By Olympus Athens
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Thursday, February 16th, 2017 at 6:00 pm
Arrow Season 5 Episode 13: “Spectre of the Gun”
Directed by Kristin Windell
Written by Marc Guggenheim
Created by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg
Starring Stephen Amell, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Emily Bett Rickards, Echo Kellum, Paul Blackthorne, Josh Segarra, Rick Gonzalez, Joe Dinicol The CW
Air Date: Wednesday, February 15th, 2016, 8:00pm
Last week on Arrow, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) went back to Russia and back to Bratva, after word came through that General Walker (Garry Chalk) escaped, and is selling a nuke to Russia. He and the gang (sans Wild Dog) went to stop that madness, with Rory (Joe Dinicol) stopping a nuclear blast with his rags. He went away because they were broken after that. Oliver’s new sleeping buddy was a spy, unbeknownst to him. Lance (Paul Blackthorne came back, and Wild Dog (Rick Gonzalez) stayed behind to babysit and inspire him. Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) continued with her “hack-tivist” ways.
Spoilers below.
Arrow 5.13 “Spectre of the Gun” review: Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) is staying at H.I.V.E. She talks to Diggle (David Ramsey) about normal and not normal. She takes his advice and gets an apartment and a job with the SCPD.
Oliver is impressed with Felicity’s work. Look out, Oliver. An episode is coming up dealing with goth Felicity.
Thea (Willa Holland) is back. “I never should have left.” Oliver is getting serious about Susan? No, no, no, no, no, no.
An ominous guy gets off the elevator – shooter in the building. Why are there no metal detectors? The DA is shot. He’s okay though. I really like him, so I’m glad he’s not dead. Lance is blaming himself because of his past experience. The DA thinks it’s mafia related. The Green Arrow finds out it’s not true, and Vigilante kills the mafia guy… because reasons.
Rene has a flashback of his former life. He asks his wife if she’s using again. He knows she is. Either the drugs go or she does. Curtis (Echo Kellum) and Rene (on opposite sides of the gun issue) get a lead and we see the end of Rene’s sad story. His wife died by a stray bullet. His daughter is now in foster care, but Curtis is going to help him get her back. This arc gives us a really good glimpse into Wild Dog’s attitude and motivations.
The Arrow gang are having a gun control/ violence debate. The shooter was a guy who lost his whole family and then a gun control measure did not pass.
Oliver holds a press conference. He is asked his position on gun control. He wavers. He is not sure.
Lance: “This is a problem the Green Arrow can’t solve.” Oliver calls for all the political players involved in the last administration. He meets with the lady who killed the last ordinance, but is interrupted by the location of the shooter. They know he’s at Starling General. Oliver talks him down. He is a hero without the outfit and arrows.
Oliver, Rene, and the councilwoman comes together for a bipartisan ordinance on gun control. Can our current administration take a page out of their book?
Kudos to Arrow for touching on this very sensitive subject in this political climate. And to the writers and Amell for conveying the conflicted feelings with that much realism. I felt from him what I feel inside. I do think every person has the right to bear arms, except for the mentally ill or criminal. However, that also wars with my feeling that I do not want hot-tempered people to carry and point a gun at my kids because of a small annoying offense. But that feeling conflicts with the freedoms I think people should have.
Arrow airs Wednesday nights at 8:00pm on The CW.
The CW’s synopsis:
Arrow: Spectre of the Gun (Ep# 513)
WILD DOG’S HISTORY IS REVEALED — A traumatic attack on City Hall triggers painful memories for Rene (Rick Gonzalez) about his family. Flashbacks reveal how Rene went from simple family man to a hero named Wild Dog. Meanwhile, Oliver (Stephen Amell) must deal with the perpetrator behind the attack and realizes the best way to do so is as Mayor Queen instead of the Green Arrow. Tensions run high in the Arrow bunker. Kristin Windell directed the episode written by Marc Guggenheim (#513). Original airdate 2/15/2017.
I watched this show, wondering if the liberals were going to try to push their anti-gun agenda or if the right-to-bear-arms side would be upheld. The treatment of the subject matter was well-balanced. I was especially impressed with how Curtis handled the “discussion of ideas” segment of the show. He’s right: part of the problem is that as a people, we hardly ever just discuss our points of view anymore. We argue and fight and point fingers and shout recriminations at the other side. What happened to debate and discussion? Why can’t we seem to do that anymore? I’ve invited people of differing backgrounds and philosophies to engage in conversation, but too many are either afraid or feel so strongly about their preciously held beliefs that they won’t hear another opinion. That is truly sad. How can we get to know each other if we never share ideas?
Anyway, this was a very well-done treatment of the gun debate and I was very happy to see it end the way it did. It was a coming together of ideas that answered the concerns of both sides in a very strong way. The show also brought out the fact that the “bad guys” are always going to have guns; really powerful, destructive guns. And in order to protect ourselves from the bad guys, we law-abiding citizens need to be prepared to use legally obtained guns in our own defense. It’s life now. And it’s not going to get any better. Bad guys will be around until the end of time. We can either cowar and shake in our boots, or take action to protect and defend our homes, our property and our families. I’m for the latter of those two choices.
Comment by Jake Huff — February 17, 2017 @ 1:53 pm
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I watched this show, wondering if the liberals were going to try to push their anti-gun agenda or if the right-to-bear-arms side would be upheld. The treatment of the subject matter was well-balanced. I was especially impressed with how Curtis handled the “discussion of ideas” segment of the show. He’s right: part of the problem is that as a people, we hardly ever just discuss our points of view anymore. We argue and fight and point fingers and shout recriminations at the other side. What happened to debate and discussion? Why can’t we seem to do that anymore? I’ve invited people of differing backgrounds and philosophies to engage in conversation, but too many are either afraid or feel so strongly about their preciously held beliefs that they won’t hear another opinion. That is truly sad. How can we get to know each other if we never share ideas?
Anyway, this was a very well-done treatment of the gun debate and I was very happy to see it end the way it did. It was a coming together of ideas that answered the concerns of both sides in a very strong way. The show also brought out the fact that the “bad guys” are always going to have guns; really powerful, destructive guns. And in order to protect ourselves from the bad guys, we law-abiding citizens need to be prepared to use legally obtained guns in our own defense. It’s life now. And it’s not going to get any better. Bad guys will be around until the end of time. We can either cowar and shake in our boots, or take action to protect and defend our homes, our property and our families. I’m for the latter of those two choices.
Comment by Jake Huff — February 17, 2017 @ 1:53 pm