I'll start by saying I loved what they did with the start. I thought the was they tied the "previously on Arrow" and directly continued it on into the start of this episode was fantastic. With just 2 episodes left what really really needed was a large present from Darhk and we got this in the opening scene. They way they were able to represent how strong he currently is through him evaporating the arrows and bullets really established what Team Arrow are up against.
The Felicity show really stepped up this episode. As someone who really loved the character of Felicity and was pretty on board with the Olicity relationship at the end of season 3, I found that this episode really pushed me to my limits. I have been rather forgiving for everything around Felicity this season because of how much I loved the character when the series started, but the drama with her mum and dad in this episode while they are trying to stop world domination was just too far. The Felicity show really hit it's stride this episode and is looking to premier it's first full season at the end of June. I must say though, coming off from this, Curtis was fantastic. I've really loved the inclusion of Curtis this year and I really think that he brings this sense of the Flash show that we all love. The line about him matching up who her parents are and how it makes sense to who Felicity is, it was one of my favourite moments of the episode.
The flash backs, again, bad. Just bad. I feel like they really need to either step them up next season or ditch them all together. Earlier in the series when we first saw Oliver on the island produced some of the best moments of the whole series, to the point that the flash backs were often some of the best moments of the episodes. This season, they are getting to the point of completely cheesy.
Unfortunately this wasn't the only cheesy moment. There were so many un-logical or complete moments of bad writing that really stood out for me. Everything with Thea suddenly going from drugged to no drugged was just weird. If Oliver is that good then can he just talk anyone out of being drunk? Another big moment was when Felicity and Curtis got hacked and they said the same line at the exact same time. It was one of those moments I had to say to myself, "really, they went there?"
However we really got some great action this episode. Everything with Oliver and Diggle down in the underground suburb was great. I really think they have stepped up the action quality the last few episodes and it has been some of the highlights of the episodes. I actually thought everything with them was the highlight of this episode. This is what Arrow has turned away from and us as the audience can really tell. Back in the early seasons when it was just Oliver and Diggle in action with Felicity was their eye in the sky, this is what Arrow should be. While I loved everything with Roy and Arsenal and Sara coming back as the Black Canary, I feel like they feel into that formula of always needing a red hooded archer and a women in black, and it has really begun to cost the show in quality.
Overall, even though I dished out a fair amount of negative, I still think that the episode was pretty well paced and more the most part the storyline of it (minus Felicity drama) was pretty good. Of course we got the death of Ruva Adams which was extremely unexpected from me and I thought was well timed as it allows Darhk even further into that pit of evil which we saw starting to click into action already in the final scene. This episode managed to do just enough for me to get me excited for next week's finale, so lets hope that they can pull a great episode for the final and give this back end of the season a bit of a revival. 7/10
The Felicity show really stepped up this episode. As someone who really loved the character of Felicity and was pretty on board with the Olicity relationship at the end of season 3, I found that this episode really pushed me to my limits. I have been rather forgiving for everything around Felicity this season because of how much I loved the character when the series started, but the drama with her mum and dad in this episode while they are trying to stop world domination was just too far. The Felicity show really hit it's stride this episode and is looking to premier it's first full season at the end of June. I must say though, coming off from this, Curtis was fantastic. I've really loved the inclusion of Curtis this year and I really think that he brings this sense of the Flash show that we all love. The line about him matching up who her parents are and how it makes sense to who Felicity is, it was one of my favourite moments of the episode.
The flash backs, again, bad. Just bad. I feel like they really need to either step them up next season or ditch them all together. Earlier in the series when we first saw Oliver on the island produced some of the best moments of the whole series, to the point that the flash backs were often some of the best moments of the episodes. This season, they are getting to the point of completely cheesy.
Unfortunately this wasn't the only cheesy moment. There were so many un-logical or complete moments of bad writing that really stood out for me. Everything with Thea suddenly going from drugged to no drugged was just weird. If Oliver is that good then can he just talk anyone out of being drunk? Another big moment was when Felicity and Curtis got hacked and they said the same line at the exact same time. It was one of those moments I had to say to myself, "really, they went there?"
However we really got some great action this episode. Everything with Oliver and Diggle down in the underground suburb was great. I really think they have stepped up the action quality the last few episodes and it has been some of the highlights of the episodes. I actually thought everything with them was the highlight of this episode. This is what Arrow has turned away from and us as the audience can really tell. Back in the early seasons when it was just Oliver and Diggle in action with Felicity was their eye in the sky, this is what Arrow should be. While I loved everything with Roy and Arsenal and Sara coming back as the Black Canary, I feel like they feel into that formula of always needing a red hooded archer and a women in black, and it has really begun to cost the show in quality.
Overall, even though I dished out a fair amount of negative, I still think that the episode was pretty well paced and more the most part the storyline of it (minus Felicity drama) was pretty good. Of course we got the death of Ruva Adams which was extremely unexpected from me and I thought was well timed as it allows Darhk even further into that pit of evil which we saw starting to click into action already in the final scene. This episode managed to do just enough for me to get me excited for next week's finale, so lets hope that they can pull a great episode for the final and give this back end of the season a bit of a revival. 7/10
