Arrow, Season 4, Episode 5: Haunted
Well, this is the episode that crossed over with Constantine, a show based on a DC character who my knowledge about is... minimal, at best. I know he's a member of the Shadowpact and I know he bangs Zatanna, but other than that all I know about John Constantine is that he's one among DC's many, many mystic-based characters. So the concept of the show doesn't really appeal to me. The fact that it initially was not part of the CW Arrow/Flash continuity until this episode is probably another factor.
Well, the show ended up getting cancelled after its first season, but apparently Constantine himself, well, has been shoved into the Arrowverse. And for a character that I really didn't give a shit about before, John Constantine was an absolute blast in this episode. He's got this snarky British accent and just dicks around while still being effective, and that's awesome.
And one thing I really love is how Constantine was brought in. Yes, TV-writing and guest star constraints means that you can't get Constantine's actor for, like, half of the season without paying a substantial amount of money, so they have to restrict his appearance in this one special crossover episode. But I absolutely love how organic Constantine was brought in, how his role felt truly necessary and organic. Sara Lance being, well, a body without a soul has been a plot thread that dangled for a couple of episodes now, and the present day sequences focused on, well, the Arrow Team (especially Thea) going to capture Sara's body, as well as some generic Laurel-Oliver bitch fight moment.
The majority of Constantine's appearances in this episode happened in the Lian Yu flashbacks, making them... absolutely crucial to the episode thanks to Constantine's excellent performance in there. I mean, yes, he was brought in during the present day sequences to speak his magic gibberish and bring Oliver and Laurel into the trippy dreamworld to rescue Sara's soul from... from whatever the fuck those things that take the form of Ra's assassins really are. It also makes sense, from a storytelling point of view, to show us just how Oliver Queen met mysticism before, and why he had the idea to call up Constantine for the events of this episode.
This also, indirectly, helps to somewhat justify the writing reason why Thea and Laurel didn't confide in Oliver from the get-go, since it would totally be a dick move for Oliver not to just call up Constantine on the first try to fix Sara. By keeping it a secret for a couple of episodes, it allows them to have build up the soulless Sara Lance subplot pretty well.
Granted, though, it was odd (and a bit dickish) that Oliver, who knows that Damien Darhk is like a sorcerer or some shit, doesn't ask Constantine to stick around and combat the demonic fight, but sometimes we're reminded TV shows are restricted by TV show rules. Boo.
The way it is structured was honestly quite like how most Arrow flashbacks are structured. Oliver learns a valuable life lesson while surviving at the island, which in various levels of obviousness ends up applying to the conflict he's facing in the present day. Granted John Constantine actually shows up in the flesh in the present day, which makes it different, but then he's treated quite like most other guest stars. A lot more attention is given to him, yes, but not as much as Barry Allen normally gets during big crossover episodes, and since they aren't exactly promoting Constantine and just making him this likable dude whose adventures have now been retconned to the Arrowverse's backstory, it's pretty cool.
I absolutely love the moment after Constantine pulls out the weird Egyptian Horus staff thing and pops off the glowing red orb and gives it to Oliver to fool Reiter, because the staff is the magical object. That had me laughing. Is the Egyptian rod meant to be something? I mean, Hawkman/Hawkgirl are reincarnations of ancient Egyptian rulers in some stories, so tie-in? Dr. Fate? Captain Marvel? Or just a cool artifact?
Also, apparently Lian Yu is a nexus for disaster and whatnot, so it isn't just contrived plot coincidence but an actual mystical reason for all the shit that goes down on Lian Yu... okay, it's still contrived plot coincidence, but one with a handwaved reason.
Constantine also brings in what seems to be the main plot for the otherwise random distraction that is the Lian Yu sequences, that Baron Blitzkrieg Rieter is hunting for something mystical. We see Oliver and Constantine bonding over them playing at some Indiana Jones artifact recovery, and I think the fact that Oliver can bypass the 'for pure of heart' mystic runes is part of the reason why Constantine trusts Oliver so much. There's also the Chekov's Gun of Constantine transferring one of the runes to Oliver, no doubt something that will protect him from whatever mysticism Reiter is unearthing in the climax of the Lian Yu arc. In the present-day Constantine also notes how scary Darhk is, and considering how they've just fought possibly demonic beings within Sara Lance's personal purgatory soul world thing, it's supposed to really build Darhk up as this... well, scary demonic entity. *cough*BrotherBlood*cough*
Except, well, other than his death touches and constant threatening of Quentin Lance and generally flipflopping between being a smart, understanding crime boss and just another rundown 'you have failed me, mook' big villain. He's really not feeling that much threatening beyond his death touch and repelling powers.
But anyway, this episode doesn't really have much on Damien Darhk, and largely just focuses on Constantine and closing the book on the insane-Sara plotline. It's handled elegantly, and that smartass Constantine is definitely the highlight of the episode. Granted, I've honestly expected the Constantine Episode (which I know will happen this season, but I don't know the specific episode) to deal with Sara Lance's revival into the White Canary, but I don't know the specifics and this is definitely great.
And the awesome thing is, it's a very packed episode. Constantine and Sara aren't the only things going on in this episode. We've got Thea Queen's short but sweet struggle over whether she should just let Sara kill her because she still feels some modicum of guilt over herself -- and over the fact that she killed those two dudes thanks to Malcolm "Father of the Year" Merlyn. We get a nice, sweet moment where Oliver is just happy that Thea is safe and sound and not judge her over keeping secrets and shit.
Another big point is the Oliver vs. Laurel confrontation... and, yes, Laurel does have a point about Oliver not treating her as an equal sometimes, an argument that she's been parroting on and on and on and on ad nauseam ever since season two. And holy shit, it's still as nauseating. It's better since, well, Laurel's not in the best mental state thanks to both her own ego at wanting to do whatever she could for her sister, and the big guilt that's eating at her heart thanks to bringing Sara back as this mindless killing machine. More elegantly handled and set up than all the previous Oliver Laurel fights, but still, damn, Laurel, you're annoying when you try to be preachy and talk about hypocrisy when you yourself is the biggest hypocrite in the room.
All's well, though, because the two mend their relationship and we get a distinct feel of finality for Laurel and Oliver's friction at the end of this episode. There's also a short mini-subplot of this random strategist dude, Alex Davis who is introduced for like a minute and suggests Oliver distancing himself from Laurel Lance to prevent scandals from affecting his mayorship. It's a bit of an on-the-nose development that coincides with the Oliver-Laurel subplot, but it's equally heartwarming when Oliver gives Davis a figurative middle finger and just shouts something along the lines of "HEY LAUREL LANCE MY BEST BUDDY" out loud.
And unlikely as it is, we have two entirely unrelated plot lines going on. We've got Quentin Lance being forced by Damien Darhk to upload some kind of data-deleting virus into a big database, probably the way that Darhk creates his Ghosts, a venture that John Diggle helps out in. The two play off each other very well as they snark and snark and it's just fun... and then plot relevancy kick in as apparently one of the names being deleted is Andy Diggle. Then the security come and Quentin pretty awesomely bluffs his way out by claiming to have 'tracked this hacker here'. Quentin confronts Darhk about Andy Diggle, and Darhk was actually kind enough to give Quentin a file with everything about Andy on it. Apparently he was a rival crime boss and Diggle doesn't know anything about it... though knowing this show, there's probably something more than that to have HIVE kill him off (or maybe pretend to kill him off?) though just having Diggle angst over the fact that the brother he held on a pedestal used to be a gigantic criminal.
We continue to have Holt and Felicity do their Ray Palmer digging, and we actually see poor Ray Palmer shrunken and trapped in a tiny glass jar thing. Holt actually shows up with a fair amount of Mr. Terrific homages, with a slightly-off-colour jacket that matches the cut of his Mr. Terrific costume, and the words "Fair Play" on one of the sleeves, which is Mr. Terrific's catchphrase. Yay for DC Easter Eggs! They don't get much to do beyond a lot of technical talky talky in this episode, but they end up finding out that Ray is alive and in trouble, so there's that. Felicity is adorable when talking about everything mystical related.
Overall, another solid one, and it's honestly surprising to see Arrow being far more solid than the Flash... which still isn't bad, but these solid stream of episodes from Arrow where Flash has been sort of faltering and just being underwhelming so far is admittedly surprising. Keep up the good work, Arrow!
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