Around this time last year, an episode of The CW’s Arrow titled “The Odyssey” changed relationships for the series and also altered the quality of the show in a very positive way. Tonight’s episode of Arrow, which is titled “Heir To The Demon,” might do many of the same things, even though the season as a whole has been very strong.
(Be warned, some minor, non-show-ruining spoilers are being discussed in this post)
The first thing you see in “Heir To The Demon” is Katrina Law’s Nyssa Raatko arriving at the Vancouver Starling City airport. Nyssa, for those familiar to the comics, is the daughter of Ra’s al Ghul. Yep, the guy from Batman Begins, who also had memorable appearances on the Batman animated series as well as some classic comic books drawn by Neal Adams. Law is beautiful, she can fight, and she can act — I really was watching this wondering why no one had ever cast her as Wonder Woman. I was not familiar with her work on Spartacus but I can honestly say she is a great addition to the Arrow story.
Nyssa is headed to Starling City to bring Sara Lance back to the League of Assassins. Sara, of course, is over the whole killing thing, and her bigger priority seems to be making sure her family is safe in Starling City. We get flashbacks to a time when the Lance family was happier, and Alex Kingston returns as Dinah Lance with a line that I am going to just assume is a reference to her Doctor Who character River Song’s profession. Dinah is also around in the present day, having returned to the city after Laurel has collapsed in her apartment.
The Queen family gets a lot of the spotlight in the series in general, but this episode isn’t just about the Queen family; the Lance family is just as much a part of the tapestry that is Arrow, and they get quite a bit of spotlight and good material here. Paul Blackthorne deserves a special shout-out here, because he’s doing such an incredible job as a father who would do anything for his daughters, even when they spiral out of control. Not to be undone, we do also finally get our first hints about Felicity’s family within as well! I appreciate that this character put all of its series regulars to good use here, except perhaps for Diggle (who is fairly quiet) and Roy (who ended up on the cutting room floor, sadly). On that note, Moira’s mayoral campaign is also a part of this episode, and some of her secrets are more easily revealed than she may like for them to be. Moira is an interesting counter-balance to what we see from Quentin Lance — she, too, would do anything she can to protect her children, but she has sneakier, more manipulative ways of trying to make that happen.
There are some guaranteed shocking moments that will explode Twitter, and I’m pretty sure no one will predict the way this all ends. Me? I found this to be one of the best episodes of the entire series from top to bottom. The cast was on fire, the writing was top-notch, and the action and stunt work get high marks. Just wait until you see Nyssa’s very trapeze-like arrival!
“Heir To The Demon” airs tonight at 8PM on The CW. Come by our Arrow portal, GreenArrowTV, after the show for some discussion with the producers and Katrina Law about all that happened, and also be sure to take a look at some promo images here!
6 Comments
You went and did it – I wasn’t looking forward to another “Lance” episode until I read your article. Thanks for the kudos to Paul Blackthorne. I think he’s a fantastic actor and he doesn’t get much credit or attention, imo. I really like Moira as well, so glad she’s going to get more screen time tonight.
I suppose that we’re not to guess that Sara and Nyssa have been lesbian lovers. What a [not] shocking twist. Season 2 has been one missed opportunity after another. A classic re-write. It’s “fantastic” if one completely throws out everything from Season 1 and approaches each episode like an amnesiac. It’s sad that Guggenheim, Kreisberg, et al have completely thrown away Laurel as a character. In their endeavor to ensure that Arrow didn’t become soap-operatic, they wrote her off and ran full-steam ahead with a deux-ex-machina re-envisioning of the show adding character after character after character after character to disguise the fact that the characters are tissue-thin and plots so full of holes, they can’t hold a thought. I wonder that fans might like Thea and Laurel a bit more if they got the kind of air-time dedicated to Felicity acting like a flibbertygibbety babbling idiot and Roy posturing. Sadly, they can’t be a part of the show because they have to be kept ignorant of Oliver and Arrow, thus they get no plot, no story, no air-time.
Dewsterling does not know what he or she is talking about. The decline of Laurel is largely the result of the character’s mixed popularity or lack-there-of. Thea and Laurel had plenty of face time since the beginning of the show and and were controversial since day one. Check any message board.
Dewsterling my sentiments exactly. Thank you.
Dwesterling cant comprehend .. Arrow is perfect..
The show isn’t perfect, no show is, but this second season has been firing on oh so many cylinders and setting up some great things with the incoming Birds of Prey and the Suicide Squad.
But, hey, trolling comments is good to if it makes ya happy.