Arrow (TV Series) Schism (2016) User Reviews

A lackluster ending to an underwhelming season

[manavtg · 5/10 · 25 May 2016]

Well this was not the arrow we have come to love. It felt as if the writers did not know in which direction to take Season 4. The episodes before the winter break were spot on and it felt like we were in for an amazing season. But then the episodes after that lost their steam. Sure, the episodes in January and February did provide some good moments like the return of Roy Harper and the appearance of Vixen but overall they were not that great. Then came the late winter break. And after that came the downfall. Not a single good episode, only good moments scattered around 8 episodes.

Now to come to the finale. I didn't understand what the stakes were as there was hardly any tension regarding approximately 15000 nukes hitting the world. There was more tension established in Monument Point when it was just 1 nuke. Sure this lack of tension provided 2 great scenes in the Oliver-Curtis talk and the speech Oliver gave to the city but they took away from the tension which the episode should have built. Also, I don't remember where I missed it but is Malcolm Merlyn suddenly back on Team Arrow? In the last episode he was forced to help them but why is he suddenly helping them on his own free will?

The fight scenes though were spot on as usual even though many people say that the last fight was a cheap rip- off of The Dark Knight Rises. But still, Damien Darhk went down without any real bang. The Oliver- Damien fight was easily the worst boss fight of a season.

Coming to the fact that Captain Lance, Thea and Diggle have left (albeit it'll most probably be temporary), I don't really feel any major emotion at them leaving. Compare this to Patty leaving mid-season on The Flash where her departure, though expected, gave a major gut punch. This has been the main problem with this season. The major emotional moments they were going for had not been previously established through any backstory and thus did not fall on target.

Speaking of backstories, the flashbacks again felt weird and out of place, as they have always felt this season save for the episode which had the cameo from Constantine (though it was fun to see Amanda Waller again). Nothing had been established between Oliver, Taiana and Reiter for me to feel anything when they died and it is all but confirmed that Oliver will be heading to Russia for the Season 5 flashbacks.

The writers really need to pick themselves up for Season 5 and change some aspects of this show to bring it to the glory days of Season 1 and 2. The team being brought down to its original group(- Diggle) might be the first step in making Arrow great again but only time will tell whether this pays off. Also, they need to keep Felicity at the level of this episode where she only provides a little comedic relief(though it was out of tone for this episode). For the first time in 2 Years Felicity felt like the Felicity of old. The Curtis character has a lot of potential if handled correctly as Echo Kellum showed in this episode that he can perfectly handle Comedy and Seriousness.

The Mayor Queen story line seems a little interesting so let's see how it is developed.

This episode had enough to only draw the hardcore Arrow fans to Season 5. Casual viewers might not return for Season 5. Let's hope that the writers take notice and try to remove some if not all of the errors of this season. One parting suggestion from me is that they bring back Caity Lotz as Sara Lance for at least 5-6 episodes before sending her off to Legends because she is amazing as the White Canary and might just inject fresh blood into Arrow for season 5.

The Emerald Archer Rises, Team Arrow Falls

[ThomasDrufke · 7/10 · 25 May 2016]

Ultimately, Arrow season 4 decent. It had its painful moments of highly questionable writing but I liked more than what I disliked. Unfortunately, it was never able to build enough momentum leading up to the finale for it to feel like a proper send off, but I appreciate the effort. The episode as a whole went very much the same way the entire season, fluctuating from good to bad.

The idea of 'hope' and inspiring people by 'fighting in the light' ran throughout the entire season, and really the entire series thus far, but 'Schism' dealt with those ideas head on. But much like how I've felt for most things this season, the execution wasn't all there. It seems like the writers had trouble balancing the cheesy 'hope' speeches (although I dug Curtis' speech) and the inability to deal with grief and death. Maybe the writers wanted to portray a 'Schism'-like tone in tune with the episodes' title, but I felt the inconsistent tone hindered the quality.

Once again the fight choreography and effects were top-notch. I know the producers of the CW shows have said in the past that the budget for each episodes stays relatively the same, but it sure seems like the finales get a heavy boost from the effects team. The opening fight in the apartment with Darhk pulling Donna towards him and then stopping an Arrow in the air with a 360-degree panoramic shot of him were just some of the many impressive moments from the finale. With that said, didn't that final sequence in the streets feel a whole lot like the ending to The Dark Knight Rises?

Somehow and someway Oliver convinced the city to get behind him and fight against Darhk one last time. His speech on top of the car also had a strong resemblance to Batman's in the graphic novel and animated feature, The Dark Knight Returns. So there's a lot of Batman inspirations going around. Even so, it was pretty obvious that Oliver was going to come out of the episode being the mayor one way or another, and that speech didn't hurt.

Overall, I think this episode did a better job at setting up what's to come next season then it did producing an amazing finale, but I said the same thing about the Flash last night. I don't know how you can come out of either episode not looking forward to October and the many directions the shows can go. With Diggle, Lance, and Thea all leaving for a bit I have to believe Oliver will spend the first 4-5 episodes being a vigilante completely on his own, with the exception of Felicity of course. And no, I don't believe they will tackle the romance between the two again.

I guess it's worth mentioning the flashbacks wrapped up as well as Oliver heads to Russia to fulfill Taiana's last dying wish. A pretty brutal neck snap may I add from Ollie delivering the final blow. As rough as the flashbacks have been, I'm excited for Russia as a new location and the 'new' (old) Team Arrow in the present day. A bittersweet ending proved to be the best route for the finale, even if as a whole it wasn't as cohesive as I would have hoped.

+Effects & choreography

+Curtis

+Schism within the team sets up an interesting season 5

-Inconsistent tone

-I don't know if I ever truly bought into the whole 'hope' thing

7.7/10

Arrow - S06E23 Schism

[j_forbesy · 6/10 · 26 May 2016]

I'm going to start by saying two things. One, when a show is going bad, the way you view it tends to be more on the negative side. Two, a finale always goes under the microscope more than any other episode. With that, Arrow had an extremely tough assignment. And guess what, for me, they failed. Finales are meant to wrap up a season in a big bang and make us excited for what is to come in the next season. I can say that they only pulled off one thing, and a good episode wasn't the one.

I'm going to keep this review short and sweet because I'm really lost for words about Arrow right now. What has this series come to. This episode had some of the sloppiest writing and just moments in general that simply made me wonder why I was still watching it. Everything from the moment when Darhk was like "I have men too" and suddenly an army comes running out like they had been waiting for the queue. Or when they could magically just stop every Darhk attempted without a real explanation why. Like couldn't they be doing this stuff any other time than the last few minutes til they die?

As a season that started with so much potential and such an amazing villain, I really question how they managed to screw it up. And that was even with no Felicity family drama. I really hope they bring someone in next season to have a head over the whole season and make sure the season stays on track. That Kevin Smith idea is starting to gain momentum pretty quick.

There were a couple of positives however. Like always the choreography of the action was great. Even when the reason for it was at times a bit random or not that logical, it still all looked amazing. The scene when they are in the street fighting HIVE with the other citizens brought me shades of Batman vs Bane in TDKR.

I thought Curtis was again fantastic. I thought his 'Diggle' moment with Oliver about hope was delivered fantastically. Coming into this episode it was already announced he is going to be apart of season 5 and after what we have seen this season, I think it is a terrific move to keep him onboard.

What I really do like about this episode that they need in a finale is the set up for next season. I really liked the idea of having Oliver more on his own similarly to the earlier seasons. Hopefully they can back off the Felicity drama next season and see her more as that hacker role that I thought she played fantastically this episode. Also Mayor Oliver is going to be a role that I hope they nail. We have been looking forward to it since they started hinting to it earlier in the series so I really hope it is what we want as Mayor Oliver next season. While I don't think this series is anywhere near being out of the woods as far as the quality of the show, but I think season 5 has potential. As long as they keep Felicity toned down and nail the Mayor Oliver role, they will have a good foundation to build off for the season. On the episode itself. If this was the quality of an episode mid way through the season, it would of been a decent episode, but it wasn't. A finale is meant to be your big bang. Flash just showed how to do it. While their finale wasn't a complete knock out, it was still fantastic. Arrow has just missed the mark and for me its hard to believe that this comes from the same house that makes Flash and Legends of Tomorrow.

6/10

Well. That was that...

[midas-jacobs · 7/10 · 29 May 2016]

Let me start of by saying that this episode wasn't that bad. This isn't a good episode either, but not "one star" worthy. And in this review I'll try to explain why this was so.

In the finale of Arrow we pick up directly after the previous one. The city is destroyed, and Dahrk is slowly taking over everything. Now there is only one person to stop him. The person who has to stop him had to become someone else... He had to become... Something else...

Like I've said, this is one of the bad episodes, but this wasn't thanks to the directing. This is always very good in an episode of Arrow. The action scenes had some long takes, and long shots, which made them look good. Which brings me to the next subject. The action scenes. Most of the time these are done very well, so I was expecting an awesome final fight scene, like we got in season two. But no. That's not what I got. The first fighting sequence between Dahrk and Oliver was well done and choreographed. (the one with all of the people standing around them, for some weird reason?) Shortly after this, when the civilians also start to fight, and the ghosts come out, there is an other fight scene. This was just, how should I describe it, a bit stupid. This was just them hitting each other in the face taking turns. By the way, this whole scene (the people rebelling and stuff) was completely ripped of of Christopher Nolans "The Dark Knight Rises", which was way better than this episode.

The acting was also fine. Stephen Amel isn't a very good actor at all, but he is charismatic, and that's why he makes this role work. In this show he has his good moments, and rarely is very, very bad. Emily Bett Rickards plays Felicity Smoak. The person I first loved, and now annoys me. She has become a protagonist, which she isn't supposed to be. She was supposed to stay in the background, and be funny once in a while, and not pull the attention to her. The show starts to focus to much on her, and in this episode too. Now they are trying to put her mom into the story at all, which doesn't feel right. I was fine with her showing up in one episode, but lately she started to appear multiple times, and also annoys me. Another person that annoyed me was the girl in the flashbacks, Taiana, I believe she's called. Man, is she a bad actress. Her accent was bad, and not fun to listen to, and when they kill her of, they want you to feel sad, but I only felt happy. The one actor that was actually really good, was the one of Dahrk. About Darhk a bit more further on.

The writing of the finale was also fine. I wouldn't call it great, but fine. The dialogue and so, where good, but the story overall wasn't fantastic. The main problem starts with the build up to the finale. We meet Dahrk in the beginning of the season, but then the show forgets about him, and he's there in the background. This is a real shame, because Darhk was an interesting villain. Not as good as Dead Stroke, but still. And then out of nowhere he came, and sh*t went lose. Another thing that botherd me was the "hope" thing. Yeah sure, there are some inspirational things, but it starts to overflow. They really push it all in your face, which is not very good.

Now a quick little recap of the whole season:

The season started of fresh, a new suit and villain. It also started of good. There were fantastic episodes, but then the show took a brake, and things started to go downhill. The writing took a step back, and episodes became more boring, as the episodes of "The Flash" became better. And then we had this finale. It's better then some episodes, but it still isn't very good.

In the end, I enjoyed this season of "Arrow" for the most part, but I hope that season 5 will be better, maybe more like season 2 again? But that's my review, and I give this episode a solid 6.5/10

That was just awful ....

[tmf084 · 1/10 · 26 May 2016]

I'd like to write a spoiler free review because the episode was so bad that if would go into specifics, it would end up in a rant. However, it perfectly reflects S4, which started out not too bad, but then devolved into an ugly mess. Even I as an amateur could pin point the problems of extremely lazy writing, poor planing and execution of the season long plot and a huge drop in quality around visual effects and stunt performances. It's so blatant, that messed up shots of some extras or stunt doubles are making the cut these days and aren't ending on the floor. It's "bad wig stunt guy in an 80's TV show" bad.

The S4 finale bottles all that's bad and gives you one more dose of it. Luckily it also provides enough closure and avoids any cliffhangers, so right now I've absolutely no reason to even be curious about S5.

Solid If Not Perfect Ending For An Uneven Season

[veikkohoffman · 2 August 2016]

Yes, I really liked the season 4 finale of Arrow. I think it did a good job bringing the sometimes-great sometimes-lame season to a close, and I definitely believe that it doesn't deserve all the hate it's getting. Sure, there are some flaws and parts that I didn't like, hence it being my least favorite Arrow finale and getting "only" an 8/10 rating. But in my opinion the episode's pros easily outweigh the cons, hence it deserving an 8/10 rating. It's not perfect, but I feel that it is an overall awesome episode and certainly not deserving of a 5.4 rating.

This season started out strong, but there were some disappointing episodes towards the end. I was especially let down by Broken Hearts and Beacon Of Hope, and they had me worried of the finale. However, Schism was a lot better than I expected, although there were parts to it that weren't so great. That mainly includes the grand plan of the season's main villain, Damien Darhk. Darhk was well written as a character and Neal Mcdonough acted the role amazingly well, but the writers made a misstep with his big plan. The stakes were "too high" for most of the episode; when the villain's plan was to end the world in nuclear fire, we all knew he wouldn't succeed and the good guys would win. That may sound typical for superhero fiction, but the previous three seasons of Arrow have had real-seeming threats that gave out a sense of despair, and that always added so much to the story. In here, the enemy plan succeeding wasn't believable for a second, and that's the main problem lowering my rating. Other than, there isn't much to complain about in concerning this episode.

Oliver Queen, the protagonist of the series, was at his absolute best throughout the episode. His speech to the people of Star City was emotionally powerful, and his overall character arch this season wrapped up very well. From him rightfully killing Darhk all the way to him becoming mayor, all these moments perfected his character and set up interesting developments for season 5. The flashback story line also ended nicely, as Reiter got defeated and Oliver decided to head for Russia. Hopefully that means that we'll see Anatoly again next season, as well as an explanation for the whole Bratva thing. One thing I also enjoyed character-wise was all that they did with Oliver and Felicity; I was expecting that they would get back together in the finale, which would've been frustrating and over- predictable after everything we've seen. Instead, we had them as friends, much like in the first (and best) couple of Arrow seasons. This was a smart decision from the writers, and the acting and dialogue between Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards was the best it has been in a long time.

All of the other characters were also great. Diggle had to confront his inner demons, Lance had a great moment deciding to come back and help Oliver, Merlyn was intriguing and captivating as always, and Thea had some nice moments too. Laurel was also clearly present in the characters' minds and spirits, giving a fine sense of closure on her part. The most surprisingly awesome character, however, was Curtis Holt. I grew to like him early on this season, but I never expected to like him that much. He was just amazing - or rather *terrific* - in the episode, especially in the scenes where he's giving hope and optimism to the desperate team. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of his character next season. I respect the writer's decision to take many of the members off the team for a while, as it makes sense with their character arcs and gives the show room for fresh developments, but I do hope that they bring them back to the main team eventually. Especially John Diggle - the series just wouldn't be the same without him.

John Behring's directing is magnificent as always. While the fight scene between the Green Arrow and Damien Darhk may not be quite on the same level as the final fights from previous seasons, it still is well- choreographed, well-acted and intensely entertaining. The episode has an overall sentimental atmosphere, balancing between dark and hopeless character moments, glorious and epic scenes and touching sendoffs. This fits well with the season's themes of darkness and light, as does Blake Neely's score, as engaging as ever. All in all, I regard Schism as one of the best episodes in the roller-coaster of season 4, and it sets the table for the next season. It really says something about a series, that even when the season finale ties all its story lines up with a sense of closure and leaves no cliffhangers, I still can't wait to see how all of it continues in season five.

• The enemy plan wasn't believable - Not as good overall as first three season finales + Oliver's arc + Oliver and Felicity as friends + Great character moments + Good setup for season 5 + Sense of closure + Directing and soundtrack + Curtis being a boss

CW You could do better

[Honesticedragon69 · 7/10 · 26 May 2016]

POSSABLE SPOILER ALART:So hare we are Season 4 final to Arrow: Note: My score reflects the Season as a whole, and not just this Season 4 final episode. To be blunt the flashbacks through out the Season was a little off to but it in kind words, the Flashbacks doesn't feel like Arrow at all. Then the final climax fight in the Flashback was a littl under whelming, and too simplistic. The prisoners just taking Oliver's word felt some how unrealistic,I wished at some point they explained the idol, or maybe they did and unfortunately it was to forgettable a along with how it ended up in 'Damien's' hand's, I hoped they would explained that in the Season final at least. Fast forward to present day, I finally this season was all about 'Hope and Light and Darkness' I think one of the best part of not the best part of the Season Final is Oliver's speech on top of that car. 'Damien's' Doughter seemed to disappear in the middle of the episode never to be heard for again. To be honest I was under whelmed with the final Boss fight as some would like to call it, to me for half the fight it felt like a cage fight and at some point, it felt like a gang fight where, Damien and Oliver are the gang leaders. Then when others got involved then it felt more like gang war with Oliver and his Star City gang vs Damien and his Ghost. gang. To be honest I thought I hope-ed there would be a lot magic involved in this fight, but sadly there wasn't. Not enough money in the budget I guess? Then at the end when they finally defeated Damien, and when every one said that they where leaving, every one except for Filicty. It not only reminded me of the Season 3 final when Oliver and Filicty left. and that is why I did not felt emonal at all, I know that this would be temporary. You could totally see all of them returning in the first Season 5 primer just like Oliver and Filicty in this Season's primer. And the second thing that I thought was, oh and by the way I'm about to Spoile something: When Oliver said that it was because of his 'Darkness' and how it might rubbed off one every one like a virus that everyone left, I don't think that is true because, in the first season he was Darker than he was in this season. And secondly the reason everyone left was because of there own darkness, what they have done in this season that they left. I don't think that it was wise to make Oliver the mayor just yet, from a production stand point I could see that would be wise but through a fan stand point it would't be, mainly because, some how it felt rushed. I think they should have waited at least for the beginning of the next season to make him mayor after a certain amount of time has past. Pluse they could us that as a plot point or even a lunching point going into season 5. But with that said it would interesting to see Oliver and Filicty being superheros in next season, for the first episode, and having Oliver try to juggle being a superhero and being a Mayor.

CW please make season 5 good, if not unfortunately season 5 could be your last season for Arrow. But either way I would be watching and waiting.

That Final Fight...

[Svarog246 · 1/10 · 26 May 2016]

While this season had some good moments, I didn't like it overall, mostly thanks to it bringing actual magic into what was a fairly tame and down to earth show but the finale... Just no.

Episodes were getting worse as the season neared it's end, plot holes were becoming wider but I could have lived with all that if it led to something good.

What I can't live with is how this episode portrayed a fight between two ex-members of League of Assassins. They basically b***ch slapped each other until one got tired. What... the...

I'm sorry, that was hands down, the worst fight scene I ever saw on any screen. I burst out laughing while watching that scene, pathetic... This show had many damn good fight scenes and they end a season with that?

Also, if you hate the so called "Olicity" the last scene was a middle finger from the writers aimed directly at you. I don't mind Felicity as much as some, but this season made me sick of her too.

Too bad it has been confirmed that finale of The Flash won't have any effect on Arrow.

Not that bad

[paoloeuvrard · 8/10 · 25 July 2021]

Everybody write bad reviews about the finale, but frankly it is not that bad. Bit far fetched sometimes, but it has to end somehow.

Maybe it's because I am 50 y/o and I read green arrow comics when I was 12, and I kept an open mind.

The villain lost, the world is saved. Everything is fine.

After reading the other reviews I was about not to watch it, that would have been a mistake.

If you like Arrow, this one is as good as ever.

A cheap resolution to a very cheap season

[mihaicosmin2007 · 1/10 · 27 May 2016]

I don't usually write reviews, mostly because I tend to just get over the fact that some shows may not be worth their season pass money. But for this particular episode, it stands to mark it is the biggest failure of TV on recent years, from a show that used to be one of my favorites.

This episode was so bad that it makes epic failures like "Beacon of Hope" or "Broken hearts" look like cinematography masterpieces in comparison.

I usually give points for more than just writing and acting, but this episode had none, bar the efforts of Stephan and Paul to actually save something. As for the rest of the cast, they were all just terrible.

The "honorable mention" goes to Emily Bett Rickards. She was so wooden and stiff in this episode, that it looks like this is her first time on scene. Don't get me wrong. She has improved throughout the season, but in this particular episode, she just failed to deliver.

She didn't even bother looking at the screen when she started her fake type on the keyboard, and while on the rooftop, trying to save the city from a nuke, she was rather dancing than concentrating on the show. Her delivery of dramatic lines (we have X time until world ends/star city ends/everything ends) dispelled all sense of tension from the episode. She is really not good at delivering dramatic lines, and she proved it yet again.

The story was basically stupid. Just like almost all the big arcs in this season, the writers wrote themselves into a corner and had to force the narrative to win. Nobody would have been fooled into taking seriously that the world was going to end. These kind of things don't catch. They tried to go local and grab some emotions from the viewers with nuking star city, but that didn't work either, we all know the city was going to be fine.

Just like with the empty grave from the beginning of the season, writers used cheap tricks to keep the audience from not falling asleep (and judging by the responses, they failed) and to keep their narratives actually remotely connected.

The character of Donna Smoak is completely useless. Her riding out into the sun set with Quentin was even worse and less believable.

Oliver speech to the citizens of Star City, although well delivered, was cheesy and goofy. And the city's reaction to it was just as unbelievable. Stephan Amel tried his best, but he just couldn't do too much with the bad script. The team's reaction to it was far worse: instead of dealing with the nukes, they were watching the speech on TV. Small talk and speeches about hope, darkness, light, friendship and other related topics were all over the place, making me believe I was watching anime, and not Arrow.

But probably the worst offenders were the directing and the editing of the series. I can understand the writers not having the technical know-how of how nukes, computers, hacking and the like works, otherwise they wouldn't be TV writers, so I can get past the glaring plot holes in this regard, but boy the directing was terrible.

A particular character that was in a room disappeared while the room was stormed by HIVE goons, then reappeared after it was all done. The GFX were terrible, and the stunts were just as bad. The final battle between Darhk and Oliver, both former members of the league of assassins, involved taking turns in hitting each other. Gone are the fights from S1 and S2 that kept you thrilled to the very last second. The street fight between HIVE goons and the citizens of starling was just as bad. HIVE goons forgot they have weapons, so they all went into a fist fight against a much higher number of enemies. That makes perfect sense for the writers and directors apparently. They even recycled this plot point they used last year against Brick.

The editing was just as bad: you could see the budget for this episode was really low, the music did not match the scenes at all (when there was any music or sound!), all contributing to a very boring, stale, almost goofy atmosphere you usually see in cheap comedy movies.

After several episodes of the magic idol showing up, I still don't understand why it was put together again, and why the team (or ARGUS) didn't bother destroying it again. This is just one more thing for forced narratives.

The pussification of Oliver Queen concluded when he wasn't able to dodge the arrow Darhk fired at him. This downward trend for his fighting capabilities started in the first episode of S4 and finished here. To this point, his side kicks are better than him. But the only issue lies that all the big fighters here, Oliver, Malcom and Darhk, had inconsistent abilities throughout the season. I miss the times when Malcom could catch arrows with his bare hands, Oliver go toe to toe with Deathstroke and not get owned by street thugs.

Conclusion

Despite Stephan's best efforts to turn this into an acceptable episode, he had nothing to work with. Even taking the place of his stunt double in the final fight with Darhk did not change much.

1/10 is a great score. It deserved 0.

Every Show Has Its Lows, Don't Give Up On Arrow

[simcard-40799 · 10/10 · 26 May 2016]

Sure I agree with most that S4 was a little weak and bleak for Arrow. We were all sick of Dahrk and tired of Ollie having terrible things happen to him. So get over it people. Every single show in history has its lows and Arrow is no different, they have a good platform set for S5 and they are well aware about the imperfections of S4 so hopefully they take the new season in a better direction which I have faith that they will.

In the meantime don't give up on Arrow, it still has so much potential for greatness and will still be a great show. Plus it still has its great cast and original characters that we have all come to know and love. Give it another chance!

Awfully obvious and repetitive

[imaxoi · 1/10 · 26 May 2016]

This last episode was the perfect summary of the this Season 4.

The episode's structure was identical to all other's ones. Always the same dialogues, always the same expressions, always the same fights.

The end was exactly as anyone would have imagined. It looks like they didn't even try to surprise the audience.

I did hope that at least the last episode would have been something more, something that would not make me ask "why am I watching this?" like all other episodes, but I was totally wrong.

Let's see the positive side. There are no cliffhangers, I have no interest in watching the season 5, so next year I will use this time for something that is not so banal and poor written.

Absolute drivel

[jackfreeman · 1/10 · 25 May 2016]

I endured two seasons of utter tripe and I was convinced I'd slog through another because I still had hope they could turn it around. For an episode about hope, they've destroyed all of mine. I am beyond despondent. I don't even know what I just watched, I'm stunned. Who wrote this? Who approved it? Who nodded along during the table read? I have never seen a show so thoroughly destroy itself.

This episode confirmed every terrible thing I knew in my heart to be true, yet held out despite all logic and sanity. It's not even that they're writing for a different audience now. This show is bad. I mean truly awful. This is Leonard Part 6 bad. Every single person who made this should be blacklisted from the industry, and every person who enjoyed it should be quarantined and studied.

I am insulted that the CW decided to waste an hour of my life on this drivel. They should've buried the tapes in the desert and issued an apology to everyone who was even near a television tonight.

Do whatever you want next season, I don't care.

Well that was...sure something...

[forgotten707-1 · 3/10 · 25 May 2016]

There are only 37 original ideas in the world of entertainment, I've been told. Tonight's episode found a way to borrow from everything that's been done before with 0 originality.

"The Dark Knight Rises" final battle, the obligatory speech from the top of a car, the missile diversion at the last moment, and the oh so handy sending the other missiles off into space (which no one thought of before?). Curtis' hope speech, Oliver's "I've lost all hope" moment, everyone going their separate ways, Malcolm shooting an arrow passed Thea to hit a bad guy and her returning the favor... OK you get it. The title of this episode shouldn't have been "Schism" but instead "Cliche".

Season 4 started interestingly enough with the mystery grave visit, until the writer's admitted even THEY didn't know who was in the grave yet, but that they were letting the season unfold naturally. Big mistake. And if that really was the case we felt it in every episode as the characters and plot limped along between weak cliff hangers and cheesy one liners.

The season finale was no different, sadly. I found myself rolling my eyes with the Curtis/Felicity rooftop banter while trying to divert a nuclear missile. Way to shoot any suspense in the foot.

The only highlight of the season was Neal McDonough as Damien Darhk. He at least seemed interesting enough to hold the attention during his screen time. Though his final goodbye was a bit contrived- "you don't have it in you" -his acting was still above par for this course.

Here's hoping season 5 will bring something new, something better planned, and maybe even something hinting at original to this spiraling show.

Satisfying end to 4 seasons of Arrow

[slider345 · 8/10 · 6 December 2020]

Managed to resolve a very complicated plot and tie up most of the loose ends. Not the best fight scenes but there sure were a lot of them. Costly battle for team arrow.

Horrible

[joe_azer · 1/10 · 27 May 2016]

Might contain spoilers based on where you are in the season! it's not like there's much to say anyway.

i couldn't believe that Darhk is the main villain, and worst of all i couldn't believe that his plan is the so original never visited before plan of a villain who wants to end the world to build..... a better one /throwup

the episode itself, bad pace, bad execution, lazy worse than expected resolution, as rare as it may sound but nothing was good about it not even felicity, just horrible.

WARNING SPOILERS FOR THE FLASH TV show:

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i hope what Barry did wipes this show now, either magically make it better, or just end it, such a shame, it's sometimes unbelievable that the same people who make the flash make this rubbish too.

Everybody calm down. Jeez.

[tldr-21807 · 10/10 · 6 June 2016]

A lot of people are griping about this episode and this season for a lot of issues that never really bothered them before: implausible situations and solutions, heavy-handed themes, incoherent character moments, and unrewarding character deaths.

Generally I will agree on any particular point, but it's hard to argue that this particular episode or even this season was substantially different from the ones that came before it in terms of quality. It was entertaining, it was charming, and it was surprisingly high-concept given how this show began it's life as an overly self-serious Dark Knight clone. Honestly, the finale of this season's Arrow was a great deal more thematically coherent and forward-looking than the last finale of The Flash which hasn't garnered anything close to as much hate.

Lighten up. Olicity will eventually get over this on-gain / off-again nonsense and settle on a status quo that won't drive us nuts. Black Canary will come back from the dead in some ridiculously convoluted way and another supervillain will put a giant crater in Star City. In all likelihood, the villain probably won't hold a candle to the incredibly fun and charismatic Neal McDonough.

No, I don't think this episode is really a 10 star episode, but I'm countering all the absurd 1 star reviews. Everybody calm down.

Terrible end to a terrible season

[cameronanderson92 · 4/10 · 30 May 2016]

After a weak first season, things were looking great when season 2 presented us with a great villain and a new story, full of twists and turns. The flashbacks were relevant and added to the story.

Arrow, (as well as Legends of Tomorrow) has to be the dumbest show on TV. The decisions made by characters are infuriating doltish and cringe-worthy, with the final three episodes being the same story repeated and beaten to death.

Nothing makes me want to scream at the TV more than a Greg Berlanti DC series.

Without listing the tedious amount of examples of bad writing and poor direction in every single episode (and there are many), I can honestly say that I have never seen such moronic writing in a TV series.

Enough with the irrelevant and boring flashbacks! They're done; they no longer serve any purpose other than to completely bring the pacing of the episode to a complete halt when we're forced to sit through 2-3 minutes of a "story" that has no bearing on the main plot and is so far out of ideas that everything that happens in them is repeated every couple of episodes.

I still love this show and I really hope that it lasts for years to come, but it will not end well unless the writers are all fired and replaced with competent show runners who can return this show to the glory of season 2.

Scratch my eyes out!

[s207051550 · 2/10 · 27 May 2016]

Even though this was the last episode of the series I couldn't finish it. Was too painful!! For a action series to be good at least have good fight scenes!! The acting wasn't too bad but just get a proper fight coordinator. Seems like the ghost are running in blind and waiting for a turn to be beat up by the heroes. Might as well be fight mindless zombies. Maybe they should call the series "fear the arrow". I watched this series from season 1 and felt it get worse and worse. Maybe they cut the budget when DC's LOT and flash was added. Rather leave it than ruin it, please!! I will not be watching arrow's next season otherwise I might just lose my eye sight...

Does not match up to any of the past season finales. Boring, with irrelevant drama.

[kevalinpillay · 3/10 · 28 May 2016]

This was, by far, the worst season finale that Arrow has had. I genuinely believe that this episode was rushed out and was planned on the go. A lot of things don't add up and too much focus is put on irrelevant drama. I know that the quality took a sharp dive after season 02, but now it's like the writers have just given up and are giving us whatever flies across their mind at the last minute.

Also, can we please take a moment to contemplate that the show has now become about magic and global nuclear warfare. Is this supposed to be some kind of joke? I would have forgiven this questionable writing path if it was interesting or well-implemented. Unfortunately, it is neither.

Don't hold your hopes up. It's a boring conclusion to a boring season.

Brilliant

[isaachr · 9/10 · 26 May 2016]

********SPOILER ALERT***********

Now I may not be the best of critics but I am a big fan of all of these comic books shows presented by CW which now includes: Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and finally Supergirl (rights to Supergirl were recently bought).

I have to admit that the rest of the season before the final four episodes was underwhelming, however I believe that the build-up to the finale was great; I think this because you can see some of the darkness that is hiding underneath Oliver and the rest of Team Arrow, which I think reflects the fact that they are all just like any of us: the public.

The final fight between Oliver and Damien was great, with the civilians behind Oliver, and the Ghosts behind Damien, it really did feel like a magnificent scene.

I do feel however, that the season felt prolonged, taking 23 episodes to kill one man, however my score only reflects what I saw in the 23rd episode which I think was a good lead up to the 5th season.

Simple theft

[LittleStorpingInTheSwuff · 1/10 · 31 July 2018]

This episode was nothing more than Berlanti thumbing his nose at the viewers knowing they will all be back next season. He should be fired for theft of salary.

The downward spiral continues.

[kjv-06229 · 1/10 · 24 July 2019]

A full on launch of nuclear weapons and no involvement by the president, pentagon and all military forces? Come on man!!! Such bs!

Amazing how so many "trained" personal invade the "hideout" of the GA and can never hit a target with an automatic weapon. More BS!

Nice speech Oliver and on top of a taxi. LOL. Why not in "fake" voice?

WTF?

[adacoban · 2/10 · 5 May 2020]

The ending of the season... was lame... That's it.

Do not loose HOPE! - Summative S4 review

[gaminglord · 4/10 · 28 May 2016]

I am very aware of the irony of the title for this review. I actually chose to go back and watch this particular episode a second time before writing this. I've also given myself some time to reflect and cope a little :).

This is, without a doubt the show's worst outing in the history of the series, and I'm probably the biggest fan and defender of this series. Arrow is the grandfather of all of these popular comic series' and for a few seasons it was damn near flawless IMO. Then comes season 3 and everyone looses their minds. I actually liked the season and even its finale despite the shortcomings and errors in writing. It had some excellent moments and took risks that mostly paid off for me.

I feel similarly about this season. It was great (8/10) for me (exuding the finale and the flashbacks). I thought the season was really solid throughout and I personally felt that the much hated romance between Oliver and felicity was treated better than the past season. I found the story overall compelling, the villain was fantastic and every character had an interesting arc to explore for me. Now the flashbacks had potential and had some good moments but they were just underwhelming and honestly poor quality. I'd give the season a lower rating for them if they were super prolonged, they were short and simple which made them easier to digest.

Then came the finale. I could explain in detail why I feel this way but in a comprehensive sentence I'll say this: The finale simultaneously set the next season up for Greatness while also at the same time resolving its own conflict and arcs in a lazy and confusing fashion.

Arrow is so good IMO at creating unique, interesting and high stakes conflicts yet falters on execution and payoff. This is readily apparent in seasons 3 and 4.

One final note on the finale: I give the season an 8 because the finale to me, came out of nowhere in terms of quality, but it did set up s5 well, so I'll give it that. It was also entertaining and had some cool actions sequences. The finale is a 6 for me, but the season ranks higher because of my statement in the last paragraph.

If you've gotten this far, you've read other more detailed reviews which is why I didn't waste time with doing that.

In closing, I want to say this. Arrow is not at its best right now. The writing has gotten worse in crucial areas as time has went on, BUT it still has the potential to revive itself. GIVE SEASON 5 A CHANCE. However, if that season fails, this show has no future. Everything is riding on s5 and this season set it up well. Lets hope the execution is that the same or even better caliber.