By Demi Moumas, Reporter

The last Arrow episode of 2012 goes out with so drama and action, that I had me squirming in my seat. With only nine episodes, the first half of the season showed so much good correlation between the characters and to the comics. I can’t wait until January 16th, when it returns from its holiday siesta to find out how everything comes together even more.

‘Year’s End’ starts out with an old antagonist Adam Hunt, yes we are going back to the beginning. He’s talk on the phone, only to be interrupted and shot with arrows. Now everyone thinks arrows so it has to be Oliver. Well people you would be wrong! This mysterious Dark Archer shoots Hunt with three custom black feathered arrows, killing him. What we see of the Dark Archer is slightly different from the Hood’s silhouette. His hood is different and more molded to his head. He has some kind of large jacket with a large neck that makes him seem bulkier. The jacket also seems to reach down to his mid-thigh. This is different from the short and tight fitted jacket Oliver wears as the Hood. So what does the new vigilante want in Starling city? All I know is, he better watch out because Oliver won’t take kindly to someone in his territory.

Back at what I like to call Hood-base, Oliver and Diggle are sparring. The older man makes a comment on how Oliver is burning through his list pretty fast (three men in one week). Apparently the Hood is getting a reputation that when he appears everyone is scared enough to do whatever he wants. After their spar, Diggle mentions it soon to be Christmas. A bit more of Oliver’s experience is revealed when he explains how he didn’t realize it was so close to the holiday because of it. On the island the days would blend together with only one interest in mind: survive to fight for the next day. I like the relationship that Diggle and Oliver have. In letting Oliver open up to someone who knows his secret, Diggle grounds him to the bit of humanity that he lost on the island. In return, Oliver trains his bodyguard and allows him to be apart of something more than he has ever been since he got out of the service. Their conversation leads to Oliver telling Diggle about how his father would put a Christmas tree in everyone room in the mansion. Diggle suggests Oliver give the list a rest and spend time with his family for the holidays. I mean come on even heroes need holidays.

Oliver goes home to see that no Christmas decorations have been put up. Thea tells him that they just have been too busy, but Oliver’s brotherly senses tell him that’s a lie. He goes to the dinner party that his mother and step-father are hosting with some of the biggest names in Starling City. They are discussing the Hood and his vigilante ways in their city. Malcolm Merlyn, Tommy’s father (John Barrowman, whovians and Torchwood fans rejoice!), mentions how crime is down. Of course crime is down, everyone is afraid of getting targeted with green arrows. The commissioner being ever humble denies it has anything to do with the vigilante and everything to do with his new procedures and whatnot. Frankly, I think he should be grateful that crime is down. Malcolm then turns to Oliver and asks his opinion. In return Oliver, in a moment of funniness, talks about how the Hood needs a new name. Here finally we hear the name we all know and love suggested to Olive by Malcolm: Green Arrow. The younger man immediately shoots it down saying its lame. Despite the rejection, I think it was a genius way to slip in the reference.

Walter steps out to talk on his phone. It is Felicity Smoak, Watch Tower and Oracle eat your hearts out. She tells him that seven of the men on the list have been targeted by the Hood. She also tells him that one of their coworkers at Q-Consolidated might be next. A man named Doug Miller, who is charge of the Applied Sciences. It seems the further Walter looks into the secrets that Moira has the more they overlap with the Hoods. Interesting….even more so when the commissioner has an officer come in and tell him that the Hood has attacked again, despite Oliver sitting only a few chairs down from him. Oliver then excuses himself in order to follow the commissioner to know who did this.

Now for someone who hates the Hood as much as Detective Quentin Lance, it must hurt him to say that the attack wasn’t made by him. Due to the way the killing happened, he deduced that they have a copycat serial killer on their hands. Though, Lance isn’t much surprised, Oliver who is outside the window seems to be slightly agitated with the development. After getting back to Hood-base, he tells Diggle what happened. They try to brainstorm on who would copy the Hood in order to kill Adam Hunt. Several of the theories include a setup for Oliver, which is the most likely. Apparently Oliver saw the arrow pattern on Hunt’s chest. He is able to tell that this copycat is a legitimate archer. Diggle questions why Oliver would need one of the arrows that this guy used and how he would get it. In a show of maturity, Oliver says that he would do what anyone does when they need help: call a cop.

Quentin Lance is at the precinct when he gets a delivery. It ends up being a cell phone and being called by the Hood. After confessing that he didn’t kill Adam Hunt, the Hood tries to convince Lance that this copycat is bad for the both of them. He also explains that in order to beat this archer, Lance will need one making the Hood his new best friend. The Hood tries to get an arrow from Lance giving him time to think about it, but leaving words about how he can do what the cops can’t.

In the meantime, Walter continues his own investigation by interrogating Doug Miller. The interrogation yields nothing but more danger for Walter himself. He was warned by Moira to stop this charge into the unknown, but he refuses to listen. In my opinion Walter is a pit-bull, loyal to Robert and will hold onto anything that will show him the real reason why his best friend was killed.

Oliver and Thea are out in a restaurant spending some holiday time together. He tries to get his sister to tell him why people wouldn’t just tell him why the Queens’ weren’t having their annual holiday party. Unfortunately they are interrupted by a friend of Thea’s, a boy named Shane, who Oliver immediately doesn’t like. I wouldn’t like the kid either if the guy just made a bad joke about food on an island I was tortured on for five years. She declines going with him in favor of spending time with her brother. Oliver gets a bit too protective and says he is not going to like Shane, but before they could get into an argument he goes back to the fact that the Queen’s don’t have a party. Thea explains that when Ollie and Robert disappeared no one felt like celebrating Christmas that year…or any of the years after it.

This is a major blow to Oliver since he has such good memories of the holiday. It hurt him to hear that the Queen’s don’t celebrate Christmas because of him. In taking Diggle’s advice he gathers his family and tells them he wants to through the Queen Christmas party this year. Full of Christmas cheer, he explains that despite not being the person everyone wants him to be, Oliver feels this is the right time to try and change that. Congratulations spirit of Holiday cheer, you’ve gotten Oliver to open up even more than he has in the first half of the season.

Later than night, Captain Jack Hark—excuse Malcolm Merlyn is speaking with Moira. He tells her how Walter is still investigating and Doug Miller told him about the interrogation in the office. See Walter, you need more about subterfuge. For the first time, we hear someone other than Oliver mention the list. Apparently this list is supposed to be more secretive that anything in Fort Knox, so where did its security detail go? Moira tries to convince Malcolm to let her talk to Walter, but Malcolm says they are through with talking. He reminds her how she tried to get him to stay away from her family, but it is in fact them not staying about from him. When Moira says she’ll handle it, Malcolm lays in a threat that they should have their associate will handle it.

Soon a new victim turns up. Nelson Ravage, a man the Hood up earlier this week about embezzling 70 million dollars. The commissioner tries to order Quentin to tell the press that the Hood did this, so there isn’t a panic about a new enemy on the street. He tells Quentin to catch one of the archers, he doesn’t care which one. Quentin can’t do that, even it if a direct order from the commanding officers. It goes against his morals to ignore a new serial killer that is out on the street. He won’t arrest the wrong man just because someone doesn’t want bad press. So, the commissioner kicks Quentin off the case. Back at the precinct, he gives in and does something he never thought he would have to do. He uses the phone and calls the Hood. A drop off location for the arrow is given and a deadline of Christmas is agreed on. Quentin tells the Hood if he doesn’t get the other archer by that time, then the Hood is the one he is coming after.

After getting the arrow and figuring out it is a custom job, Oliver takes it to Felicity in the IT Department. She is startled (surfing that Windows Tablet is very distracting. Nice product placement guys!) and listens to the story he makes up about his friend Steve to get a location on the arrow. She gives him a location and sends him on his way. Oliver goes this location, only to almost be incinerated by a bomb. After a quick escape he realizes the man is truly after him.

At the Queen mansion, the holiday everything is in full swing. Holiday photos and family drama, everything a holiday should be. Moira and Walter end up talking about the secrets she has been keeping in great detail, while Oliver gives his consent to Laurel to be happy. Speaking of secrets Oliver finds his little sister Thea, making out with Shane. Boy, can Ollie be scary when he is angry…that angry calm that means disaster. He tries to understand why Thea hates the holiday and the party only to be called away by Diggle because of the Dark Archer, who has taken hostages.

The cops can’t get into the building because of the bombs at the entrance, so the Hood crashes in through the roof. He gets the hostages to get to the roof before the Dark Archer and he have their showdown. This is the fight we have been waiting for all episode. Archer versus Archer to see who is better. This fight ends with Oliver being shot three times, twice in the back and ones in the thigh. Now for all those who were wonder what the small arrows on his forearm were for you know now. As the Dark Archer is kicking him, Oliver stabs him with one before escaping to call Diggle to help him. Oliver then wakes up in the hospital where Diggle has his cover story as he fell off his motorcycle after leaving the party. Thea and Oliver try to get back old traditions while trying to accept each other as they are now.

This episode though Christmas themed has a lot in it. At the end of the episode we learn that the Dark Archer is actually….wait for it….Malcolm Merlyn! Who would have guess that Captain Jack is now a bad guy? Not only that but we see Walter leaving the company, only to be attacked by the other occupant of the elevator. Walter is now missing and will be returned later in the future. We have the fact that Oliver learned that the list was not produced by his father, but by someone else. The Dark archer is still on the loose. So many questions, not enough answers.

One of the few things that I didn’t like about this episode was the fact that Oliver is now more open to the help Diggle gives as well as to his family. Again I understood it when Helena was there because she was a kindred spirit…sort of. But for him to open up to his family when he was so adamant about keeping them away for their own good and being more responsive to Diggle is a bit awkward. Not necessarily bad, but at least it didn’t happen all in one episode (it took three). His relationship with Thea also sets off my peeve meter a bit. She has had all this freedom to do whatever she wanted in the five years that Oliver has been gone: drugs, theft, and probably more. He tries to be an older brother, even when he isn’t judgmental, and all she does it throw it in his face. Granted, sometimes she is right, but the fact is with the change to being a more open Oliver (like she wanted), she is denying him his brotherly duty to her. Either you change with him or you keep him the same as he was before. Sorry, but you can’t have him being open and you not Thea, that’s not how it works. By the way, family is supposed to be judgmental and piss you off it’s their mission in life.

Now time to discuss the flashbacks of the island! Yao-Fei returns to Oliver after leaving him stranded in the cave for a few days, but he is not alone. Apparently the Asian archer was able to capture Edward Fyers, a man who has a plane that can get Oliver off the island. As they head toward the area where Fyers has the plane kept, he explains to Oliver how the island was being used as a prison before the project was shut down and they were sent to kill the remaining prisoners. He also reveals that Yao-Fei is a prisoner that was sent there for vicious acts of violence. If that’s the case, why is he helping Oliver try to escape? He never did say anything about him trying to leave either. But guess what. It’s a trap! Deathstroke (the man with the black and yellow mask) appears out of the bushes. Yao-Fei tells Oliver to run as he engages the man only to be captured as the younger man escapes. This does make you wonder though. If Yao-Fei the man who most likely taught Oliver everything he knows was captured, how did he get out? Did Oliver rescue him? I guess we won’t know until 2013, so let us hope the Mayans were wrong about the end of this year.

Rating:
ComicsOnline gives Arrow – “Year’s End” 4.5 mysterious hooded archers out of 5.

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