Note: This article is Spoiler-Free, however it does contain officially released images from the episode.
Last week on Arrow, Oliver Queen confronted one person who he thought would never betray him -- and his family -- his own mother, Moira Queen (Susanna Thompson). This week on Arrow, the episode picks up exactly where last week left off, giving us and exhilarating conclusion to the cliffhanger introduced. Will Oliver kill his mother? Will he exploit whatever her operation is? How is this situation averted? Every question you have will be answered. The first two minutes of the episode feature a great, emotional performance by Thompson, who finally gets her short chance to shine.
In fact, the whole cast of Arrow that is featured in the episode (a few members are unfortunately absent or sparingly used) deliver their best performances of the entire season. Stephen Amell’s acting is often criticized, however this episode definitely makes you realize how the Oliver on the island, and the one in Starling City, are very different yet the same at their core. Manu Bennett as ‘Slade Wilson’ is in top form, as expected, with a performance very reminisces of Liam Neeson’s portrayal of Ra’s Al Ghul. He contains a very naturally menacing presence, which definitely fits with his character of Slade Wilson. Emily Bett Rickards and David Ramsey are a great power-team and I felt that their characters really communicated. David Ramsey delivers a performance that somewhat rivals his time on Dexter, performing a bone-chilling tail from his military background. All around, the cast of ‘The Odyssey’ work incredibly well with their material and most actors have finally fully discovered their characters.
The whole episode is a near-perfect piece of network television. My hats are off to Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg and the rest of the Arrow creative team for creating this great work. James Bamford and the rest of the Arrow stunt team should be applauded for an incredibly excellent fight scene between two people whom I can’t really say without spoiling anything. However, this episode explores a lot of the island and definitely shows the proper scale and a brand-new exit strategy for Oliver and Slade. For the lovers of the island flashbacks, this episode is very heavy with that material.
‘The Odyssey’ is Arrow’s strongest episode yet, delivering high caliber performances from Stephen Amell, Manu Bennett and the rest of the Arrow cast. The island of Lian Yu becomes just as important of a character as Oliver himself.