‘Arrow’ Episode 3.21 “Al Sah-him” (7 out of 10) Starring Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Emily Bett Rickards, Paul Blackthorne. Guest Starring Katrina Law, Matt Nable, Colton Haynes. First aired April 29, 2015.
Training montage, training montage, training montage. Also, training montage. That’s how this episode starts, with Oliver being trained by Ra’s Al Ghul to leave the final vestiges of his former life behind, and truly become Al Sah-him, the Arrow, the Heir to the Demon. We know the training lasts at least three weeks (referenced by Ra’s), but it could be even more than that. Over that period of time, Oliver’s essentially brainwashed, shedding his own personality and persona. There are a few final loose threads to tie up, a few more trials to undergo before he can become the next Ra’s Al Ghul.
First up, eliminate any other heirs who might be vying for the throne. In this case, that’d be Nyssa Al Ghul. This Daughter to the Demon has been around since Season Two, and has gone from being a character who I could take or leave to one I really like. She’s compelling in or out of costume, and we even get to see her crack a smile in this episode, as she’s taught to dip french fries in her milkshake like all the cool kids do. It’s Laurel who teaches her, and the two make a good pair. For a few minutes. Nyssa’s been training Laurel to be a better Black Canary, and Laurel training Nyssa to be a better human. Both are improved by these scenes in the episode. If “The Flash” has taught us anything, it’s that people like to see their heroes crack a smile now and then. It was good to see that here. But hey, Nyssa’s a contender to take Ra’s Al Ghul’s place…so that milkshake’s gotta come to an end.
That milkshake’s gotta come to an end
To eliminate Nyssa, Al Sah-him (which is how I’ll refer to Oliver for the rest of this review) returns to Starling City, fighting against former allies John Diggle and Black Canary to get her. After a few rooftop battles, and Team Arrow realizing Oliver is lost for good (cue Felicitears…they need to stop that…mopey Felicity is the worst Felicity as a friend told me last night), Al Sah-him ups the ante further. He crosses some lines, breaks into John and Lyla Diggle’s place, and kidnaps Lyla. He leaves baby Sara untouched (thank you, writers), but brings Diggle’s wife back to the Starling City warehouse where Ra’s had set up camp. With those enormous brazier torches we see all over Nanda Parbat. Seriously, those are pretty huge to be bringing through customs and stuff. But hey. it brings a little bit of the Himalayas home. I guess. Eventually Nyssa agrees to trade her life for Lyla’s, and she returns home to Daddy with Al Sah-him.
The final steps in Al Sah-him’s ascension to Ra’s Al Ghul’s throne are now to marry Ra’s daughter (Al Sah-him is stopped from killing her at the last moment), and to destroy his old home, using the Alpha/Omega Virus from the flashbacks on Starling City. Oliver Queen would have problems doing both of those things — will Al Sah-him? Nyssa doesn’t look too excited about marrying him, and it seemed to give him a Felicity-inspired pang too. We’ll find out soon enough.
Diggle emerges as a strong leader
Some things that stood out in this episode: with Oliver gone, Diggle really does emerge as a strong leader. We’ve seen that several times this season, but this was a particularly strong episode for him. His leadership in the field (stopping Felicity short when she suggests a costume for him)(dammit), his mad fighting skills, his rage when he realizes Al Sah-him has taken his wife.
We finally see Black Canary use the “canary cry,” an essential part of the character, and an upgraded techno-superpower provided by Cisco Ramon on “The Flash” last week. Black Canary is a favorite character of mine, so seeing her use it was a highlight of the episode for me. I don’t quite get why she needs to open her mouth like she’s actually screaming to trigger the device that’s on her neck like a choker, but it looked comic book accurate, and it shattered some windows and stopped Al Sah-Him from killing Nyssa, so sweet. Why she didn’t use it in a fight later in the episode, I’m not sure. Still. Canary cry hooooo!
Thea is given the chance to take control of her destiny in a few different ways. Felicity tells her after more than a month has passed, that Roy Harper is still alive, and gives her his contact information. She can go and find him, and start a new life with him. She also puts on her own hooded costume for the first time, stopping Al Sah-Him at a pivotal moment, seemingly the only one who can reach him. So Speedy finally becomes Speedy, and the Green Arrow family is complete. I assume we’re going to see a lot more of her archering next season.
Speaking of next season, we get our first mention of Damien Darhk (yes, that’s how it’s spelled, and yes, I hate how it’s spelled), who on “Arrow” was evidently Ra’s Al Ghul’s own rival for the throne. When Ra’s was unable to kill him, Damien took his own supply of Lazarus Pit Juice and left Nanda Parbat. He’s out there, and he’s connected with H.I.V.E., the organization that paid Deadshot to kill Andy Diggle, John’s brother. They’ve been referenced a few times this season, but it looks like Darhk and H.I.V.E. might be the Big Bad for Season Four. I’m okay with that, but not knowing much more than that about Darhk, I hope they make him interesting. And give the H.I.V.E. guys bee outfits. Yeah. Beeeees.
In all this was a solid entry that moved the pieces into position for the final two episodes of the season. Not my favorite episode, but a tighter story than the last several.
Next week’s trailer shows us the Arrow-less Team Arrow in a showdown against the League of Assassins, including Katana, the first time we’ve seen Tatsu Yamashiro in her comic book costume. It’s another geeky moment I’ve been waiting for this entire damn season, and I’m hoping she becomes a recurring character, either on “Arrow” or the new Flash/Arrow Spinoff series. She’s been the strongest part of the otherwise painful flashbacks this season, and bringing her into conflict with Maseo is just what we needed. Don’t kill her off.
Two episodes to go this season — finish strong, Arrow. Finish strong.