Arrow Review: Schism (Season 4 Episode 23)

Arrow ends the season the way it began it, with Oliver and Felicity.

Why shouldn’t it? It’s clear to anyone with eyes that they’re at the center of this show. Sure, this is Oliver Queen’s story, but a man’s story is not an isolated thing. A man’s story can be about anything.

Even love.

Is Arrow just a romance show? No.

Will Olicity ever overshadow everything else? No.

Are they the foundation on which everything else stands? Yes.

Twenty three episodes ago, Oliver and Felicity were leading an idyllic life in Ivy Town. Now they’re standing together, ready to protect Star City, even if it is by themselves.

What happened to Team Arrow? Why did they win and, at the same time, lose? Can they ever recover from this?

Yes is the easy answer. We don’t know how the realistic one.

But this is a TV show, so common sense indicates that what Arrow has taken great pains to destroy, they’ll surely dedicate time and effort into rebuilding.

Last season, we got a happy ending. It was so happy it might well have been a season finale. And yet, we heard it wasn’t the final piece.

Just the end of a trilogy.

This feels like the beginning of another one. Season 1 ended with the team fractured, and Season 4 ends just the same way.

Felicity found her purpose. Oliver found his purpose.  Diggle and Thea lost theirs.

Or, at least, they lost their hope in a happy ending. They lost themselves.

Team Arrow is cracked, but not broken. They’ll come back together. That’s the kind of people they are.

Heroes.

And yet, they don’t need to come together now. They can look for peace, wherever they have to.

Look for hope. The hope Oliver has found.

Felicity’s hope in Oliver was able to counteract Darhk’s magic. Those are Oliver’s words. But, with Darhk’s magic on steroids, in “Schism,” Oliver needed something to counter that.

Like the hopes of an entire city.

Before, he had to balance being Oliver Queen and the Green Arrow. Now he has to balance those two plus the job of Mayor of Star City. And yet it has never felt like Oliver is more ready to take on a challenge than he is now.

He isn’t perfect, our hero. He isn’t done. He’s on a journey.

And, just like at the beginning of the season, Felicity will be at his side.

Because she’s his partner. His soulmate. His other half.

Oliver Queen is finally on the path to being the complete man we all wish him to be. And he doesn’t have to do it alone.

See you next season.

Other thoughts:

• I know they’re the good guys and everything, but keeping Darhk’s daughter as leverage wouldn’t have been the worst idea in the world.
• “When did this become your life?” – A little over three years ago, Mom.
• “Back in OUR place, my place …the loft” Funny how, even after supposedly shutting the door of a relationship down for good Felicity still can’t stop thinking of the two of them as an unit.
• I was already convinced that Lyla Michaels (Audrey Marie Anderson) should be a series regular. But if you weren’t, her delivery of the line “It’s not your call Oliver, it’s mine” should have been enough to sway you.
• They do sell admission to the Arrow Cave, right?
• “The Undertaking,” “The Siege,” “The Outbreak” – who comes up with these names?
• You can always tell how bad things are by the state of Felicity’s hair – perfect ponytail, everything’s under control, tendrils of hair coming out from all over, things are a mess.
• The flashbacks were a complete waste of time this year, even worse than in Season 3. I routinely tune out over them. Or get snacks. Yes. Arrow either needs to find a way to add real stakes to the flashbacks, or get rid of them altogether. No one’s going to miss them. No one.
• Dyla is GOALS. Goals.
• I’m a tad disappointed we didn’t get an Olicity goodbye scene, just in case. I want to think they filmed it and it just didn’t fit. Because that’s what you do when the world/your life is ending. You say goodbye to those you love. You tell them you love them.
• Malcolm Merlyn has overstayed his welcome by a LOT.
• A few more women in that mob would have been appreciated, Arrow.
• Felicity’s coat is hideous. There. I said it.
• As much as I appreciate the hold-no-barrel punching fest at the end, why didn’t anyone think to use a gun?
• The whole thing where Oliver knew the oath? Never ever happens. Ever.

What did you think of this episode of Arrow? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

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