Glenn Walker is a writer who knows pop culture. He loves, hates, and lives pop culture. He knows too freaking much about pop culture, and here's where he talks about it all: movies, music, comics, television, and the rest... Welcome to Hell.
With the help of performance enhancing drugs John Diggle is in the Green Arrow gear while Oliver spends time with his son and hides from the FBI investigating the possibility that he is Green Arrow. How long can this ruse be kept up as the Black Siren attacks again, and the looming threat of the return of Cayden James? We’ll see in this episode of “Arrow.”
I have to wonder what the endgame is with Black Siren. What did the showrunners really have in mind when they killed Katie Cassidy’s version of the Black Canary? Was it always planned she would come back as a villain? Did the actress herself want this? This is episode four of the sixth season and I think Black Siren has had as much screen time if not more than some of the regulars. Is she the new Malcolm Merlyn? The bad guy who’s always there in the background?
We open on a date night with Oliver and Felicity, the former really taking advantage of his free time to spend with his son. The date feels like at best foreplay and at worst to show the role reversal (like the episode title) between Oliver and Felicity when she gets called to Team Arrow and he doesn’t. One wonders how long Oliver can put up with this. Will it take John crashing and burning? I hope not.
Here’s the gist, the guy who’s ordering the Black Siren around is Cayden James, the super hacker I predicted would be this season’s big bad, and he’s now in the villain game. Enter Alena, the hacktivist from Helix who groomed Felicity last season. She of course shows up in Felicity’s apartment looking for help against James. Apparently his time in ARGUS’ custody turns him into a master villain and he’s planning on wiping out 4% of the world’s population. And in case you think that’s not a lot - it’s 300 million people. What else can Felicity do?
Reversal is indeed the name of the game. Oliver interferes with Felicity and Alena’s mission to find a tech dealer named Amnesiac, just like old times, but in this case Felicity is the hero and Oliver the one who needs to stay safe, of course on the other hand, if Felicity, playing very much the Oliver role, had shared resources and knowledge with Team Arrow, neither would be flying blind against their foes.
Arclight seems to be the name of Cayden James’ plan to take down the internet. The conceit is that there’s a vault that physically holds the internet. No, seriously. That’s where the final fight, physical and cyberspatial, takes place, with surprisingly Oliver in the Overwatch position. I wonder if the FBI is watching. With the internet saved, James’ plan, still vague, seems a bit clearer. He only wanted Felicity to take down the firewall so he could upload something sinister. Riiiight.
I love that Curtis is an Olicity shipper, and also the Corto Maltese name drop. I have to say that John looks very awkward carrying the crossbow weapon, but it’s a little better on his back. We saw neither William nor Samanda this episode despite their presence leaning heavily on events here. We also get a name a mission statement for Felicity and Curtis’ startup - Helix Dynamics. How long before they start creating metahumans?
For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode, anything else in the Arrowverse, or anything in the Marvel or DC television or cinematic universes, please join the Marvel DC Movies TV group on Facebook.
Next: Deathstroke returns in the aptly titled “Deathstroke Returns!”
Back during the time of late high school and college when I wasn’t actively reading comics any more (I know, shocking), a lot of things happened. One of them was the first appearance of Onyx, a naive vigilante who Green Arrow crossed paths with in Star City. Sheltered in a monastery she learned martial arts, and in a move that would make Batman proud, Onyx went out into the world to do good, her parents having been murdered years before.
Later she was completely revamped as a Batman associate in the War Games story arc. Now she was trained by the League of Assassins, and no longer naive. Personally I liked the original teenaged Onyx with the cape better, but it’s the later version who has been brought to the small screen on “,a href="http://monsura.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html">Arrow.”
Continuing from this season’s first episode, Team Arrow is in pursuit of Alex Faust, with John Diggle taking over as the Green Arrow. He took on the mantle at the end of the last episode, in spite of the degenerative cell damage he suffered on Lian Yu. So far only Black Canary also knows, but neither has told Oliver. Seems like Oliver has definitely rubbed off on the team.
This pursuit has John pulling the insane stunt of jumping off a building and letting Black Canary’s scream propel him across to another building. It sounds nuts and comic booky, but the way it was executed I totally believed it. Bravo. Also notable the opening gauntlet of symbols lacked one for Spartan, giving more commitment to the idea that John is now the Green Arrow. Nice touch.
When Oliver shows up for work the next day Samanda is waiting for him. She’s not stupid, and despite Oliver’s airtight alibi, she knows someone else was playing Green Arrow, someone who’s not an archer. Samanda also brings up how the cops might feel slighted (at best) with the mayor leaning on a vigilante. It’s a thought I had as a little kid watching the original “Batman” TV show - why do the Gotham police even bother showing up to work? They’re either bored or disillusioned, right?
Meanwhile the slick Onyx, here a crooked ex-CIA operative named Onyx Adams, breaks into Kord Industries (will we ever see Blue Beetle?) and downloads some serious intel, including a deadly nerve gas (Kord makes nerve gas???). When Team Arrow protects the gas shipment, Onyx takes them out pretty easily. I did like Rene’s “Surprise, bitch.” though. We need more Rene in the show as he gets the best lines. Why not put him in the Green Arrow suit? Or Dinah or Felicity, they seem to be leading as well.
Rene asks Oliver to come back, but he gives John a pep talk instead. So, the team is splintered when it next goes into action against Onyx and her team - who having seen John in action are unimpressed and don’t see him or his team a threat. Not good. Things do turn around however, and the fight sequences of the last act are quite impressive, and a vast improvement over the first episode this season. And John proves himself.
Unfortunately, as the end stinger reveals, John is using performance enhancing drugs to stabilize his tremors. Well, that’s not going to come back to bite anyone in the ass. There’s more soap with William as Oliver finally allows Felicity into his life. There was a lot to like about this episode, but all things considered, I’d rather have Oliver as Green Arrow. This is like one of those tired cliche comic arcs where the hero is replaced. I’m just waiting for the real Green Arrow.
Something I talked about last time, but have since given further thought to is the existence of Batman in the Arrowverse. After a brief exchange with friend Tim Murr on Twitter I’ve reconsidered my position. There may well be a Batman in the Arrowverse. And while I’m thinking of it, check out Tim’s work at Biff Bam Pop! right here. He’s only been with us a couple of months, coming over from the late Popshifter, but he’s written some great stuff. And a book too. Check him out.
So maybe Batman does exist. After all, we’ve seen Harley Quinn, right? Felicity wouldn’t take the name Oracle (she does it again subtly in this very episode) when suggested because it was already in use. And then there’s Rip Hunter from “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” who remarked from a dark future that he’d seen dark knights and men of steel fall. That’s pretty conclusive. And there’s no reason why Green Arrow couldn’t have fought all those Bat-villains before Batman did, right?
For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode, anything else in the Arrowverse, or anything in the Marvel or DC television or cinematic universes, please join the Marvel DC Movies TV group on Facebook.
As seen last time, the Arrowcave, or the bunker as they call it on the show, has been bombed by Prometheus, and Oliver and Felicity are trapped inside. An EMP was in play, so not only does none of the high-tech gadgetry work, neither does the spinal implant that allows Felicity to walk.
As Olicity is resurrected inside the bunker, Team Arrow gathers to try to rescue them. We find out some interesting things about our team, like Curtis named his T-Spheres after the ferrets in Beastmaster - Kodo and Podo. We also learn that Marc Singer's Beastmaster had a profound effect on the sexual awakenings of both Curtis and Dinah. I don't know if this is geeky fun or TMI, but I dug it.
Besides serving as a characterization exploration episode for the team, we also get a previously unseen flashback to sometime early in the third season fighting the Werner Zytle version of Count Vertigo when Curtis first joined the team. There are lots of details filled in, and questions answered here, as well as characters and relationships fleshed out.
This was like a team re-building exercise really. Trust is rebuilt and reaffirmed on several levels. One thing that is abundantly clear from the episode is that the rest of Team Arrow need Cisco's phone number, especially if they're going to let him design their headquarters. And as far as Olicity goes, might we see them together proper soon? We certainly had the hottest scenes in quite some time between the two.
The killer stinger has Chase meeting Oliver's William at the school bus. Something tells me the worst is yet to come...
Next: "Honor Thy Fathers!"
For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode, anything else in the Arrowverse, or anything in the Marvel or DC television or cinematic universes, please join the Marvel DC Movies TV group on Facebook.
With Adrian Chase exposed as Prometheus and on the run, with the whole city, maybe the whole country (I guess the Flash is too busy mangling timelines to help), on the look out for him, how can he stay hidden? Still he manages to pull the authorities' chains as in the opening sequence in the arcade with Wild Dog and Mr. Terrific, nice.
My question lies in that vein. Is Green Arrow still a wanted man? Would Chase's revelation really even affect that? And furthermore, if Green Arrow is still wanted (as might be assumed by Oliver's itchy man in black ninja outfit), wouldn't it follow that Team Arrow are also wanted as accessories, if not simply for questioning? They seem to get free rein in the opening, and it's not like they're all that hard to miss.
Things get really bad when Felicity demonstrates just how stupid she can really be. Why she trusts Helix is beyond me. She was a hacker, she should know how they operate, especially after she knows they hacked her and Team Arrow already. Here's the kicker - in exchange for their help in finding Prometheus, Helix wants Felicity to hack ARGUS for them.
Alena (Kojo Sledgehammer) and Helix are far more sinister than we originally thought. As a matter of fact I think this episode may actually be setting up the big bad for season six of "Arrow." Alena tells Felicity of Cayden James, who formed Helix, and is the world's most skilled hacker. Felicity has never heard of him, and Alena's answer is that he's just that good, he's a ghost, and he hasn't been seen since ARGUS picked him up.
Most skilled? In a world with Felicity, Cisco, the Calculator, Brie Larvan, the Thinker from the next season of "The Flash," and all these Helix misfits? Hard to believe, and harder to believe that both the next seasons of "Flash" and "Arrow" would involve cerebral big bads. Perhaps Helix will emerge as something more like its comics counterpart rather than Checkmate as I first suspected?
In the comics, Helix is something far too way out and comic booky for a show like "Arrow." These antagonists of Infinity Inc., the sons and daughters of the Justice Society, were a super-villain group whose genetically engineered members included Mister Bones, a living skeleton with a death touch; Baby Boom, an adult in a five year old girl's body who blows things up; and Carcharo, and giant man-Shark. Hmmm, we've already had King Shark, so maybe they aren't all that weird...
The thrust of the episode is that Felicity is working for both Team Arrow and Helix even when their objectives clash. Helix wants their founder Cayden James released from ARGUS, and he coincidentally has tech that could find Prometheus. Oliver of course takes Felicity to task for doing what he always does. Man, is that kettle black.
There's also a forced subplot of Quentin trying to get Rene and his daughter back together. There are great performances here by both Rick Gonzalez and Paul Blackthorne, but in the end, another forced subplot to give the character something to do. There is a reunion, and it's great to see Rene smile, but the resolution seems fuzzy, and if it works out I fear we'll lose Wild Dog, one of the best parts of this show from "Arrow."
As to the identity of Cayden James, it occurred to me that it might be Felicity's old college boyfriend, after all the inspiration for Helix was Felicity herself. Another possibility might be, and this is a long shot, Roy Harper. Think about the name Cayden James, it sounds an awful lot like the actor's name, Colton Haynes, doesn't it? Either way, I don't think we'll find out for a while.
In the end, Cayden James and Helix are in the wind, and have kicked Felicity to the curb. I suppose we may see them next season as I guessed earlier. They did leave her some idea of where Chase may be. I'm still wondering however, with all the on and off this episode, does Felicity need her glasses or not?
We close with a hell of a cliffhanger. John and Lyla are in dire straits as are Oliver and Felicity. It seems to me that a little bit of listening instead yapping might cure both couples' ills. Felicity and Oliver don't have to worry about it though, cuz Prometheus blows up the Arrowcave, with them in it.
Next: "Underneath!"
For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode, anything else in the Arrowverse, or anything in the Marvel or DC television or cinematic universes, please join the Marvel DC Movies TV group on Facebook.
Mentally and physically beaten and defeated by Prometheus, Oliver limps to the Arrowcave and proclaims Team Arrow and the mission shut down, it's over. The rest of the team disagrees. As they retool and regroup, equipment courtesy of ARGUS and Felicity's apartment as secret lair, Chase continues to taunt Oliver at the office. Now, not that I'm advocating such behavior, but what's to stop Spartan or Wild Dog from just shooting this son of a bitch from across the street? Seriously. Game over, Chase.
While Oliver walks around like he's getting ready for his own funeral, it's nice to see he hasn't completely given up as he contacts Anatoly, the KGBeast in the Bratva, for a favor - kill Adrian Chase. With five episodes left, I doubt they will succeed, but still good try, and nice tying up of loose ends. Their price however is high.
Felicity turns to Helix for help, but they keep wanting more and more in exchange for their help, namely her hacking skills. They discover that Prometheus uses a scrambling program that prevents him from being recorded visually. Once Felicity has hacked Kord Industries for that unreleased tech, Helix can reverse engineer it. What happens when the price for all this free intel exceeds what Felicity can pay?
Meanwhile, Team Arrow sans its Arrow is on the move with their new itchy ARGUS ninja suits. They run afoul of illegal drug operations run by Anatoly, allowed by Oliver in payment for his favor. Diggle is not pleased. He tries very hard to be Jiminy Cricket to Oliver's Pinocchio, but the mayor tells him one last time to stand down. So Oliver has let Bratva have free run of Star City, in exchange for a job they haven't done yet?
Things get crazy when the Bratva does try to take Chase down, as Team Arrow stops them. In the confusion Chase bumps into Curtis, beats him down rather brutally while taunting him about his husband. So is he a hate criminal as well as a super-villain? That was a bit disturbing. There was an ulterior motive however, as Curtis planted the anti-cloaking device on him.
The flashbacks continue with Oliver contemplating returning home after his wild five-year adventure. They parallel the current storyline only with both Oliver and Anatoly wearing different wigs. Gotta give props to the hair people on this show, for most of all five seasons, good work. It's a shame that their relationship is about to come to an end.
In some of the best character bits in quite some time, John convinces Oliver that the team is on his side and will stand by him, both against Prometheus, and in helping him be a better man. Meanwhile, at the behest of Helix, who have figured out their identities, Felicity and Curtis break in to Kord Industries (are we ever going to see Blue Beetle?). It's a good back and forth sequence as ninja Oliver and Team Arrow clash with Anatoly and Bratva.
In the end, the team succeeds in obtaining footage of Adrian Chase as Prometheus. While finally outted, and on the run, he is still dangerous and the baddie to beat this season. Anatoly has returned to Russia after the tiff with Oliver, but has left his best men in Star City, all hungry for revenge on the vigilantes that betrayed them. And Helix is just waiting in wings to be the new baddies on the block.
I always get scared with this show when it reaches a moment like this. When things are status quo, seemingly back to normal, and everyone is getting along - it's usually time for everything to explode. Yeah, it's time.
For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode, anything else in the Arrowverse, or anything in the Marvel or DC television or cinematic universes, please join the Marvel DC Movies TV group on Facebook.
Well, I'll give it an A for effort and dramatic effect, but the opening to this episode, with Green Arrow and Spartan walking into what may be a trap, to get a flaming message that says, "So it begins," left me kinda meh.
I've talked before about how I feel about yet another archer as the big bad when we had a perfectly good big bad in Chad L. Coleman's Tobias Church. Church was new, different, dangerous, smart, charismatic, and we barely got to delve into that interesting Charon obsession of his. He was Negan to "Arrow," and now we have just another archer.
Another problem I have with the opening is that it just has Green Arrow and Spartan, watched over by Overwatch. Oliver didn't want to involve the team because it might be a trap. This is why I didn't want Diggle back quite so soon. With no A team, the B team would be the A team, know what I'm saying? At this point they will always be on the sidelines.
The showrunners seem to be at a loss as to what to do with Quentin and Thea this season. Their subplots seem more like busy work or placeholders than anything else. Or maybe not. The same can be said to some extent regarding Felicity and her cop boyfriend Malone. Keeping secrets from a lover is one thing, but stealing evidence is a whole different arena. When Felicity tells Malone she works for the Green Arrow, he surprisingly takes it well. Knowing this show, that can't be good.
Prometheus seems to be targeting Oliver by killing people whose names are anagrams for people on The List. Is it just me, or should that be a very short list? Anagrams are easy, but to find people in the same city who names are anagrams for each other would seem so specific as to be nearly impossible, right? Those are crazy odds.
After much dissent from the team after learning Oliver was effectively a serial killer, they split up to each guard one of Prometheus' six targets. He hits the one Artemis is watching, seemingly teleporting in and bulletproof. And when Green Arrow shows up, he vanishes in a burst of flame. If nothing else, some trust is reestablished with the team. Let's see how long it lasts.
Meanwhile in the past, Konstantin Kovar has declared war on the Bratva. When Oliver's new family strikes back by trying to intervene, Kovar captures Oliver and preaches to him about unity. Konstantin is the father of Leonid Kovar AKA Red Star/Starfire, and played by Ivan Drago himself, Dolph Lundgren. We will see more of him.
The kicker at the end of the episode is that Felicity discovers that Prometheus' weapons are made from Oliver's melted down arrows, meaning he has access to SCPD. We fade on Quentin waking up with a wound and a throwing star. So he is either a split personality caused by alcoholic black outs, or he's being set up. I'm voting for option two. Could it be Malone? Now that would hurt...
We open on Team Arrow (sans Ragman, probably still pondering Felicity blowing up Havenrock) tracking a thief at Kord Industries. Again a screw up and again a harsh reprimand from Mr. Warmth, the Green Arrow. This is followed by Ragman's resignation from the team. He just can't look at Felicity without seeing his dead friends and family. Well then.
Regardless it doesn't look like these are things we'll have to worry about in this episode as Oliver is determined to break Diggle out of prison, whether he wants out or not. Let's be clear here, Oliver has a problem. He is obviously brain damaged somehow. We have watched him repeatedly learn lessons, hard lessons, and then just a few episodes later this information is forgotten.
Oliver is the child who touches a hot stove, waits a moment, then touches it again. Seriously, I can't be the only one who wants to slap the crap out of him, right? It's one thing for it to be a character flaw, it's an entirely different thing when it makes me not want to watch the show any more. How about Oliver goes for a dirt nap and the rest of the season we watch Felicity and Team Arrow.
Well, that would be great if Felicity, channeling Oliver and his guilt complex, would get over Havenrock. Yes, Havenrock is a horrible tragedy, but she saved Monument Point. Focus on the positive, saving millions over thousands, and move on. Why she had to tell Rory is beyond me, unless she has a death wish.
That said however, while Oliver is off being pig-headed, and after he beats the hell out of his new team for trying be sensible, Felicity actually does take lead on Team Arrow. The item stolen from Kord was meant to be confiscated. It was a bomb to blast open the police evidence vault where all the AmerTek weapons from "The Recruits" were stored. Tobias Church gets them anyway. Felicity sends the team to the streets to see what his plans are. No matter what they are, be assured that Oliver won't be around to stop it. I'm not sure what are worse, Oliver-isms or Barry-isms.
It's a credit to Felicity's ability to not be Oliver that she tries to not only talk with Rory, but also tries to re-recruit him. In the exchange, we learn that the Ragman is a legacy, passed down from father to son for who knows how long. Odd that no one has heard of him, not even as a myth or urban legend in all that time. Watching Felicity's Team Arrow in action only strengthens my thoughts above.
Throughout the episode, the A plot has Oliver breaking into prison with Lyla's help to rescue John. If I'm honest, I didn't care. I was bored, both with the plot and with Oliver. Meanwhile Team Arrow, with Rory, attack Church. Indications wee that it was a suicide mission but with Ragman's powers, the odds are evened up a bit.
That said, Curtis is wounded, and to get away, Wild Dog takes on Church alone. He doesn't do as well as we might have hoped. He's been taken by Church, tortured, and if the scenes from next week are any indication, Wild Dog will be broken.
In the rest of the Arrowverse, the Bratva flashback goes on and on, Thea continues to cover for Oliver, Quentin acts wonky to make everyone think he's drinking again, and Adrian Chase moves closer to thinking like a 'vigilante.' And yeah, I absolutely hated the end of the Diggle story where John tells Oliver not to change. Groan.
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.
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.
In the last episode of "Arrow," the town of Havenrock was nuked in order to save the much more populous city of Monument Point. The unavoidable death toll is in the tens of thousands instead of millions. The disaster has made Damien Darhk near invincible. He's powerful enough to kill Green Arrow and Spartan, but he doesn't, so they will live long enough to die in the armageddon when Darhk gets the rest of the missile codes. Rookie James Bond villain mistake - always kill the heroes, always.
Felicity is taking it hard, and she had a hard choice, she didn't want anyone to die. They're going to need help to keep the codes from Darhk, so she enlists Curtis, who more than a little starstruck by her hacker dad, the Calculator. I loved when he said to Felicity that she now made so much more sense, and also the WarGames reference. Of course, in retaliation Darhk enlists Cooper Seldon from "The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak" to work the opposing side of the hack. I loved the Eye of Sauron on the screens when Cooper took over the Team Arrow computers.
Meanwhile Thea is being held prisoner by dear old dad Malcolm Merlin inside Darhk's Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (yeah, I went there) after Anarky killed her boyfriend, who was not Dr. Davis after all. Anarky, who's hunting Darhk, may actually be more of a monkey wrench in his plans than Team Arrow. I am so sick of deus ex machina in these superhero shows of late, Anarky better not be the one to take out Darhk.
While Felicity is called away to deal with the domestic trainwreck that is her parents, and Green Arrow and Spartan discover Darhk's underground EPCOT, Quentin Lance is alone in the Arrowcave. It's during this time that Sara Lance returns from her time journey with "DC's Legends of Tomorrow." If you watched the season finale the next evening you know what happens when she learns Laurel has been killed. Like on "Doctor Who," Laurel's death is a fixed point in time and cannot be altered. Sara returns to the time stream.
On Flashback Island, Taiana is possessed of the power of Reiter's Khushu Idol, and planning to bring it home to her village to take revenge on the warlord there, a guy named Kovar. Interesting, the only Russian named Kovar in the DC Comics Universe is the superhero Starfire/Red Star, decidedly a good guy last I checked. Unfortunately, Reiter is still alive and isn't letting anyone leave with the idol.
Back at Darhk's Noah's Ark/EPCOT Thea been drugged and wants to kill Oliver. Merlyn steps in and says the most truthful thing that's ever been said in four seasons of this series. Oliver has always had an inability to do what is necessary. What's he going to do? It's already been established he's not going to kill Merlyn. Only John Barrowman. Cold hard truth. And right there, with those words, Merlyn takes the crown as Green Arrow's archenemy.
Inside the Ark, things have gone to hell, for exactly the reasons I had feared. Team Arrow has nothing to do with actively defeating the bad guy, again. While they stopped Darhk from getting the missile codes and foiling his plan, it's Anarky who makes the crushing blow. While the whole ark city is going up in white dwarf star alloy powered flames, little Lonnie Machin kills Ruve Adams.
As you can imagine, Darhk is at the end of his rope. And why he didn't kill Merlyn for his continued failures is beyond me. Malcolm and Oliver are just different sides of the same coin. As Darhk visits Felicity, Curtis, and Donna he promises to bring hell to them.
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.
The Bug-Eyed Bandit is back, and if the news of the return of a lame villain revamped and made cool for television isn't enough to get you psyched about the episode, there's also Oliver reading Harry Potter and Donna misspelling 'break-up,' and that's just for starters. Get ready for Die Hard with bees.
There are a maddening amount of quick cuts in this episode, almost as if it was a Russell Mulcahy music video from the 1980s - frenetic, chaotic, and fast. Blink and you miss it. So the episode moves quicker than others but there's still a main thrust to the story. Brie Larvan AKA the Bug-Eyed Bandit hack-checked herself out of prison and wants one of those miracle do-hickeys that cured Felicity. The problem is that the only working one is at the bottom of her spine.
So Larvan has surrounded the PalmerTech building with robotic bees and is promising to pick off board members until she gets her way. Inside with Thea and her mom, Felicity tries to find a way out or to stop Larvan. How Donna hasn't caught on to what's really going on yet is beyond me.
Meanwhile as Oliver, Laurel, and what's his name, Diggle prepare to try to get in and help their friends. That's when Curtis decided to show how 'terrific' he is, and stumbles onto the Arrowcave. After some amazement that is usually saved for folks who just figured out the TARDIS is bigger on the inside on "Doctor Who," Curtis gets giddily right to work playing Felicity and helping the team get inside the building. It's about time we had some of that Flash joy on this show.
Just when the team gets close to getting into the building, the bees go all Voltron and turn into a 'bee man' who attacks Oliver. Luckily Curtis figures a way to use the Canary Cry to destroy the bees inside our hero. Dare I say it? Curtis is better at this than Felicity. But when he had to say aloud he spouts pop culture references when he's nervous, I had to frown at the bad writing. Show, don't tell.
Two 'beacon of hope' speeches, a confession of sympathy from Larvan, and a double cross later, the team tries to get inside again. Green Arrow and the bee man have an intense fight until Felicity, yeah, Felicity takes the bee man out. Back in the Arrowcave a bee has Quentin and Curtis on the run. Man, can Curtis jump. Are we ever going to see him suited up as Mr. Terrific?
In prison Darhk is making new friends, namely Murmur. At first he's a threat then Darhk gets leverage over Murmur and he becomes an ally. Bonus points if you recognized Monument Point as the Justice Society's most recent base of operations.
Back on Flashback Island, the idol's power is revealed. The more people Reiter kills, the more powerful he gets. Bulletproof is only the tip of the iceberg. If that's not bad enough, there's a traitor in the team's midst, and we're getting closer to finding out who's in that grave...
Here’s the gist, the guy who’s ordering the Black Siren around is Cayden James, the super hacker I predicted would be this season’s big bad, and he’s now in the villain game. Enter Alena, the hacktivist from Helix who groomed Felicity last season. She of course shows up in Felicity’s apartment looking for help against James. Apparently his time in ARGUS’ custody turns him into a master villain and he’s planning on wiping out 4% of the world’s population. And in case you think that’s not a lot - it’s 300 million people. What else can Felicity do?
