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The Offer Remains

With the past few weeks, Arrow has treated us with some down episodes. But if it’s one thing season 1 and 2 has taught us, it’s that the end of the season really kicks it in! This entire episode was comparable to the climax of a good action movie. We were set on a wild ride right from the beginning of the episode all the way to the credits.

Oliver still refuses to side with Ra’s Al Ghul, and Ra’s isn’t too happy about it. Ra’s has successfully turned Starling City against team Arrow. A city that Oliver has sworn to protect, now rallies against him, putting the public and his friends in danger. The only way out is for Oliver to accept Ra’s offer, or turn himself into the Starling City PD. We got a fantastic scene between Stephen Amell (Oliver) and Paul Blackthorn (Capt. Lance) in the back of the van. This scene shows how talented both actors truly are, and why they’re probably the 2 best on the show.

With every episode Oliver gives in more and more to Ra’s and his League of Assassins. Ra’s is too powerful to stop, and Oliver is starting to realize that. He’s doing everything he can to reject the offer but it appears the only way out may be to become Ra’s heir. Oliver turns himself in as The Arrow in order to protect the city and his friends. I kind of understand why he did this, but I also don’t understand either. Ollie knows Ra’s isn’t just going to let him walk away. By turning himself in, Ra’s won’t just forget about him. Then Oliver will be behind bars and won’t be able to help when Ra’s really starts terrorizing the city. Didn’t make much sense for him to make this move. It’s possible Team Arrow thought about this also and that’s why Roy had taken the fall.

Ray Palmer gets hit with an Arrow and is hospitalized for the duration of the episode. Ray and Felicity get the news of a blood clot that could potentially kill Ray. His choices are brain surgery with the possibility of brain damage, or death. Ray chooses neither and has his nanobot technology shrink the bloodclot, with the help of Felicity. We are slowly getting eased into The Atom and his full array of abilities. I believe this was the first time they mention the ability to shrink. This was a nod to the time The Atom shrunk down in the comics and entered Superman’s bloodstream to save the Man of Steel’s life. Well done CW… Well done.

My only real complaint about the hospital sub-plot was Felicity’s mom. While they bring her in for this kind of comic relief character, she’s just super annoying and the episode could really do without her.

The flashbacks in this episode continues to focus oliver running from ARGUS. This time they just so happen to run into Shado’s twin sister, Mei. To make a long, drawn out story short, Mei believes Oliver is hiding her sister’s whereabouts from her and calls the police, who are actually ARGUS. ARGUS invades the house only to be stopped by Maseo and Tatsu. Then they leave Mei with a destroyed home, and Oliver tells her what really happened to Shado.

These flashback scenes in season 3 really stretch out on a limb and most of the time are unneeded. I find myself less and less interested in the flashbacks and they just keep getting more farfetched and ridiculous. During Season 1 and 2, the island flashbacks were sometimes even more interesting that the current storyline, The flashbacks in season 3 are seriously lacking and they need to do something to change it, or just stop having them.

The Decision

“Public Enemy” was a great episode and really kicked the series into gear. The show finally found it’s season long storyline. We got the “edge of your seat” action we wanted, great performances, and an array of plot twists. The only thing really lacking is the flashbacks. Hopefully the season continues its momentum until its end.