ARROW “The Sin Eater” Review

By Justin Carter

The cast of Arrow are constantly defined by the consequences of their actions and how they react to them when said consequences stare them in the face. You can’t really outrun them, and while we’ve known that it would eventually come to a head, this is the first episode that deals with the fallout of Oliver killing Detective Malone back in December.

All of this is started with Oliver and Diggle heading out to Opal City to find Prometheus’ mom in the hope that she can tell them his real identity. That naturally doesn’t go their way, and in retaliation, the evil archer finds the coroner’s report with real details on Malone’s death that Adrian Chase covered up, and leaks it to the SCPD. Adding to the chaos is Cupid, Liza Warner, and China White back in town, searching for Tobias Church’s money stash and leaving bodies in their wake. Oh, and then there is Susan Williams, finally doing what we all knew she would do by confronting Oliver about being the Green Arrow.

Let’s get down to that last one right away. Arrow’s been building Susan up as someone who was always going to pursue the truth, her actual feelings for Oliver be damned. I’m not entirely sure if that story would even be publishable, considering she slept with him, which must violate some law of ethics. In any case, this plot probably could have taken up an episode in and of itself, but instead, the show decides to have Felicity and Thea deal with it behind Oliver’s back. Felicity plants evidence discrediting her, and Thea sends the info to her boss, getting Susan fired, and subsequently pissed at Oliver, since it happened the day after she confronted him about his past.

Regardless of feelings on Susan and Oliver as a couple — I honestly never minded the two of them as a thing, though Ollie was really dense in thinking that her job wouldn’t cause a conflict of interest down the line — what Thea and Felicity do is just straight up mean. Like, goddamn, I respect her for just how ballsy she was, but it was like trying to put out a match with a fire extinguisher. It may have been to protect him, but they really did go over the line here, and there’s no way that either of them weren’t aware of what the endgame for that would be. Even though these actions are rooted in deep character history, with Thea never hiding her disdain for Susan, and Felicity’s getting taken in more and more with the flash drive she’s been presented with, it does feel like something that seemed better in concept than execution.

As for the whole ACU/villains part of the episode? It’s fine and gets the job done. For all the talk of the connection between Liza Warner and Lance, it still doesn’t feel like she’s formidable enough to be on par with both Cupid and China White, a pair of women we’ve gotten to know and establish as clear threats over the years. Warner talks a big game about how seeing him on TV on trial for being an accomplice to Damien Darhk soured his advice to her about doing the right thing, but she hasn’t been in the show enough to feel like a character so much as an avatar of Lance’s guilt. It works, but she’s also crying to have more to her, which will likely change if she shows up again (assuming Rutina Wesley’s schedule clears up).

The cops have gone after Oliver and the Team two or three times at this point, so it’s hard to feel like there’s any real tension in seeing that happen again this year. Or least, that’s what I would be saying had Prometheus not up and leaked the real coroner’s report to the news. Now everyone’s gunning for Oliver, and that was definitely a well done cliffhanger.

Additional Notes

• Curtis gets a new jacket, but he’s still getting his ass kicked. This is why you don’t prioritize fashion first.
• On the bright side, if Oliver actually does get impeached by season’s end, he didn’t do too bad of a job, all things considered. Plus, he didn’t die like the rest of them.
• Seriously, between Supergirl’s flimsy handling of CatCo and Susan here, the CWverse is not a good guide for anyone looking to make a career out of journalism.
• So, Mama Prometheus is just totally cool with her kid murdering people? Alright, then.