Having someone make you an offer you can’t refuse is dangerous enough when they’re a mumbling old mob boss. Yet when it comes from a man that’s already put a sword through your chest and thrown you off a mountain, you really are in the godfather of all dilemmas. That’s where re-join Arrow and Oliver Queen this week after the show finally revealed it’s adapting the legendary Batman story arc “Daughter of the Demon”. So what’s it going to be Oliver; the Green Hood or the Demon's Head?
The Offer – When Ra’s al Ghul invites Oliver to take his place as head of the League of the Assassins, it causes him to question what he’s actually achieved from 2 years as The Arrow compared to what he could become as the new Demons Head. Thea feels like she’s losing it and Laurel develops an unlikely new friendship.
Forget being leader of the League of Assassins; writing this episode is the real terrifying job offer. Having to quickly and effectively make it feel plausible for Oliver to consider joining a mortal enemy (or “Evil Incorporated” as wonderfully Felicity calls them) and going against everything he stands for. Right from the start, the episode teases our curiosity by having Oliver express many of our own doubts that reverberate through the return to Starling City such as showcasing the League trainee’s discipline while Oliver’s sidekicks make mistakes in the field. Then there’s Ra’s underlying argument that as The Demon's Head he could achieve infinitely more than either Oliver Queen or The Arrow, who are both doomed to failure; “you will be scorned and hunted and then killed. Dying as you begun your crusade....alone”. It makes it feel not just right but highly logical for Oliver to put serious thought into accepting and creates a nice full circle back to the season opener where the theme of Oliver Vs Arrow began. Yet it’s his exchange with Felicity that really hits home the hardest as she relates in all back to the same crisis of faith the rest of the team faced while he was busy sticking two fingers up at death. It sets up for Oliver to re-find his heroic motivation, but sadly feels quite generic in how it does this by having him save a few lives. They could have done a bit better there. However the end play out of Oliver’s decision is brilliant as it sets in motion what looks like the road to Wrestlemania/season finale with all manner of mayhem to be unleashed. When is an offer not an offer..... when it’s a command.
The most curious role of the episode goes to Nyssa al Ghul. Her earlier moments of not killing Thea despite her confession or being a tad angry at her father for not keeping it in the family are more expected (but still done well) but her final scenes certainly aren’t is she suddenly wants to be Laurel’s bff. Although the two gals appeared to be on the same page earlier in the season on matters such as vengeance and being a badass fighting female I don’t think anyone expected this to be her next move after having her inheritance cut off. The show has done well to give them both common grounds and interests; both cared for Sara and are having severe daddy issues as Captain Lance still can’t forgive Laurel. The prospect of Nyssa becoming Laurel’s new trainer is a tantalising one as it feels the right next step in Laurel’s Canary progression; taking her fighting skill closer to Sara’s (I miss Wildcat but this is still cool). Though you can’t help but feel Nyssa might be rocking some ulterior motive here. There are two main possibilities exist depending if she’s working for or against her father. If she’s pro League it could be a ploy to turn Laurel against Oliver or even to kill her and show Sara’s memory is no longer “polluting her judgement”. If she’s against her father it could be a plan to side with Oliver, defeat daddy dearest and ultimately succeed him as head of the League in Oliver’s place. Either way, it’ll be a brilliant direction of possibilities for one of Arrow’s less recognised great characters. There’s even a more out there 3rd option when you consider the past Sara/Nyssa romance. Could Laurel quit driving stick as the pair form a version of the Batman/Talia romance from the comics?
The Thea and Merlyn arc seems a bit less guided this week guided as the pair are in an aftermath holding pattern. Thea’s scenes do well to display her confused emotion state, and reuniting her with Roy (I’ll draw the line at using “Rhea”) feels like the right move. The recent Ray and Felicity conjugal relationship also merely holds as it’s used more as a tool for Oliver’s internal conflict. At best, it just establishes they were not just a single night affair. The bridging work between Oliver and Felicity is more rewarding as it sets the clear objective of making Oliver ok with her new ex-corporate rival fella and thus renewing their friendship. Captain Lance gets high supporting honours as he’s suddenly turned anti-vigilante again following the deception over Sara’s death (like harking back to his season opener and his public pro-vigilante speech). This is a great swing on his character that gives a fantastic meaning and significance to all those weeks of keeping him in the dark; to enable him to turn on Oliver when the story needs the world to be against him. A particular Arrow cave shot from the trailers (and episode 18 being titled Public Enemy) would imply he’ll take his vendetta a lot further before the end of the season. Finally in the small stories round up, the Hong Kong flashback scenes feel rather needless and, like a few too many elements, purely there to keep that plot line ticking over for another week.
The Offers is a brilliantly well written main story with the promise of huge ramifications to come but can’t quite make all the included cast feel as relevant as they should to the events. As ever it does deliver on the action and Murmur sews up the villain duties nicely. It’s overall a very satisfying episode that just has a few small areas that could have been improved. "Join us for more next week" - now that’s an offer you can’t refuse.