Arrow, Season 4, Episode 16: Broken Hearts
Yeah, I'm definitely putting off talking about Arrow. The episodes I'm not talking about is such a mess, even moreso than its sister shows. I'll try to be as short and not rant as much as I probably will if given the opportunity, but damn, these series of episodes are honestly just the definition of messy and bad writing.
This episode focuses on the return of a villain, Cupid... who really isn't the type of villain to have that much of an appeal to hold an episode on her own for a second time. Sure, she goes around kidnapping celebrity couples instead of stalking Green Arrow this time around, but there's only so much you can do with these gimmick-villain characters, especially in a live-action setting. Especially in a live-action setting with such a dark tone. Cupid's antics really fell flat, and the attempts to gel Cupid's celebrity wedding assaults with Olicity fake-wedding moments ended up being truly cringe-worthy.
Granted, I'm not entirely opposed to romance plots, and I do admit that there are a couple of sweet moments as the actors for both Oliver and Felicity deliver quite well in their lines as they try so hard to pretend that they are truly in love and devoted to each other... but this time there's no going back since their relationship is broken so badly. Also Oliver's constant adamant refusal to say sorry and beg and whatnot, instead preferring to wallow in grief and say his vows in the setup to possibly get Felicity to try to re-accept him. It's annoying, but at least it's mostly contained to this episode. And honestly I'm happy that they didn't just repair the schism after an episode or two's worth of screentime, because that would just be even more pointless drama for the sake of drama. Preferably I would rather the shipping business not really touched at all, but this direction is probably preferable to the alternative if Olicity had to shatter.
The courtroom scenes were a bit better than the Cupid scenes, but they happened way too quickly, and Quentin's big sacrifice, admitting his role in Darhk's schemes, as well as Laurel being a good lawyer, are both decent, even if it came a bit too late. Quentin's big moment of 'I'm going to betray Darhk' happened so long ago, and for it to have the resolution so late after the fact ended up feeling extremely weak. Also, um, how is it that a lawyer with personal connections with one of the major witnesses and the accused is allowed to handle the case? I mean, yeah, Laurel being present is more emotionally riveting than if some random dude acts as the lawyer, but still.
Honestly, the flashbacks end up being more compelling as the action heats up and shows that Reiter is hunting for the same voodoo idol that Darhk uses in the present, but they never really get the amount of screentime they deserve, and the fact that, as with all Arrow flashbacks, it is a given that events will end up being a tragedy with Oliver the only survivor, kinda makes being invested in these flashbacks really moot.
Overall? It's a weak episode, mostly due to its focus on the Olicity relationship. It's not that romance is bad... it's just how weakly it's handled, with the Cupid and her half-assed love-related dialogue bit being a poor way to try to make it relevant, makes the whole thing kind of come apart at the seams. Speaking of coming apart at the seams... I'm not reviewing the second half of Gotham's second season. It's not particularly bad or worse than the CW shows... it's just not quite my cup of cake, and while I'm kinda watching it half-heartedly I'm not going to review it. Too much on my plate at the moment, and I'd rather talk about Agents of SHIELD or Supergirl, even. Maybe one big catch-all review after that season is over.
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