Nocking Point: Arrow, Episode 507, "Vigilante"

FTC Statement: Reviewers are frequently provided by the publisher/production company with a copy of the material being reviewed.The opinions published are solely those of the respective reviewers and may not reflect the opinions of CriticalBlast.com or its management.

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. (This is a legal requirement, as apparently some sites advertise for Amazon for free. Yes, that's sarcasm.)

Submitted by RJ Carter on Thu, 11/17/2016 - 08:41

There's a new vigilante in Star City, and he plays for keeps, dropping off bodies at the local police station and marking them with a 'V'. This is the Vigilante I've been waiting for this season, and I am curious as to how the writers are going to handle him. After all, he kills and the Green Arrow (STEPHEN AMELL) doesn't. Anymore. He's really sorry about those past murders he committed as The Hood and later The Arrow, but he's making up for it now without serving any time.

In the DC Universe of comics, this incarnation of the Vigilante character started out as Adrian Chase -- played in ARROW by JOSH SEGARRA -- a frustrated district attorney who, working with Robin and the New Teen Titans, managed to finally put away a mob boss, only to return home in time to see it get blown up with his family inside. This turned him to seek out those that the law let get away on technicalities, the guilty whom the system could not catch. But unlike Batman, the Vigilante rendered his verdicts on the spot. He was DC Comics' version of The Punisher (who was, in fact, Marvel Comics version of Mack Bolan's The Executioner).

We meet the ARROW version of the Vigilante when he goes up against a group of bank robbers who wear Halloween masks. This brings him to the attention of Team Arrow. Oliver decides to focus on finding him (as well as focusing on finding Prometheus, the overarching villain of this season), but Artemis (MADISON MCLAUGHLIN) questions why; after all, he's taking down criminals, and Green Arrow himself employed similar methods in the past. She's basically calling him out on his hypocrisy.

Over at the mayor's office, Deputy Mayor Quentin Lance (PAUL BLACKTHORNE) turns in his resignation to Thea Queen (WILLA HOLLAND). He's still drinking, and he later tells her he's been blacking out and losing chunks of time. And then he relates the scene was saw at the end of last episode, where he wakes up with blood on his hands and a throwing star on his coffee table. He's considering if perhaps he is Prometheus when he's blacked out, which is almost a sure sign that he is not. The smart money is now on Detective Billy Malone (TYLER RITTER), Felicity's (EMILY BETT RICKARDS) new boyfriend. Whenever you get a new civilian character followed up by a mystery villain whom IMDb won't list an actor, you can rest assured the two are the same. (See: Tom Felton's character over in THE FLASH.)

Oliver's partner, John Diggle (DAVID RAMSEY) is getting more and more frustrated, remaining holed up in the Arrowcave because he's technically a fugitive from the law. He's missing his son's second birthday, and he takes it out on the street thugs he and the rest of Team Arrow pressure for information on the leader of the bank robbers, giving concerns to Wild Dog (RICK GONZALEZ) and Mister Terrific (ECHO KELLUM). And when the team decides to flush out the Vigilante by staging their own bank robbery, it sets the stage for a tense confrontation between Arrow and Vigilante that neither one may walk away from.

Things to look for in this episode include: