Arrow S2 E9 - 'Three Ghosts' Review

Get Up and Fight Back.
Arrow's series 2 mid-season finale packed one hell of a punch. With insane revelations, emotional encounters and shocking twists in both the past and present, 'Three Ghosts' really delivers as Arrow heads off on its Christmas break.
Following his injury sustained last week, the show-runners chose to use Barry to help Oliver get back up on his feet as fast as he went down. Unfortunately, our hero begins to suffer from side effects as he sees hallucinations from his past including Shado, Slade and Tommy. Shado represented Oliver's past fear and how easily he would give up; Slade represented his current fears that he is not a hero and isn't good enough; whilst Tommy confirmed what we as a viewer know about his future - he will become a hero and do good, as that is who he is. It's an interesting spin on a Christmas Carol which works well in the context and provides some surprisingly emotional moments, particularly with Tommy.
With the Arrow out of action, Quentin and the SCPD are sent in to take out Cyrus Gold a.k.a. the Acolyte, but officer Daily is secretly working for Brother Blood and informs Gold. The Acolyte is then treated to a destructive scene in which he obliterates the police and murders Quentin's close friend since season 1 Lucas Hilton, who has been a recurring character that I will be sorry to see go. The murders were brutal and continued to emphasise the danger Mirakuru poses to society.
The Arrow finally got to come face to face with Brother Blood at the end of the  episode, during which Sebastian injects Roy with Mirakuru thus setting him on a path to becoming Arsenal. Arrow's defeat of Gold is satisfying and frustratingly, Blood escapes.
Barry Allen continues to play a bit-part in this episode, helping out Team Arrow and continuing to grow closer to Felicity. Ultimately, the payoff for his introduction comes at the end of the finale, when he gets struck by that fateful lightning bolt.
Aside from these key events, there are a multitude of great moments and shocking twists in this episode; Shado is killed by Ivo in the flashbacks, whilst Slade (thought dead) comes back to life with super-strength; Blood decides to run for mayor in the closing moments of the episode; the Flash is born when the particle accelerator explodes and Barry is struck by lightning; and of course the biggest reveal, SLADE IS STILL ALIVE!!
Yes, Slade Wilson is revealed to be the mastermind behind the Hoods and Brother Blood and the fearsome villain declares his intention to launch a campaign of terror against Oliver Queen. What follows is a brilliant montage as we learn of the true extent of Deathstroke's hatred towards his former friend. We see this linked with his discovery of Shado's corpse in the flashbacks, when the assassin cries out in agony over her death. Clearly the two are linked and it's easy to assume that perhaps Shado's death is what will drive Slade and Oliver apart.
Overall, this episode was very eventful and revealed much whilst also leaving many questions unanswered. A great way to end the first half of the season, 'Three Ghosts' sets the standard for mid-season finales in spectacular fashion.

STARRING: The Acolyte, Brother Blood, Barry Allen

AWESOME MOMENTS:

• That dramatic moment where Oliver chose Sara over Shado was mad! A moment that lives long in the memory of Arrow fans.
• Loved seeing Barry geek out over the Arrow's villain roster, name-dropping the Dollmaker, Count Vertigo, Dodger and the Huntress
• Solomon Grundy references were much appreciated, although a little on the nose how Gold happened to have the poem out on his desk let's be real!
• We get a subtle reference to Iris when Barry mentions how he knows how it feels to love someone and they not feel the same
• Also, Harrison Wells is mentioned for the first time!!
• Slade's ghost appearance was creepy as HELL and he was just so perfectly angry and intense
• LUCAS NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
• Seeing Blood getting chummy with Laurel whilst he ordered her dad's death was pretty chilling
• Tommy's return was insane!! MY GUY!
• Slade punching that guy's heart out of his chest was like something out of a zombie film and I'm ALL for it
• Bye-bye grease paint, helloo microfiber mask!!!

EASTER EGGS:

- Cyrus Gold is the civilian name of a popular DC villain, Solomon Grundy

- Near the end of the episode, Diggle asks Oliver about Cyrus Gold's whereabouts, to which Oliver responds "Died on Saturday, buried on Sunday." This alludes to the "Tale of Solomon Grundy," whose real name was Cyrus Gold before he died

- During the news broadcast that Barry Allen watches, the reporter notes that her name is Linda Park. Linda would later be recast by Melise and play a love interest for Barry in Season 1 of The Flash (2014)

- This is the episode where Oliver receives his compressible micro fabric mask, custom made by Barry Allen, after Barry points out that grease paint is a poor identity concealer. Oliver's criteria for a mask was one that conforms perfectly to his face and doesn't affect his ability to aim while on the run

- At the end, Barry Allen receives his powers, turning him into The Flash

- When Oliver and Felicity argue about her revealing his secret identity to Barry Allen, Felicity asks if he is going to put an arrow in Barry, to which Oliver responds that he is "considering it." In the later The Flash: Flash vs. Arrow (2014), Oliver does in fact put an arrow in Barry during training. This later becomes an on-going joke between the two

- The three "ghosts" who appear to Oliver are a reference to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. In following this, Shado is that of the past, with Slade representing Oliver's current self doubts, and Tommy finally offering redemption and a future for Oliver

- Slade in the present day appears for the first time with an eye patch and greying hair, both elements which are typical of his character in the comics and most adaptations

- In one of the relatively few direct references to her Judaism, when Barry asks what Felicity will be doing for Christmas she replies, "Lighting my menorah"
- The rat poison Barry uses to save Oliver is probably named after Bridget McGuire, Arrow's art director
- elicity spots Cyrus Gold at the corner of Delgado and 25th.  Edgar Delgado is a well known comics colorist, whose worked for both DC and Marvel
- Diggle investigates Gold's room at the Hotel Patricia.  That's a possible reference to Patricia Murray, the head makeup artist on Arrow
- Officer Jones - The female officer who participated in Lance's ill-fated police raid actually appeared in last week's episode as a background character
- Cyrus Gold's face is all disfigured during his (presumed) death.  It's a pretty heavy handed wink to Gold's transformation into the zombie-like Solomon Grundy, especially with the lighting giving his face a very pale complexion
- In the comics, Slade lost his eye after his wife shot him in the face.  Oliver reaggrevated the injury years later after he stabbed Deathstroke in the eye socket during a fight against the Justice League, which ignited a long feud between the two characters
- On Barry's Board of Weird, there's an article about his mother's murder written by Evan Gibson.  In the comics, Evan Gibson is a reporter for the Star City Gazette and ally of Green Arrow
- The box containing Ollie's mask is wrapped with a copy of the Central City Tribune, with a headline mentioning a series of arsons in the city.  This is probably a reference to Heat Wave, a longtime Flash Rogue who's also a pyromaniac

RATING: 9/10