The most recent episode of Arrow gave fans a bit more context for Cayden James’ (Michael Emerson) crusade against Oliver Queen/Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) this season, but it also offered fans something else — a clever Lost Easter egg.
In the episode “We Fall,” James escalated his attack on Star City, hacking various technology around the city and causing chaos as well as loss of life. He also paid Oliver a visit at the mayor’s office and explains that, on that very day one year previously, one of Green Arrow’s arrows struck and killed James’ son, Owen, killing him in a fight right there in Star City. James then demanded that Oliver wire $10 million or the killing spree would continue.
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Pretty standard for a bad guy request, even if there is something a little off about the killing of James’ son (Oliver wasn’t even in Star City at the time of the child’s death.) But tucked into the scene was a clever reference to Lost. For those who are not familiar, Emerson played Ben Linus, the leader of the Others on the television series Lost. When audiences first meet him in the show’s second season, he introduces himself as Henry Gale, a man from Minnesota who crashed on the island while traveling in a hot air balloon. On Arrow, when Cayden James meets with Oliver at the mayor’s office, he introduces himself as Ben Gale, a mashup of the actor’s character names on Lost.
It’s also interesting to note that on Lost, Emerson’s character was something of a “supposed villain,” where his motivations and loyalties were ambiguous. On Arrow, James is clearly positioned to be the villain, but the reveal that his son was killed on a specific day when the Green Arrow wasn’t even operating in Star City may hint that James is less a big bad and more a pawn in someone else’s manipulation. It’s revealed as the episode goes along that so-called evidence of James’ son being killed by the Green Arrow was sent to him on a USB drive, the origin of which is a mystery. It’s entirely possible that James’ crusade this season — complete with his villain super team — may all be a part of someone else’s larger plan setting James up to be just as ambiguous a bad guy as Ben Linus was on Lost.
Arrow airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW.
