You know how I said I would probably be disgruntled with Arrow again after the crossover episode? Well, I was. Why do all my faves have to let me down??
Evelyn continues to work with Prometheus behind the team's back, but no matter - it's Christmas time! Felicity, Thea, Curtis and Oliver head to the mayor's holiday party while the other half of the team stays behind in the Arrow cave, celebrating much more quietly. Felicity and the reporter (I forget her name, oops) awkwardly step up to Oliver at the same time after he finishes his speech, and Felicity awkwardly jokes about her unemployment and the promise of a double date. Yeah, none of it is funny, and I'm still pissed at the writers for not letting my strong badass hacker earn money for herself outside of the men in her life. It's also awkward for Curtis, whose husband is on to him and his late nights spent vigilante-ing. Evelyn gives the rest of Team Arrow some cute stockings. Too bad we know she's going to betray them.
Curtis and Paul are leaving when Prometheus begins his rampage against Oliver's loved ones. Prometheus severely injures Curtis, leaving Paul to wonder when his husband learned how to fight. After Curtis confesses, Paul makes him choose between being Mr. Terrific and marriage. He can't stand around to watch as Curtis puts his life out on the line every day. Curtis, as he even says himself, is not good with ultimatums, and Paul leaves - most likely for good. Thanks, Arrow writers, for ruining your healthy interracial MLM ship! Sigh.
Meanwhile, Billy and Felicity are having relationship problems. Felicity desperately wants to keep Billy safe, but he goes out and does investigating about Prometheus anyway, since it's kinda his job to do so. I'm not sure why the Arrow writers would assume I care about their problems, especially when 1/2 of said couple are also 1/2 of Arrow's most popular ship at the moment, but whatever.
Anyways, it turns out that Prometheus drugged Curtis with something that was manufactured by one of Oliver's targets four years ago (around the season 1 era). The dude, Claybourne, jacked up the price and Oliver killed him when he wouldn't change them back. Thus, I really enjoyed the flashbacks. I miss the season 1 vibes, and looking back, A LOT has changed. Diggle warned Oliver back then that killing people, even criminals, could have unforeseen consequences, and who knew! He was right. Everyone assumes it's Claybourne, even though he should be dead. "In our town, people who were dead end up being secretly alive almost every Wednesday," Felicity quips. Ha ha. Very funny.
The lead obviously does not pan out, and the team tracks Prometheus down to be Claybourne's illegitimate son, looking for revenge. Now this is where everything becomes f*cked up. I know I occasionally have dirty thoughts that leave my friends groaning, but seriously, everything that happens next is gruesome and horrible. Oliver and Thea go to confront Prometheus, and it looks like Oliver has the lead - finally, the big bad villain is dead! Of course, since nothing happy can ever happen on Arrow, especially not during a midseason finale, Oliver eagerly uncovers the mask to at long last, discover the person behind the mass murderer. It's Billy - the same Billy who just happens to be Felicity's boyfriend. It turns out that the real Prometheus kidnapped Billy, knowing Oliver would be shooting to kill. He forces Billy to pretend to be him, even giving him a voice manipulator to talk to Oliver. That's right, Oliver is forced to tell Felicity, his ex-fiancee, that he killed her boyfriend.
Of course, that can't just be the only bad thing that happens, because the Arrow writers are the Arrow writers. John is tricked into coming out of hiding, and instead of finding Lyla and JJ waiting for him, finds the feds. Great. Amazing. 10/10, guys. And while Felicity is home alone, crying her heart out, Oliver walks into the lair to find....Laurel?
I cannot even begin to express my disappointment and heartbreak over the ending. The writers continue to play with and manipulate their biggest fandom, especially with a major turning point like this. There was even a vintage Olicity flashback to get views, whose pureness was tainted by the simple fact that Oliver murdered Billy. Olicity is pretty much dead - after all, would you want to date someone who murdered a loved one?, and the writers know it. It's the final blow to an already discouraged group of people. I still love Olicity with all my heart, but I know they will never be the same,
Unlike the Flash midseason finale, which ended in relative happiness, there is not a single person who ISN'T miserable after this conclusion. It's tiring, and off-putting. I just want my favorite show to succeed, but it isn't happening when character after character gets ruined by shoddy writing.
Rating: 7
Extras that didn't make it in: I love Madison as a person, but she cannot act. She's always so monotone and we didn't know enough about Evelyn to make her that much of a threat, anyway.
*My next review will be of Jane the Virgin. See you then!
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