Arrow S04 E23: Schism

Since the beginning of this season the theme has been light and darkness, and how Oliver is trying to be 'good.' From becoming the Green Arrow to running for mayor he's always been trying to do the right thing, and sometimes it shows, even as bizarre as this may sound, it can even be seen on Flashback Island. One must wonder what must have happened to him before his rescue that turned him back to the dark side. The question now of course, is he good enough, and in the light enough, to finally defeat Damien Darhk?

The opening salvo in this episode is fast and furious. Darhk attacks Felicity, Curtis, and her mom, Green Arrow and Spartan to the rescue, some nice special effects - we thought we'd lose Donna, but it's not-so-terrific Curtis that takes the brunt. Darhk escapes with the launch codes, seemingly not caring that his EPCOT ark went up in white dwarf star flames last episode.

Things go south swiftly from there. Darhk launches the missiles all over the world, leaving Team Arrow less than two hours to ...try... and save the world. This pronouncement is followed by an act that Darhk probably should have done weeks ago when he first found out who Green Arrow was - a H.I.V.E. attack on the Arrowcave. Even though the attack is repelled, the team sinks further into dismay.

The team however might have been led by Malcolm Merlyn, who then conveniently joins in with Team Arrow. Wtf? Whose side is he on? And why isn't somebody, anybody, on Team Arrow watching him and keeping track?

It's Curtis in the ruins of the Arrowcave that has the answer and gives everyone hope. When he and his boyfriend Paul we're going to leave the city when the terrorist attacks first began, it was the Green Arrow that gave them hope, and by extension Oliver Queen in his run for mayor. If he can raise that hope in the people of Star City, now in a state of panic because on oncoming missiles, well, that's a whole lotta white magic, baby.

On Flashback Island, as a parallel as usual to the present day, Oliver has to kill Taiana to release her from the power of the Khushu Idol. With Reiter also dead, the threat of Shadowspire in the past is over, and Oliver calls the svelte Amanda Waller (good to see her again, even if it is in the past) to rescue the rest of the prisoners. He could go with them, but it looks like next season's Flashback Island may well be in Russia against Kovar. Maybe we'll get more of Oliver's connection with the Bratva.

So while Felicity and company tackle her hacker opposite number and divert all the missiles from their targets, Green Arrow goes to city hall to fight Darhk one last time. This time there's mob rule as the crowd's hope makes Oliver stronger and Darhk weaker. With magic out of the equation, it's a man-to-man street fight, but even without his power, Darhk is still a former member of the League of Assassins.

When H.I.V.E. arrives it becomes a full-on riot. Didn't we see this same fight at the end of last season? Bottom line however, questions of why the H.I.V.E. ghosts with guns didn't just mow the crowd down rather than go hand to hand aside, Green Arrow finally kills Darhk, and exactly how the villain killed Black Canary - arrow to the heart. I'm sure there was a sense of relief and exhaustion throughout the viewership. Finally! And no matter how much I love John Barrowman, where's Merlyn's arrow to the heart??

And then the goodbyes begin. Back at the Arrowcave, first Quentin and Donna, then Thea, and then Diggle, they all leave. They need some time away. As Oliver is signed in as temporary mayor, and he and Felicity stand alone in the wrecked Arrowcave, all I can say is it's going to be a very different dynamic next season...

For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode and anything else in the Arrowverse, please join the Arrow Discussion Group on Facebook.

Arrow S04 E20: Genesis

In the aftermath of the funeral that started this season and Oliver's vow to kill Damien Darhk, the villain returns to H.I.V.E. and promptly kills his former associates, longtime Arrow foe Milo Armitage among them. The plan Darhk and H.I.V.E. have been readying for far too long, Genesis, is now in motion.

Apparently Oliver has been in touch with John Constantine (I wonder what the cell charges are like from literal Hell) and he referred him to a 'magic tutor' in Hub City. Notably Hub City IL is the home of superheroes the Question and at one time, the Blue Beetle. The showrunners are fond of Blue Beetle, so much so that when they couldn't use the character for whatever reason they turned the Atom into a version of him. Let's face it, Ray Palmer is more Blue Beetle than Atom.

Anyway, with Oliver training in magic, the rest of the team take some downtime as well. Felicity insists on going with Oliver, Diggle goes on the hunt for his brother, and Thea has a weekend away with Alex Davis. All the while, Darhk is prepping Genesis, nice time for a vacay, guys...

John tracks his brother Andy down only to be involved in a shootout and eventually captured. While torturing John it becomes quite clear that Andy's not just a jerk and a liar, he's completely insane. Darhk is his savior and H.I.V.E. is his family. Yeah, Andy's gone bye-bye. If A.R.G.U.S. hadn't intervened, John would be a meatbag. Nothing was as it seems as usual, this was all a ploy for Darhk to get to Lyla and Sara... although it begs the question, why didn't John just take Andy into custody when he the chance?

Alex Davis takes Thea away to a place that seems too perfect. It's almost as if she's been hypnotized or dreaming. Yep, did we all forget that Davis works for Mayor Ruve Adams now? He's kidnapped Thea to a domed biosphere, where she'll be safe from/for Genesis, but more on that later.

Oliver and Felicity visit an underground casino where they end up playing cards with an exotic woman named Esrin Fortuna, another refuge from the Batman mythos. Mama Fortuna was the female Fagan to the Alleytown Kids, until the Black Mask put her out of business. Catwoman as a young girl was one of her kids. I didn't know that Fortuna knew anything about magic, at least not in the comics, that I know of.

This obsession with Batman has long ago gotten old. If the showrunners wanted to do Batman, why do they start a show about Green Arrow? And it's not that Green Arrow doesn't have history, he has lots of it, obscure, but lots, and all of it just waiting to be updated with new spins. Rather than yet another recycled Bat-villain, how about giving us new contemporary versions of Bull's Eye, Professor Merlin, the Rainbow Archer, Greenface, Skylark, even Red Dart, or, ahem, Dr. Davis?

Fortuna, another immortal, explains that Darhk's power is channeled through the idol, and it is fueled by fear and death. Oliver needs to equally channel light and hope or he'll just be making Darhk stronger. Oh boy, Oliver is going to need more than a lesson or two, he's going to need therapy! After two attempts to teach, Fortuna gives up, saying Oliver can't be taught - the darkness in him outweighs the light.

Nevertheless Oliver and Felicity show up just in time to save Lyla from Darhk. Again with the logistics. In the comics Star City is in California by most accounts with Hub City in Illinois... how long is that trip? At least it's not on another continent like Nanda Parbat. Green Arrow manages to repel Darhk's magic, but not before he steals Rubicon from Lyla.

Meanwhile John finally grows a pair and shoots Andy, something we viewers have wanted to do forever. The bad part is he lies to Lyla about it. Some men never learn. I guess they're headed back to divorce court sooner than later.

Now for, and finally, Darhk's master plan... Rubicon was the Maguffin from the Shadowspire episode, and it's a failsafe for all of the world's nuclear missiles, which of course can be manipulated to launch all those missiles. Yes, someone was dumb enough to build such a thing. Genesis has Darhk burning the Earth and starting over. And it looks as if Thea is a prisoner inside his hive...

The world is at stake. Who wants to take bets that Oliver never thinks to ask Arsenal or Vixen or the Flash or even Constantine for help? What's the point of a shared universe if you don't make use of it?

Arrow S04 E14: Code of Silence

Just when you thought you'd seen it all when it comes to political debates, "Arrow" gives the concept a bit more bang for its buck. Preceding the big mayoral debate between Oliver Queen and Ruve Adams (the wife of Damien Darhk), Team Arrow and H.I.V.E. have a throwdown. Way to keep things friendly.

H.I.V.E. leadership is beginning to get a face, or faces, now. It seems that both Malcolm Merlin and Milo Armitage, from waaay back in "Tremors," are part of it now. There's some great team action with Team Arrow, brief as it is. It looks like Spartan has had a helmet upgrade, perhaps saving the T for Mr. Terrific when he finally shows up.

The soap is wide and deep this episode, what with the wedding planning, Oliver's illegitimate son, and Quentin breaking up with Donna in order to keep her safe. Wouldn't it be wiser to keep her closer to protect her? Sometimes the cliches fly as hard as the soap in the show.

Speaking of cliches, the villains of the week are the Demolition Team, some lame baddies who fought Green Lantern back in the 1980s. Basically mercenaries with demolition tools, these Wrecking Crew wannabes basically cause collateral damage, more pests than villains. They get a slight realistic, and ridiculous, upgrade here on "Arrow" working for H.I.V.E.

And then there's Curtis curing Felicity's spinal injury. Things like this are always dicey in superhero universes. One wonders if there are metahumans, alien civilizations, and satellite headquarters - why can't they cure cancer? Here's why. Will everyone get the benefit of this cure, or just Felicity? Still it was nice to at least hear Curtis called terrific.

Next: Vixen!

Arrow S04 E09: Dark Waters

This is this year's holiday episode of "Arrow," and we open on Oliver Queen hosting a clean up of the bay from all the pollution that's been dumped into it. This is the bay that resident villain Damien Darhk was so worried about.

Seeing a daytime scene on this show is a bit of an oddity, and just feels wrong. Not to worry, the tone at least turns more familiar as H.I.V.E. drones open fire on the eco-activists. The whole pollution angle is a bit nostalgic for old school comic readers in light of the classic Green Lantern/Green Arrow comics of yesteryear with those heroes' social activism.

In retaliation, following suit with the opening of this episode, Oliver brings the man behind this merciless attack to light. He issues a public challenge on television, revealing that Damien Darhk and H.I.V.E. have been behind the 'ghosts' and all the recent chaos and attacks on the city. Darhk did not expect this kind of assault, and notably his H.I.V.E. partners aren't pleased either.

When Darhk goes on a rampage, my question is why the hell isn't Laurel in costume? At least Laurel confronts her father about working for the enemy amidst all the holiday party/engagement ring nonsense. It's about time. Laurel's kind of been the forgotten character on the show for quite some time and it shouldn't be that way. Black Canary is an equal to Green Arrow, not a sidekick or a subordinate.

The rest of the episode is hot mess, a placeholder until you get to the last minute hellish stinger ending. There's a gas chamber death trap with a designer poison called 'the bloom,' Quentin and Felicity's mom hooking up, and a return visit to the Amazo on Flashback Island. We even get John Barrowman as Green Arrow, but that's well worth seeing.

The holiday party finally happens and then another tree lighting, the latter at which Oliver proposes to Felicity. On the drive home, the two are attacked by ghosts, and Felicity is shot apparently dead. Is it she who's in the grave? If there was any suspense at all, it's diffused by coming attractions. She's not gone, yet. Either way, what a crappy way to leave us for the holiday...

For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode and anything else in the Arrowverse, please join the Arrow Discussion Group on Facebook.

Arrow S04 E07: Brotherhood

Before we go anywhere this week, I just want to note why the emergence of John Diggle's brother as an actual character on "Arrow" is so weird. Diggle was named in homage of Andy Diggle, one of the Green Arrow writers in the comics. When the opportunity came up to give Diggle some backstory, someone clever behind the scenes thought it would be fun to give him a dead brother named Andy.

Now, this brother is figuring heavily in the current storyline, and it's odd to keep hearing the name Andy Diggle and seeing an actor play him. This is a step beyond the Neal Adams remark a few weeks back, because I doubt we'll ever see Neal. The Andy Diggle thing is different.

Speaking of homages, the trail to find where the H.I.V.E. ghosts are coming from leads to a raid on another corporate entity peddling in super science. Since it doesn't matter the name, at least they decided not to tease us with a real DC Universe company this time like Kord Industries to get our hopes up. This one is Wolfman Biologics, named for writer Marv Wolfman, who did his share of Speedy stories during his reign on New Teen Titans. Ironically, it's also where Diggle finds his brother.

Andy Diggle is alive, and working for H.I.V.E. To get to the point where we find any real information about it is a long road. This episode seems to be about quick action scenes to get to the slow dreary soap opera parts - as opposed to the other way around. Thea is juggling an undercover romance (again?) with Davis, and dealing with her Lazarus Pit blood lust (again??), although it's always nice to see John Barrowman.

The Andy thing brings back the annoying bugaboo between Oliver and Diggle over family and secrets. It seems that the H.I.V.E. ghosts are definitely enhanced by a drug, as well as bound by Darhk's suggestion - and probably dead as well. Ray, coming out his back-from-the-dead funk, pinpoints their home base. It was a thrill to see the Atom join the fight after so long.

The big deal however is Darhk's mini-confrontation of the week. He corners Thea, noting her fighting style as that of R'as Al Ghul, then flips it by asking how her father is. But the whammy is that when he tries to take her heart a la Mola Ram, he surprisingly can't. Lazarus Pit immunity maybe? Weirdly though, the encounter took away Thea's blood lust.

Flashback Island has unearthed a revelation for me in that boss man Reiter was referenced as 'Baron.' Now I am able to place him in the DC Comics mythos. This is the TV version of World War II baddie Baron Blitzkrieg. This Nazi super-villain clashed with the All-Star Squadron frequently, as well as Earth-Two versions of Wonder Woman and Superman. In comics it should be noted the Baron never really had an interest in magic, and on "Arrow," he won't be going by his Blitzkrieg monicker.

Next: the big Arrow/Flash crossover, when Heroes Join Forces, against Vandal Savage!



And then there's this...

Arrow S03 E21: "Al Sah-Him"

We get cool freshness in the opening seconds, a new spin on Stephen Amell's usual voiceover narrative, that indicates Oliver has entered a phase of his life, that of becoming the new R'as Al Ghul. In exchange for Thea's life, he has given himself over to Demon's training. Shortly after finally consummating Olicity, our hero is getting a buzzcut and a branding, as well as a new name, Al Sah-Him, which is, ironically enough, Arabic for 'The Arrow.' All this happened last episode.

What is most intriguing about the opening scenes of this episode is the discussion of a character called Damien Darhk during a heart to heart chat between R'as and Oliver. Darhk considered himself R'as' rival and equal, and his hesitation to kill him years ago has made a thorn in R'as' side ever since. This Darhk has not only his own hive of operatives, and some water from the Lazerus Pit, but has been involved in Oliver's affairs as well.

Notably, according to R'as of course, Darhk has tried to purchase Malcolm Merlyn's earthquake generator, has had dealings with Markovia, and was involved with that incident with Mark Shaw. R'as makes it clear - Damien Darhk is not just his enemy but Oliver's as well. This enemy must be eliminated.

Now there is not just one comics precedent to this character, but two, and they both fit. There was a Doctor Ebeneezer Daark who R'as put in charge of the League of Assassins, but eventually turned against the Demon. And then there's the closer name approximation, Damien Darhk, who was one of the leaders of the criminal organization called the H.I.V.E., who menaced the Teen Titans for years. Rumors say the H.I.V.E. will be baddies next season, and it wouldn't be the first time Arrow fought Titans villains... so perhaps this Darhk is a mix of the two.

As many of you may or may not know, I maintain a blog about French fries, so when we dropped in on Laurel and Nyssa discussing, eating, and dipping French fries into milkshakes - yeah, I was loving it. I have never really been a fan of Katie Cassidy, up until her recent appearance on "The Flash," and here bonding with Nyssa. Or maybe I just like her in this scene because fries are involved. Anyone who dips their fries in their shake is okay in my book.

Darhk and fries aside, the main plot of this episode revolves around Oliver returning to Starling City to kill Nyssa and basically erase all vestiges of his former life. This drags on seemingly forever. I liked the bits with Team Arrow re-shifting to adjust the absences of Oliver and Roy, and I dug the dinner at Dig and Lyla's. I hated that Oliver kidnapped Lyla. The only real good part is the debut, finally, of the second Speedy, even if it's Thea instead of Mia.

In Flashback Hong Kong, that we know is going to be all right because of 'the Superboy paradox' that I touched on here and explained here on The GAR! Podcast, but we see that characters can be markedly different on TV than they are in the comics. Case in point - General Shrieve, who is sooo not a villain. All I'm watching the flashbacks (or is it coming in the present day?) for is to finally see Katana in costume. At least now we know where this storyline is going.

Okay, show of hands, who else is done with this whole R'as Al Ghul storyline?

Next: The Bride of the Demon



For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode and anything else in the Arrowverse, please join the Arrow Discussion Group on Facebook.