*Contains some spoilers*
You've heard Ra's al Ghul's the big bad of this season, right? Well, now it's time to finally see how he's brought into the story! "The Magician" primarily revolves around Nyssa al Ghul (Katrina Law) finding out about Sara Lance's death and she -- along with Laurel Lance -- immediately blame Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman). They both want him dead, but Oliver's doing the whole hero thing and wants to avoid killing. Will Malcolm finally push him over the edge and make him kill? Does the fact he's Thea's father impact Ollie's thoughts on the subject? All of these points are heavily discussed throughout the episode.
The "to kill or not to kill" path has been taken one too many times and I'll get to why I didn't think it was necessary in a little bit, but a nice surprise in this episode was Nyssa basically being the voice of reason when it comes to Laurel. I'll be honest with you, it's tough for me to imagine Laurel becoming Black Canary. She can obviously train and train to become a good fighter, but it's her personality and outbursts that make me believe she's not fit to be out in the streets and making difficult decisions. Nyssa bluntly says she's unfit to wear Sara's jacket -- a line which made me smile -- but al Ghul then kind of serves as a mentor. It's not until way later on, but Nyssa did make me recognize how powerful Laurel's drive is. Assuming it's handled properly and over a good amount of time, I can see myself slowly opening up to the idea of Laurel becoming a heroine.
John Barrowman (Malcolm Merlyn) and Paul Blackthorne's (Quentin Lance) performances were easily the highlight of this week's episode. Barrowman gives Malcolm so much personality; even something as simple as smirking after being attacked fills the character with charisma. Honestly, he tends to outshine other characters and his acting pulls more emotions from me. Plus, watching him casually dodge an arrow was the coolest moment in the episode. With everything going on between him and Thea, Arrow, and now the League of Assassins, he's sure to be an interesting and critical character as we move forward. As for Blackthorne, his sequence in the end is without question the most emotional scene. In an episode full of heated conversations and watery eyes, Lance leaving his daughter a voicemail was heartbreaking. They're going to make his arc painful for us, aren't they?
Felicity's absence really is felt. "The Magician" goes for dramatic moment after dramatic moment and no one's there to really make you smile. Look, I understand the stuff that's going down is dark, but she brings a nice balance to the show. If anything, her appearance in the end made this pretty obvious. With just a single line she made me laugh. Without her charm there to help lighten the mood just a tad, episodes like this one feel overly dramatic at times.
I admit my knee-jerk reaction to Ra's al Ghul's debut was a negative one. They did a nice job teasing the reveal, but after having such iconic versions of the villain in film and the animated series, the bar has been raised pretty high, hasn't it? Still, it's far too soon to stand by the immediate response because the guy's only had a handful of lines and many of us obviously had very high expectations. So, let's just wait and see how this plays out. Even without comparing him to previous incarnations of the character, Manu Bennett's time as the main villain in the last season is a tough act to follow. Here's hoping he grows on us.
Arrow tends to have impressive stunts, but sometimes there's action that feels like it's there to show off their stunts instead of having any meaning behind the fight. I felt that way about Roy's flip when he spotted Nysaa (sliding across the hood would have been more effective, wouldn't it?) and the final fight between three characters. Yes, tension is running high, but it's odd to have Malcolm say they need to talk and then basically go, "Screw it. Let's fight!" While this show usually has awesome hand-to-hand sequences, this one felt less focused and more like three people doing cool moves as blunt sound effects are added in. The Nyssa vs. Oliver bit was exciting, but what could have been a jaw-dropping final fight didn't come close to living up to previous action sequences.
The "kill or don't kill" conflict didn't feel as gripping as I hoped it would have. Malcolm mentions how no prison can hold him and he even comments on the hidden one, but why not at least try to defeat him? Ollie has a variety of trick arrows that can incapacitate him, after all. After that, give Waller a call and have him sent to the location with Slade (or another facility). It seems to be holding Deathstroke just fine, and that dude has enhanced physicals. I get Malcolm's a deadly guy with insane training, but I'm failing to see how that means it's impossible to contain him. This world has shown it has some pretty thorough facilities.
Minor gripe and doesn't impact the score: Did anyone else find a little odd that Oliver sent Roy to follow Nyssa al Ghul, a super deadly character from the League of Assassins? I know Oliver couldn't miss his meeting with Thea (especially after all they've been through) and this isn't a jab at Roy, but I'd seriously question his safety in that situation given the person he's following. Roy has proven himself a good sidekick, but trailing someone like that? Tough task.
The backstory is covering familiar territory (Oliver dealing with killing), but at least it gave the episode a wee bit of humor, a nice Easter egg (Ferris Air) and the return of a familiar face. It didn't compliment the main narrative all that much, but they're slowly building interest in this time period. Here's hoping this story begins to pick up the pace sooner rather than later.
Even though "The Magician" is full of drama, it leaves me thinking about Arrow's future instead of reflecting on what just happened. The fight sequences were okay and many of the interactions felt like they were building upon pre-existing arcs instead of giving them too many significant developments (e.g. relationships with Thea, Laurel's mentality). All in all, it primarily felt like it was there just to finally bring Ra's al Ghul into the picture. Well, it's time to see how the rest of Season 3 will be handled now that the Demon's Head has made his first appearance!
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