Season 4 ends with Oliver teaming up with a surprising force in an attempt to stop Damien Darhk and his magic once and for all.

Arrow ends its over the top fourth season attempting to stop nuclear bombs and Darhk. The episode defies logic so many times it actually pulled me out of it.

Exhibit one: Oliver shoots an arrow at Darhk with a crowd behind Darhk. The arrow would have hit someone in the crowd.

Exhibit two: Darhk’s magic is destroyed, but he can still feel Rubicon failing and control a bullet, after he loses his magic.

Things like this is just bad and uneven writing that has plagued the season. This finale is just a microcosm of the issue. A big battle ensues, and that battle looked like it could have been out of The Dark Knight Rises in its ridiculousness.

The episode does end with at least one thing that’s interesting, the revisiting of Oliver’s run for Mayor. Where this takes the fifth season could provide a lot of ground, and the episode as a whole leaves the team in a very different place than where they’ve been most of this season, also setting up what will hopefully be a very different fifth season.

The fourth season was far from excellent, or even good, but in its end its shaken Oliver and the Green Arrow up enough that things should at least be somewhat entertaining to see where it goes.

Overall rating: 6.85

Oliver and Diggle race to rescue Thea, while Felicity, Curtis and Noah join together to stop Darhk.

Arrow has just one episode left with team Arrow going full assault on Darhk and his cult world. I think one of the best things about the episode is the new locale for Arrow and Diggle to run around. Seeing them running in what amounts to generic suburbia is actually interesting, especially seeing how they use their surroundings.

But for me, the highlight of the episode is Felicity working with Noah and her father as her mother watches on. Felicity finally reveals to her mother what she’s been up to and seeing the family dynamic adds a hell of a lot to Felicity’s character, especially with a twist towards the end. But, the best part is watching Noah make comments about the three individuals. There’s tons in this bit of the show alone to entertain and discuss and how things progress for Felicity going forward will be interesting.

But, with that good comes some bad, and that’s during the lest ten minutes where the show gets all Star Trek in the quality of its explosions and acting. Apparently shaky cam and jumping = explosions and things falling apart.

But, with that plan stopped Darhk is out of options, and pissed. It’ll lead to a showdown next episode to wrap things up, and who knows how team Arrow will stop him.

Overall rating: 6.95

Felicity realizes she needs to ask her father, Noah Kuttler, for help when Team Arrow learns what Damien Darhk’s next move is going to be. Meanwhile, Noah and Oliver have a heart-to-heart talk that leaves Oliver rattled.

Arrow has a hell of an interesting episode that isn’t quite as exciting as it should be, but at the same time there’s a hell of a lot at play.

Darhk’s plan involves nuclear missiles and it’s up to Team Arrow to stop them. And really, that rests on Felicity and Noah’s shoulders. The flaws of the episode, and the season, are emphasized by this episode that seems to ignore the reality of nuclear war and what happens when a nuclear weapon is launched.

But, I guess there’s actual death, so I can’t complain that much?

There’s also the issue of Thea and her being kidnapped. This plot is all over the place too, and what Malcom’s involvement too is a bit head scratching. In fact, so many people are ok with nuclear annihilation to restart mankind is even more dumbfounding.

The entire plot just feels bizarre and over the top and asks the viewers to remove any sense of reality or thought and ignore the issues that seem to crop up over and over.

Sigh….

Overall rating: 6.85