Episode Title: “The Scientist”
Story by: Greg Berlanti & Andrew Kreisberg
Teleplay by: Andrew Kreisberg & Geoff Johns
Director: Michael Schultz
“The Scientist” has been one of the most anticipated episodes of “Arrow” Season 2 because it is the introduction of Barry Allen (Grant Gustin); which means that The Flash is on his way. Although The Flash may not appear in costume on “Arrow,” due the “Flash” pilot getting bumped up from a backdoor pilot to a full pilot.
Barry may play a big role in this two parter, but the more impressive aspect of the episode is the way that the island storyline and present day events in Starling City have come together. With the debut of a new super strong villain, I thought that “Arrow” was going to give us the stealth debut of Deathstroke in costume. And it may still lead us in that direction…
There are full spoilers ahead for “The Scientist,” so you should probably skip this review if you haven’t seen last night’s episode of “Arrow” or else Felicity will have her new love interest drugged and kidnapped from a train station.
Seriously though, is everyone on Team Arrow a psychopath? Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) was dying and they needed Barry’s help… so their solution is to knock him out and kidnap him? What’s the point of that if Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) and John Diggle (David Ramsey) were just going to out themselves as the Arrow’s partners and reveal Oliver’s identity to Barry?
Presumably the writers went with the kidnap angle for “dramatic impact,” but it was unnecessary and unintentionally funny.
Getting back to the beginning, a super powered individual managed to single handedly steal a centrifuge from Oliver’s company. Once again, Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne) is one of the few officers on the scene. He must get tired of having to handle every case in Starling City, but he’s really not a great detective. Quentin knows that Felicity is working for the Arrow and yet he doesn’t even suspect that Oliver and his personal assistant would both have ties to the vigilante. Much less that Oliver is the Arrow.
Barry interjects himself into the mix by claiming that he’s a CSI investigator from Central City who was sent to offer his expertise in the robbery. And while Barry’s theories about the robbery are quickly proven true, Oliver and Diggle eventually uncover that Barry is just an intern with the Central City PD who isn’t even supposed to be there.
Once upon a time, the Flash had no family trauma in his background. As related to Felicity and Oliver, the murder of Barry’s mother by a super powered villain was the invention of comic book writer Geoff Johns, who co-wrote this episode. That’s a pretty thin motivation to get Barry to investigate a case that has nothing to do with the one that he really cares about.
On a side note, Barry’s dad (who is unjustly languishing in prison for his wife’s murder) should be played by John Wesley Shipp. Because who better to play Barry Allen’s dad than TV’s first Barry Allen? But that kind of stunt casting will probably have to wait until The Flash gets his own series.
Surprisingly, Gustin has some genuine geeky charm in his performance, but he seems better suited for a supporting role. I’m not sure whether Gustin’s Barry Allen can carry a story on his own regardless of whether he’s wearing a red superhero costume or not. The quick connection between Barry and Felicity was also pretty forced. But on the plus side, Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) wasn’t around this week.
As much as I cringed when Oliver suggested that a massive party be held in honor of his mother, it was refreshing to see that Moira Queen (Susanna Thompson) is a pariah in the wake of her murder acquittal. The party is a lightly attended disaster that makes it clear how the majority of the people in Starling City look at her now.
Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) also pops up again this week as he pressures Moira into telling Thea Queen (Willa Holland) that she’s his daughter. To which I say “yes,” make Thea important to the show and let her go to the darkside. That would be a lot better than watching her tag along with Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) and Sin (Bex Tayor-Klaus) as the Arrow’s new Scooby gang. Although Roy may be a bit upset after getting an arrow from the Arrow. Oliver didn’t want Roy dragging Thea into the Arrow’s world, but it’s hard to see how their working relationship can come back from that.
When even Moira is name dropping Ra’s al Ghul, he had better be making an appearance on this show. Although giving Moira the upper hand on Malcolm so quickly seemed like a cheat. Even if Moira learned who Ra’s al Ghul was, how would she know to contact him and reveal that Malcolm was still alive? And it begs the question, if Ra’s al Ghul didn’t resurrect Malcolm, then who did?
I haven’t been impressed by Sebastian “Brother” Blood (Kevin Alejandro) as a villain this season because he seems like a low rent version of the Scarecrow from Batman Begins. And Brother Blood’s entire operation looks like it could be an arm of Ra’s al Ghul’s League of Assassins. Still, it was a nice touch to reveal that Blood’s experiments are directly tied into the flashback storyline on the island. It gives a greater sense of urgency to both storylines even though Oliver gave away the eventual ending.
Back on the island a few years before, Oliver, Shado (Celina Jade) and Sara (Caity Lotz) try to save Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett) by injecting him with the same superdrug that’s the Arrow’s current enemies are experimenting with. Slade’s transition into Deathstroke the Terminator seems like it’s right around the corner. But it’s undercut a bit by Slade telling Shado that he regrets not telling her how he feels about her. WTF?! He’s got unrequited love for Shado after just a few weeks and one snuggle? What is this, The CW?!
Oh… right.
It would have made sense if Deathstroke was either the unnamed super robber or the power behind Brother Blood’s plans. And that may still happen. I don’t think that the “Arrow” creative team signed Manu Bennett to a full season just to use him in seven minutes each episode. His emergence in the present is inevitable.
In the meantime, we got to see Oliver’s first fight against a villain with superpowers… and he got his ass handed to him. Which is as it should be. Very few of the “Arrow” villains seem like legitimate threats to Oliver. Only Malcolm’s Dark Archer springs to mind. When things are too easy for the hero it takes a lot of suspense out of the equation. That’s why Oliver’s loss here was so effective. He shouldn’t win every battle that he gets into.
Which brings us back to where we started: Oliver on the brink of death and Barry Allen as the only man who can save him. It’s a little early for Barry to become an unofficial member of Team Arrow. But I can’t deny that the episode was entertaining. And the convergence of the various plot threads this early in the season demonstrates a huge leap in quality for “Arrow.” It’s not quite the show that I always wanted it to be, but it’s a lot closer now.
