Arrow S1 E21 - 'The Undertaking' Review


You're Going To Be Really Upset When You Meet My Partner.
The Undertaking is almost upon Oliver and Team Arrow and we finally know what Merlyn intends - to level the Glades by creating a natural disaster. It's a typically villainous plot which raised my eyebrows when I first watched season one, but at least the stakes are certainly high. With the earthquake machine rolling in to Starling City at the end of the episode, disaster feels imminent and momentum is definitely building.
Elsewhere, I'm bored of watching Katie Cassidy (Laurel) crying and staring vacantly in every one of her scenes. Tommy leaving her was certainly sad after having seen his character progression pre-discovering-Oliver's-alter-ego, but it's interesting seeing the ex-couple deal with this break-up. Oliver gave a meaningful apology to Diggle at the end of the episode also, which felt emotionally weighted and was well acted by Amell.
Overall, this episode was mainly about all the final secrets being spilled into the open entering the final two episodes. Now, the anticipation has built and the thrilling conclusion of the series feels just around the corner.

 STARRING: Malcolm Merlyn

 EASTER EGGS:
- First episode not to include flashbacks to Oliver's time on the island
- On the Season 1 DVD, the deleted scenes for this episode include a shot of young Thea's bedroom door with a sign revealing her full name as "Thea Dearden Queen". In the comics, Mia Dearden is the name of the second character to take the mantle of Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy
- Moira Queen mentions a "Ted Kord fund-raiser". Ted Kord is the second incarnation of the Blue Beetle in the DC Universe, in which Green Arrow also exists
-----According to Andrew Kreisberg, Kord was intended to appear in the third season but because DC had "other plans" for the character, he was replaced by Ray Palmer/The Atom
- In a flashback scene, Laurel mentions a character named Ray, saying that he "asked Jean to move in with him". This could be a reference to the DC character Ray Palmer, A.K.A The Atom and his former love interest, Jean Loring. It should be noted though, that this reference was obviously made before plans were put in place to introduce Ray Palmer/The Atom in season three, as a character that neither Oliver nor Laurel had met before
- The password Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) has to give before being allowed entry to Dominic Alonzo's (Ray Galletti) illegal card game in Arrow: The Undertaking (2013) is "snapdragon". The Snapdragon is a flower whose shape resembles an arrow
- Malcolm Merlyn references something called "the Markov device". In the DC comics Brion Markov is the prince of the fictional country of Markovia, and the superhero known as Geo-Force, whose powers give him control over Earth forces like gravity and volcanic activity
- The fight scene in the hallway midway through this episode was originally in a movie called The Raid: Redemption (2011)
- The specifics of the "Undertaking" - which has been hinted at all season long - finally are revealed

RATING: 7.5/10

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