Arrow S2 E14 - 'Time of Death' Review

Tempus Fugit.
The Clock King takes on Team Arrow this week as Sara adjusts to returning from the dead and Laurel comes to terms with her pain.
William Tockman takes centre stage as villain of the week, putting together daring heights which rely on precision timing. His intellect is his strength and we see this in his countering of Felicity's hacks. The Clock King, as the media calls him, reminded me a lot of the Riddler from the Arkham games, in that we often saw just glimpses of him sitting behind screens and taunting our heroes, but I mean this as a compliment as personally I really enjoyed Robert Knepper's performance.
The Lance's feature for much of this week's episode, with Quentin continuing to prove why he is the best character in the Arrowverse as he attempts to reconnect with his ex-wife. There is also a great moment where he apologises to Oliver for being a dick to him for pretty much the entirety of last season (Which was followed by a hilarious uncomfortable silence). Meanwhile, Laurel has a huge outburst to which Oliver finally stands up to her and tells her that he is done caring for her. It's an excellent scene in which both Amell and Cassidy shine. Laurel has finally shaken off her hatred for everything at last, choosing to apologise to Sara and joining Quentin at alcoholics anonymous in a cute moment between father and daughter.
The other major subplot this episode was Felicity's feeling of inferiority, which was supposed to make us empathise with the character but personally I felt more detached from her the more her jealousy was displayed. Either way, by the end of the episode she had come to terms with her insecurities and even took a bullet for Sara in a slightly too on-the-nose moment.
What felt like an ordinary episode was energised by some great revelations in the closing minutes, including one which I completely forgot - Sin is the daughter of the pilot Sara promised to care for! Additionally, the final scene is the dramatic meeting of Slade and Oliver in the present day, which again is a strong moment and a fun cliffhanger.
Overall, 'Time of Death' was better than I expected, with a villain who proved his worth and twists that kept the story interesting.

STARRING: The Clock King

AWESOME MOMENTS:

• "You're lucky your life doesn't revolve around lying" - gave me a chuckle
• Badass moment when the Arrow stops a bus just millimetres from colliding with the train
• Tockman attacking the Arrowcave mixed up the regular formula, which was nice
• That slide attack by the Arrow against the bank robbers was sweet too
• "You will always be my girl Felicity" - Olicity tensions building

EASTER EGGS:

- There's an ad for a Blue Devil movie on the side of the bus that Ollie saves from getting hit by a train.  The Blue Devil is a mystic DC superhero, who originally was a stuntman and special effects guy in Hollywood.  After being cast as the lead role in a Blue Devil movie, Daniel Cassidy creates a full body devil suit with various special effects.  When some of his castmates accidentally release a demon, Cassidy uses the suit to fight the demon, but discovers that the suit has been fused to his body by the demon's mystic energy.  Cassidy becomes a member of the Justice League (where he is killed and resurrected twice) and eventually joins the mystical team Shadowpact.  A new version of the character has appeared in the New 52, but his backstory is presently unknown

- Tockman is mentioned to be suffering from a terminal illness called MacGregor's Syndrome. This fictional disease appeared in the 1997 movie Batman & Robin

- MacGregor's Syndrome was later shown in Season 2 of The Flash with Francine West
- The goon killed by Tockman is named Eddie Walczak.  Katherine Walczak is an assistant to Arrow executive producer Andrew Kreisberg on the show.  She also scripted several issues of the comic tie-in to the show

- Tockman lives on 52 Nelson Way in East Starling City.  DC has a thing for the number 52, and Diane Nelson is the president of DC Entertainment, and oversees all comics, movies and television shows involving the DC characters
- Tockman utters the Latin phrase "Tempus fugit", which means "time flees".  In the DC Animated Universe, the Clock King's name, Temple Fugate, is a play off that phrase.  The second Clock King in the comics was named "Tem", which is a hint that he's also named Temple
- Sara mentions she worked as a bartender for the Oblivion in college.  In the comics, the Oblivion Bar is a bar frequented by mystical characters of the DC Universe.  The bar is located in a pocket dimension, and has entrances scattered throughout the world.  Blue Devil served as a bouncer for the bar, and it later became the base of operations for the mystical team Shadowpact

RATING: 8.4/10