Arrow Review: “Nanda Parbat”

Fight choreography, Costumed Vigilante Angst, torture, and a monumental decision for Ollie dominate this week’s Arrow

Meanwhile, Ray Palmer works hard to complete his Atom suit before Ant-man gets released—only to realize it’s all for naught, because the show, having already turned Palmer into an imitation Tony Stark, has decided to cast the Atom in the mold of Iron Man.

Title: “Nanda Parbat”

Cast and Crew
Director: Gregory Smith
Writers: Erik Oleson, Wendy Mericle, Ben Sokolowski

Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
David Ramsay as John Diggle
Matt Nable as Ra’s al Ghul
Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak
Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer
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
Brandon Nomura as Akio Yamashiro
Rila Fukushima as Tatsu Yamashiro / Katana

Premise

Ollie and Diggle raid Ra’s al Ghul’s stronghold to rescue Malcolm Merlyn, and instead receive a surprising offer. Thea acknowledges killing Sarah; Ray Palmer makes a stark decision.

High Point

The fight choreography remains impressive.

Low Point

The dialogue remains cheesy and strained.

The Scores:

Originality: 2/6 The twist shows some originality, but the episode otherwise is standard Arrow, with points subtracted for making themselves look like slavish imitators of Marvel. Hopefully, the concept for the Atom will develop.

Effects: 5/6

Acting: 4/6

Story: 5/6: The show feels scattered, though the individual story arcs were good.

Emotional Response: 4/6 Is it just me? The excessive angst and scattered plots make it difficult for me to really feel for these characters, even in their extreme circumstances. This strikes me as particularly odd, given how significant the issues can be.

Production: 6/6

Overall: 4/6

In total, “Nanda Parbat” receives 30/42

3 replies on “Arrow Review: “Nanda Parbat””

  1. The ending was great, Thea’s drama seemed a little overdone though. Not too happy about the Ray/Felicity deal.

    Low point for me was the Atom suit. It looked good in pictures but something was off with the effects for it in motion. I was hoping for something much less like an Iron Man clone, and it moved in a weird way.

    Now we get to wait to find out what Oliver decides…

  2. I’m grateful to Arrow for having given us the Flash series, which I love with fanboy adoration that burns like the heat of 1000 suns.
    Arrow…is…well, I enjoyed it a hell of a lot more when I was binge-watching on netflix streaming and I could just mentally subtract the week’s angst from the total and move on.

    I’m not sure about the Batmanification of Arrow in this one – I mean….this is what Ra’s has always wanted from Bruce Wayne. That’s kind of their whole schtick.

    (side note here – it’s part of what I think makes Ra’s such a great Batman villain – he’s not out for domination or money, he wants to SAVE the world. It’s just that he’s gone completely psychotic about how he wants to do it. And in recognizing that aspect of himself on occasion he wants to hand the reins off to Bats and move on. I have often thought that Batman’s refusal to accept the title of Ra’s al’Ghul was out of character for him, particular after Batman Inc.)

    and yeah. I’m pretty nervous about the their Atom. Routh is good – really good – but you’re absolutely right that the only Atom they appear to be representing here is Fe. If his suit doesn’t shrink soon….I’ma be miffed.

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