Posted in: DC Universe, Movies, TV | Tagged: arrow, cw, entertainment, Felicity Smoak, oliver queen, prometheus, television

A Matter Of Trust – Review Of Arrow: Underneath

This article contains spoilers for the Arrow episode – Underneath.

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Last night's episode of Arrow may have been one of the simplest in plot and setting. Adrian Chase wants to get Oliver Queen out of the way so he sets off an EMP inside the bunker, knocking out anything electronic… and he welded the emergency exit door. This left Oliver and Felicity Smoak trapped in the bunker while the rest of Team Arrow tries to get them out. This is what the industry calls a bottle episode, using mostly existing sets and a minimum amount of actors. What we got out of it was one of the best Oliver / Felicity episodes of the series.

The two have been moving in opposite directions all season. Both dating other people since they broke up… Billy Malone was killed and Susan Williams was kidnapped, so being the rebound person is bad here. And the rift grew bigger as both made choices the other disagreed with, Oliver using the Bratva and Felicity working with Helix. But the truth boiled down to Felicity feeling that Oliver didn't trust her. Put two people in a life and death situation and you discover who does and doesn't trust the other though.

There were no island flashbacks again this week, but there were flashbacks to eleven months ago as Oliver and Felicity had a romantic evening in the Bunker (Bunker sex included). It in a way paralleled the current story and the talk about trust. We learn that Oliver didn't back Felicity because he didn't trust himself and the truth of his mission after he was tortured by Prometheus and that he has to figure out who he is again. But Felicity, having gone through a bit of a crucible of her own, understands a bit about why Oliver doesn't trust anyone. I wouldn't call the issue resolved, but some common ground was found between the two.

There has been a knock on Stephen Amell for his acting range (or lack there of), but I think this season has been trying to prove that wrong with this episode being a really strong one for both Amell and Emily Bett Rickards.

Outside of the main storyline, Diggle and Lila also found common ground in that they both work in gray areas and need to trust each other to do what they think is right. Argus copied Mr. Terrific's T Spheres and improved on them. The Beastmaster movie gets a shout out as Curtis Holt names the two spheres: Kodo and Podo and both he and Dinah Drake admit that Marc Singer helped jump start their sexual awareness. Singer played General Matthew Shrieve in season three of Arrow.

Which leads me to my stray thought of the season. What's up with Dinah Drake? She was a very angry, combative character that has joined the team and suddenly become everyone's best friend, trying to help them through bad times with words of wisdom. Normally you bring in a new character, there's adjustment periods, episodes where they butt heads with the team, etc. Dinah had one episode where she killed a guy, then joined the team and just fit right in. And where I like her well enough, it feels too easy. She hasn't earned that connection with the rest of the team yet.

We got a hint at what Oliver is going to be dealing with as mayor when Quentin Lance and Rene Ramirez talked about all the defense attorney's trying to overturn Chase's cases. But more importantly Oliver is going to have to deal with the fact that Prometheus has found William, Oliver's son.

https://youtu.be/SDKOZSNYNyY

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