Arrow Review: The Sin-Eater (Season 5 Episode 14)

Arrow Season 5 Episode 14, “The Sin-Eater,” finally achieves what I assume has been the actual goal of this season so far.

Turning Oliver Queen into the villain of his own story.

I’d laud this a brilliant and unprecedented move for a superhero show, except The Flash essentially did the same thing with Barry Allen at the start of Season 3, so been there, done that, didn’t like the ending.

Arrow – like everything, has taken it a bit too far, though, because at this point I’m Team Prometheus all the way. Want to kill the Green Arrow? Go right ahead.

They’ll probably just find another one and continue on.

Oliver is at his most idiotic, self-centered and hypocritical in this incredibly tone-deaf episode that squanders what could have been a great team-up of female villains and a chance to show that Arrow still remembers concepts like continuity and character development.

But, if they do, they don’t care. The show only cares about things from Oliver’s point of view, only tries to sanctify his choices, not anyone else’s. In a way, it’s always done that, but it was easier to swallow when we actually liked Oliver.

And hey – we’re talking about the man who opened this show by sleeping with his girlfriend’s sister. We liked him more then.

Way more.

The villain of the episode – for it couldn’t possibly be Oliver – is Thea, who’s vilified for protecting her brother. It’s only fine for Oliver to break rules to protect Thea, not the other way around. I presume this has something to do with being a man.

But, and here’s the truth of it all – if we want to look at the situation rationally and separate from the show, then yes, what Thea (and Felicity) did is wrong. Yes, what Susan did was also wrong, but two wrongs don’t really make a right. Thea should feel sorry for what she did.

However, why should we look at the situation rationally if the show makes no such attempt to do so when it comes to anything else?

Arrow operates on a different level of morality – one where Oliver routinely makes decisions about who gets to live and die, where he walks away from killing an innocent man without showing remorse unless someone specifically calls him out on it and one where the law and the police are just tools at his disposal.

Looking at it through the prism of the same moral standards Arrow holds Oliver to, what Thea did was fine. More than fine, it was laudable.

But here’s another problem with Arrow – and it has too many this season to go into detail – it has never afforded any other character the time, the respect or the consideration they give Oliver Queen. And yes, this is his story, but if the show is going to populate it with real life people we’re supposed to care about, then they should at least be playing by the same rules.

Especially when, fourteen episodes into Season 5, we don’t care enough about Oliver Queen to watch this show for him. In fact, we barely care for the mimicry the show made of the rest of the characters this season, but hey, at least there are still feelings there.

Not for Oliver. I’ve gone through the five stages of grief with him. I’m not even angry anymore.

I don’t want him with Felicity. I don’t want him to become a more realized hero. I just basically want him off my screen.

Sadly, he’d have to take the rest of the people I love with him.

Other things to note:

• When Oliver said “serial murder who has been terrorizing Star City” I legit thought he was talking about himself.
• Oliver wants him to get help. HELP. Now tell me another joke.
• Wow, it’s SO surprising that his mom doesn’t want you to kill him. I’M SHOCKED. *rolls eyes*
• Will Felicity and Diggle ever acknowledge that they know each other?
• Something happened in the flashbacks. I don’t care.
• How much time has passed? Does Dinah 2.0 just get to say she wants to be a cop and that’s it? I want to be a cop. Wait, nothing happened.
• Are they writing Thea out of the show – because it seems like they’re writing Thea out of the show.
• Thea and Felicity forever.
• Can we have a Thea/Felicity/Dinah team-up and call it a day? Who needs the guys?
• Is Felicity the only one with brains in this show? Are you telling me Susan has to contacts to get all the information but not to encrypt her laptop?
• Does anyone think that Quentin walking around with the Green Arrow kinda gives away who he is? No? Cool.
• Quentin, you can’t really arrest people anymore. You’re not a cop.
• Felicity’s like, oh, yeah, dead boyfriend. I forgot about that. It’s all cool, though, I didn’t care that much.
• I can really see how the pain of losing Billy is pushing her to the dark side, guys. I’m really feeling it.
• “Taking out the trash,” very Pepper Potts of you, Thea.
• What happened to Malone IS on Oliver. Sure, Prometheus set it up, but Oliver was the one who decided killing was a thing he did now.
• If this thing with Susan is how Oliver behaves when stuff happens to someone he cares about, I’d rather he never cared about me, kthanx.
• If only life hadn’t taught me that impeaching someone is not that easy.
• Felicity Smoak has been around for 100 episodes, and it kinda feels like she’s a big part of why the show has been around for as long as it has, as well. I wish this episode had celebrated her better.

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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