Arrow Review: Spectre of the Gun (Season 5 Episode 13)

Sometimes, as a show, you bite off more than you can chew. If you’re lucky it’s just a slightly bigger piece than normal, and after some coughing, you get it down and continue eating without problems.

Arrow Season 5 Episode 13, “Spectre of the Gun,” chokes on its intentions, and like everything this show does, it does so in spectacular fashion.

Look, I’m not saying TV is not the place for hot-button issues. It obviously is. It’s the place where opinions are shaped and writers should never shy away from sending a message through their characters.

They just need to be careful about which characters, which message.

Am I the only one who sees the hypocrisy of a show that glorifies violence, one that stars a hero who doesn’t really seem to have any compunctions about killing anymore – and who doesn’t seem that broken up about it, EVEN after he killed an innocent man by mistake – to tackle the subject of gun violence?

Am I the only one who finds Oliver’s It’s not your call to make to the shooter the height of double standards? He doesn’t get to make the choice Oliver makes every day, but we’re supposed to be fine with that because Oliver is the Green Arrow?

While we’re at it, am I the only one who thinks Felicity’s non-opinion on the subject is about as much of a stretch as anything this show has ever done? Do you remember what happened to her last season, Arrow?

You know, when she was SHOT and almost ended up paralyzed forever. That thing.

I kind of figured someone who’d gone through that – someone who’s seen all Felicity has seen – would have an opinion one way or another.

And yes, I know what the show was going for. There are people like that in real life, people who’d rather not think about the uncomfortable subjects. It’s just that Felicity Smoak has never really been one for avoidance in issues such as this – she only avoids her feelings.

Maybe this is about her feelings. Maybe the shooting still hits too close to home and she can’t bear to talk about it – but viewers can’t fill in all the blanks. The show has to give us something.

That’s not even the worst part of this episode, though. The worst part of this episode is that it’s about as boring as Arrow has ever been.

If the show is going to give backstory to a secondary character, it needs to be someone we actively want to see more of.

Aka not Rene Ramirez.

But then again, that’s the problem. We don’t care about the newbies, not enough.

We want the show to go back to what worked, to what we fell in love with – OTA, Olicity and Delicity.

And, we’d also like Arrow to stay away from tackling subjects as gun control if it’s not prepared to point out the hypocrisy of a show like this tackling such a subject, if it’s not ready to give an actual victim of gun violence a voice and if it’s just going to come up with a magical solution that everyone agrees with in a few hours.

Tackling big, important subjects is fine; it’s more than fine, it’s necessary. Treating them like something that can be solved in one episode is not.

Do better, Arrow. Do way better than this.

Not for us, we can turn the TV off, go watch something else. You, however, will be remembered for this. This is your legacy.

Is this what you want it to be?

Other things to note:

• Wouldn’t Thea have made it a point to be around when Lance was coming back? Oh, wait. That’s common sense. We don’t use that on this show.
• Also, why can’t Thea and Oliver discuss Susan Williams somewhere OTHER than in the office?
• Thea is all of us about Susan Williams.
• Thea is us about a great many things.
• Also, Thea …where were you? It’s either sex with Roy or bust.
• Creepy guys carrying big bags, wearing baseball caps and staring at the floor can apparently walk into City Hall, no problem. That should be our first concern.
• “Land of the Free, Home of the Incredibly Stupid.” – not so sneaky political commentary there, Arrow.
• There are plot holes, and then there’s Lance having absolutely NO reaction to Dinah Drake having the SAME NAME as his ex-wife.
• Hey, at least Dinah 2.0 gets an opinion on gun control!
• Is Susan Williams only around when it suits her secondary investigation? Is she actually a reporter?
• How can Oliver possibly stand in front of reporters for a press conference after a shooting without an idea of what his position on gun control is? THAT’S A BASIC QUESTION.
• If only sensible gun control legislation was something that could be enacted by locking people in a room till they figured it out.
• What was Dinah 2.0 doing, you know, for money, before she applied to the SEPD? How was she going to pay for that apartment?
• Because Felicity is at least supposed to be rich, so she presumably doesn’t need to work, but Dinah 2.0? Do I need to suspend disbelief here too?
• Oliver, of ALL the people you’ve lost, only one has died because of a gun, and it was a suicide. Just in case you needed a reminder.

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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