When Arrow killed off Church in “Human Target” they were making a big promise. Despite Church’s impressive showing in the first few episodes, Prometheus was going to be an even better and more threatening villain. In “So It Begins” Arrow starts to deliver on that promise by giving us our first proper look at season 5’s Big Bad. While there is much more story to go, Prometheus is already shaping up to be one of the most impressive and personal villains for Oliver and Arrow yet.
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Another Season, Another Killer
Prometheus has graduated from showing up in random alleys threatening and shooting people. Now he is a full-blown serial killer who has a flair for the dramatic and terrifying. It is a credit to Arrow that although the show has seen many deaths before Prometheus, his actions immediately make an impression. The fact that Prometheus is killing people in a domestic setting like inside homes is much more unnerving than the usual street killings of Arrow.
Though Prometheus has an obvious and scary name all his own, Susan Williams dubs him the Throwing Star Killer because he kills people with throwing stars. (Sidenote: Susan Williams is quickly becoming the most annoying character on this show. I have to believe that a professional journalist could come with a better name for a serial killer.) Williams’ report whips the city into a panic. Though Star City seen immortal assassins, powerful magicians and terrorists attack them, a serial killer makes them lose it. I guess everyone has a breaking point.
Curtis and Felicity work together and realize that Prometheus’s random killings actually aren’t random at all. The names of victims are anagrams of the people that were on Oliver’s list back in season 1. This leads the recruits to finding out that Oliver kind of used to be a serial killer. They don’t take the news too well. This is an interesting position for Arrow to put itself in especially in season 5.
Evelyn Comes into Sharper Focus
While it’s true that Oliver killing people has always been a part of the show and a reason for his personal growth, never has Arrow been so harsh to call Oliver a serial killer before, but it’s not exactly an incorrect definition. Evelyn takes the news especially hard since when she first met Ollie in season 5, he stopped her from killing Ruve Darhk because it would tarnish the legacy of the Black Canary.
“So It Begins” then becomes a sort of Artemis-centric episode, which is nice because Evelyn needed some identity besides being “the girl.” The episode doesn’t go into any great lengths to explain why Evelyn wears eye-shadow in the shape of a mask as a part of her vigilante outfit rather than just an actual mask. It does do wonders to explain what makes Evelyn tick though. Unlike her introductory episode, Madison McLaughlin is not overwrought and melodramatic either. She is relatable and sympathetic playing Evelyn’s anger at Oliie, instantly shooting up to the one of the most likable characters among the recruits.
Evelyn realizes that Oliver was right about not letting her kill Ruve but she wants Oliver to be honest. Evelyn wants to save the city because her parents died in Damien Darhk’s crusade. How can she trust someone like Oliver who is just a secretive and proven killer? Evelyn’s mistrust of Oliver comes to head when she is forced to go back into action to save another of Prometheus’ potential victims.
Evelyn is hopelessly outmatched by Prometheus and it is up to Ollie to save her. Oliver, luckily, does and this is apparently enough for them to come over their differences. It is a little bit quick and in honesty, Evelyn’s anger should have lasted a little bit more. Still, despite Oliver’s past, he is a changed man. Arrow probably shouldn’t spend too much time reminding us of the hero could be defined as a serial killer…
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Flashback Break
Believe it or not, there is actually a little more of this episode to go but first we have to do a very quick flashback break. For the first time in season 5, the flashback story really falters. There is nothing here that connects to the present day storyline except that we finally meet the main villain of the Russian storyline. The rival Bratva captain that Oliver is looking to defeat, Konstantin Kovar, introduces himself to Oliver in the most monologuey and supervillainy way. It’s really paint by numbers, but Kovar is played by Dolph Lungren. If we learned nothing else from Rocky IV, Lungren makes for one terrifying Russian.
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Prometheus Unmasked?
It turns out that Arrow isn’t done pulling the curtain back on the villains in the episode. Felicity analyzes one of Prometheus’s throwing stars. It turns out that the throwing stars are made from arrows that Oliver has used in the past. Prometheus is melting down Oliver’s old weapons and creating new ones. Since the only person who would have access to those arrow would be someone with connections to the SCPD, that narrows the list of suspects to Prometheus’ true identity considerably.
Across town a former SCPD police captain, Quentin Lance, wakes up from a supposedly drunken stupor. Confused, Quentin looks over to his arm which is slashed in the exact same place that Prometheus’s arm was cut during his earlier fight with Oliver. One of Prometheus’s throwing stars is also lying directly on Quentin’s living room table. Really, all he is missing is the outfit and voice changer. Is Quentin actually Prometheus?!
So what do you think? Did Arrow just reveal the identity of Prometheus? Is it a trick? How could Quentin have turned evil? Is Quentin evil? Would you happy if Quentin did turn out to be Prometheus? Do you have any other theories for what could be going on?
Arrow season 5 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW. Want more news? Like our Arrow Facebook page for the latest updates!
(Image courtesy of The CW)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
