Jessie Robertson reviews the sixteenth episode of Arrow season 4…
“She does love her shrines, doesn’t she?”
So, since we last left you…..
– everyone found out about William
– Dahrk lost his powers and was arrested
– Felicity leaves Oliver then is able to walk again
Okay back to Star City and the breakup of the century… As we open tonight, Felicity is moving out, organizing her stuff by size and transportability as Felicity would be wont to do and seeming to take the whole end of her engagement on the chin; Oliver is stoic and quiet as usual. When the group learns, it’s quickly pushed aside by both of them as a topic non grata, but their back and forth is clearly evident. It’s very Felicity to bring up the problems that caused their breakup (in her eyes) as punchlines but to be able to make them seem like a trivial thing, when she’s so steadfast that they are unrepairable is a weird task to pull off on any show; I guess if any one character is able to do it, it would be her. With Cupid back and targeting newly married couples, it seems Oliver’s idea for them to go ahead with the wedding is a terrific trap to snare this heartbroken beauty into but as Felicity put its (bluntly) “This is your dumbest idea ever” but only because it’s using such a tool as their actual canceled marriage to catch a baddie; both Oliver and Felicity are able to articulate their love for each other in different ways; Oliver to Felicity in a version of a speech he’s made before, but always believes in, and Felicity to Cupid, about the power of love and everything she says is true; it transformed her into a bad-ass hacker superhero, something so off her radar it’s not even funny. But Oliver sees it as a sign of their eventual reunion, and maybe Felicity could see that future in that moment, in that dress, but as the sun rises on a new morning, she still clearly sees the reasons she can’t be with Oliver, in any way, not with him, not with the team. Their love is strong, there’s no denying that, but Felicity knows there’s no reality in which if Oliver needed to keep her in the dark about something that could endanger her, he would without question but she’s made it clear she can’t live that kind of life. ****Sidenote: saying they can’t be fixed, as a couple, literally days after she gets up and walks out of her wheelchair feels a bit heavy-handed.
Laurel takes a different approach this week…..and we remember she’s the DA for Star City! Dahrk is on trial (sorry, Kenneth Bender of Markovia) and there’s really not much to go on. I accepted the premise when members of Team Arrow begged to be put on the stand, but that’s just the wrong way down a one way street; They’ve seen and done too much as heroes, and as themselves, to ever be able to start divulging secrets in a courtroom; the opposition quickly tears Diggle down when he helped Thea buy a ****-ton of nose-candy. Lance steps forward; still one of my favorite characters on this show; and I hated to see him get tore down from his job in this way. But, his convincing testimony puts Dahrk in jail for at least one more night and it may have cost him his job. Laurel shines in this role though, way more so than she ever does as Black Canary; she wears it well and the confidence she has beams through, even when she’s struggling to make a case stick, working late night, she has covered every base and is a true hero in that regards.
– The return of Cupid is a welcome one; she’s always fun in that crazy psychotic way and while noted above, she loves her shrines, I also loved the fact she had a themed hideout: a wedding dress factory! That’s the kind of stuff Arrow should do more often; but her role here is clearly defined; we know why she’s doing it and as a character, she isn’t as nuts as we thought because what Felicity tells her actually sinks in and makes sense to her. 1 Note: she’s targeting celebrity couples; how many of those does Star City lay claim to?
9/10- Arrow continues its streak of solid, fluid week to week storytelling while touching on the overall themes of the season and always adding that one dollop of whip cream on the end, to lead us to the next episode
Other Notes:
– This week’s cherry on top: Dahrk still has his ring. Dum-Dum-Dummmmm! Is that the source of his power and he’s been faking it this whole time? That would be a hell of a swerve.
– Are we to conjecture that the mask Ryder was in search of is the one Vixen smashed that Dahrk was using? When we see him put his ring back on, I’m apt to think not.
– “Et tu, John?”
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Originally published March 24, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
