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| "Our first live action appearance" |
The episode begins with a robbery at the Starling Trust Bank by three armed robbers wearing masks with a King, Jack and Ace on them (the Royal Flush Gang). During the robbery Ace shoots one of the hostages which angers King because it was an off duty cop, they then send all of the hostages outside wearing similar masks of their own before escaping through a tunnel. After sparring Oliver and Diggle check on the next name on the list, Scott Morgan, however Diggle suggest Oliver goes after the Royal Flush Gang. Diggle thinks Oliver should save the city beyond his father's list and be a hero but Oliver believes he isn't one. We then have a Flashback and Oliver is weakening with no food and drink and see a hallucination of his father Robert.
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| Those are some really cool mask designs |
Meanwhile Laurel's legal firm where she works has lost it's major donor which makes it a bad time for Tommy to ask her out but gets advice from Thea when he visits Queen manor. Diggle then calls Oliver to tell him Moira is at the hospital however it turns out to be a trick since Diggle wanted to show him the cop who was shot and is now in a coma. This convinces Oliver to stop the Royal Flush Gang and after viewing footage at the bank concludes that Ace is the violent one and steals evidence from the police station where he slapped a hostage with his ring. The next day Tommy has funded Laurel's firm with money from his family's company; Merlyn Global Group. While this frustrates Laurel because she knows the real reason he is doing this she agrees to it.
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| "Now that no one is looking its back to Warcraft" |
Oliver later discovers the possible identities of the Royal Flush Gang but remembers he has to be at dinner with his family, however during the dinner Diggle gets word that another bank is being robbed and has to leave. Oliver arrives to stop the gang from taking any money but they get away and almost has a close encounter with the police. Oliver then contacts Felicity to do a background check on the Reston Family, who are the Royal Flush Gang, and finds out that Derek Reston was employed in a factory by Queen's Consolidated but lost it when Robert Queen moved all the work to China and was even cheated out of a severance package. Oliver is disgusted by this and even has a Flashback where he contemplates suicide in front of the hallucination of Robert. Elsewhere Tommy admits he wants to get closer to Laurel because he is tired of his meaningless relationships with women.
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| See this might have been a good time to bring Diggle |
Later Oliver finds Derek in a bar and tries to make amends by offering him a job however Derek refuses because he is still angry at Robert. Oliver manages to put a tracker into his bag and unfortunately has to leave a fundraiser his family is hosting when another bank is being robbed. Oliver arrives at the bank to stop the gang but Derek is killed when saving his son from being shot by a guard. Meanwhile at the fundraiser Tommy is angry that Laurel is dancing with someone else but didn't realise that the person is only a client and even has to deal with a drunken Thea. Oliver broods over the death of Derek but Diggles says it wasn't his fault and then we get another Flashback where Oliver as gotten over suicide and has discovered the list of names in his father's book. The episode ends with Oliver realizing he can do more for the city than cross off names and reconnects with his mother after disappointing her earlier.
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| Poor Oliver I almost feel bad about eating popcorn while writing this...lol |
This was a good episode however since the last episode was just awesome with Deathstoke and his fight with Yao Fei that I kind of felt that this one winded down a bit. I especially found this true in the Flashback because it really wasn't too exciting since it was just Oliver alone in a cave. Since they are Flashbacks we the audience already know Oliver is not going to die in any of them, even if he gets seriously hurt. So what I am trying to say is that I found him contemplating suicide to be unnecessary because it isn't going to create tension but I guess its more of emotional than anything else. Plus I didn't like the appearance of Robert Queen as a hallucination because when they do this in films or TV, having a loved one come back as an hallucination to help them get over something, I just find it a quick and cheap way for the character to resolve their issues.
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| At the very least this family has something they like to do together |
As for the Royal Flush Gang I like that they got an appearance in live action for once but even though they are comic book villains they felt like a one off gimmick. Despite that however I really like how they are portrayed here because you just feel a lot of sympathy for them, especially for the father Derek and that him and his family turning to the life of crime is another ill deed done by the Queen family that Oliver must try to right. I also like their masks as well and their bank robbing scenes where done really well, especially the opening even if that trick was already in V for Vendetta. I also liked that Oliver has finally realized he can do more than cross off names from the list because of the Royal Flush Gang so maybe the episodes now won't feel so episodic of him just going after a corrupt business man every episode.
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| "You going to get it now Oliver" |
As for everything else I like that character build up of Tommy and Laurel and how they may start an actual relationship because it gives their characters something more to do. Tommy is really starting to grow on me too because I think his character is definitely being developed more and mature for example I liked that story about how on a date with a woman he realized he already slept with her two years ago. Again I am getting kind of sick of Thea and her drunkenness around other characters because it is getting old and annoying fast. First she insults Oliver episode 1, then she makes it awkward between Oliver and Tommy and now she tries to hit on Tommy. I get what they are doing; she is a rich girl who struggled with her father and brother's death while dealing with the pressure of the family name and social life, but do I honestly care about it? No I do not.
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| Get used to this because early season one drink and drugs is all her character does |
Overall the Flashbacks where disappointing and Thea was annoying but I did like the Royal Flush Gang and the scenes with Tommy and Laurel, I think they had some great interactions with each other.
SCORE: 7/10
Highlights: Royal Flush Gang and their robberies
Tommy and Laurel
Let - Downs: Flashbacks
Thea
The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;
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