Arrow, S5 Ep05 – Human Target

Last Week’s episode of Arrow saw Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog get captured by Tobias Church (Chad L. Coleman) after the team attempted to take on Church without the assistance of their mentor the Green Arrow. As “Human Target” commences the team shakes down thugs in Star City in an effort to find their fallen friend, but as the episode progresses Team Arrow is faced with a new dilemma that only Christopher Chance, a.k.a. the Human Target, can help resolve.

Wil Traval guest stars as the Human Target

As far as new members of Team Arrow go, Rene is the most compelling so far. We’ve already had a chance to get to know and love Curtis, but additional members Artemis and Ragman continue to be weak links in the chain. “Human Target” fleshes out the character of Rene even more, as he attempts to face the guilt he possesses over giving up Green Arrow’s secret identity to Church while being tortured.

Overall I enjoyed this aspect of the episode very much, as it added additional levels to the character of Rene. I also appreciated seeing Diggle act as a therapist to Rene, helping handle his guilt and helping him remember anything about Church’s villainous plans. Diggle proves to be a great mentor to his peers, though it’s still upsetting that he’s a wanted fugitive. Luckily, we got to see Diggle suit up once again as Spartan in this episode’s final act. Now all we need is Thea to throw on her red outfit once more as well.

Jessica Jones‘ Wil Traval guest stars as Christopher Chance/Human Target and his name implies exactly what he is. One of Chance’s specialities is he poses as people who are aimed for assassination so they don’t get assassinated. When it’s discovered Church is going to attempt to take down Ollie, Chance jumps in in his place. Fortunately, everything works out, though I’m left wondering what would have happened had Chance been shot in the head rather than his chest. I guess he took a chance?

“Human Target” also deals a lot in the mayoral aspects of this fifth season, as Ollie continues to attempt to gain favoritism and put his plans for Star City into fruition. Ultimately he does succeed in these aspects, though some credit has to go to Chance who posed as Ollie during an important meeting with influential reporter Susan Williams (Carly Pope).

While I did enjoy the Human Target aspects of this episode, the final act was not all that exciting. As Arrow continues, the fight scenes are beginning to become a bit mundane and repetitive. The final act, which saw Team Arrow go up against Church and his thugs, was not as fun as it could have been.

“Human Target” also ends on a very dumb note in regards to something Church does. After Church is arrested, Prometheus takes down the convoy transporting Church to prison. After all the police officers involved with the transition have been taken out Prometheus confronts Church. It’s here Church makes the dumbest decision of his life and states he knows who the Green Arrow is, and immediately loses any leverage he has with Prometheus and gives up Ollie’s name. Obviously, Church is then killed by Prometheus following this. Church seemed like a pretty competent villain up until this point. Church, did you really think that was going to work?

Goodbye Tobias Church

Not much happened in this week’s flashback scenes other than Ollie officially becoming Bratva. That being said, the final flashback scene contained a huge coincidence as we find out Chance was hired five years ago by Anatoly to protect Ollie against Bratva members not keen on Ollie’s new Bratva status. This was just ridiculous and implausible. However, I am liking the fact that Ollie’s Russian past will soon come back to haunt him, as Susan Williams has been given information regarding Ollie’s time with Bratva. I look forward to seeing how that plays out and how it will affect Ollie’s status as mayor.

Overall, “Human Target” was a mixed bag. While I enjoyed the scenes involving Rene and thought Human Target was a fun idea to bring into the Arrowverse, the episode’s climax was weak and the flashback scenes were uneventful as usual. This season still continues to be superior to last season, but I just hope the new Team Arrow is fleshed out a bit more and if not the old members of the team should suit back up permanently. Also, what the heck is up with Prometheus? I need to know.

It seems in next week’s episode Prometheus will start to amp up the stakes a bit, possibly framing Green Arrow for multiple murders. Check out The CW’s official trailer for “So It Begins” below and feel free to let us know what you thought of “Human Target” in the comments.