Arrow: The Magician Recap

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJE0b7PymjI]

Arrow: The Magician (3×04)

Synopsis: Nyssa is back in town asking about Sara. She also informs Ollie of about someone who has risen from the grave. The League of Assassins chases after their enemy, The Magician.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Maybe I just have high expectations, but I normally when a show has a landmark like 50 episodes, it’s got a bit more punch. This episode, I’ll be honest, didn’t really do it for me.

But let’s go over some highlights before we hit the low points.

So we all know Malcolm Merlyn’s alive. John Barrowman is absolutely great. Malcolm is certainly doing better his second time with his kid, let’s hope he doesn’t kill this one like he did with Tommy. I really enjoyed his interactions with Oliver, not only that but the three people face off between Oliver, Nyssa, and Malcolm. For me, he was the highlight of the episode. Not only did he plant the idea in Nyssa’s head that her father might have been behind Sara’s death, but he delivered some hard truths.

Speaking of dads, can we all just shed a tear as each episode passes and no one tells Quentin that Sara is dead? The final scene of him calling Sara is pretty much the most painful thing I’ve witnessed all season. And of course, there’s The Demon, Ra’s al Ghul.

In general, he doesn’t really scare me as a villain. In the long line of villains of the DC Universe, he’s a mystic and somewhat of a theater act for me. While I’m glad to see such a big player enter the field, I am still not sure where I stand on Ra’s presence. I will say that Matt Nable seems to already have gotten a good handle on the character.

Now let’s move onto the lower parts of the episode. While, I love Nyssa, I found her a little grating this episode. Maybe it was the grieving process. But her and Laurel’s desire to simple murder Malcolm Merlyn not only felt irrational but completely unstable. Nyssa underwent League of Assassin training, she should be able to learn to control her emotions a little better. But I also get that Sara was the love of Nyssa’s life, asking her to be reasonable might be an unreasonable request within itself.

It feels unfair for me to say that I am already wishing Thea stayed in Corto Maltese, since she has changed as a person completely and we are just now getting to meet her new self. But so far, she has been unimpressive to me. Being moved by her brother’s emotion, she’s still keeping him at an arm’s distance. Oliver is making an effort, but she’s showing no give.

The only person she seems to be warming up to is Roy, whose sole purpose as a character seems to be to support Thea’s character. Like, I love you Colton Haynes, but I need to see you do more interesting stuff than flirt with Willa Holland now that you lost the Mirakuru. Maybe you’ll take up the mantle of Arsenal this season. Maybe, as in, hopefully.

Next week is a Felicity centered episode, and I just can’t wait. Without her in the episode, it felt just a little less bright. No telling what we’ll learn in an episode called “The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak”, but I’m sure it’ll be a great turn around from this episode.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gqJ6wE_ydM]