The early '90's Disney/Jim Henson series Dinosaurs is becoming more of a lost fossilized gem these days, which is a such shame because it’s cultural satire was frequently brilliant and punched well above its weight for such a light entertainment show. In one episode, the show makes some great statements about parenting with the idea that in their prehistoric civilized society., you actually need a license to be a parent, just like a driving a car. While principally being a source of comedy, it made some great remarks about the difference between being a parent on paper and in practice, and other people's right to judge. In Arrow, Oliver recently found he was a parent on paper but being an actual father figure in practice has proved far more difficult. That only gets worse this week when William becomes a source of blackmailing against him.
Taken – When Damien Darhk reveals to Oliver and Felicity that he’s kidnapped, William and the whole team learn the truth of Oliver’s son. In determination to get William back, the team fights magic with magic by bringing in Vixen from Detroit for a wild rescue attempt.
The Vixen animated series (all 30 minutes of it) was described as a beta test for the character in future live-action incarnations and a successful one at that. For many fans, it was more of a tease but this episode is most definitely the reward. Everything about Mari/Vixen on screen looks terrific, from her totem adorned costume to the blue CG conjurations signifying her animal spirit powers. She really brings a sense of wonder and spectacle to Star City and that often be lacking in comparison to The Flash of Legends of Tomorrow due to its lack of super-powered individuals. Megalyn Echikunwoke (reprising her voice role) does the character justice and despite getting occasionally owned, leaves us in no confusion that Vixen is a badass. Her back story is covered well to make her online series mandatory viewing, “Mari and I had an animated encounter last year”. In fact, what really impresses is the way her back story is woven into the main theme of the episode, which is fatherhood. Many characters have their own opinions of what a father is or should be and Mari, being the only orphan of the group has a unique perspective to chime in with.
The fatherhood theme could have been a total mope fest but becomes very effective by making Oliver spent less time beating himself up over the father he has been to William and instead looking forward to the future. If they rescue William, what would he do differently with their relationship? This pulls in Arrow’s greatest strength: its character base, to allow different viewpoints to be expressed from believable sources. While the likes of Vixen preach the ideas of distance and that Oliver needs to keep Wiliiam away from his life to keep him in safe, Diggle (the undisputed daddy no. 1 of the show) takes the polar opposite viewpoint. To him, safety is all about proximity and awareness. He sleeps soundly at night because at all times, he knows where his daughter Sara is, and that she’s safe; that might make her a target but at least he’ll be there defend her with his life. Even if the traditional route of isolation seems more likely, the story makes both options feel like possibilities as Samantha (William’s mother) is brought within the Team Arrow circle of trust.
The William bombshell causes no shortage of relationship drama within the team but the most interesting instance has nothing to do with “Olicity”. That is Laurel’s reaction to Samantha. It’s something the writers could have easily side-stepped but find great rewards from exploring it in more depth. Oliver’s “One night in Samantha” took place while Oliver and Laurel were together. Even though time and especially recent episodes have shown how much Laurel has moved on from Oliver, discovering such a betrayal seems to bring many feelings back. Katie Cassidy does a great job of taking us inside Laurel’s head as part of her questions if she really is completely over Oliver. Many fans aren’t siding with Team Olicity with the comic Green Arrow/Black Canary union being their end game of choice. Could this be the show telling us that dream is still alive? Could we see Felicity in “the grave” ultimately leading Oliver back to Laurel? The fallout between Oliver and Felicity over the news is okay but struggles with some limitations. It can’t be as dramatic as it wishes because we’ve already seen that in the earlier Flash/Arrow crossover episode before Barry pulled a “be kind rewind”. The focus on trust and Oliver being caught with his pants on fire also struggles for meaning as it’s been a well trodden argument between the pair and more than any time previously we can sympathise with Oliver for keeping this secret.
The action in the episode is real winner. We get some great uses of Vixen’s powers from cat-like agility to full-blown flight and ceiling-based grand entrances. Although it’s only a brief feature of the final showdown, a big mention must go out to the bike stunt work. Thea’s arching back arrow shots from the saddle might just be her coolest moment as Speedy to date. It’s definitely an area the show should re-visit. Oliver’s end confrontation with Damien Darhk also hits home on an emotional level as the playing field gets evened out. However, we could have really done with some more clarification of Darhk’s fate at the end of it, especially going into a 4 week break (Arrow returns on 23rd March). We also really need something more to go on regarding Project Genesis and the bigger picture. Even Merlyn’s end sentiments to Thea implying some degree of fear over what’s to come just don’t cut it. We need a more tangible reason to be concerned about HIVE and right now, we just don’t have it.
Although many would have liked Constantine to join the magical party, his “literally in hell” shout out is all kinds of awesome (fingers crossed we’ll see him more regularly in the Flarrow-verse next season). Like The Flash’s episode this week, Taken is a great fan fulfilment episode but unlike its Central City cousin, not all of the character drama side elements come together as well. It does have some great and genuinely touching moments to it, especially from Stephen Amell (William a Green Arrow action figure) but let’s itself down in a couple areas. I guess there just wasn’t quite enough magic to go around.