Title: Arrow
Season: 2
Episode Count: 13
Episode Title: Heir to the Demon
Starring: Stephen Amell, Emily Bett Rickards, Katie Cassidy
Last week's episode of Arrow was quite the disappointment, to be honest; we'd seen a great episode in Blind Spot not two weeks back, before having to endure an episode with a main plot that made little to no sense. Not good! This week, though, the writers have thought better than to find another earthquake machine, and have instead settled upon a main plot which progresses many characters, and advances the story in a positive direction. I'd say it's about time to jump into the thick of things!
So, this episode introduced to us the character of Nyssa, the daughter of the esteemed Ra's Ah Ghul, whom we will surely meet later on in the season. She has come to take Sara back, who happens to be in Starling City. Sara came back after her sister was poisoned by one of Ra's' men in the previous episode. We knew this because Laurel saw her sister before she passed out. So... Nyssa. Was Katrina Law any good? I'd say so! Law provided some really emotional, high octane scenes, and proved to have great chemistry with both Amell and Lotz, which was a very important factor for her character. And the writers hit the right notes with her character; turns out she'd had a relationship with Sara! And we're not talking a friendship; we're talking a full on, sexual relationship! To be honest, it was a pretty bold move. It added a little more tension and emotion to their confrontations, which certainly wasn't a bad thing. Overall, I enjoyed the character of Nyssa, and I certainly hope to see more of her soon.
A little continuation problem I have to report, before I get more in depth in to the plot. Roy Harper did not show up in this episode at all! That's a problem! I mean, seriously, the guy just had an episode dedicated to him. He should not be completely excluded from the show the next episode! I was wondering where he was for quite a lot of the show; I'm sure he would've made quite a difference in a fight between Arrow and Nyssa, so from that point of view, it's a strange decision to keep him seated on the side line at this point in time. He'll most certainly be back next week, so I'm not too bothered by this little inconsistency. It's just a little strange seeing a main character like himself have time off at this point in the season.
So, back to the main plot line! Nyssa wants to take Sara back to her father, Ra's, and so she poisons poor ole' Laurel, and kidnaps her mother, who has returned due to Laurel's condition. So Sara and Arrow have to rescue her and defeat Nyssa, if Sara is to stay in Starling. Fairly straight forward, but it does advance the main story arc of the season, so an effective episode. Here and there, we also get some really character driven moments, the most effecting being the scene in which Felicity tells Oliver that she's found out that Thea is actually Malcolm Merlyn's daughter, not his father's. It's shot and told in a way that I found to be incredibly well done, and gives some long overdue back story to Felicity's character. Other character driven moments, including that of Nyssa and Sara, are all delivered very well by the actors and actresses performing. I don't think we've seen an episode like this for quite a while; one which doesn't really rely on shocking plot twists and character inclusions late to carry the episode. Instead, character development and awesome action scenes can hold the episode for the vast majority of it's running time, as well as some big flashbacks, which show the Lance's reaction to both Sara and Oliver being lost at sea, both very shocking. Overall, this episode really delivered in advancing the main story arc, and has left some questions unanswered for future episodes that I'm most certainly anticipating.
Conclusion:
Heir to the Demon took us to places that we hadn't been to this season on Arrow yet, and that's always a good thing. Despite the very major issue of having one of the main characters excluded from the entire episode, I thoroughly enjoyed this hour of television. It's got me back in the frame of mind for more Arrow!
Junkie Score: 8.2
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