Arrow 'Lone Gunman': Secrets Are Out

It is looking like Arrow is getting the hang of it after working out the sags in last week's episode. Lone Gunman was a big improvement and was up to par with the level that Pilot set for Arrow in the beginning. Even going beyond that. It also separated itself from previous superhero show Smallville, by doing what Smallville could not. As if bringing darker tones to the genre wasn't enough.

As it has been advertised, Lone Gunman brought fans the first appearance of Dead Shot into the series. Oliver meets dead shot when he is first approaching a target when the target is shot twice and killed. Oliver was grazed by the bullet and soon found himself poisoned with curare. I liked how Arrow didn't make it easy for Oliver to discover the identity of Dead Shot. He had to first hunt down the identity of the shooter, then trace the gun, and then personnel. Which eventually lead to the reveal of what the tattoo on Oliver's chest meant (so its not an anti-possession tattoo). Knowing the identity of the shooter, Oliver goes after Dead Shot and finds out who Dead Shot's next target is.

Despite all the action happening, there was a lot of relationship building in Lone Gunman, as the characters learned more about each other. There was the obvious Thea becoming too much of a party girl as she was dragged home by the police after breaking and entering. In addition to Moira letting her get away with it, which Oliver doesn't agree with. As he put it, 5 years ago he could have murdered someone and got away with it. More than anything Oliver doesn't want Thea to turn into what he used to be. This makes Moria realize that she might actually have to put her foot down and open up with her daughter. Lone Gunman also saw the reveal of the relationship between Laurel and Tommy to Oliver (which he already knew). How Arrow is going to play that out is going to be interesting.

I really enjoyed Lone Gunman as Arrow finally found a groove to work to. It was an excellent blend of action, drama and humor. Arrow also didn't mess around with hidden secrets as some came to light. Like the Tommy/Laurel relationship officially coming to light and Oliver's reaction. Now this could have gone down so many ways, but Arrow had Oliver play it cool, which says a lot about his character to his friends. Not to mention that Laurel figured from Oliver's face that he already knew about it. No one can forget though how much of a bad ass Laurel was this episode. Laurel ain't just a pretty face. Let's not forget about Diggle now as he had a major role in this episode. When I say major, I mean very important to the storyline. Lone Gunman gave us a bit of back story of Diggle and about his family. I really like Diggle and I think he could be a good ally to Oliver.

Now a couple loop holes to Lone Gunman. First, remember how Diggle said if Oliver ditched him again he would quit? Well Lone Gunman didn't remember this as Oliver ditched Diggle once again. But then again, after witnessing that awesome knife throw, I'd stay too. Diggle is probably loyal in his own way to Oliver. Speaking of Oliver, who loved his disguise, cause we all know once you put a hat on, your automatically anonymous. It is kinda hard for Oliver to be that since he is kinda big news since he returned from the island.

I really hope that Arrow keeps this up with all future episodes. Lone Gunman was such a great episode and a great way to start your Wednesday evening. Lone Gunman was also a pivotal point in the story as it will be forever changed with how the episode ended. Looking forward to the next episode.