The Arrow, "Spectre of the Gun" S05 E13 - superhero fantasy tackles reality

The Arrow has been a longtime fav of mine -- its cheesier than the Flash, has excellent archetype characters (supersoldiers, nerds, alcoholic cops, vile despicable villains, and kung fu), a unique present/past flashback format, and the ongoing moral quandry about killing bad guys.  (And I love Vigilante, looking forward to him joining team!)

I also forgot to mention there are a lot of minorities -- even though the main stars are white.

*SPOILER FOR EPISODE*

Recently Oliver Queen became Mayor, which makes the entire show far less plausible (if thats possible), but it runs parallel to the Batman mythos pretty closely.

Last episode, something different happened.  Something I had never seen in Superhero TV shows, and I've been watching a lot of them.  The moral dilemma of the show was gun control, multiple sides of the argument were presented, actual FACTS were included (Curtis, "I'm black and three times more likely to get shot."), and the issue was resolved in a (vague) legal compromise.

Curtis and Felicity had the most awkward, but excellent discussion, about debate and argument between friends, how rudeness is destroying political discourse.

Rene's story was perfect for the episode -- who knew he was married with child ??? - where he shoots an intruder with his gun (locked and loaded in a safe), but the intruder's stray shot kills Rene's wife.  Wow.

The villain, a man who's family was killed by gun violence so he was lashing out at the city that had failed him (by not controlling guns?), that was a bit more awkward.

The show was awkward, a big departure from the norm, and it stuck to it's guns (intended metaphor).  And somehow, it sure felt like they were taking a shot at President Rump, even if they never said Trump, Orangutan abortions, mysogynist racist douchebags, or Hitler's protege.

Keep up the good stuff, Team Arrow!!