Arrow Review: Second Chances (Season 5 Episode 11)

Before Arrow Season 5 Episode 11 “Second Chances” I was, funnily enough; ready to give Arrow a second chance. Not to forgive and forget, no, but to accept the possibility that they might have learned from the mistakes.

I should have known not to get my hopes up too high.

“Second Chances” isn’t a terrible episode (Been there, seen that). It just isn’t a great one either. It’s slow, weighed down by nostalgia and it has entirely too much Tina/Dinah brooding and too little of the characters we already know and love.

That isn’t even its most egregious offense, no, that title is reserved for the writer’s lack of attention to continuity, or better yet, their belief that we, the viewers, can and will accept the re-writing of canon. That we’ll buy into their selective memory and remember what they want us to and nothing more.

Fat chance of that.

Arrow had a Black Canary. She was never my favorite character – I never thought they did her justice, but the show did have one. They got rid of her.

So why do we need another one?

The Green Arrow story is too entwined with the Black Canary, the writers might say. And I’ll respond: I’m surprised to hear that’s something the show cares about. It’s not like Arrow killed the Black Canary or anything.

Oh, wait. They did. Twice, if you’re inclined to count Sara’s time as The Canary.

My problem isn’t with Tina – I tend to err on the side of supporting female characters, and she seems like a capable, kick-ass woman with an interesting backstory.

My problem is with the thinking that she’s a necessary part of Oliver’s journey when Arrow has spent five years selling the idea of a different Green Arrow.

That’s why they gave us Felicity. That’s why they gave us Diggle.

Remember those two? You know, the best part of the show? I do.

Diggle is barely present in this episode, and his storyline is, as always, resolved so quickly that we don’t even get to enjoy it, but Felicity’s resurgence continues as we see what I assume are the first steps in this “downward spiral” we’d been promised.

It just so happens that the downward spiral looks pretty damn good from where I’m standing.

Felicity Smoak was a hero before she ever started helping the Green Arrow, and she inspired people long before she was a vigilante. In this episode, one of those people comes back, not just to help her, but to remind her that there’s not just one way to make a difference.

At some point, when the idea of a new Black Canary was raised, people speculated about Felicity becoming the new Black Canary, but Felicity Smoak has never needed a mask to be a hero, and for all this show has done wrong this season, I’m glad they had enough sense not to go in that direction.

Does that mean I like the direction they’re going in? Not particularly. But, as before, the problem is conceptual more than anything.

We didn’t need a new Dinah Drake. We didn’t even need a new Black Canary. But, if we were going to get one, on a show that’s already separated itself so much from the comics, we should have gotten a completely different character.

Arrow’s problem, in this instance, is that it wants to play both sides, to appease the comic book fans and the show fans who don’t read comics. The first half of the season failed one half of that fandom, the second half seems ready to fail the other half.

Five seasons in, it’s way too late to try to straddle the fence, Arrow. Pick a side. And pick fast, or there won’t be any fans left watching.

Other things to note:

• Does Felicity truly spend every waking minute down at the lair these days? I remember when she had a real job. Those were the days.
• What’s the official explanation for Rory not going on this mission? “We don’t want it to be too easy”?
• Because it’s not like he stayed back to help Felicity with her hacking.
• Rory not knowing slang is about as believable as the time it takes Curtis to turn into Mr. Terrific.
• Also, if Renee is going to talk about enjoying three slices of cheese on his burger, would it be too hard to ACTUALLY PUT CHEESE ON THE BURGER?
• For crying out loud.
• Oliver, please never start conversations with: “I spent five years in hell.”
• Oliver’s selectiveness when it comes to killing people is really endearing.
• Helicopter pilot, fine, he can die. Bad guy? HE NEEDS TO LIVE OMG DON’T KILL HIM THINK OF YOUR SOUL.
• *rolls eyes*
• I wish the getting-Diggle-out-storyline would have actually involved some fancy lawyering and not some hacking that they could have done ages ago.
• Talia sure is helpful. Where’s the catch?
• Either Felicity wasn’t THAT good at covering her tracks or there’s no way this hacktivist should have known who she was, right?
• So, is Tina going to be Laurel’s long lost sister too? Because, guess what – I remember Laurel’s mom was ALSO called Dinah Drake. Coincidence?
• Laziness?
• I have to address the elephant in the room: WHERE THE HELL IS THEA?
• Headcanon: She’s off on a rendezvous with Roy. Nothing else makes sense.
• On the bright side of all this – at least the characters are acting more and more like themselves?
• Is Oliver spying on his team? How does he know what Curtis and Wild Dog said to each other?
• Or should I suspend disbelief on that too?

What did you think of this episode of Arrow? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

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