Arrow Season 2, Episode 13 “Heir to the Demon”
Written by Jake Coburn
Directed by Wendey Stanzler
Airs Wednesday nights at 8pm ET on The CW
There are a few things Arrow is very good at: often, emoting is not one of them. Often, Arrow runs into trouble when life gets dramatic away from the spandex suits and explosions, struggling to convey feelings and motives in ways beyond tears and the CW’s signature overwrought tendencies, meant to draw in the youthful, dramatic audience. And there are definitely times where “Heir to the Demon” struggles from this, be it with the Baby Daddy drama in the Queen family, or the very messy reunions Sarah throws herself into to save her family. However, “Heir to the Demon” is much more than melodramatics and crocodile tears: it is a manifestation of the many shadows hanging over Starling City and the world of Arrow – and most importantly, how damaging these secrets can be, the deeper we try to bury them.
It’s all catalyzed by the arrival of Nyssa al Ghul (played by the always striking Kristina Law), Sarah’s former lover and daughter to Ra’s al Ghul, the dark figure behind the League of Assassins that trained (and now actively hunts) Sara Lance, after whatever fallout occurs between her, Oliver, and Dr. Ivo on the island (we can presume). Nyssa’s arrival brings the biggest secret in the Lance family to light, especially after Nyssa has Laurel poisoned (thus saving her and us from all those annoying “Laurel, you’re an alcoholic” bits) and then takes Dinah hostage, turning Sara’s biggest fears (her family being put in danger) into a terrifying reality.
Now, some of “Heir to the Demon” gets bogged down by the Nyssa/Sara connection: while some might view it as “progressive” or “edgy” to make Sara a sometimes-lesbian, their failed romance doesn’t add a lot of compelling material to the story. For all we’ve seen, Nyssa’s unflinching attraction to Sara is pretty one-sided (especially once the episode reaches its sweaty, semi-naked conclusion), and it makes her mission to Starling City much more muddled than it needed to be. Sara’s put her entire family in danger – except she really hasn’t, Nyssa only returning to scare Sara into returning to her and the League of Assassins. Shit, all it takes is one sentence for Nyssa to release Sara from her contract with the League – which feels like a cop out to preserve the larger, overarching story, but stands out like a sore thumb in the moment it happens. Sar hugs her mother… and Nyssa all of a sudden is ready to abandon her crusade for personal and professional retribution?
Surprisingly, where “Heir to the Demon” grounds the Sara story is with her sister Laurel – who is FINALLY useful for something besides getting wasted and drawing all the attention in the room towards her. With the return of Sara, all that attention is all but gone – it’s all about Sara again, her dangerous missions and “need” to protect her family threatening to fracture the Lance family even further (that, or just eliminate it, depending on how pissed of Ra’s is about the bad news). And for once in her life, Laurel’s not having it, pointing out to everyone the obvious bit they’ve all forgotten: Sara leaving with Oliver on the Queen’s Gambit that fateful night changed everything for the Lance family (as it threatens to once again, since Sara RUNS DIRECTLY BACK TO Oliver after hearing her sister’s feelings about it). It turned Quentin into an alcoholic, and revealed to Laurel the horrible truth underlying her sister’s death. Sara’s death is not just some terrible memory for Laurel: it represents both the death of a sibling, and a betrayal by the person she trusts the most (as we see when Sara pries into the state of their pre-boat crash relationship in one of the episode’s flashbacks).
Of course, nothing makes people on Arrow angrier than secret sexual escapades – even Oliver the playboy, who condemns his mother for not telling anyone that Thea is the result of her affair with Malcolm Merlyn (damn it Felicity, you really can’t keep your mouth shut!). Not only does he condemn her, but he promises to ignore her in their “private” lives – which of course, is the least amount of time we spend with any of these characters – though continuing to support her in her still-inexplicable run for mayor of Starling City (which means he has to pull support from Blood, which he does in almost cringe-worthy fashion, ignoring him then passively informing him over the phone… not very hero-ish, Ollie). For a guy who has done plenty of family-destroying and cheating on his own, he’s awful quick to pass judgment on his mother, a woman who can’t seem to decide whether she wants to embrace the good within herself, or allow the corrupt political machine to fully transform her into the evil subordinate to Ra’s and the League (remember, she is the one who ratted out Malcolm’s return… and does threaten the hell out of Felicity when she confronts her about paying off Thea’s doctor with Tempest money).
Is Oliver’s new found nobility being overrun by hubris? “Heir” doesn’t seem to suggest anything in either direction, instead playing the superficial nature of the dramas it constructs throughout the episode. Arrow hasn’t shied away from judging its hero before, and it seems odd it doesn’t at all throughout “Heir”, even as it allows other characters to pass judgment on Moira – and by the same token, Sara, whose contradictory words and actions make her the costumed surrogate to Moira’s pant suit-based moral ambiguity. It’s a very odd choice: one somewhat alleviated by letting the show’s weakest character cut through the bullshit to the heart of Sara’s story: that her nobility is indeed self-centered, destroying a family then returning five years later to put them all in danger again. Arrow tries to pass the same judgment on Moira through Oliver, but as a much less compromised character morally, Laurel’s able to bring truth to her exchange with Sara that Oliver’s doesn’t with his mother, making it a much more effective dramatic resolution to the events of the episode.
For all its confusing motivations and silly sexual dramatics, “Heir to the Demon” manages to keep things entertaining with teases of Ra’s al Ghul (you think this “forgiveness” is going to go over well?) and Slade (not in the Deathstroke suit this time) casting ominous shadows over the closing moments of the hour. It doesn’t quite succeed in expanding the mythology of Sara – but in the coming weeks, her regular presence in the Arrow world gives plenty of time to rectify that. Most importantly, “Heir” manages to make Laurel a human character again, if only for a few brief moments: that alone makes the hour worth watching, a nice restitution for the painfully written (and acted) scenes that preceded her explosion at the end of this hour.
Other thoughts/observations:
– Oliver’s mysterious cloth bag… holds a secret poison cure, of course. I’m sure we’ll see more of this later, when Sara gets infected for the first time.
– speaking of Sara infecting herself: anybody else read that as a tease for her death (possibly later this season)? It does appear Sara’s dedication to her family (in non-Oliver related matters, of course) is reckless enough to become her undoing.
– totally forgot Walter used to be Felicity’s boss; their little exchange in Queen Consolidated was a highlight of the hour.
– where you at, Roy?
– SARA ON THE SALMON LADDER.
– Felicity, to Moira: “Full disclosure… I don’t trust you.”
– great bow-and-arrow battle between Nyssa and Oliver in this episode. I understand why they keep most of it in the shadows (arrow CGI ain’t free, dawg!), but director Wendey Stanzler does a fantastic job shooting the scenes to keep their exchanges coherent. All the fight staging on this show is terrific, but the technical mastery is really on display in those fight scenes by the docks.
– the frustrated scream of the Black Canary was nailed by Caity Lotz.