Been a while since I used that old logo, huh?
Anyway, The Flash and Arrow have returned after a month-long hiatus with two overall good episodes. The Flash introduced another speedster villain and Arrow dealt with the fallout of Oliver and Felicity's break-up and Darhk's arrest.
The Flash: "Trajectory" (Season 2, Episode 16)
After a few downbeat-ish episodes, "Trajectory" was a light-hearted break, though it still tied into the Zoom story rather well. In fact, it made it much, much more interesting.
The weakest point of the episode, for me, was the titular villainess herself. I wish we got a bit more development for Trajectory. I liked Allison Paige's performance. A lot. But her role left me with a lot of questions about the character. Like why did she take the Velocity 9 in the first place? What made her earn Caitlin's trust so much that Caitlin was willing to share the drug with her? Is the schizophrenia a side effect, or has it always been a part of her? These are kinda nitpicky, but I felt like if they were answered, and we got to know Eliza a lot more, she'd end up a better character. Unfortunately, I can't say "maybe next season we'll see more of her" because, hoo boy, she's dead. But, to be fair, her death did end up answering a lot of questions about Zoom.
Speaking of Zoom, the ending scene with the team finding out he's Jay (maybe) was fantastic. We finally know why Zoom was desperately after Barry's speed, and it seems entirely possible that the Hunter Zolomon cameo was a red herring and it really is Jay under that mask. Seriously, that revelation has given me renewed intrigue in the Zoom storyline. And that's awesome.
Another positive note, I loved the scene with the team at the club. The show always hits its stride when it just lets the characters interact and play off each other. And Barry's arc in the episode, with him realizing he's the only metahuman who seems to be "playing by the rules" was very good.
Other Thoughts:
- Are they trying to make Jessie unlikable? Because it's working just fine.
- Speaking of Jessie, her brief run-in with Wally seemed to set-up some sort of romance. Maybe? Could be interesting, if Jessie wasn't so darn unlikable.
- Didn't like the sideplot with Iris and her boss. Not only was it very out of place, but a romance between them is completely out of left field. In a bad way.
- This show just cannot get enough of making jokes about the differences between Earth-1 and Earth-2. And I love it.
Rating: 7.5/10 drones
Next week, Barry travels back in time and there's some really scary wraiths there too...
Arrow: "Broken Hearts" (Season 4, Episode 16)
"Broken Hearts" almost took Arrow back into the "Sins of the Father" and "Code of Silence" slump, but some redeeming qualities saved it. And it was a close call.
Because the thing I hated is only one big thing, I'll deal with it first. I understand that this episode needed to deal with Oliver and Felicity's called-off engagement, but did it need to include Cupid and all the stuff about "love is dead" and the fake marriage. It all seemed annoyingly on the nose. It's like all forms of subtlety went out the window. And then it all culminated with a cheesy speech about love, twue love, from Felicity that almost gave Cupid a change of heart. You can't see it, but as I'm writing this, I'm rubbing my forehead in angst.
Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards were both great, per usual, and I liked how the episode didn't end with Oliver and Felicity mending things completely, which was what I was afraid was going to happen. But I'd be surprised if this is a permanent thing and they're back together by season's end.
The trial of Damien Darhk proved to be the most compelling scenes of the episode, though I could be saying that after getting engrossed in the court case from Season 2 of Daredevil. Anyway, yeah, best scenes. It's been a while since Arrow had a scene in the courtroom, and it was cool to see Laurel completely own the floor. Lance got a form of redemption by testifying against Darhk, even though it spelt doom for his career, and Paul Blackthorne was great in that scene. Something tells me that will come back to bite him in the butt, not just career-wise, later this season.
Other Thoughts:
- The minute Thea I brought up the "ship" name for that one couple, I knew there was going to be a stupid joke about "Olicity." *sigh*
- There's some Indiana Jones-level tom-foolery happening in the flashbacks right now. The show needs to learn to devote more time to them. They feel short-changed every week.
- Where did Andy go? We haven't seen him since the Shadowspire episode.
- I guess Darhk wishes that ring was the One Ring, huh?
Rating: 7.5/10 hijacked limos
Next week, Felicity once again faces off against the Bug-Eyed Bandit. No! Not the bees!
By the way...THIS IS MY 100th POST!!!!!!!!
Thanks to all who've stuck with this blog for the past 6 months. I genuinely appreciate it. I'm trying to think of something special to do to celebrate....
In the meantime, here's a happy GIF:
Noah
No comments:
Post a Comment