Monday 28 March 2016

Arrow 'Broken Hearts' Review


This review WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS for the episode to be discussed, if you do not want certain plot points or story spoilt, please do not read further.


So it looks like the photograph tweeted by the shows Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim a few weeks ago really wasn't a fake.  He tweeted a picture of Ollie and Felicity standing at the altar with the words 'Not a dream sequence.  Not a hallucination.  Not an alternate reality.  Not a flash forward to a potential future.'

Whilst what Guggenheim said was indeed true, the two of them standing at the altar was not exactly honest either though, as this weeks episode saw the two of them engaging in a fake wedding ceremony in order to draw in the rogue archer Cupid.

It would seem that despite all of her secrets and double dealings Amanda Waller was true to her word when she promised to let members of the Suicide Squad (sorry, Taskforce X as we can't say Suicide Squad on TV because of the film) and Cupid is a free woman once again.  Instead of going straight though, Cupid ha turned her bow on those in love, as she feels that love is a weakness and should be destroyed.

The Cupid story, and the way that it tied into the fallout of the break up of Oliver and Felicity might be the main story of the episode, but it's not the most interesting.  Mixed in with the relationship drama is the much more interesting story of Damian Darhk in court.

With so much of the past few seasons being focused on Laurel becoming a hero or her personal struggles with addiction it's good to see her in a court setting, getting to flex her muscles as a district attorney for once, especially as it plays such a big part in the main season story.

The inclusion of Cupid feels like both a way of injecting action into what would have otherwise been a much more character focused episode (though they could have done everything without her and used the island flashbacks to provide the action quota for the episode) and to bring the Olicity story to a boil.


With the romance between Oliver and Felicity seeming to divide many of the shows fans their break up and the drama surrounding it was sure to be a point of annoyance to some, whilst massively important to others.  Thankfully this episode manages to give over a lot of time to the story, whilst also bringing it to some form of resolution that will give those who aren't a fan of it a break.

The two of them try to work together on the Cupid case, even going so far as to perform a fake wedding to try and lure Cupid into a trap.  Despite for a moment looking like they might patch things up, ultimately Felicity decides that she can't be around Oliver anymore and takes a break from team arrow in order to get her head around things,

The impassioned vows that Oliver makes during the fake wedding ceremony, and the speech Felicity gives to Cupid all seem to be going down the route that the two of them might have finally realised that they're meant to be together and that Felicity has forgiven Oliver.  It's a television trope, the idea that the broken couple come back together after taking down the villain together, and Arrow manages to buck expectations and goes against the trope by having Olicity official break up.

I'm sure that this won't be the end of the story, we know for a fact that Felicity will be back in Oliver's life at some point close in the future for the mystery funeral, but how long the two of them will spend away from each other and whether they'll end up back together is yet to be seen.


Despite being the secondary story for the episode the scenes with Damian Darhk in court were definitely the most interesting, not least of all because of Captain Lance putting himself on the stand as a witness against Darhk, a move that was sorely needed to ensure that Darhk wouldn't escape justice, but one that could very well mean the end of Lance's career and possibly even puts his life in danger.

It's an incredibly well acted scene, with Paul Blackthorne proving once again that he's one of the most criminally underused members of the cast.  Every development he's had this season, with bringing him further into team arrow has been great and the scenes where he's with the rest of the team are fast becoming some of my favourites.  He's bringing a little something extra to the mix with him not being a costumed hero and being older than the rest of the group.  I'm starting to like him for a lot of the same reasons I like Professor Stein whenever he's with team Flash.

Despite stopping Darhk from getting out of jail the villain doesn't seem too annoyed at being locked up, and has managed to sneak a ring into prison with him.  For a villain that has so far proven to have multiple plans at work and HIVE backing him I'm sure that he has something up his sleeve to deal with this situation.

'Broken Hearts' isn't the best episode, and definitely spends too much time on the relationship drama when it should be giving more time over to the courtroom and the Damian Darhk story.  Like the Olicity relationship this episode is sure to divide fans.

Amy.
xx

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