TV Show Review

TV Review: ARROW: Season 2, Episode 13: Heir to the Demon [The CW]

Katrina Law Caity Lotz Arrow Heir to the Demon

The CW’s Arrow Heir to the Demon TV Show Review. Arrow: Season 2, Episode 13: ‘Heir to the Demon’ seemed like a light step on the breaks to Arrow‘s mid-season momentum. Laurel (Katie Cassidy), still under the effects of her last bender, insisted that she saw Sara (Caity Lotz), prompting Quentin (Paul Blackthorne) into demanding an audience with his other daughter. By the time snake venom was discovered as the source of Laurel’s condition, things had begun to get out of hand. Apparently, the League of Assassins poisoned Laurel in order to draw Sara out. More to the point, it was the intention of Nyssa Raatko (Katrina Law), the titular villain of the episode, to draw Sara out, in order to retrieve her. Unfortunately for Sara, Laurel’s turn also drew the attention of their mother, Dinah (Alex Kingston). When Nyssa got her meeting with Sara, she did not receive the desired response to her… proposal. In light of Sara’s rejection, Dinah Lance became the new center piece of Nyssa’s persuasion effort. Sara was forced to take drastic actions that will have some far reaching consequences.

Elsewhere, the other women in Oliver’s (Stephen Amell) life were finding all sorts of trouble to put him in the middle of. Moira Queen (Susanna Thompson), ahead of a mayoral bid, took steps to protect the secret of Thea’s (Willa Holland) paternal origins, but had not counted on drawing Felicity’s (Emily Bett Rickards) attention, in the process. The two came to a very tense “understanding,” but that secret would ultimately lead to even greater tensions within the house of Queen.

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Both the Queen and Lance family ended the episode with a drastic change to their respective internal dynamics.

The flashback element to ‘Heir of the Demon’ focused on the Lance family just prior to Sara and Oliver’s apparent loss. Besides adding some context to the family’s subsequent collapse, and some of the resentment that had been directed towards the Queens, those scenes also set the stage for the (long standing) sibling rivalry, between Sara and Laurel, culminating in a new focal point for all of Laurel’s animus: Sara. Watching Laurel going Gorgon on anyone, for me, is a lowlight to just about any episode she is in. The outcome to the Lance family backstory made it integral to both the episode, and the future of the show; but I would hardly call it a payoff.

This left Nyssa Raatko as the highlight of the episode. Unfortunately, I found the brand name of Ra’s al Ghul wasted, here. Her very first appearance turned into a mildly ridiculous public spectacle, and her ‘mission,’ to retrieve League truant Sara, turned out to be less League business than a matter of her own (very) personal needs. So much for the Heir representing The Demon. Katrina Law was more than up to the role; I just don’t think the character was well served by this story. The personal time jaunt did not reflect well on the League of Assassins, either, but something else about the organization left me thinking.

Okay, living in the creative shadow of The Bat would leave a need for the world of Green Arrow to assert itself, I get that; but why does the League of Shadows seem to made up of archers. Merlyn was the Dark Archer, there was no getting around that; but is this a case of the League sending operatives suited to dealing with the local hero, or the League being customized for the Arrow series?

With Felicity going head-to-head with the Queen bee (and the fall-out from defying her), the ongoing specter of Thea’s paternal origins, the focus of the show seemingly shifting to scandalous political campaigning, Lance family baggage claims, and Nyssa Raatko staking personal claim to Sara, and Arrow has noticeably tipped towards melodrama.

As for the “lip-smack heard around the world,” I didn’t much care for it – purely on professional grounds. My personal thoughts on the matter has no place on an online publication of repute, regardless of how big a smile it puts on my face. I will say, however, that it should give the fanfic community something to work with beyond ‘Olicity’ or ‘Royliver’ pairings; and I liked the idea of a Scott Pilgrim gauge, in Ollie’s head, going from “clueless” to “he gets it.” No, my problem with the ‘Nyssara’ scenario is that it reduced Nyssa, heir to Ra’s al Ghul, to a woman scorned. Nyssa isn’t just a daughter of The Demon, and a big-wig in the League of Shadows, she is practically immortal. Devoting that much time and effort (expendable second-chair Sith, included) on a runaway ex seems petty. She has all the time in the world, and a long life-time of lovers, to get over it.

Of course, Sara has been casting quite a spell, across the years. Oliver, Ivo, Nyssa, Oliver again – even without her signature sonic cry (It’s a device! Device!), Sara clearly has some kind of power….

Given that Blood (Kevin Alejandro), under Slade’s (Manu Bennett) direct instruction, will be focusing on Moira’s candidacy, and the Thea thing will be a much larger issue, going forward, it would seem that the mid-season honeymoon is over. The DC comics character cavalcade will roll on, but most likely in filler roles (like Shrapnel’s appearance); so it’s just a matter of how long this ripening process will take, before our principal heroes & villains vie to shoot the apple off my laptop.

Figuratively speaking. I am a PC, after all.

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Sam Joseph

Sam is an Avid consumer/observer of Geek culture, and collector of Fanboy media from earliest memory. Armchair sociologist and futurist. Honest critic with satirical if not absurdist­­ wit with some experience in comics/ animation production.
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