Arrow – Unfinished Business – Season 1, Episode 19

The hilariously-named Shado teaches Oliver to shoot arrows immediately after water-splashing practice [ignoring the one-hour rule].

Synopsis: It appears as though The Count was not down for the count after all and both he and the designer drug Vertigo make a re-appearance – only things aren’t always as they seem in Starling City.

Details: The opening scene gives us a Club Verdant partygoer dreamily dancing in the club then being slowly transported [we’re guessing the Starship Enterprise was orbiting Earth and Scotty had something to do with it] to the middle of a Starling City street where she was run over by a car. Okay, not the best opening sequence – but better than last week’s featuring a shirtless Oliver hovering and exercising [hoverising?] over Felicity, one of his supposed colleagues.

With Vertigo being initially identified as the drug responsible for the partygoer’s misplaced dance steps, Oliver is on super special secret alert as, not only is this the drug that caused Thea to crash her new birthday car but it also appears the misplaced dancer may have got the drug from inside his club and – worse yet – that means The Count is still alive and dealing from the mental hospital or nearby Jiffy Lube or an Apple store in the mall.

Unfortunately, it is not a Jiffy Lube or an Apple store in the mall – both of which would have been excellent locations for The Count to set up shop in the midst of captive lemming audiences. Instead, alas, it is the mental hospital and a mental hospital that, like the Starling City police station, doesn’t pay its power bills too often, due apparently, to budget cuts, which also took out their security cameras. Yeah, right. Arrow pays The Count a visit – only to find he is speaking the usual Count Chocula gibberish and ranting and raving about Frankenberry and Booberry and he should have been the cereal with the big budget instead of Captain Crunch.

Island flashback #1 reveals Yao Fei’s daughter – Shado [groan….] – and Slade engaging in some practice tussling before flashback #2 has Shado giving Oliver a water-slapping lesson. Needless to say, the flashback quality – oxymoron alert – seems to be waning.

Back to this week’s main storyline, this is a new version of Vertigo is said to be more lethal and more addictive and, as if on cue, The Count – due to budget cuts that have prevented the lights from being turned on and security cameras from being purchased – escapes from the mental hospital. This development fully qualifies as not surprising.

Meanwhile, shortly after Diggle poses as a druggie in order to snatch some of the new Vertigo off the street, Angry Detective Lance Police Chief Wiggum grills Eddie Haskell, Jr./Tommy Merlyn, subtly accusing him of being a drug dealer and causing him to lose his appetite [which is fine because there’s plenty for leftovers].

Using information from Felicity and Diggle, Arrow interrupts a drug deal going down and what appears to be a Chrysler 300 gets blown up real good – this precedes Oliver mixing up a batch of Vertigo antidote in the Arrow Lair and sparking a brief morality debate with Felicity.

A dude all hopped up on the new Vertigo goes to the Aquarium for a little look at the fishies, then causes a ruckus – which Oliver can view because Felicity hacks into the security camera system within seconds of its occurrence [Did anybody say anything about believability? Just checking.] – and before Arrow can get down there and stop him or give him the Vertigo antidote.

Island flashback #3 intervenes and Shado claims her dad [Yao Fei] is a Chinese general or disgraced circus clown or some such tripe which we’re not paying attention to because first, we’re still stunned that the writers named her “Shado” and second, we’re distracted by her perfect English which is a language she must have learned from the mysterious Mrs. Shado [who, we are guessing, worked in a factory making toy boats or Nike shoes]. So, by the time we get to flashback #4 where she teaches Oliver how to shoot arrows after water-splashing class, we’re feeling like The Count after a few sessions with Dr. Evil – the mental hospital doctor.

Angry Detective Lance Police Chief Wiggum has a search warrant and – uh-oh – he wants to see the Arrow Lair in the basement of the Club Verdant, but he finds nothing due to the quick thinking of Eddie Haskell, Jr./Tommy and, as predicted six or seven episodes ago, this precipitates an argument between Eddie Jr./Tommy and Oliver which undoubtedly plants seeds for future superhappyfuntime for the pair.

After Diggle and Oliver get into their own argument over personal time and vendettas, the show refrains from the petty verbal histrionics long enough to return to the action where we find that Dr. Evil – the mental hospital doctor – is responsible for faking The Count’s escape and hatching the new Vertigo drug. When Arrow pays a visit to The Count, Dr. Evil’s henchman konks him from behind with a metal pipe [obviously Arrow’s senses have been dulled from earlier episodes when he would be able todetect the presence of others in the room]. While we’re sure this would likely cause either death, a cracked skull or severe concussion – in “Arrow” it only causes a brief blackout and quick return to mental normalcy where Arrow figures out Dr. Evil’s plan.

Dr. Evil plays bartender and mixes up some green Kool-Aid Vertigo for Arrow to drink while he’s strapped down on a table but Arrow clicks his remote exploding arrow device just before Diggle shows up just in the nick of time to help subdue Dr. Evil’s henchman and allow Arrow to escape so he can stab himself with the Vertigo antidote and plant an arrow in Dr. Evil. All of which is, of course, very believable.

With all that rigamarole done, Oliver returns for some rest and relaxation back at the club, only to have hypersensitive Eddie Jr./Tommy throw a hissy fit and quit as club manager so he can go back and believably ask dad, Eddie Haskell, Sr./Malcolm Merlyn/Dark Archer, for a job – so they can form Eddie Haskell and Son Enterprises and have a nice Haskell-Queen turf war in the future, eh?

Ignoring all that, Diggle and Oliver agree to go after Deadshot the next time he shows up in Starling City – which will be on or after April 24, as that is the next time “Arrow” is scheduled to appear in “Home Invasion”.

The Poop and Skinny: A Thea-free episode – and there was much rejoicing – although it was odd that an episode dealing with the designer drug that brought disgrace and injury to Thea would not have her in it [but we’re not complaining!]

“That is unbelievable!” Angry Detective Lance Police Chief Wiggum to Detective Hilton upon learning that the mental hospital does not have security cameras due to budget cuts. Yes, now apply this thought to approximately 29 other elements of each episode and you may have discovered a theme here.

Next time there is a Chrysler and a BMW in the same scene – blow both of them up real good – but never blow up a Ferrari or Lamborghini.

The Vertigo antidote – expected to be marketed under the name “Verti-Oh-No-You-Don’t!” – has not yet been approved by the FDA.

Burning question for the next episode of “Arrow” – Which will happen first – will the police department, mental hospital or any authoritative agency ever pay their power bills or will the writers have Oliver reasonably explain to us why he didn’t pull that Vertigo antidote rabbit out of his hat in the actual Vertigo introduction episode?

As always – it is important to remember that, at any juncture where the situation appears to be dire for Arrow/Oliver and his very life may be in danger – there would be no more show [and therefore no more money to be made] if he were to die. You continue to be welcome.

The post Arrow – Unfinished Business – Season 1, Episode 19 appeared first on Toon Zone News.