TV Review: Arrow – Season 3 Episode 16 “The Offer”

Join us each week as we review the latest episode of ARROW. Warning: the following review contains major spoilers for the newest episode of the show.

Episode 16: "The Offer"

Synopsis: Malcolm is captured by Ra's al Ghul and taken to Nanda Parbat. Because of his love for Thea, Oliver considers saving Merlyn. Ray is obsessed with finishing his Atom suit so he can save the city but Felicity fears he is heading down the same path as Oliver and tries to pull him out of the lab.

In Starling City: After several weeks off the air, we finally get the answer to R'as Al Ghul's offer to Oliver Queen to take his place as leader of the League of Assassins. After weeks assuming that he wanted Oliver dead, we now find that R'as understands the nature of the Arrow's life better than most.  But, it also means that Oliver needs to make a very difficult decision, one more impactful than anything faced thus far on the show. R'as shows Oliver the Lazarus Pool which he claims is the same Fountain of Youth sought for centuries.  Because Oliver returned from death thanks to his friends, R'as feels he is worth of taking his place but Oliver feels that just because he returned from the dead doesn't mean he should be an instrument of death. Oliver elects to leave and R'as allows him to go with Diggle and Malcolm.

Back in Starling City, Thea releases Nyssa and begs to be killed after admitting she killed Sara Lance.  But, Nyssa is confident that the death of Malcolm Merlyn will justify everythiing she seeks. Oliver soon returns home with Malcolm whom Thea refuses to allow in her home, but Oliver tells her they both know he has nowhere else to go. At the Arrow Cave, the team welcomes Oliver back and they discuss the true motives of R'as Al Ghul.  Oliver releases Nyssa and brushes off questions why R'as let him go, asking for any crimes they can stop in the city.  They find a robbery in progress and suit up.

The criminals at the robbery are led by a man whose mouth is sewn shut. They are looking for something called the Katoka shipment when Oliver, Roy, and Laurel drop in.  The criminals get away but the team finds some diamonds they were after.  When Captain Lance arrives he refuses to help Arrow since he feels he knew about Sara's death and didn't tell him.  Lance says he is done with helping the Arrow, returning their dynamic to how it existed in the first season of the show.

At Ray Palmer's office, Oliver arrives and stumbles across Palmer and Felicity being flirty.  Oliver brushes off their new relationship and asks about the man with the sewn lips.  Felicity reveals he is Murmur and the sewing is meant to channel his thoughts and focus.  Laurel goes to see Thea and see how she was doing with Malcolm back.  They chat briefly and when Laurel leaves, Thea confronts Malcolm with all the scorn and hatred she can muster.  Malcolm offers his life to make her happy but Thea is disgusted and instead walks away.

In Nanda Parbat, Nyssa returns to her father and demands to know why he let Merlyn live.  R'as reveals it is because Oliver survived his sword but Nyssa is offended he would choose an outsider as his heir over his own daughter. When Nyssa threatens to leave over her father's lack of approval, R'as allows her to go.  Back in Starling, Roy checks with his former contacts as to why Murmur wanted the worthless diamonds they stole. Diggle asks Oliver what is going on and he reveals R'as made predictions about what would happen next and that he offered him his title. Diggle is surprised that Oliver would consider it, but Oliver doesn't shut down the possibility.

Merlyn reveals the prophecy of R'as Al Ghul to Oliver and tells him not to think he has a choice. Oliver heads back to the Cave where he and Felicity debate what his accomplishments have been as Arrow and whether it is crazy for him to consider leading the League. Felicity says if he leaves, it would mean everything was for nothing, but Oliver doesn't know why he is the Arrow any longer.  Felicity says it is time for Oliver to re-evaluate his role when Diggle arrives and says they found out Murmur is using the diamonds to make armor-piercing bullets.

Laurel tries to make peace with her father, but he is unsure he can ever forgive her for lying about Sara. At that moment, Murmur and his crew open fire on the precinct. Felicity alerts Oliver while Captain Lance sends Laurel to safety.  Nyssa arrives and begins taking out the thugs as Murmur attacks Lance.  Oliver takes him out with an arrow and chases him from the building. Getting back to the Cave, Oliver thanks Felicity for help and tells her she was right and that his mission is something more than it ever started as but now knows he does it to protect the innocents of Starling City.  Felicity tells Oliver having him in her life makes her happy when she gets a call from Ray Palmer.

Nyssa meets up with Laurel and they two decide to share memories of Sara together.  Nyssa also offers to train Laurel since she has nowhere else to go.  Oliver meets Maseo at the Starling shipyard to decline R'as Al Ghul's offer. Maseo says the choice has already been made, but Oliver still says no.  Maseo warns there will be consequences and leaves Oliver to contemplate what comes next.  At Roy's apartment, Thea arrives confused and asks to stay there with him and they get it on. At a hideout, thugs talk about the armor-piercing bullets they have left when they are all killed by arrows.  Someone dressed as Arrow jumps down and is revealed to be R'as Al Ghul, telling the lone survivor to tell everyone what just happened.

Flashbacks: In Hong Kong, Oliver watches Maseo's son, Akio as they run from Amanda Waller and her team.  Akio recalls that his parents told him if they ever got separated to meet at the botanical gardens, so he heads there with Oliver. As the walk the grounds, Oliver spots Waller's agents and they run. As they go back through the market, Oliver runs into Shado.

Review: At the start of this season, Oliver needed to re-evaluate why he still suited up as Arrow and for some reason, he had to do it all again this week.  The prospect of becoming the next R'as seems like the type of question that would be weighed over multiple episodes, but instead we get it crammed into a single hour alongside a throwaway villain that was cool in concept but not in execution. The dynamic between Oliver and the rest of the characters has shifted since he was "killed" in the mid-season finale, making the vigilante archer somewhat obsolete. Honestly, this show could easily go on if Arrow dropped out entirely and focused on Arsenal, Canary, and even Diggle and the Suicide Squad. Compared to the shocking episode of The Flash this week, Arrow's return after a short hiatus was a bit of a letdown. I hope the reveal of Arrow's identity to several characters of the coming weeks will shake up the show a bit more and maybe give it a boost back in the right direction.

Final Verdict:

Next on ARROW: "Suicidal Tendancies" airs March 25th, 2015: It’s celebration time as Diggle and Lyla get married. However, Deadshot interrupts their honeymoon and tells them the Suicide Squad has been given a new mission – rescue United States Senator Joseph Cray from a hostage situation in the Republic of Kasnia. Amanda Waller breaks down the mission and introduces them to the newest member of the Suicide Squad, Cupid. Meanwhile, Oliver learns about Ray’s new Atom costume and the two have a heated stand-off. Felicity and Ray hit a rough patch.