Arrow season 6, episode 4 review: Reversal

Reviewing Thursday’s episode of Arrow.

After that brief intro “My name is Oliver Queen, after five years in hell…,” followed by a nice touché of the updated narration, marking John Diggle as the successor to the role of Green Arrow, we pull up to a lavish bar where a sleek female with dark hair drops in to seek her man. In reverse-angle, we discover rather than this being just an everyday woman on a speed-date it is Laurel Lance, or rather her Earth–2 doppelganger otherwise known as Black Siren.

Black Siren is very forward here. She then seeks her man. They both flirt at one another just as the new person of interest shoots back with an offer for a stiff drink. Of course, this version of Laurel, proving to be the bad breed of chick she is has some other ideas and both proceed to make out in a street corner away from the bar. Black Siren catches onto the man’s dirty little secret – that he is a married and is cheating (by getting off). Siren teases him, by saying “I won’t tell if you won’t tell.” The man requests for one of her secrets to which Siren responds “Only if you won’t tell anyone,” as she embraces his pleasure and neck-kissing as she smiles deviously.

At a restaurant, following last week’s ‘Next of Kin’ episode surrounding Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak’s interaction with his son, William, and the exploration of another relationship they discuss the perks in being the Mayor’s girlfriend once a devotee of Oliver’s wants to vote for his referendum. Among other things, including Curtis Holt and Felicity’s start–up business they are working on, they discuss the risks and threats they may face. Felicity receives a call from Team Arrow and Oliver gets the ‘hero thing’ treatment.

At the Arrowcave, Felicity catches up with Diggle to find out there was a murder that night – Dinah Drake – the new Black Canary is on the crime scene and we discover the man Siren caught into her web earlier (excuse the pun) is in fact an accountant called Jackson Klimavich and Siren killed him with a cry in the eardrum, literally.

Siren is clearly working for a superior, who she meets for another covert operation, which involves an unsuspecting victim being a college librarian – quite random right? Diggle believes something is up.

Meanwhile, Felicity bumps into an uninvited guest and that is Alena, hacktivist and former member of Helix broke into her apartment. Not in the remote pleased about the appearance, Felicity then finds that Alena needs her help to stop Cayden James from launching an epidemic that could cause 300 million of the world’s population to suffer.

This is by far has been the tightest paced episode of season six of Arrow (at least for the first half) thus far. ‘Reversal’ has a lot to do with the roles of the cast each are comfortable in and how they are flipped as though a ball has struck a bowling pin in their lives. It is also part of the mystery of serial killings in what has been led to have been nobodies murdered for a senseless crime – only for being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Oliver is still adjusting to leading a normal life, but what is once a struggle is a possible calling for another way to help in crime-fighting (and I am not just talking about being Mayor). Something I will discuss later.

The Big Bad may have been revealed to be none other than Cayden James the leader of Helix. As for the victims, they all were trying to be invisible. What is the biggest cover? Being simply – “boring” – and not as subtext for ordinary but leading a non-exciting lifestyle. Felicity’s path with Alena leads them to Cayden (with Oliver not too far behind) and our screeching meta-criminal, Siren, with Alena caught in the crossfire.

Fortunately, Team Arrow managed to keep track of Siren’s movements with thanks to Curtis’ technical skills off-duty. They save Felicity and Alena is cared for at Starling General Hospital. To conclude this summary, Oliver is tech support and remains a vital part to prevention of Cayden’s plan – to destroy the Internet.

The Good:

The direction of this episode was at its core a set up for something bigger that will lie ahead and the suspense and foreboding at the start really captures you.

Not as much action from the team, but it makes up for it with a big reveal and some real cool scenarios like Black Siren versus Black Canary, Green Arrow (Diggle) facing Siren for the first time in his new persona since Lian Yu and more.

The Bad:

Some of the camera-angles at times did not cut well in between shots and in time with the choreography of some fight scenes. The movement of the camera during the melee was too quick and choppy.

Those who are not a fan of the Olicity pairing maybe in luck this time around; however, all signs could point to it intertwining with the sub-plot involving William.

Highlights:

• Oliver has been relegated to tech-support for now.
• Cayden James is possibly the Big Bad of this season.
• Adrian Chase, Helix and A.R.G.U.S. were mentioned and all had a lot to play in last season.
• The plan Cayden leads is only just the beginning and Black Siren owes him but does he have her strings tied as well?
• Oliver receives a call from Deathstroke himself who needs his help.

Next: 50 greatest super heroes in comic book history

Arrow returns on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 9:00 p.m. ET on the CW.