Arrow: Season 1 Episode 13 – ‘Betrayal’ Review

In “Betrayal”, Oliver confronts his mother on the book of names while Detective Lance uses Laurel as bait to capture the vigilante.

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Arrow: Season 1 Episode 12 – ‘Vertigo’ Review

In “Vertigo”, Oliver and Diggle hunt down a murderous drug dealer named The Count (Seth Gabel) while Thea faces a prison sentence for her reckless drug abuse and car crash.

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Arrow: Season 1 Episode 11 Review – ‘Trust But Verify’

In “Trust But Verify”, Diggle’s partnership with Oliver is put to the test when Oliver is convinced Diggle’s former commanding officer and mentor, Ted Gaynor (Ben Browder), is behind a series of deadly armored truck robberies. Meanwhile, on her eighteenth birthday, Thea discovers her mother has been secretly meeting with Malcolm Merlyn.

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Arrow: Season 1 Episode 5 Review – ‘Damaged’

Last episode’s “An Innocent Man” was a heavy-handed musing on the morality of vigilante justice. Diggle was initially vehemently opposed to Oliver’s actions, denouncing him as a criminal and murderer. However when Oliver revealed that he defeated the assassin that killed Diggle’s brother, an act accomplished outside of the law, Diggle reconsidered the offer to team up with the hooded archer as an opportunity to do good and that the end justifies the means.

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Arrow: Season 1 Episode 3 Review – ‘Lone Gunman’

Courtesy of CW

“No man is an island” is a sentiment Arrow Season 1 Episode 3′s ‘Lone Gunman’ reflects upon. Simply stated, we cannot live alone or in isolation. If we hope to survive, thrive or pursue our life’s purpose, we must acknowledge our interdependence and recognize how our actions effect one another.

It’s a notion that is literally and metaphorically represented during Oliver Queen’s time on the mysterious island, which as discovered last episode was not deserted. The hooded man who shot the arrow at Ollie explains he did it to protect him and that Ollie could not survive alone on the island.

Arrow: Season 1 Episode 2 Review – ‘Honor Thy Father’

“Honor Thy Father” essentially borrowed the blueprint from the series premiere. As a general unwritten rule, the first several episodes of a new series should act as a pilot to allow casual viewers to easily understand the main characters, their motivations and the dilemmas they must overcome without having to watch the previous episodes. As with most pilots, the plot is merely a device to establish the premise and characters. Similarly to the premiere, this episode features Green Arrow threatening a corrupt business man to confess his crimes, another shirtless training montage and more intriguing flashbacks to the island.