Arrow S:03 E:12

Uprising

Feb. 4, 2015

As Oliver makes his way back to Starling, Team Arrow has to decide if they’ll strike a deal with Merlyn to take out Brick.

Det. Lance finds evidence linking Brick to Rebecca Merlyn’s murder and Team Arrow has a crisis of conscious if they should partner with the man whose actions led to Oliver’s death. I liked that it wasn’t an easy decision for the group as Roy was in favor of the alliance while Diggle, Felicity and Laurel wanted nothing to do with him.

One of the episode’s best parts had nothing to do with action as Lance quickly realized Arsenal was Roy Harper thanks to him wearing red and hanging with Arrow. He also questioned if the team was just pulling names out of a hat after learning Roy’s code name.

This week’s flashback featured Merlyn and looked at how his life was impacted after Rebecca’s death and his efforts to gain revenge on the man he erroneously thought killed her. It seemed to be a roundabout way to redeem Merlyn and as one of the series’ greatest villains, there’s no need to make him a sympathetic figure at all. Merlyn is at his best when he’s a scheming evil bastard.

Brick again proves too difficult for Arsenal and Canary to take down on their own with his army so they rally their allies — Sin and Ted “Wildcat” Grant (no Lyla or Ray was odd though) as well as the disgruntled citizens in the Glades not ready to cede control of their turf to a gangster.

Wildcat takes the first crack at Brick and after getting an early advantage, is beaten nearly to death. Canary’s concerned response tips Sin off that this Canary is not her pal Sara. Merlyn puts down Brick and is about to kill him when Arrow returns and convinces him not to kill again for Thea’s sake. Merlyn agrees and Arrow makes a public appearance with Brick in custody and a promise never to leave the city again. But he knows he won’t be able to defeat Ra’s unless he is trained in the arts of a League of Assassin and asks Merlyn to train him. This unholy alliance has a lot of potential.

While I was enjoying watching Team Arrow try to operate without their leader, I’m glad to see Arrow back in Starling City. Oliver returns to the Arrow cave and explains his plan to Felicity, Diggle and Roy, which horrifies Felicity, who swore he would never throw in with Merlyn. This final act may have finally been enough to push him away from her for good. It’s all the best for the show though as the Oliver/Felicity will they or won’t they was close to becoming a distraction. Next week, Arrow teams up with Black Canary for the first time to face Count Vertigo.