Arrow Review: “Uprising”

Arsenal? You guys just pulling names out of a hat now?

Ollie returns to help his troops take back the Glades.

Title: “Uprising”

Cast and Crew
Director: Jesse Warn
Writers: Beth Schwartz, Brian Ford Sullivan

Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
David Ramsay as John Diggle
Vinnie Jones as Brick
Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak
Colton Haynes as Roy Harper / Arsenal
Katie Cassidy as Dinah “Laurel” Lance / Black Canary
John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn
Willa Holland as Thea Queen
Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance
Rila Fukushima as Tatsu Yamashiro / Katana
Bex Taylor-Klaus as Sin
J. R. Ramirez as Ted Grant / Wildcat
Arien Boey as young Tommy
Laura Adkin as Rebecca Merlyn
Jacob Hoppenbrouwer as young Oliver
Taylor Dianne Robinson as young Nyssa Al-Ghul

Full cast and crew may be found here.

Premise

Since there’s no National Guard, apparently, and the Flash isn’t booked for a crossover event this week, Team Arrow must find other supporters to bring back the Glades. But are they willing to work alongside Malcolm Merlyn?

High Point

Brick made a great villain for awhile, and Ollie’s new relationship with Malcolm Merlyn changes quite a few of the show’s dynamics in interesting ways.

Low Point

Shows about superheroes aren’t realistic; they’re stylized power fantasies that create their own reality. The issues with this episode depend on how much you’re willing to let that reality bend to allow for the story.

Why does the uprising resemble the Jets and the Sharks? Or, to keep in genre, a vintage DC X vs Y Treasury Edition cover? Wouldn’t Brick’s men just open fire at the crowd?

You can hang a lampshade all you want on the heroes’ silly disguises, but if Detective Lance can recognize Roy, he can certainly recognize his own daughter. So can everyone else.

The Scores:

Originality: 2/6 The episode overall recalls a recent Batman movie quite a bit.

Effects: 5/6

Acting: 5/6 The show needs to make greater use of some strong peripheral characters. Rila Fukushima is compelling as Tatsu, and it was great to see Sin again.

Story: 4/6: We have an impressive showdown brought about by forced developments. Merlyn’s backstory shows potential, but felt choppily integrated. They needed to do more to separate present and past versions of the character.

Emotional Response: 4/6 Ollie’s return and Brick’s arrest gave a certain satisfaction.

Production: 5/6

Overall: 4/6

In total, “Uprising” receives 29/42

8 replies on “Arrow Review: “Uprising””

  1. Didn’t Lance still believe that it was his daughter – just not the one he expected? ie He wasnt looking at who the canary was as he “knew” it was Sarah?

  2. I had thought about the National Guard (or even A.R.G.U.S.), seems like someone would have stepped in even if the local police couldn’t (state, federal, etc).

    Looks like Oliver is still having some trouble moving, it may actually be a lingering problem and not quite the miraculous recovery they usually have on here.

    I think the whole thing with Lance and “Sarah” was more a case of he suspected the truth but didn’t want to admit it. Though Sin wasn’t quite correct when she said it wasn’t his daughter. :-)

    +1 for more Sin and Tatsu

    • I thought about that explanation for his not recognizing Laurel, but the main point still stands. Calling attention to how silly these disguises are, and having someone see through one, doesn’t work for me. Either accept the convention of these disguises actually working, or improve the disguises.

      (It works in Mystery Men, but that is parodic comedy)

      • Yes, Lance is a smart guy, surely he must at least suspect.

        That was definitely the wrong moment to lampshade the disguises.

    • It being his daughter just makes things worse. People move in different ways. It’s very easy to recognize people you know well without ever seeing their faces just from the way they move. Lance should know just from watching Canary move that it’s not Sarah, and should also be able to tell just by watching her move that it is Laurel.

  3. I’m so mad at Felicity!!!!
    But it’s gonna be awesome seeing what comes of the Merlyn thing! *grin*

      • What? It’s already been half a season since he murdered Sarah and two seasons since he tried to destroy part of a city.

        Btw, am I remembering properly that Laurel was in the “should we ally with Merlin” conversation? I’d think she’d have a stronger opinion about that.

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