Arrow S1 E13 - 'Betrayal' Review


Moira Queen, You Have Failed This City.
'Betrayal' is a needed injection of adrenaline in the middle of Arrow's first season. In this episode, Oliver finally learns the truth about his mother's deception and his dramatic final line is a great cliffhanger as the Hood confronts Moira. Moira's sneaking around had grown stale, so it is nice to finally move forward in the Undertaking story line.
In the past, we are introduced to Slade Wilson for the first time, an excellent character who will go on to play a big part in the Hood's origin. We see him begin to train Oliver and the seeds of Deathstroke are sown in Slade's own origin story.
Back in the present day, it was a nice twist to see the Hood teaming up with Quentin to take down Cyrus Vanch. Vanch himself was a very dull villain-of-the-week who posed little to no threat, proving the low point of the episode.
Apart from that, 'Betrayal' is a generally interesting mid-season episode that finally put the pressure back on in terms of the Undertaking and Moira's lies.

 STARRING: Slade Wilson, Cyrus Vanch

 EASTER EGGS:
- The meeting spot for Laurel and the Hood, the Winick building, is named after writer Judd Winick who wrote issues of Green Arrow from 2003-2009
- Wolfman and Perez Lawfirm is a direct reference to Marv Wolfman and George Perez, who worked on the creation of Slade Wilson (known as Deathstroke) in New Teen Titans #2
- Malcolm's office door reads "Faquet-Lemaitre Consulting" - a reference to Dominique Fauquet-Lemaitre set decorator on Arrow
- Slade Wilson says that he works for an Australian intelligence organization. Manu Bennett , who plays Slade, was actually born in New Zealand, though he has lived in Australia
- First appearance of Slade Wilson who will go on to adopt the mantle of the second Deathstroke, the main villain of season 2
- First specific mention of "The Undertaking"; previously, it was only mentioned as "plans". It will become the main arc focus of the remainder of the season
- This is the last episode of Arrow to not feature Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak. Starting with the next episode, "The Odyssey", she appears in every episode of the series from then on
- This episode marks the first time Oliver ran out of arrows during a fight. This would happen again in Season 4's "Brotherhood" and The Flash episode "Invasion!"

 RATING: 7.8/10

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