Episode Title: Lost in the Flood
Original Air Date: May 18, 2016
You’d be forgiven for assuming Lost in the Flood was a reference to HIVE’s plan to wipe out the planet with their scorched Earth plan. In actuality, the flood was referring to the numerous tears of the Smoak ladies.
Yes, somehow Arrow managed to make its penultimate episode mostly about Felicity and her time-killing family issues. With Curtis along to fanboy out over watching it all unfold. I almost feel like Curtis’ squeal of excitement is the response the writers envision as they crank out these overbearing Felicity scenes.
It was especially frustrating as Arrow and Diggle were engaged in a pretty cool subplot. Darhk decided they weren’t worth his time yet and he left them after only a mild thrashing. After a little investigating, Arrow and Diggle found an entrance to Tevat Noah — HIVE’s base for the select few allowed to live under the sea while the rest of the planet gets wiped out in a nuclear fire. It didn’t take long for them to get discovered leading to easily the episode’s highlight of Arrow and Diggle shooting arrows and bullets at HIVE’s Ghosts in an idyllic suburban neighborhood. The action sequence was pretty exceptional and it was cool watching a streamlined Team Arrow tangle with bad guys.
Thea’s subplot didn’t hold up though. She’d been too talkative for Merlyn, who decided to give her the magic HIVE pills to make her compliant. While she initially fell right in line going after Oliver and Diggle, eventually Oliver snapped her out of it.
Just in time though as Anarky was still running loose in Tevat Noah. He’d grown tired of playing the long game and wanted to cause some real mayhem by kidnapping Darhk’s wife, Ruve Adams and their daughter. Anarky has been portrayed as a very competent opponent and held his own against Oliver, Diggle and Thea before killing Ruve. The sanctuary got destroyed in the process and in his grief, Darhk is already plotting his revenge on everyone not realizing his daughter is still alive. This has a lot of potential as the smug Darhk would be too busy preening and smiling to really make for a serious finale threat, but a vindictive, pissed off Darhk? That’s bad news for Team Arrow.
Unfortunately, the writers wasted too much time Keeping Up With The Smoaks. Donna resurfaced just in time to play the ditz before seeing Noah and quickly shifting to overprotective Mama Bear. She almost immediately started bickering with Noah about being a crappy father before the truth came out — Donna took Felicity and left Noah not the other way around. Remember, cry if you must, laugh all you want, but in Arrow the best form of communication is to always lie and hope it works out later. It’s gotten to the point where it’s hard to keep track of each character’s lies. But in all fairness, a little custody lie hardly seems worth ignoring last week’s events where Felicity had to send a nuke to a town to avoid killing millions.
Felicity scenes have reached the unbearable point. She’s unfillable yet needs Curtis and Noah to help her keep the nukes under Darhk’s control at bay. And instead of coping with the sacrifices she’s had to make she had to console her mother. It’s a shame what the writers have done to this formerly great character by making the show The Felicity Hour.
Maybe, just maybe Felicity will get some overdue tragedy since Darhk comes to her place asking for a favor. Killing Donna or Noah would be a good start.
I wondered if killing Laurel would be the key moment that gave this final stretch a stronger focus and purpose. Instead it remained all about Felicity and Arrow is limping toward its season finale. I’m not sure how that will play out, but based on this week I’m not all that encouraged.
Channel: Superhero 