Arrow Review: Human Target (Season 5 Episode 5)
If Arrow Season 5 Episode 5, “Human Target” makes one thing clear, it’s that this is not the same show we’ve been watching for five seasons.
No, this is a new show. One I don’t recognize. One I don’t even like.
And hey, shows change. Sometimes they change for the better. A little change is, after all, not only necessary, but healthy – especially after five seasons.
You don’t want to be caught doing the same thing over and over. So you innovate, you switch things up.
Or, in the case of Arrow, you make your characters behave in ways they never would, prioritize plot – and badly written plot at that, over characterization, and oh, yes you repeat the same story-line over and over again with different faces and call it evolution.
Welcome to Arrow 2.0. You don’t have to like it – they basically don’t care either way.
And that’s the problem. Well, one of the problems, since it really does seem like there’s too many to list. I don’t believe the show cares about me, as a viewer.
That goes for all fans alike. And it’s not about shipping. Shipping is not the issue.
Yes, I like Oliver and Felicity together. Yes, I think the show is better when they’re a team within the team. But, as any shipper in the entire of the internet can tell you, the term brings with it a certain amount of angst.
And we’re fine with it. We own it.
The show liked S1/S2 Olicity interaction? Fine. There were ways to go back to it without making their relationship a mockery of what it once was, there were ways to make it believable without resorting to cringe-worthy dialogue and empty platitudes that not even the actors seem to believe.
Because right now, there’s nothing. No spark, no friendship …just Emily and Stephen’s insane chemistry making us read into things.
Who is Oliver Queen these days? Basically the same guy he is in the bratva flashbacks, except with a different “brotherhood” surrounding him.
Who is Felicity these days? The kind of woman who considers lying a deal breaker in a relationship and then turns around and lies, because hey, lying is only wrong when someone ELSE does it.
Who is Thea Queen these days? A woman who’d rather run away than face the reasons why she gave up the mask that she so desperately wanted to wear.
Who’s John Diggle these days? Not the voice of reason, not Felicity’s friend, not Oliver’s rock, but a guy who dispenses his wisdom merely to the new guys, because hey, that’s easier than saying what needs to be said.
Who’s Curtis these days? Good question. One thing he isn’t anymore, though, is entertaining.
The rest of the newbies don’t even deserve their own line. In fact, you put Evelyn and Wild Dog together and you still don’t make half a Laurel Lance.
Remember when I said this show had screwed up the Black Canary and, in a way, I was glad they weren’t tied to their mistakes anymore? I was wrong. Bring Laurel Lance back.
She’s certainly better than all these newbies combined.
Even Rory, the best of the lot, is only half interesting. Every time he’s with the group, I grow as bored with him as I do with just about everything that has to do with this show, except maybe the action sequences.
But, if I wanted good action sequences, I’d go watch …well, action sequences. What I want from Arrow is people I can care about – people I can understand. People who grow in front of my eyes.
Consistency. That’s all I ask. And that’s precisely what Arrow isn’t giving me.
If I hadn’t seen an episode of the first four seasons, I think I could like this show. I’d come into it with different expectations, but maybe I could enjoy it. Problem is I did watch those episodes.
There’s no going back for me. These people, the ones who show up on my TV screen when the guide says Arrow, are not the characters from Arrow. They’re impostors.
Not even good ones.
And hey – at this point, I would really just like to know if the people I fell in love with are ever coming back. Because, if not, there’s a lot of good TV out there to invest my time on.
Other things to note:
- “Do people just walk into your secret base of operations?” / “Yes” – Thank you Rory, for at least making me laugh.
- Thea looks lovely this season, but I’m so bored every time she’s on screen that I can’t tell you much else about what’s going on with her story-line.
- No, Felicity, Oliver has never said he was going to be fine and it turned out to be true. Never.
- Oh, yeah, Tobias Church is dead. Prometheus is bad. I think I’m supposed to care.
What did you think of this episode of Arrow? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Reviewer Rating:
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Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
Arrow: 12 Underrated Moments That Made Us Fall In Love With #Olicity
Lissete Lanuza Sáenz
Lawyer. Writer. Columnist. Geek. Falls in madly in love with fictional characters. Hates the color yellow, misogyny, and people who are late. Can always be found with a book. Watches an absurd amount of TV every week, often, while eating coffee ice cream. She has no regrets. You can check out her blog here: Absurday. Lissete is a senior writer for Tell-Tale TV. Follow @lizziethat
9 comments
Best review ever.
Only thing I disagree with is that John’s only purpose is to be voice of reason or the magical negro to Oliver and Felicity without in return being able to come to them. I don’t think you meant it that way but as an African American I was a bit offended you reduced Diggle to the “black best friend” whose only there to serve the white people’s needs. But despite that I do agree with everything else.
It was absolutely not my intention, but I understand how, by not going into detail, it might have come off that way. I apologize and I’ll strive to be better in the future. Thank you for the comment.
Arrow was the only show out of the 4 CW shows I watch. But after last nights episode I stopped caring about it. There are to many new cast members which are boring and they killed Tobias Church the only interesting one. Don’t really care who Prometheus is maybe he will do us all a favour and kill them all and put us out of our misery. I hear Pitch is a good show – I think I will start watching it instead.
Pitch is really, really good. I recommend it.
I agree with this review so much. I was trying to give the season the benefit of the doubt but with each episode it became increasingly obvious that the show I loved is no more. There’s no OTA. Olicity have regressed. Oliver is a robot like he was in the first season. There’s too many new characters and not enough focus on the ones we’ve had for 4 years. It’s a mess and I’m finally tired of waiting and hoping for things to get better. It won’t. It’s done. I’m done.
I miss the Arrow who made me feel something. Anything, from sadness, happiness, anger etc… If apathy is what they’re going for this year, they’ve succeeded. Can’t enjoy the stunts if I don’t care about what Oliver is fighting for. Ironically, this quote is from Stephen Amell himself, yet here we are.
I can understand why some people don’t like this season so far. These last few episodes were far from bright, but I wouldn’t call them horrible by any means. We got 5 average episodes that for me, are the base of the whole season, because we do have 18 episodes still to come. I think we need to sit back and just chill, we’re at the crossroads right now, but the pay off will come eventually, and when it does I’m sure is going to be amazing. Just keep the faith my friends 🙂
I just want to say that I agree with you so much.
They said that this is going to be like season 1 but it’s just going through the motions, there’s no heart. And it’s been over-run by the male characters. Thea is off in a corner supporting Quentin and Oliver, Felicity has been reduced to girl friend, mommy, and lying ex, and Evelyn’s sole purpose seems to be to given Wild Dog someone to talk to so we can hear his POV. Certainly we’ve learned nothing of Evelyn’s.
Now that they’ve manipulated Olicity into the ground (sure, they’ll get together in the end but until then, I’m going to have to watch both of them in relationships with other people till my eyes bleed), I’m trying to figure out why I’m watching.
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