I always hate writing a review for an episode of Arrow I don't like, especially for one that is coming off an extraordinary success of crossover madness last week. Now that we are officially at the mid- way point of the season, it feels like the writers put all their focus on the crossover and chose to ignore a structure for this front half of the season. I mean really, putting aside the crossover and the first Slade episode, what about these first 9 episodes would have anyone excited? The fact that the big "reveal" at the end of the episode was having a lineup of villains (who have made no impression at all so far) declare their hatred towards Team Arrow is a joke. I literally predicted this would be the case weeks ago, and that's only because the show has made no attempt at making any of these villains powerful enough to hold their own for one episode!
Yes, the idea of having a team of villains is intriguing, but that only works if you can make their motivations fit the story and actually develop the characters enough for me to feel threatened. Plus, wasn't the whole idea of a villain splitting Team Arrow apart something Damien Darhk accomplished by himself by the end of season 4? Retread of the same storyline much?
But let's get into the actual episode itself. We began at the after- party for Ollie and Felicity's surprise marriage that took place last week. Did anyone find it weird how little Barry and Iris' marriage was addressed on The Flash whereas on Arrow we had a full party? And how cringe worthy was the actual party in this episode? The dancing...the music...the awkward longing stares from Oliver into Felicity when she walked in
And this is coming from someone who likes Olicity! I will say the one good thing that came out of that party was the moment between Quentin and Oliver in which Lance gave Oliver the watch that his father gave him at his wedding. That was beautifully written and a heartwarming moment from two characters who have probably gone through more together than any other combination in the show's history. Paul Blackthorne should be on this show until its final moments.
The second big thing from this episode came from the whole "mole" story bit. Please, are we really going through this again? Well, the answer is yes and the mole was Rene. This came out of nowhere and only seemed to serve the team of villains so that they actually seemed like they were capable of something. There is no need for Rene, Dinah, or Curtis to be made at Ollie about anything that he has done. Who gives a crap if he has you tracked? The man saved your existence how many times? Yikes.
This was by far the worst mid-season finale yet. Think about what's come before. Season 1's 'Years End' saw the Dark Archer reveal himself to be Malcom Merlyn, season 2's 'Three Ghosts' has the Slade reveal and is still my favorite episode to date, season 3's 'The Climb' is perhaps the greatest cliffhanger in the show's history, season 4 gave us the near death of Felicity and the extent at which Darhk will go to hurt Oliver, and season 5 truly began Prometheus death count as he forced Oliver to relive a past event in the most haunting way possible. And this is the mid-season finale season 6 produces? Please. Oh yeah, and Thea is back and apparently better than ever. What a week for Arrow, right/
4.8/10
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