So the hype has been real for several weeks now. It turns out, the hype was well deserved. John Constantine brought a certain flair to this otherwise macabre episode and I was left hoping that he might return someday to flirt some more with the women and quip in that lovely accent of his.
Mr. Mystical
Constantine is back and he had a great presence in this episode. We first see him in the flashbacks, which are surprisingly interesting and relevant this week. Back at Heroine Camp, Baron is torturing a guy whom we soon learn is Constantine himself. He’s on the island, looking for an artifact. Oliver is tasked with taking Constantine to help him find what he’s looking for, or at least he is until our new friend gets the upper hand and takes Oliver as his hostage.
They drive a jeep to a spot on a mystical map that Constantine has in his possession. He’s there to retrieve a power artifact that shouldn’t be in such a sketchy place. Good to know Lian Yu has a reputation. And it does; according to Constantine the island has an energy that draws bad people to it. Which he says is why Oliver is there. Despite the slam, Oliver saves Constantine’s bacon when he’s nearly skewered by a booby trap. This means he owes Oliver a favor.
Cut to the present day when they’ve got Sara in lockup and looking for a way to “fix” her. Oliver puts in a call to his old buddy and luckily, John is free because his show was canceled. He enters Lair 3.0 with all the swag that you would expect, winking at the pretty ladies and cracking jokes. I gotta say… I enjoy this guy. I wouldn’t mind at all having him back sometime.
He oversees the ritual and brings Oliver and Laurel with him to locate Sara’s “soul” and bring it/her back with them, to where Sara’s currently soul-less body is knocked out. There’s some battling that goes on in the other realm before Oliver and Laurel reach into the Lazarus Pit proxy where Sara’s “soul” is being held captive. They pull her out and bring her back to the real world and… she’s back! Oh, thank goodness. This arc was getting tiresome.
Before he leaves, Constantine imparts some wisdom about how to deal with Damien Darhk: get out of town. Yeah, that’s not really helpful, John.
Oh, Laurel…
If you recall last week, we learned that Laurel’s little “houseguest” slipped her bonds. She’s now on the loose in Star City and, apparently, leaving quite the body count. This isn’t much of a surprise to us, the viewers, who saw this coming a mile away with all the various and sundry warnings Laurel was given in advance of resurrecting Sara. Laurel seems to be an interesting mixture of surprised and apologetic. Sara’s just not feeling like herself, you see.
There aren’t enough eyerolls, folks.
Sara attacks at a night club and this time, Team Arrow intervenes (and promptly gets their butts kicked because Sara was, is, and will always be, a badass. It’s a nasty discovery for Oliver, to find that Sara is alive and unwell. And his aggravation towards Laurel later back at the Lair 3.0 feels extremely justified.
Sara predictably targets Thea next, since the previous women she’s attacked could be Thea’s stunt doubles (plus there was that nugget we got from Malcolm Merlyn back in 4×03 where he told Thea that the Lazarus Pit-induced “blood lust” could only be cured by killing whomever was responsible for putting her in the LP to begin with… that paints a big ol’ target on Thea’s back when it comes to Sara). Thea is no match for the former Canary and ends up in the hospital. Oliver is upset and takes out his frustration on Laurel.
Their confrontation in the hall is deserved but I couldn’t help but wish Oliver had gone harder at Laurel and called her on her own hypocrisy. She claimed that he never cared about her family when that was literally the through-line for the first two seasons of the show. She called him a hypocrite since he chose to save his sister in the Lazarus Pit too, ignoring the fact that Sara was stone cold dead for a whole year, unlike Thea. Honestly, if I had to call a winner of that little scuffle, it’d be Oliver by a mile.
Luckily, Laurel’s more aggravating traits are subdued during the ritual to bring Sara’s soul back to her. It makes sense why she and Oliver are the ones sent to do the soul-retrieving and her relief to have her sister back at the end of it does feel palpable. Later, she visits Oliver at his campaign office and they bury the hatchet, so to speak. The word “friend” is used liberally to describe where they want to go next and there’s a hug and I try not to cringe too much but it’s really hard, you guys. These two actors have a special sort of “anti-chemistry” that makes them utterly lifeless in scenes together. That was true in season one and it’s still true today.
Is it just me, or did it feel to anyone else like they hurriedly tied up those loose ends? Are the writers trying to resolve everything Laurel-related? She might have gone up in my Death Poll this week, guys.
Felicity is the BOSS.
There was an absolutely adorable moment in Lair 3.0 where Oliver and Thea were sparring together (how long have we waited for a scene like this, fans? TOO LONG). After a discussion about his campaign, Felicity calls for them using the newly installed PA system. In a “monster” voice, she calls out “This is your overlord, Felicity Smoak”. I’d argue, but… let’s be honest. She is their overlord. She’s my overlord. Maybe that should be her code-name.
We also got some great interaction this week between Felicity and Curtis. We get a real sense of how their skill sets are both similar and different and how those differences are complementary to one another. With Curtis’ help, Felicity is able to find a hidden portion of Ray’s message that reveals he is not dead after all. Dun, dun, DUUUUUN.
Buddy Cops: Diggle & Lance
We get a rare treat this episode: Lance has an errand given to him by Damien Darhk and, not wanting to do anything that could inadvertently bring about the apocalypse, Lance comes to Team Arrow for help. Diggle agrees to a field trip team up that sent the two unlikely teammates to a local server farm where Damien wanted Lance to upload a pesky virus that would delete some data. While this was going down, Diggle noticed his brother’s name on a list of files that went bye-bye and his curiosity was rightfully piqued.
Lance did Diggle a solid later on, asking Darhk what the deal with Andrew Diggle was. Darhk tells Lance that they hired an assassin to kill Andy (which we knew), but he says it’s because Andy associated with crime lords. Lance tells Diggle this information and it goes over about as well as you’d expect.
Gimme some Olicity sugar
Arrow knows where it’s bread is buttered, folks, and Olicity moments are a must. Luckily, this week we’re treated to a couple really sweet moments.
The first is the biggest. They are together at the loft, unwinding after the day. Felicity is trying to figure out what Zombie!Sara’s motivation is (do zombies have motivation)? It leads to a sweet discussion between her and Oliver about the people they’ve lost, notably Sara and Ray. I’m pleased to see Felicity telling Oliver about listening to Ray’s final message. I’m even more pleased to see Oliver discuss the people he’s lost (TOMMY!!!). There’s a lot of hand and arm stroking in this scene, with the fire dancing romantically in the background. It’s very easy to slip into a state of awe when watching these two together.
Later on, after Sara’s soul is rescued and Oliver “returns”, he goes directly to Felicity, drawing her into his arms. The way they cling to each other in this moment makes my little shipper heart go pitter pat. They’re important to one another, and I am absolutely loving how Arrow shows us this in little ways like this. These moments help make a good episode great.
The Evolution of Oliver
While Constantine was the undeniable focus of the episode, and the culmination of the story arc to bring Sara back to life (and back to her soul) was clearly meant to be at the forefront, I think the key importance of this episode has to do with Oliver himself, and his evolution. He’s a different guy than he was in the previous season and we see evidence of this sprinkled throughout the episode. It starts with him embracing his campaign for mayor. He has a new strategist on board, Alex Davis. He recommends that Oliver distance himself from the more unsavory details of his past. Namely? Laurel Lance.
Oliver doesn’t question or even seem to mind this suggestion. Thea, however, reminds him that Laurel has been in their lives for years and he shouldn’t turn his back on that friendship. Oh, fine, Thea. Have it your way. But Oliver listens and I think he takes this to heart later when he forgives Laurel and asks for her forgiveness in return. This is a much mellower Oliver than we have known before. In seasons past, he would have held onto his righteous anger towards her a lot longer than he did in this episode.
Oliver and Thea have an understanding that I know wouldn’t have happened two seasons ago and I’m reminded how much I enjoy their sibling relationship. Oliver also opens up to Felicity and accepts her words in return. The adult, loving relationship between the two of them continually amazes me and it amazes me even more that this is who Oliver is now. Would it sound strange to say that I’m proud of a fictional character? Because I am.
He’s becoming the hero he’s always been capable of being.
Coming up next…
Sara is back! Ray is alive! Mama Smoak is coming back to town! (That’s always a reason to celebrate in these parts.) Excuse me while I spend the next seven days vibrating in anticipation!
