Darhk needs the Geek Squad
Why Darhk wanted Felicity’s help specifically when he still had Cooper Seldon at his beck and call isn’t entirely clear to me. But he’s at the loft, ready to compel Felicity. He starts by flinging Curtis across the room and force-strangling Donna Smoak.
But Oliver (and Diggle) arrive just in time to save the day. Or, at least, save Mama Smoak. A fight breaks out while Felicity cowers protectively over her mother but Darhk doesn’t stop until Thea arrives with Darhk’s daughter, a knife at her throat. She threatens to kill the girl unless Darhk let’s Oliver and everyone else go. So he does, but he steals Felicity’s laptop with the anti-Rubicon software on it.
15,000 nukes
When Felicity tracks her laptop, they don’t find Darhk or Cooper, but they do find out that Darhk has just launched 15,000 missiles and the world has less than two hours left before doomsday. Before anyone can do anything about that, however, the lair is attacked by an army of Ghosts. Everyone is drawn into the fight and it’s pretty amazing to watch. Malcolm Merlyn even stops by to lend a hand, this week playing part of the part of a sorta-good guy. That man gives me whiplash, I swear. PICK A SIDE, MERLYN.
Felicity gets in a good lick using Laurel’s old baton and between her and the rest of the team, the Ghosts are ultimately defeated.
But those nukes are still out there, with one incoming to Star City specifically in a matter of minutes. YIPES.
A hero in the light
Oliver feels discouraged in the aftermath of the fight with the Ghosts. Curtis tries to explain that there’s still a city worth fighting for out there, that the Green Arrow inspires people.
So Oliver runs out to the gathering mob out on the streets of the city and delivers a rousing speech. Meanwhile, Curtis and Felicity use a little tech genius to divert the incoming missile and postpone doomsday, at least for Star City.
It’s enough to give everyone the boost they need to get through this fight.
Fighting Darhk on all fronts
Oliver takes the fight to Darhk, resulting in an all out street brawl with the citizens of Star City and the Ghosts. The Green Arrow gets an assist from Dig, Lyla and Quentin. Meanwhile, Felicity goes to where Cooper is holed up (having gotten his location at last) to put an end to Rubicon once and for all, getting an assist from Thea, Curtis and Malcolm.
Both fights go very well: Felicity is able to inspire Cooper to relinquish Rubicon and help save the world (before he’s killed remotely via Darhk’s magic) and Oliver is able to fight Darhk’s magic using the hope and inspiration of the citizens of Star City. Finally, a fair fight!
Felicity stops the nukes by detonating them in space while Darhk does Oliver dirty by taking his bow and shooting him with one of his own arrows. But Oliver gets the last laugh, in a move that echoed the murder of Laurel earlier this season, Oliver takes that arrow and uses it to stab Darhk, killing him once and for all.
Oh yeah, the flashbacks!
The flashbacks were as good in the finale as they’ve been all season long. Which isn’t saying much. After Reiter magically explodes the plane carrying the survivors from the Terrible Island Experience off Lian Yu, Taiana and Reiter face off and ultimately, Oliver is able to kill Reiter. But unfortunately, it’s too late for Taiana.
The magic from the idol has infected her and makes her turn against Oliver. She barely stops herself from strangling Oliver to death and then begs him to kill her, to put her out of her misery. He grudgingly complies and a great cheer is heard across the land.
Or maybe that was just my living room. I’m sorry but that was the best moment of the whole finale for me. Oliver calls in Waller and ARGUS and they fly the few remaining survivors off the island. Waller offers Oliver a position as an ARGUS agent or the opportunity to be a vigilante. He choses instead to go to Russia, as he promised Taiana he would do. All I hear is BRATVA FLASHBACKS. I’m delighted.
Mayor Queen
Surprising no one, the city council calls on Oliver to become the interim mayor of Star City. They saw his inspiring speech and he did get quite a bit of the write-in vote so it just makes sense. The election will be in August (so before the show comes back, that’s interesting) but they imagine he’s a shoo-in.
We’re treated to a lovely moment where Oliver is sworn in, but it’s a little bittersweet. He’s still troubled by the loss of Laurel, by killing Darhk… Felicity talks to him about it a little, about how he did what needed to be done. It wasn’t succumbing to the darkness, it was the schism within in, the two sides of who he is, at war with one another.
I’m a bit encouraged by the impression that Felicity accepts this about Oliver and perhaps might be ready to get past that terrible lie here in the future sometime.
Team Arrow Divided
While the team are on good terms with each other at the end of the episode, many of the members are suffering a crisis. Quentin is still suffering the loss of his daughter so he leaves town with Donna to get his head on straight.
Thea is horrified by how she threatened to kill a child and how much influence Malcolm has on her decisions, so she needs to leave to find herself and stop from falling into darkness. Diggle is still deeply upset by killing his own brother. He finally told Lyla the truth, and while she understands, he doesn’t. He needs to leave the team, leave the city, to find himself again.
All that is left are Oliver and Felicity and we get a nice moment at the end where she tells him there’s not a chance that she’d leave him alone. You get the sense that these two will rebuild the lair, rebuild the city and, next season, we’ll see them reunite as a couple. I have faith!
And that’s it for season four of Arrow! It’s been a wild ride this season, which more ups and than downs (by my count, at least). Now we have five long months of waiting until season five begins in October.
What did you think of the season finale?