Well this was not the arrow we have come to love. It felt as if the writers did not know in which direction to take Season 4. The episodes before the winter break were spot on and it felt like we were in for an amazing season. But then the episodes after that lost their steam. Sure, the episodes in January and February did provide some good moments like the return of Roy Harper and the appearance of Vixen but overall they were not that great. Then came the late winter break. And after that came the downfall. Not a single good episode, only good moments scattered around 8 episodes.
Now to come to the finale. I didn't understand what the stakes were as there was hardly any tension regarding approximately 15000 nukes hitting the world. There was more tension established in Monument Point when it was just 1 nuke. Sure this lack of tension provided 2 great scenes in the Oliver-Curtis talk and the speech Oliver gave to the city but they took away from the tension which the episode should have built. Also, I don't remember where I missed it but is Malcolm Merlyn suddenly back on Team Arrow? In the last episode he was forced to help them but why is he suddenly helping them on his own free will?
The fight scenes though were spot on as usual even though many people say that the last fight was a cheap rip- off of The Dark Knight Rises. But still, Damien Darhk went down without any real bang. The Oliver- Damien fight was easily the worst boss fight of a season.
Coming to the fact that Captain Lance, Thea and Diggle have left (albeit it'll most probably be temporary), I don't really feel any major emotion at them leaving. Compare this to Patty leaving mid-season on The Flash where her departure, though expected, gave a major gut punch. This has been the main problem with this season. The major emotional moments they were going for had not been previously established through any backstory and thus did not fall on target.
Speaking of backstories, the flashbacks again felt weird and out of place, as they have always felt this season save for the episode which had the cameo from Constantine (though it was fun to see Amanda Waller again). Nothing had been established between Oliver, Taiana and Reiter for me to feel anything when they died and it is all but confirmed that Oliver will be heading to Russia for the Season 5 flashbacks.
The writers really need to pick themselves up for Season 5 and change some aspects of this show to bring it to the glory days of Season 1 and 2. The team being brought down to its original group(- Diggle) might be the first step in making Arrow great again but only time will tell whether this pays off. Also, they need to keep Felicity at the level of this episode where she only provides a little comedic relief(though it was out of tone for this episode). For the first time in 2 Years Felicity felt like the Felicity of old. The Curtis character has a lot of potential if handled correctly as Echo Kellum showed in this episode that he can perfectly handle Comedy and Seriousness.
The Mayor Queen story line seems a little interesting so let's see how it is developed.
This episode had enough to only draw the hardcore Arrow fans to Season 5. Casual viewers might not return for Season 5. Let's hope that the writers take notice and try to remove some if not all of the errors of this season. One parting suggestion from me is that they bring back Caity Lotz as Sara Lance for at least 5-6 episodes before sending her off to Legends because she is amazing as the White Canary and might just inject fresh blood into Arrow for season 5.
Now to come to the finale. I didn't understand what the stakes were as there was hardly any tension regarding approximately 15000 nukes hitting the world. There was more tension established in Monument Point when it was just 1 nuke. Sure this lack of tension provided 2 great scenes in the Oliver-Curtis talk and the speech Oliver gave to the city but they took away from the tension which the episode should have built. Also, I don't remember where I missed it but is Malcolm Merlyn suddenly back on Team Arrow? In the last episode he was forced to help them but why is he suddenly helping them on his own free will?
The fight scenes though were spot on as usual even though many people say that the last fight was a cheap rip- off of The Dark Knight Rises. But still, Damien Darhk went down without any real bang. The Oliver- Damien fight was easily the worst boss fight of a season.
Coming to the fact that Captain Lance, Thea and Diggle have left (albeit it'll most probably be temporary), I don't really feel any major emotion at them leaving. Compare this to Patty leaving mid-season on The Flash where her departure, though expected, gave a major gut punch. This has been the main problem with this season. The major emotional moments they were going for had not been previously established through any backstory and thus did not fall on target.
Speaking of backstories, the flashbacks again felt weird and out of place, as they have always felt this season save for the episode which had the cameo from Constantine (though it was fun to see Amanda Waller again). Nothing had been established between Oliver, Taiana and Reiter for me to feel anything when they died and it is all but confirmed that Oliver will be heading to Russia for the Season 5 flashbacks.
The writers really need to pick themselves up for Season 5 and change some aspects of this show to bring it to the glory days of Season 1 and 2. The team being brought down to its original group(- Diggle) might be the first step in making Arrow great again but only time will tell whether this pays off. Also, they need to keep Felicity at the level of this episode where she only provides a little comedic relief(though it was out of tone for this episode). For the first time in 2 Years Felicity felt like the Felicity of old. The Curtis character has a lot of potential if handled correctly as Echo Kellum showed in this episode that he can perfectly handle Comedy and Seriousness.
The Mayor Queen story line seems a little interesting so let's see how it is developed.
This episode had enough to only draw the hardcore Arrow fans to Season 5. Casual viewers might not return for Season 5. Let's hope that the writers take notice and try to remove some if not all of the errors of this season. One parting suggestion from me is that they bring back Caity Lotz as Sara Lance for at least 5-6 episodes before sending her off to Legends because she is amazing as the White Canary and might just inject fresh blood into Arrow for season 5.