Jessie Robertson reviews the season four finale of Arrow…
Schism: adj. “Split or division between strongly opposed parties”
This season on Arrow, we’ve seen a lot happen. Now that we’re at the season finale, it seems like familiar territory:
– Final showdown between Oliver and big bad of the season- Check
– Cataclysmic event transpiring in Star City- check
– Merlyn inexplicably shows up – check
Okay, enough of that; it doesn’t mean it’s stale; but it just feels like it’s happened before and that’s because it has. But, let’s look at the elements that go into shows in the Berlanti-verse; a season long villain. This year, Arrow got the upper hand; Damien Darhk (I’ve spelled this differently every single week I think) was a quip machine who showed up episode one and put fear and sometimes belly chuckling humor into our bellies. Whether politically, physically or magically, Darhk was more than capable of being the showpiece of this season. And his goal? to Nuke the whole world and start over. A lofty goal, one I bashed several weeks ago when Genesis was unveiled. But, I have to hand it to the acting (and writing) of this character; he fully believed in what he was doing. Even now that his wife is gone and it’s just him and his daughter, and he released the nukes himself, he had no qualms about them both perishing in the nuclear holocaust together and why? Because that’s what he believed was right. In many of the ways I would call Ra’s al Ghul a failure last season, Darhk is a wild success as a villain. He upped the stakes by killing Laurel, he faced defeat and spit in its face by recruiting various baddies including Merlyn and he created a following, he got people to believe in him, something Oliver was abashed about since he had such a hard time believing anyone would listen to him. To Neal McDonough, a tip of the hat, and you will be missed sir.
Let’s tackle the flashback since it dragged on for so long without going anywhere; predictably, Taina was overtaken by the power of the idol; she was able to sufficiently drain Reiter of his power long enough for Oliver to kill him but she knew the madness it caused would turn her into a monster; so Oliver gave her the mercy killing. As the story ends, Amanda Waller shows up (thought she was now a DCU exclusive?) to offer Oliver a job, but he has other plans; so Oliver’s going to Russia next year apparently. At least, with this being season five, that should be the last year before he arrives back to Star(ling) City. I need to go back and re-watch the first episodes because he’s already been back and want to see how shell-shocked he plays up being back in civilization because I’m not sure if the writers ideas were plotted out with that in mind; I could be wrong though.
As much praise as The Flash gets for its cast, Arrow also has some gems; Felicity and Curtis being two of them; so, apparently there’s been a huge backlash against Felicity now that she’s gotten so popular, which I don’t understand. Yes, the show may push her on you a lot, but she’s almost (arguably) gotten more character development than most any other character but Oliver, so we are so completely invested in her. It’s weird that her and her ex-fiancée are like just close friends now, but it feels like everyone wanted “Ollicity” so bad, that once it happened, it was like, okay now what? Felicity was given a lot to do this season from being paralyzed to running a corporation to getting engaged then dis-engaged to stopping a massive nuclear attack that would have effectively ended the world. When newly appointed Mayor Queen and Felicity are standing in the wreckage of the “Arrow-cave” at the closing moments of this season, Oliver says he thought she’d be gone; her response “not a chance.” That’s for the haters.
Also, there’s been some recent backlash against superhero media for not portraying more LGBT characters; well, Mr. Holt himself was put in some pretty good episodes this season and was a very bright spot on this mostly dreary show and I don’t think he got enough credit for the acting job of this character; so praise to Mr. Echo Kellum for a great season of one-liners and excitement at meeting super-heroes, we were all living through you.
Arrow had its share of problems this season, but one thing that really worked was the story structure of presenting a problem, either major or small and solving it or getting to its core by episode’s end; the formula really seemed to help slow Arrow down and not throw too many things at the wall at once; although, being a total hypocrite, I missed the non-stop energy and plot season two provided when it was dropping bombs and character appearances left and right. I mean, again, they dropped a nuke and built an underground world this year! I hope we get even more of a slow down next season, maybe take it back to street level stuff instead of magic and ending the world. This season didn’t feel as clichéd and full of twists and fake outs like last year, but it really delivered some nonsensical items for digestion.
And finally, has Oliver Queen changed at all? At the beginning of the season, he was cooking dinner for his neighbors and by the end , he’s Mayor of Star City. I think in the middle, he was rediscovering his darkness and with Felicity in his life, and discovering he had a son, he wasn’t sure how to process both of those lives together; with the title Schism, it’s really highlighting the balance Oliver found between those two men, the murderer whose willing to do whatever it takes to survive and the light of Star City, both in a hood and in a suit, a man on top of a car speaking about the love he has for his city, his people, his friends. They are one and the same but they are completely different people. Felicity has intimately learned to love both men, and knows that Oliver can learn to live between them as well, or at least learn to balance them to do the most good. She ultimately still does believe in him but it does feel weird for them to both be around but not be together.
8.50/10
Other Notes:
“I know you don’t live here anymore- but those were nice windows” Killing me, Dahrk!
– Why didn’t Lyla listen to Oliver about sending in that assault team? That was a weird moment.
– Diggle leaving his family also strikes an odd note at the end of the episode; perhaps he can’t wear his darkness as well as Oliver.
– Cooper bites it, I think, but I liked the details of the blood under his fingertips from hacking SO HARD!
– I liked Oliver’s line “I’ve never done this without you” to Diggle, showing how much he’ll miss his friend, nigh, fuck it, this is the finale, his brother!
– The last fight was so totally from Dark Knight Rises and I loved it, but wanted more shots of the chaos
– Oliver hallmarks the season by killing Dahrk exactly as he killed Laurel
Ok, that’s it Arrow fans, we’ll see you next season!
Visit Jessie Robertson as he plays vintage video games and WRITES ALL THE THINGS- FOR YOU!
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