Arrow S1 E17 - 'The Huntress Returns' Review


Being Happy isn't What's Important Right Now.
Helena Bertinelli returns as the Huntress in an episode which can be described as distinctly average. Helena already cringed me out the last time we saw her, so I must admit I wasn't eager to see her return, but it is at least a nice continuity from earlier in the season. As she hunts for her father (who is noticeably absent the entire episode, apart from a clearly-a-different-actor shot of 'Bertinelli' running away from the Huntress), she attacks those closest to Oliver, which riles him up and allows us to see an angry, motivated and wild Hood when he attempts to kill Helena at the end. A dark tone which is much appreciated.
Elsewhere, we see both Tommy and Oliver's relationships breaking down as they attempt to keep the Hood a secret. Amell puts in an impressively emotional performance this week as Oliver and admittedly I truly felt for the billionaire playboy when McKenna was shot and announced she was moving to Coast City. Oliver's broken voice after Helena shoots his girlfriend reveals his weakness for McKenna and his subsequent sadness after she leaves is coupled with his alienation from Tommy to produce a feeling of empathy towards the vigilante. Here's hoping the show-runners can maintain this powerful emotional momentum as the show enters the final corner of the season.
Overall, the plot is basic and the side-plot revolving around Dinah claiming Sara is alive feels unnecessary and will hopefully be resolved swiftly. An average episode with more emotional gravitas than it feels it deserves, 'The Huntress Returns' adds little to season one but does much to affect Oliver's emotional turmoil.

 STARRING: The Huntress (Helena Bertinelli)

 EASTER EGGS:
- The name of Oliver's club is Verdant, which means "green with vegetation; covered with green growth", which is befitting as the Hood's outfit is green. The logo also resembles an arrow head
- The outfit Helena Bertinelli/The Huntress wears in the strip club at the beginning is a reference to the costume the character wears in the original comic book
- While at the hospital after saving Thea, Roy Harper mentions how he doesn't like needles. In the comics, however, in 1971 Roy was addicted to heroin and was featured on the cover of "Green Lantern" Vol 2 #85 having just shot up with the needle still laying next to him in an award winning story arc By Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams. Neal Adams also produced the art
- When McKenna Hall is at the hospital, injured by The Huntress, she tells Oliver that she is leaving starling city and moving to coast city to live with her sister. Coast city is the home of silver age version of green lantern, Hal Jordan
- Quentin states that Dinah didn't contact him or Laurel for three years, implying they divorced around 2009
- Diggle is seen looking at an article about the assassination of the Bialyan president, presumably at the hands of Deadshot.  Bialya is a fictional DC country in the Middle East, which has often been led by the villain Queen Bee.  The country was later devastated from an attack by Black Adam, who killed millions of Bialyans in retaliation for the country’s role in the death of his wife and brother-in-law.  The attack directly precipitates “World War III”, in which Black Adam wages a one man world war against DC’s heroes

RATING: 6.9/10

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