Skip to main content
Games Radar Newsarama Total Film Edge Retro Gamer SFX
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The world's number one sci-fi, fantasy and horror magazine
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • News
  • Subscribe
  • Newsletter
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Trending
  • Disney Plus bundles
  • Best Sci Fi Movies
  • New Marvel TV Shows
  • New TV Shows
Don't miss these
John Cena as Peacemaker holds a gun to the head of a different John Cena as Peacemaker in Peacemaker season 2.
Superhero Shows Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
John Cena as Peacemaker holds a gun to the head of a different John Cena as Peacemaker in Peacemaker season 2.
DC TV Shows Peacemaker season 2 Easter eggs – Every cameo and reference in episode 1 of the returning DC series
John Cena in Peacemaker
DC TV Shows DC fans react to that major Peacemaker season 2 retcon: "A clever and surprisingly easy fix"
Ironheart
Marvel TV Shows Ironheart review: "A relic of Marvel's content-at-all-costs era"
The Justice Gang flying in Superman
DC TV Shows James Gunn clears up why one member of the Justice Gang is missing in Peacemaker season 2
Marvel TV Shows Ironheart has a surprising character reveal that ties one of its cast back to a major Iron Man villain
Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams in Wednesday season 2 part 1
Fantasy Shows Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: "Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots"
Rebecca Romijn as Una Chin-Riley / Number One and Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Sci-Fi Shows Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 review: "The show's most assured run of episodes to date"
Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) and Enid (Emma Myers) in Wednesday season 2 part 1
Fantasy Shows Wednesday season 2’s biggest missed opportunity is that it overlooks Enid and the fandom's number one ship in the process
Sydney Chandler as Wendy and Alex Lawther as Joe Hermit in Alien: Earth.
Horror Shows Alien: Earth Easter eggs – Every cameo and reference in episodes 1–4 of the new series
Star Trek Strange New Worlds S3
Sci-Fi Shows Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ throwback cameo finally confirms a decades-old Star Trek fan theory, and I can’t quite believe it
Sydney Chandler as 'Wendy' and Alex Lawther as 'CJ' in Alien: Earth
Horror Shows Alien: Earth review: "Arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens"
Superman kisses Lois Lane in James Gunn's Superman
DC Movies The Superman opening is missing one sweet detail that proves once again why Clark and Lois are our favorite DC couple
John Cena in Peacemaker, a spin-off of The Suicide Squad
DC TV Shows Peacemaker season 2 proves there's still something to say about the multiverse
James Gunn
DC TV Shows Peacemaker season 2 features a surprise cameo from DC boss James Gunn, but you'd have to be criminally online to know it
  1. Games

Arrow S3.05 The Secret Origin Of Felicity Smoak Review

Reviews
By Nick Setchfield published 28 November 2014

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Writers: Ben Sokolowski and Brian Ford Sullivan

  • +

    Director: Michael Schultz

  • +

    The one where: As Starling City succumbs to the cyber-terrorist known as Brother Eye

  • +

    Felicity must confront her past...

Cons

“The Secret Origin Of Felicity Smoak” proves to be a bit of a bait and switch. The unexpected arrival of Felicity’s mum – entertainingly played as a ditzy cougar by NYPD’s Charlotte Ross – promises a snappier, frothier slice of Arrow, crackling with the sit-com potential of the clash between the Smoak ladies.

And yes, the episode has fun with that for a while (“Are you adopted?” asks Ray). But there’s something deeper here too, something just a little darker beneath the gags about mom dressing like a porn star. Watch the scene where Donna confesses she sees too much of Felicity’s absent father in her daughter: “There’s nothing of me in you,” she says, suddenly vulnerable. Ross makes Donna a real person in this moment, carving out the emotional heart of the episode.

It’s an unexpected touch in a story that doesn’t conceal its bigger twists too well. New villain Brother Eye is a wonderfully eerie presence at first – there’s a cool echo of the Outer Limits title sequence as all those hijacked TV screens declare “We are in control now!” – but the mystery of who’s behind this techno-threat evaporates too soon. Of course it’s Cooper. We realise this a quarter of the way through. The possibility that it’s Myron Forrest feels like obvious misdirection and so the remainder of the episode follows the rails to its inevitable conclusion, its plot beats solid but unfolding with no real surprise.

Death Becomes Her

There’s more than a touch of Death from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman about the young Felicity, right down to the ankh pendant…

Still, it’s fun to see Felicity earn the five year flashbacks this week. Emily Bett Rickards delivers a subtly different take on Felicity, one who’s superficially more confident, armed with goth girl stylings, taking refuge behind a tribe. I’m not persuaded that this flashback is Felicity’s true secret origin, mind – ultimately her father’s walk-out seems the more compelling candidate for the tragedy that shaped this particular hero.

And then there’s Roy… What are we to make of his vision of killing Sara? Has he become a programmed assassin, Manchurian Candidate style? If so, it’s a welcome, intriguing development for a character who’s been rather sidelined so far this season.

Image 1 of 5

Trivia

The title’s a play on DC comic book Secret Origins. It was first published in 1961.

More Trivia

Brother Eye is a nod to the Jack Kirby creation of the same name, an AI satellite on a parallel future Earth first seen in the pages of OMAC in 1974. It was the creation of Global Peace Agency scientist Myron Forrest, reimagined here as Felicity’s roommate. It’s the second OMAC reference we’ve seen this series (Ray Palmer was looking at OMAC weaponry plans in “Corto Maltese”). Could these Kirbyverse references be leading somewhere?

Did You Spot?

Felicity clearly has a fixation on emerald archers. There’s a poster for Errol Flynn’s The Adventures Of Robin Hood on the wall of her apartment.

Did You Also Spot?

That’s starfish-tastic Justice League villain Starro the Conqueror on Cooper’s tee. The image is from the cover of Brave And The Bold 28 but Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash and the Martian Manhunter have been cunningly removed to avert continuity meltdown.

Best Lines

Ray: “What’s the one thing that Queen Consolidated has that we don’t use to its maximum potential?” Felicity: “A doorbell?”

Arrow is broadcast in the UK on Sky 1 HD.

Nick Setchfield
Nick Setchfield
Social Links Navigation
Editor-at-Large, SFX Magazine

Nick Setchfield is the Editor-at-Large for SFX Magazine, writing features, reviews, interviews, and more for the monthly issues. However, he is also a freelance journalist and author with Titan Books. His original novels are called The War in the Dark, and The Spider Dance. He's also written a book on James Bond called Mission Statements. 

Read more
John Cena as Peacemaker holds a gun to the head of a different John Cena as Peacemaker in Peacemaker season 2.
Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
John Cena as Peacemaker holds a gun to the head of a different John Cena as Peacemaker in Peacemaker season 2.
Peacemaker season 2 Easter eggs – Every cameo and reference in episode 1 of the returning DC series
John Cena in Peacemaker
DC fans react to that major Peacemaker season 2 retcon: "A clever and surprisingly easy fix"
Ironheart
Ironheart review: "A relic of Marvel's content-at-all-costs era"
The Justice Gang flying in Superman
James Gunn clears up why one member of the Justice Gang is missing in Peacemaker season 2
Ironheart has a surprising character reveal that ties one of its cast back to a major Iron Man villain
Latest in Games
A black dragon roaring with a manor house behind it and lighting in the sky during Skyrim.
Skyrim player marries a literal dragon with the help of a mod, giving "Dragonborn" a whole new meaning as he breaks the RPG and makes it run as "buggy as Oblivion"
Borderlands 4
Borderlands 4 can't even win in its own ads, as WWE has cosplaying wrestlers take the L in their own championship match
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty screenshots
CD Projekt Red is teasing something Cyberpunk 2077-shaped with a mysterious new message, and fans are desperately trying to work out if it could be sequel news, DLC, or something else entirely
Borderlands 4 screenshot shows someone holding a weapon forward towards the camera.
"We tend to commit to the bit": Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford talks Borderlands 4, the evolution of looter-shooters, and $80 game discourse
Infinity Nikki
Infinity Nikki devs "sincerely apologize" yet again – this time for "frustration and confusion" caused by furniture pricing, but at least we're getting freebies in return
Hideo Kojima in a screenshot from the Xbox and Bethesda 2022 showcase.
Hideo Kojima will give a "glimpse into future projects" at his "Beyond The Strand" anniversary event for Kojima Productions' 10th birthday this month
Latest in Reviews
Lenovo Legion 5 Gen 10 gaming laptop on a wooden desk
The Lenovo Legion 5 has no business with an OLED display like this
Jacob Elordi as the monster in Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein
Frankenstein review: "A classy, if somewhat safe, adaptation"
Photo by Rosalie Newcombe of a side-on view of the Hori Piranha Plant Switch 2 camera.
Hori Piranha Plant Camera for Nintendo Switch 2 review - "no amount of cute can distract from its horrendous video quality"
An AutoFull G7 review image
This gaming chair has a lumbar support belt, and a month later I'm still getting used to it
Rei Shimobe points aggressively in Shuten Order
Shuten Order review: "The Danganronpa creator's new multi-genre mystery feels like a forgotten DS cult classic I would have been obsessed with"
The key art for Hell is Us, showing Remi with his equipment - military poncho, laser sword, and drone - in front of a Hollow Walker's milky white face
Hell is Us review: "The lack of waypoints and explicit objectives is a double-edged magical sword that pulls me deep into its harsh world"
  1. Kaser clad in black and Victor in white clash swords in Lost Soul Aside
    1
    Lost Soul Aside review: "We (don't) have Final Fantasy Versus 13 at home"
  2. 2
    Hell is Us review: "The lack of waypoints and explicit objectives is a double-edged magical sword that pulls me deep into its harsh world"
  3. 3
    Shuten Order review: "The Danganronpa creator's new multi-genre mystery feels like a forgotten DS cult classic I would have been obsessed with"
  4. 4
    The Rogue Prince of Persia review: "I roguelike but don't roguelove this freerunner – there's just not enough to stand out"
  5. 5
    Shinobi: Art of Vengeance review: "So close to being to a pitch-perfect revival of a classic series, but just can't quite line up the killing blow"
  1. Jacob Elordi as the monster in Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein
    1
    Frankenstein review: "A classy, if somewhat safe, adaptation"
  2. 2
    Weapons review: "A twisted fairytale that bests Barbarian"
  3. 3
    The Fantastic Four: First Steps review: "An occasionally thrilling heroic adventure that sits safely within a B-tier MCU range"
  4. 4
    Superman review: "A triumphant reinvention and a promising start for the DCU"
  5. 5
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  1. John Cena as Peacemaker holds a gun to the head of a different John Cena as Peacemaker in Peacemaker season 2.
    1
    Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
  2. 2
    Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: "Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots"
  3. 3
    Alien: Earth review: "Arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens"
  4. 4
    King of the Hill season 14 review: "Hank Hill himself has evolved into a much more open and accepting person"
  5. 5
    Eyes of Wakanda review: "A creative premise shortchanged by the runtime and Marvel bloat"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...