Thanks to Amazon Instant Video, I'm now caught up on last night's Arrow after CW left some of us without "Time of Death," offering college basketball instead. There's no time for bitter rants about sports infringing on our precious television though, because we have lots of Arrow-focused goodies to show you, but if you are looking for a way to watch "Time of Death," you can find it at Amazon or (eventually) iTunes. Moving on, let's talk about last night's episode (spoiler alert, obviously.) and what's ahead. We also have some new Suicide Squad promotional photos to share. But first: SLADE!
Not Deathstroke yet, really, but that name is actually the title of Episode 18, which is still about a month away. Next Wednesday's episode is titled "The Promise," and Manu Bennett's character just so happened to reference a promise in the preview. But I feel like when he says, "...well, I'm here to fulfill it," he's not saying it in a good way. More in the threatening, vengeance way, right? That's to be assumed, and the preview and previously released episode description do indicate that this promise involves destroying Oliver's family. Because maybe that's the kind of payback Slade thinks is fair after what happened to Shado. The description sheds a bit more light on the situation...
ARROW“The Promise” - (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET) (TV-14, V) (HDTV)THE TURNING POINT — Oliver (Stephen Amell) is shocked when he learns that Slade (Manu Bennett) has come to Starling City. Back on the island, as Oliver, Slade and Sara (Caity Lotz) prepare to take over the freighter from Ivo (guest star Dylan Neal), Sara pulls Oliver aside and tells him he needs to kill Ivo to prevent him from telling Slade what happened with Shado. Oliver feels immense guilt over the situation but realizes Slade’s growing rage from the Mirakuru makes him unpredictable and he could turn on his friends if he thinks Oliver is to blame. Oliver agrees to kill Ivo and the battle begins. Glen Winterdirected the episode written by Jake Coburn & Ben Sokolowski
It seems like this could be the episode where we see Slade learn about what happened to Shado on the island, as that would certainly tie the island story to his official arrival into Oliver's life again in the present day.
The timing for this seems great, especially as we look at last night's episode, which focused mainly on some personal matters in Oliver's life, which played out while the Clock King was exacting mayhem on Starling. He was a great stand-alone villain and it offered a perfect opportunity for the series to air out some issues so we can move on to bigger problems. Laurel and Sara seem ready to move forward, which is good. Oliver is done with Laurel, which let's face it, isn't really news, but at least it's established. And maybe at some point they'll find their way back to one another, if only as friends. And finally, Felicity firmed up her place as Oliver's girl after putting herself in danger and then saving the day (and Sara!). Then she got messed up on "aspirins."
"I mean not your girl, girl. Your girl. I know it sounds like the same word, but it means something different in my head."
We get it, Felicity, and we adore you. Also, the jacket.
She's the best.
Ok, let's move on to Suicide Squad. Like "Deathstroke," "Suicide Squad" is also the name of an upcoming episode, and in the case of this one, it's coming a lot sooner. CW has it on the schedule for March 19 (which means another break between episodes after next week's "The Promise," but only one week off).
We saw the group shot of the team last week....
And now we have close-ups of each individual member.
First up, we have the lovely Cynthia Addai-Robinson -- known to Spartacus fans as Naevia, eventual warrior and the love of Crixus' life -- as Amanda Waller:
And here's Michael Jai White as Ben Turner (AKA Bronze Tiger). Dig the claws!
Slade's not the only one with an eye patch! Michael Rowe is here as Floyd Lawton (AKA Deadshot):
I'm assuming depth perception isn't a problem for him?
Moving on, we have Sean Maher as Mark Scheffer (AKA Shrapnel):
Audrey Marie Anderson's Lyla Michaels and David Ramsey's Diggle aren't among the solo promotional stills, but they're included in the bigger group photo.
