that he is apparently killed off at the end, makes the episode seem like a bit of a let down. Its still an exciting and enjoyable episode, it just feels like they could have done more with their first real villain.

As for the other characters, its great to see some more character development all around. From Thea and Moira, to Merlyn, Dig, and Laurel, this episode is filled to the tip with information, background, and growth for the characters that make up this wonderful cast. It was really touching to see the moment between Thea and Moira as mother and daughter bond for the first time in years over talk of their dearly departed, and it makes for the first time we’ve really felt for Ollie’s mother, showing that she’s not just another scheming player behind the scenes. Also, the “reveal” of Merlyn and Laurel’s relationship and how Ollie claims feels about it is essential to Merlyn’s development, and I’m glad its out of the way. Meanwhile we get to see Laurel in action, foreshadowing her development into the vigilante we all know she’ll eventually become, and we get a little bit more of the back story on Dig, as well as a big ending that will change his character purpose completely.

All this together makes for the best episode to date as far as characterization goes, and throw in the continued mystery of the island flashbacks, with our first real meeting with Ollie’s would be mentor (establishing last week’s finale as literal over metaphor, though it still may have served as both), along with the aforementioned Deadshot action thread, and we have yet another solid episode for the series, which is moving along at an intense pace.

The bottom line here today is that from the flashbacks to the present day, this one actually manages to be the best episode thus far, so don’t let my rating fool you, unfortunately I just can’t justify a 100% given my issues with Deadshot’s limited development.

Tags: Arrow TV Show Comic Book TV Green Arrow Slider