In a twist of ironic timing, art delivers a valuable life lesson, tonight on ARROW.
A leader, faced with political opposition, tries to allay the fears of his constituents by holding a press conference. After a man is killed in service to others, cries of impeachment abound when Mayor Oliver Queen must take responsibility for his role in the action.
His constituents call for impeachment when their leader is perceived to be inexplicably protecting Green Arrow’s involvement in the killing of Detective Malone.
Oliver (Stephen Amell) decides to do what responsible leaders do. Emerging from the tornado of palace intrigue where misrepresentation, blackmail and alt-facts are propagated by surrogates, Mayor Queen steps forward and takes responsibility.
Knowing that undertaking a leadership role means that “the buck stops here,” is what a true leader does, Oliver neither runs from the truth nor lets his staff obfuscate what his constituents have a right to know.
Nobody promised Ollie a rose garden when he took on the responsibility of leading others, and Team Arrow has its own issues in dealing with the crisis.
Oliver insists Thea (Willa Holland) make the situation right in Susan’s firing, while Thea and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) consider blackmail. Felicity continues down her dark path with Helix, and Quentin (Paul Blackthorne) tries to fend off the press with a terse, ineffective “no comment.”
Vigilante attacks Oliver while he is acting as the mayor, and Diggle (David Ramsey) leads the team in a mission to stop Vigilante once and for all.
Adrian (Josh Segarra) tries to resign, offering to fall on his political sword and take responsibility for the cover-up, but Oliver declines. Having evolved into a stronger leader, a better person and the responsible officer of the government, Ollie chooses to take responsibility for the situation, despite being manipulated by the devious Prometheus.
Emulating Harry Truman, Oliver Queen believes that “the buck stops here” when it comes to being the person in charge.
Kids, next time your mom (like my mom) asks you what you think you are learning from comic books, cartoons and superheroes, the correct reply might be, “I’m learning how to be a better version of myself.”
Tonight’s episode of ARROW, “Fighting Fire with Fire,” was written by Speed Weed & Ben Sokolowski and directed by Michael Schultz.
ARROW airs tonight (March 1) at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on The CW in the U.S. and on CTV Two in Canada.
