TV Review: ARROW: Season 2, Episode 14: Time of Death [The CW]

The CW’s Arrow Time of Death TV Show Review. Arrow: Season 2, Episode 14: ‘Time of Death,’ despite its many elements, focused mainly on Sara (Caity Lotz). As the latest member of Team Arrow, she had no trouble bonding with the boys over battle scars. This left Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) feeling a little left out.  Back at the island, Sara played moderator to Oliver (Stephen Amell), still somewhat hobbled by guilt, and the still enraged Slade (Manu Bennett); taking lead when a small plane is shot out from directly above them by the freighter. She was also the guest of honor, at a welcome back party thrown by Oliver, that brought the Lances and Queens together again. Mostly. Laurel (Katie Cassidy) was a no show.

The function also highlighted the new cold war, between Oliver and Moira Queen (Susanna Thompson), that was now quite noticeable to Thea (Willa Holland), and resulted in an awkward moment for Sara, when Sin (Bex Taylor-Klaus) forgot their reunion should have been an introduction.

A near flawless heist, resulting in a dead security guard, and later, one of its perpetrators, brought a challenge to Team Arrow; but a particularly sizable challenge for Felicity. William Tockman (Robert Knepper) was not only a genius planner and overseer, but a genius hacker, as well. While the teaming of The Arrow and Canary did offset Tockman’s schemes, to some degree, Felicity’s online efforts ended in several reversals – including a backdoor hack that led to the destruction of the Arrow Cave’s equipment.

A near miss for Tockman, due to the unexpected appearance of Canary, yielded both his identity and his motives. Armed with that intel, Felicity set a trap for Tockman – complete with a ringside seat. For once, Felicity’s knack for getting herself into trouble was understandable. Insecurities aside, Tockman hit her at home base. In the end, not only did Felicity manage to reassure herself of her team status (beating Tockman at his own game, in the process), she also scored a battle scar of her very own (I should be… happy… for her, then?). As for Sara, if a spot on Team Arrow wasn’t enough, she was also hired as Thea’s new bartender. Throw in the rekindling of her romance with Oliver, and Sara covered quite a bit of ground. Nobody tell Laurel.

‘Time of Death’ was one of the better filler episodes, with one of the better filler villains; but it wasn’t without issues. When Tockman’s initial heist was derailed, the result was a burst of automatic weapons fire, just around the corner from a protest in progress, but no one seemed to hear it. The plan was for Tockman’s team to shed their coveralls and infiltrate the protestors – which they did – but it really wasn’t that large a crowd. Even if it were, it would not have been all that difficult for the authorities to contain & screen the crowd for gunpowder residue.

The plane, shot down over the island, should not have been left as intact as it was, after spinning out into dense woods. Of course, it had to be semi-preserved, for the sake of the plot. Both the doomed pilot, and his emergency kit, proved pivotal to the castaways plans for Ivo’s freighter, and Sara’s future relationship with Sin.

Tockman also had far too many careless moments, for someone so otherwise precise and meticulous. He left something of a signature murder weapon, lodged in one failed flunkie; he knew his way around all manner of closed circuit systems, but failed to get eyes on the one bank job where The Arrow and Canary show up together.
Still, leave it to Robert Knepper for making the most of a filler villain appearance, and the Clock King (Tockman’s source character) was particularly well suited for Arrow adaptation. Unlike some of the series’ other filler villains, Tockman had a degree of depth to him. Given his skill set, and his source character’s resume, I imagine a “government” job in his future.

The episode’s knit-pick moments did not hold a candle to what has become my series pet-peeve: Laurel. I suppose part of my problem has been the fact that she could never seem to pass on an opportunity to blow all the opportunities everyone kept giving her. Well, Laurel may not have the rest of the cast to kick around anymore. In a “where have you been all my life” moment, Oliver (after Laurel reacted not well to connecting him with Sara) laid out just how over he was, holding her hand while she kept biting away at his – and everyone else’s, for that matter.

I am hopeful that the fever has finally broken, where Laurel is concerned, or that the show can at least sideline her, for the time being. As for the Queen family’s internal conflict, and the upcoming mayoral campaign, there may have been a most welcomed change in the scheduled melodrama to come.

Moira introduced Oliver to a major player with an interest in her campaign. To Oliver’s credit, he controlled his fight-or-flight response – even managing to shake this walking, talking bombshell’s hand.

A handshake delivered with the most impact since… well, since:

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