ARROW Review: “My Name is Emiko Queen”

Arrow — Pictured: Sea Shimooka as Emiko Queen — Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW

ARROW REVIEW “MY NAME IS EMIKO QUEEN”

BY JUSTIN CARTER

A month off for the holiday break has done Arrow some good. Broken families are the theme of the day, as the show connects its newest character to its central lead in one of its most surprisingly nuanced ones.

Emiko Queen is every bit Oliver’s half-sister, a secret family that Robert Queen wanted to take care of after his passing, but Moira kept hidden. After learning that her mom was killed during a house fire, it’s hard not to sympathize with her. Sea Shimooka does a lot with a character who is currently just a redux of season one Oliver, but the added history in this world makes her compelling enough to watch on a weekly basis. It continues to be pleasantly surprising how the show is being propulsive with her story, going so far as to have her meet Oliver for the first time at episode’s end.

It also helps that she has a very good family man to bounce off of for most of the episode in Rene. Rick Gonzalez gets a lot of good material to work with here, as we finally see his future self as the mayor of Star City and rocking the most ridiculous wig in Arrowverse history. Wig aside, it’s a very natural progression of character for him to be, even if it does seem to come at the cost of him being involved in Felicity’s murder.

Truly, the only story that doesn’t seem to gel with the others is Diaz’s. He feels so far removed from what is currently a very personal journey for Oliver, Rene, and Emiko that it can’t help but stand out. He’s in what I guess is a new Suicide Squad — who even is left for them to go through for that? — but now that he’s behind bars, it feels like his story has reached his natural conclusion. Maybe things will pick up in future episodes, but right now, it feels like the show is hanging on to something when it wants to completely move forward.

Additional Notes

• Apologies for the lateness on this, my TV did not pick up that this week was the new episode, but thank goodness for the CW app.

• Seriously, I cannot get over that Future Rene wig — it’s a new level, even for the Arrowverse wigs.

• When Future Dinah mentions everyone who got a Mark of Four tattoo, Curtis is left out of the list. Does he die beforehand? Leave the city?

• Dinah and Rene apparently fought sometime before meeting again in the future, and I would love to see that fight go down.

• The only thing keeping Emiko from truly being a Queen archer? No salmon ladder.