ARROW Season 3 Episode 7
Episode Title: “Draw Back Your Bow”
Writers: Wendy Mericle & Beth Schwartz
Director: Rob Hardy
Previously on “Arrow”:
The improvements that “Arrow” has made in its last two seasons have gone a long way towards overcoming its most crippling defect: the fact that it is a show on The CW.
“Draw Back Your Bow” is the most CW episode of the third season, and consequently the worst installment of “Arrow” Year 3 despite a promising new villainess who seems to be inspired by Harley Quinn. Carrie Cutter aka Cupid (Amy Gumenick) made her debut in the Green Arrow comics, but she’s got real potential as a recurring threat on this show.
In case you missed last week’s episode, Cupid made her debut by killing Ted Grant’s murderous former partner. Fortunately, this episode doesn’t try to use Cupid as another red herring for Sara Lance’s killer. But it does retcon in Cupid to one of the pivotal moments of “Arrow.”
Cupid Leaves Her Mark
Picking up where we left off last week, Cupid leaves her latest victim dressed up like the Arrow… which inevitably catches the attention of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and Captain Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne). Inside Cupid’s heart-shaped arrow, Oliver and Diggle (David Ramsey) find the address to her Arrow shrines and clues to her next victim. Cupid dares Oliver to find her so they can be together.
At the very beginning of the episode, we see a flashback to the night Slade Wilson’s Mirakuru army attacked Starling City. Oliver had Team Arrow pull over so they could save Cupid’s life from one of Slade’s soldiers before getting back to the mission.
Why I Hate Olicity
Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) has an increasingly romantic connection to her new boss, Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh). He invites her to an important business dinner and buys her an expensive dress to wear with borrowed jewelry worth millions. And they’re actually pretty charming together, especially when she takes the steak knives from their table because of an off-hand joke Ray made about slitting his wrists from boredom.
The downside is that this is turning Oliver into a superhero version of Grumpycat. Oliver is pretty overt about his jealousy despite his unwillingness to commit to Felicity… so poor, maskless Diggle is forced to be the mouthpiece of Oliver’s heart as he tries to convince Felicity and Oliver to get back together.
And because this is a TV show on The CW, Oliver walks in on Ray kissing Felicity just when he was finally going to heed Diggle’s advice.
DJ CW
We interrupt this episode for the most meaningless subplot of the season. Thea Queen (Willa Holland) needs a new DJ for her club. And an asshole named Chase (Austin Butler) declares himself the new DJ. Even after Thea dismisses him, Chase waits for Thea’s chosen DJ to flop before presenting himself as her best option. Thea even lets him kiss her…
Holy shit, that was stupid. And I mean “Arrow” Season 1 stupid. I don’t remember the last time I wanted a character off a show so badly.When Cupid figured out that Oliver’s base was at the Verdant nightclub, I was hoping that she’d make Chase one of her victims. But I know that Chase is recurring this season, so we won’t be free of this guy any time soon. Chase is so annoying that he’s almost the male equivalent of Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy).
‘Till Death Do Us Part
One of the more amusing touches in the episode is that Cupid had her own male version of Felicity who correctly deduced where she could find the Arrow. But Cupid killed her “Male-icity” before she could get her own Diggle and her own Roy (Colton Haynes), Maybe next time.
On the advice of Cupid’s therapist, Oliver tries to be honest with her about having no romantic feelings for her or anyone else. Of course, this makes Felicity sad and Cupid angry. Cupid chains Oliver to a subway track and she nearly gets them both killed before he breaks his hand to escape the cuffs and saves her life.
Cupid takes that as the ultimate sign of Oliver’s love… so he dumps her off with A.R.G.U.S. and the Suicide Squad, which pretty much guarantees that we’ll see her again.
Katana Time
For the Hong Kong flashbacks, Oliver teams up with Tatsu Yamashiro (Rila Fukushima) when her husband, Maseo Yamashiro (Karl Yune) goes missing. Despite Tatsu’s stated hatred of Oliver, she breaks out her sword when Oliver is getting his ass kicked by random gangsters at the dock. But the leader of the gangsters soon tells them that three A.R.G.U.S. agents were killed that night, which leads them to believe that Maseo is dead.
But before Oliver can even think about hooking up with the dead man’s wife, Maseo turns up alive. This leaves Oliver with nothing to do but take out the garbage and maybe do his laundry.
Up and Atom
During the business dinner, Felicity speaks glowingly about Ray’s vision and seals the deal. Later, he kisses her before apologizing for not keeping things platonic. But with his latest acquisition, Ray is one step closer to his endgame. And for the first time, we get a glimpse of his Atom costume.
Meanwhile, there’s a new villain in town… and it’s Captain Boomerang?! As played by yet another former “Spartacus” actor, Nick Tarabay. The casting directors of “Arrow” must have that show on a continuous loop…
That’s it for “Arrow” as it heads into next month’s crossover with “The Flash.” Share your thoughts on this week’s episode in the comment section below!
