Arrow, Season 4, Episode 14: Code of Silence
Man, it has been quite some time since I last watched Arrow. I kinda forgot that Darhk has been taken out of the plot in a ridiculous plot excuse, but he's back with a bit of a vengeance! The filler plot for the vigilantes involves a group of elite HIVE groups that go around blowing shit up, and they deliver more of a fight than, well, most villains do! I think Team Arrow worked far more against the staple gun HIVE agent than they did while fighting Anarky, and definitely outshone that pathetic Oliver-v-Merlyn rematch we got in the last episode. Apparently these dudes are the Arrowverse incarnations of the obscure DC villains the Demolition Team, but they are certainly colourful enough to be memorable, even if they don't have enough personality among the three of them to amount for a single character.
Which is just as well, because the fighty scenes are honestly a big distraction from the far more emotion-laced plotlines that abound. The stakes are higher as Malcolm Merlyn has revealed Oliver's weak point -- bastard child William -- to Darhk, earning him a spot in HIVE's little meeting. We don't get to see much of the other HIVE leadership, but Darhk's basically gone full Darth Vader and goes around choking people he doesn't like even through monitors. Apparently the other HIVE higher-ups don't have a Trigon idol to worship, no sir. Whatever the case, though, with Darhk advancing his assault with attempts to kill the traitorous Quentin Lance (I honestly am surprised Darhk didn't show up personally) or to take Oliver Queen out to ensure Ruve's victory, he's at least doing something and being all classy while doing it.
Ruve's a nice little villain all on her own, exuding a nice sense of menace whether she's faced with the Green Arrow or with Oliver Queen... though Oliver's cocky puns about how he knew Ruve is behind the explosions might probably backfire. HIVE, after all, unlike the villains of the past two seasons, are not privy to the Green Arrow's secret identity. Despite Merlyn. Who has returned to being a wildcard while using the extremely flimsy excuse of 'I'm doing this for the betterment of the long term plan'. Uh-huh, sure you are.
Oliver and Quentin both get great moments, especially during their confiding about keeping secrets from their loved ones. The bit with Quentin and Donna felt really tacked on and disjointed, but Quentin's acting is so great that I can't fault the writers for wanting to facilitate that scene. I'm just worried that the whole 'Oliver has an illegitimate son' thing is going to be an inevitable source of angsty drama between Oliver and Felicity. It ran for like five minutes in the Flash/Arrow crossover and I am already sick of it. There's a nice difference between the moral of the story -- Quentin goes all honest, in a fashion, to Donna, but Oliver continues to bury the secret about William from Felicity... though Thea ends up finding out and, well, is now an accomplice in hiding William from Felicity. It's going to backfire in a big, messy drama and I don't like it.
Also Felicity's going to get this machine stimulant thing from Holt, which will in theory allow her to walk. So she's not going to be Not-Oracle for too long, I guess. If it was anyone but Mr. Terrific that built the device I would've called foul, but eh, I'll take it.
The island bits also added more intrigue as that subplot gets a kick on the arse. After dicking around with Conklin and Tatiana and whoever the fuck else, Oliver finally gets a reversed version of the 'if you're so evil, kill this innocent being' sadistic choice, and he finally kills that twat Conklin... who gives an ominous warning that Reiter is going to kill everyone on the island. Considering that Oliver didn't return to Star City happily banging Taiana or with Baron Blitzkrieg in chains, well, that probably rings true. Still don't particularly care that much, though.
The end of the episode shows that Darhk already has William in hostage, even if hostage means 'introduce William to my daughter and let them play'. Overall, it's a decent episode that picked up steam after a series of filler-y episodes. The Darhk plot bits were good, Quentin was good, Ruve was good, hell, the action scenes were nothing short of phenomenal... it's just the secret bits that drag this episode down. I just wished they would tone down on the obviousness of the William thing backfiring on the Olicity romance and it's a bucket of tears I could do without.
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