- Title: Arrow – Nanda Parbat
- wiki: link
Recent revelations and uncovered secrets prove to have consequences which will begin with Thea (Willa Holland) turning Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) over to Nyssa (Katrina Law) and the League of Assassins and lead Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Diggle (David Ramsey) to Nanda Parbat and face-to-face with Ra’s al Ghul (Matt Nable) who, rather than torture the archer (as he’s done with Merlyn), makes Ollie an offer he may not be able to refuse.
I’ll give Arrow quite a bit of credit as the show delivers the unexpected with an episode that threatens to take not only the lead character but entire series in a different (if highly unlikely) direction. It may feel a bit rushed in places but the episode covers quite a bit of ground setting up major ramifications for several characters. Oliver’s single-mindedness about saving Malcolm may not play well to Laurel (Katie Cassidy) or Thea but the reasoning behind his actions fits with the character which has been crafted over the show’s three seasons. Eventually only Diggle chooses to make a stand with his friend, walking into certain death with Ollie (although the pointy end of the sword isn’t what Ra’s has planned for Mr. Queen).
Frantic over being unable to stop Oliver from persuing a course of saving Malcolm each of the team’s characters reacts in wildly different ways. Laurel seeks comfort from Nyssa, Roy (Colton Haynes) shares a secret with Thea, Thea unburdens her guilty conscience twice (the second time putting her life in the hands of Nyssa al Ghul), and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) turns her attentions on the other billionaire she knows offering consel and companionship to an obsessed Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh). That final storyline not only sets up the teased romantic relationship between the pair but also Palmer’s first version of the A.T.O.M. suit (which sadly doesn’t do any shrinking its first time out).
