Whoa, did that ending freak you out or what? That felt like a spectacular cliff hanger for a season ender, not a midseason thing. Lucky for us, we only have to wait six weeks for a midseason outcome. Four months might have been way too maddening.
Yes, Oliver is obviously going to be okay. But like the season two ending of Sherlock, I’m sure speculation is running rampant. How do you survive a sword going right through your chest and then being pushed off a cliff? I’m dying to hear all the theories but given the comic book baseline of this series, just about anything is possible. I think Malcolm is nearby with a super healing plan, but that’s just one thought.
To think, that was only one bombshell. There were plenty of really good nuggets and reveals during this fast paced, tension filled and emotional hour. Mission was definitely accomplished (I’m talking to you Supernatural). All of the perfectly constructed scenes, which start 48 hours earlier, were woven with present day Oliver climbing some wintery mountain in the dark without climbing equipment, just because slippery frozen rocks don’t require that kind of precaution. It starts with Oliver being ambushed by Nyssa and company in the police department alley after he has a holiday moment with Lance. Yep, they aren’t wasting any time getting started.
Obviously the big reveal is we finally found out the identity of Sara’s killer. It’s Oliver! No wait, it’s Thea! No wait, it’s Malcolm Merlyn! Strange how it’s really all three. Oliver only has 48 hours to deliver Sara’s killer or the League starts taking out Starling City innocents so it’s time to work that DNA test. Surprise number one, there is a match. Oliver. Yeah, we know that didn’t happen. However, how does a DNA test like that come up positive? Perhaps it’s a relative. Sister? Considering the trajectory of the arrows, the height fits. Except,Oliver now believes that this is all Malcolm’s doing because Thea wouldn’t do that. Yet his investigation shows Thea isn’t exactly being truthful. He finds security camera footage of Thea arriving with Malcolm on a his private jet, so he uses the Arrow to get answers, ruining a perfectly good window at Thea’s new loft. Yes, I smiled when she went into full Ninja mode to warn the Arrow to stay away from her father before fleeing in an impressive leap off the balcony. Ollie’s dumbfounded stare was perfect. She’s so been lying.
One strong (and very delicious) confrontation between Oliver and Malcolm at Verdant spilled it all in a nice privately held video. Thea did the actual killing, but she was under the mind control of Malcolm who needed Sara dead as part of his diabolical scheme to get out of his pickle with the League of Assassins. He knew that Ra’s Al Ghul would demand the killer be brought forth, and he knew Oliver wouldn’t turn in his sister, so it’s obvious Oliver has to take the blame. That way, Oliver can challenge “The Demon’s Head” himself to a blood duel and his fight releases all of those with his blood of retribution from the league, including Thea. And what do you know, Malcolm, since he’s Thea’s father. Got all that? Yep, my brain is tired.
Obviously, the big drawback to that plan is someone has to die, either Oliver or Ra’s Al Ghul. This is where I wonder about Malcolm’s motives. Perhaps I’m blinded by John Barrowman love, but I don’t think Malcolm is that evil. I think he has a plan to save Oliver, knowing that Oliver would be mortally wounded on that mountain because just judging by the fight, Oliver was way out of his league. Or was that staged too? Oliver has always been a better fighter than that, so I do wonder if he held back so he would have to kill Ra’s. He didn’t like the idea of killing again, but I can’t imagine Oliver would accept his own death first. It all seems kind of fishy. On the plus side, the cinematography on the top of that mountain was gorgeous. Tell me they found a good mountain in Whistler or somewhere there in BC to tape that.
It’s interesting, but not surprising knowing this show, that Maseo turned out to be one of the League’s henchmen there to enforce the punishment in Starling City. As we saw in the flashbacks, something does happen to Maseo’s wife thanks to China White, and I wish the sword fight between those two could have gone on a little while longer. It was awesome. However, this was a very packed hour so I understand. We still need to find out how Maseo got to this point after being a tool for A.R.G.U.S. If Malcolm doesn’t end up saving Oliver, then Maseo is the next likely choice. He didn’t want to see Oliver die on that mountain, so obviously their time together amounted to something.
Maseo gave Oliver 13 hours to get his affairs in order, so we were treated to Oliver’s touching goodbye to Thea and his team. Yes that was the sound of thousands of Olicity shippers screaming to the high heavens. I especially loved his parting talk with Felicity, not exactly accepting her promise that he kill Ra’s Al Ghul. You’ve got to admit, the man has a way with words, and suddenly I’m on a train I never thought I would be on.
Oliver: Felicity, I honestly don’t know if I’m a killer anymore, but I do know two things. The first is that whoever I am, I’m someone who will do whatever, whatever it takes to save my sister.
Felicity: And the second thing?
Oliver: I love you.
No, I’m not crying. I’m cutting up onions. I’m making a lasagna…for one. Anyway, you do have to wonder, what if Oliver disappears for a while? Will this mean Felicity will turn to Ray Palmer? Normally I’d roll my eyes at yet another stranger coming into town with a tragic murdered wife/lover story and using his wealth to build something to “protect” the city. How many times do we get to recreate Batman? But, in this case, I know Ray was actually in the comics and it does put Felicity in a funny situation, being asked to help build his robotic superhero A.T.O.M. Her, “Why does this keep happening to me?” is perfect. I still must know, why is he showing such and interest in Queen Consolidated and Felicity?
Heck, I even liked the Lance story this week! That’s because they brought back the amazing Alex Kingston, who can out act anyone. She can read Laurel like a book and only needed one look. After all, she’s a mother with some very strong intuition. It didn’t take her long to pull the truth out of Laurel, who also spilled the beans to Thea. So yes, I think Captain Lance is the only one left who doesn’t know. It’s Dinah’s words to Laurel though that is no doubt the catalyst for Laurel breaking out the canary suit next episode. “Then you make them pay. And you make them suffer.” You know, using her mother as the motivation makes far more sense then Laurel going into one of her little tizzies and putting on the suit out of spite. Thank you writers for this perfect setup.
So, going into this little break, I’ve learned a couple new things. Olicity is looking better and better, and no matter what Malcolm does I still love the man. He’s not evil! I’m also studying up on my anatomy, trying to figure out what vital organs can be missed where Ra’s Al Ghul put the sword through Oliver so he can still be alive. Either that or Oliver fell into a pile of those miracle herbs from season one. I can see it now, him climbing up that mountain saying, “It’s only a flesh wound.”
What are your theories? We have a nice long break to ponder. I’m just happy we got a very entertaining finale to hold onto for a while.
Great review, Alice,
Love the Oliver goodbyes to all. I think it will be a bit before he returns (which he will, of course, return), so I’m actually hoping for some fallout from his death. Come on, a little tear from Dig, some crying from Felicity, that would be great! His ‘death’ does gnaw at me a bit though. I’m waiting to see what the writers have planned, but there is a part of me that thinks they went too far. After all, did someone die in that exact way earlier in the episode, not to mention Moira. So really, what vital organs can you miss when you stab someone right in the sternum, um, lungs, heart, pulmonary artery: check, check, check — as in, they’re all right in the way! Yes, Merlyn survived when supposedly Oliver did a very similar move at the end of Season 1, so perhaps the Lazarus Pit idea that’s bantered around is coming to the present day for Oliver. I don’t know. That kind of stuff always fails for me. Still, the show is awesome and I know that I’ll manage to stifle my disbelief at how he’s resurrected and move on. After all, I survived several awful seasons of Supernatural and I’m still watching that….
I am really looking forward to the third week of January for some of my CW shows to return. (And after last night’s Person of Interest, the first of a three-part trilogy, which set the table masterfully, I am really, really happy I only have to wait until the first week of January for its return.)
Thanks for writing, Alice. So glad The CW is on demand now. I’ll be watching The Climb again tonight — with nothing else on to watch.
The Climb is still on my DVR. It’s had a few more viewings, unlike my Supernatural Midseason Finale which was deleted after one viewing (boo hiss).
I do suspect that whatever revived Malcolm will revive Oliver. It has to happen! I also hope that it’s Malcolm that saves him.
Thanks for the review! What a mid-season finale! Wow!
I love Arrow! More than that upstart Flash show 🙂 I guess I like my comic book heroes dark and brooding. I love Felicity. She is amazing on any show she’s on and Oliver has finally seen the light. I’m thrilled that he’s being so open with her about his feelings. I’ll be disappointed if they twist that into knots when Arrow returns. Looking forward to seeing what’s in store.
The darker vs. lighter was really noticeable when they did the crossover. I’m with you, the darker is a bit more appealing. Although I suspect Barry Allen will get some growing pains and The Flash won’t be all “Gee whiz golly” like it has been. However, I don’t think it’ll ever go the dark path of Arrow. It’s my understanding the comic isn’t like that either.
I’m with you, I’m dying to see where they take this. And I predict Oliver and Felicity will be together at least by the end of the season. Yeah, pretty bold of me, huh? 🙂
Thanks for the comment!
Hi Alice,
Great review. I thought it was a great jam-packed episode. Loved that Alex Kingston was back, but I still can’t stand Laurel. It drives me crazy that she’s STILL not telling her father about Sara’s death. “Oh, it would kill him!” Please. The man has been a cop forever and is now a captain. He can handle it and she’s insulting him when she says he can’t. And with Oliver’s “death” I’m really not looking forward to an increased focus on Laurel. Ugh.
I really wanted an extra scene at the end where everybody’s at a Christmas party at Verdant and Thea asks where Oliver is and Felicity just goes off on her. “HE’S OFF GETTING HIMSELF KILLED FOR YOU, YOU LYING BITCH!!” I’m sorry, but Thea’s always come off as a whiny brat to me, and nothing has changed that.
I do hope that Oliver’s absence will shine a bigger spotlight on Diggle and Roy. Stephen Amell said (I’m paraphrasing) “Our show has always been about more than one character and these next episodes will prove that.” I hope so.
At first I was really convinced that the Lazarus Pit was going to be Oliver’s road back to the living, but now I’m not so sure. After the episode, Stephen Amell posted some amazing fan art showing Oliver’s arm rising from the Pit holding an arrow. Some major news agencies ran with it as SA revealing upcoming events. Well, SA just reputed that on Facebook, saying that he’s NEVER posted spoilers and never would and that what he posted was FAN ART, not anything endorsed by the show. So, now I’m not sure if he’s just deflecting or if Oliver really is coming back in some other way.
Oy…. it’s going to be a long few weeks!
Thanks Stephanie. I LOVE your idea of them hanging out at the Christmas party and Felicity gets all snippy like that. Hilarious and I could so picture it too. I’ve really tried to avoid spoilers, but the idea that they’ll be letting supporting characters take the wheel for at least a few episodes has me very interested. But I do know that Laurel will take the focus in episode 10 with her new canary suit. I’m trying to be optimistic!
Obviously Oliver has to come back somehow, so I guess we’ll see how it happens. But yes, way to keep us waiting. As Elle2 said, there were some major organs where that sword went through!