Arrow “Three Ghosts” Review

This was my second episode of Arrow. There are spoilers behind the cut.

Well, it was definitely interesting. For Flash watchers, most of the episode is light on Barry — he does play an integral role in saving Oliver’s life, but otherwise doesn’t do much until the end. However, the ending is pretty exciting. There’s a cameo by Linda Park as a TV news reporter, and Barry returns to his lab in Central City in time for the S.T.A.R. Labs test. We see his bulletin board with news clippings and a timeline about the death of his mother (I was psyched to see they actually named her as Nora). And then there’s the lab accident, caused by the storm and explosion of the S.TA.R. Labs particle accelerator. Barry is last seen unconscious on the floor, a spark of power traveling through his body.

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I was pretty excited to see that, because I wasn’t sure if the accident was going to happen in the episode or not. My spouse (not really a Flash fan) watched the episodes with me, and had been complaining earlier about Barry not having the accident; I admitted I didn’t know if it was going to happen here and he grumbled that he wouldn’t have watched if he’d known it wouldn’t happen. So we were both rather thrilled to see that it did. Thematically it makes sense to save it until the very end, because it first introduces Barry to people unfamiliar with him, and keeps longtime fans waiting on edge for it! It really does feel more exciting to be forced to wait, so I suppose the scriptwriters knew what they were doing.

As for the ongoing plot in the rest of the episode, it was interesting but not deeply engaging to a new viewer like myself. I’m still a bit lost in places, although at least I can mostly follow it. For example, my spouse and I had a debate about whether the cop’s daughter was a cop herself, but that doesn’t seem to be essential knowledge. We wondered if the masked guy administering the drug to Roy was supposed to be Scarecrow because of his mask, but eventually decided he was Brother Blood. I don’t know if I’ll keep watching the show after Barry’s no longer in it, but I suppose I’ll give it a try (it would be nice if he made the occasional guest appearance, which perhaps he will. Giving Arrow a super-powered ally would be interesting, since Barry now knows his identity). I’ll definitely watch the Flash series if it goes ahead.

So, overall I enjoyed these two episodes and really like Grant Gustin. His gentle awkward nerdiness was perfect. But I have to admit that Barry was the big draw for me, and don’t know if the show will keep my interest after he’s gone. We’ll see.

What did other people think of these episodes? Are you keen to watch the Flash series?

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13 thoughts on “Arrow “Three Ghosts” Review

  1. KoderKev

    I liked the episode generally, but I thought the “ghosts”/hallucinations were a bit much. Loved the reveal of Barry’s accident, thought not sure why they had to work the particle accelerator into it. Also loved the reveal of Slade Wilson in the present! Nice villain lineup on the show so far, Merlyn, Vertigo,
    Brother Blood, Solomon Grundy, Dr. Ivo, and Deathstroke? I’m in.

    Reply
    1. MisterNefarious

      I haven’t seen the episode yet, but if the particle accelerator was used it’s because since that’s something they can mention repeatedly through the season, it’s not random. We expect something to happen with it.

      It’s just some telegraphing to keep something from being too “act of god”. Makes it easier for people to buy into.

      Did we see him do anything with his powers in the episode?

      Reply
      1. Lia Post author

        Yeah, I’d imagine the particle accelerator will come into play later. It’s clearly a large explosion (Barry sees it from his window) and damages Central City.

        And no, we don’t see any use of his powers in the episode. The accident was in the final scene and he falls unconscious, so the only hint of him getting powers is from the little spark which travels through his body.

        Reply
        1. MisterNefarious

          See, that aggravates me. What I wanted most was to see how they planned on showing his powers visually. Just speeding up a character and adding blur lines doesn’t work (smallvilles version was a joke, IMO).

          I wanna see him lean and time slow and… Things that I imagine they won’t do on a TV show >.>
          Well, hopefully when they get around to the pilot they will be able to make that stuff look as cool as I know they can.

          Mostly I just wanna see their costume concepts. It’s gonna be SOOOO easy to mess up this costume in live action. It’s gotta be Spider-Man tight, it can’t be Arrow baggy.

          Reply
          1. Lia Post author

            I guess I assumed that was an effect for the audience’s sake, so we had a better idea of what was happening, but you could well be right. Unfortunately I don’t have a DVR so haven’t been able to rewatch it yet.

            Reply
              1. Lia Post author

                Was able to rewatch it, and I don’t think it’s really slow motion. The chemicals are rising slowly, but the rain and beakers and lightning are moving at normal speed. Maybe the explosion caused some kind of weak anti-gravity effect?

                Reply
    2. Lia Post author

      Glad you enjoyed it! The ghosts are a bit cliche, but it ties in with the Christmas theme. I guess I’m just happy they didn’t make the story overtly Scrooge-like :>

      Reply
  2. Nick!

    I can see why they didn’t have Barry use his powers. For starters, it probably would have been too much to cram into the episode, but more likely that “Arrow” is fairly grounded (or as grounded as a superhero show can be) and having a guy with speed abilities would somewhat break that “realistic” take.

    Reply

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