Let’s talk about Captain America: Civil War.
But isn’t this a review of Arrow’s “Taken,” the last new episode before a month of reruns?
Yeah, I know. Stick with me. Empire Magazine recentlyrevealed that early test screening audiences loved Civil War, but they were evenly split between either agreeing with Steve Rogers or Tony Stark. In the comics, Civil War was when superheroes were forced to register by the government. Stark was all for it. Rogers, not so much. Fighting ensued. The film adaptation will be similar, but not the same. For starters, it won’t be nearly as cut and dry. In the comics, Stark was more or less presented as the villain. However, his viewpoint in the film version is apparently so understandable that those lucky few who’ve seen the movie couldn’t decide if they were #TeamStark or #TeamRogers.
Is that what Arrow just tried to do with Oliver and Felicity? It’s admittedly a bit of a stretch on my part to make that comparison. It’s not like Oliver and Felicity are now literally going to fight each other. Their separation wasn’t forced on them by some force larger than both of them. However, Felicity did just give back Oliver’s engagement ring, say that she needed space before walked away thanks to the most conveniently timed cure of paralysis in the history of TV.
For as much as Oliver is admirably trying to be a more open person, he still doesn’t know how to lean on his partner when things get complicated. Felicity’s fully aware that William’s mother put Oliver into an impossible situation. However, honesty means everything to her, no doubt tied to her issues with her lying, conman of a father. As Emily Bett Rickards told TVLine, “I think we all know Felicity’s heart pretty well, and we know that she tries to be as honest as possible all of the time. I feel like that’s something she respect in her friends and in the people she surrounds herself with.” Regardless of the circumstances, Oliver broke that trust, and then she walks in on him again making a huge life decision (i.e., cutting William out of his life) without even talking to her about it.
The specifics of this, of course, are completely insane. It’s kind of hard for an audience to relate to a couple fighting over the truly convoluted soap opera which played out here. However, it is easy to relate to the underlying concept of a couple fighting over trust and honesty. Oliver has progressed so much as a character this season, but after all of this Felicity walked away feeling like she could only trust him maybe 90% of the time. That’s not good enough for the man she’s supposed to marry.
Yet, at the same time, what the hell else was Oliver supposed to do? What more could Felicity have realistically expected from him? Samantha more or less forced him to choose between his girlfriend and his son, and he picked his son.
“Oh, they’re being so unreasonable….although I do see their point of view,” is supposed to be our reaction to a lot of it.
My actual reaction, though, is curiosity over how hard they worked to make sure we understood Oliver and Samantha’s experiences with this dilemma. Felicity’s side of things came at the end. Although her speech was lovely, there is still a sense of narrative whiplash that we’ve gone from these two being one of the healthiest, most open and supportive couples in superhero TV history to her calling off the engagement and walking away in the span of a single episode. Felicity’s emotional reactions have often been whiplash-inducing in the past (e..g., immediately breaking up with Oliver in the erased timeline, instantly scolding and rejecting him after his return from Nanda Parbat last season).
Looking back at my review of the episode which first introduced this William arc, I was instantly cynical of the whole thing, jokingly suggesting Oliver might literally say aloud at one point, “I sure hope that Samantha doesn’t tell me that the only way I can be a part of my son’s life is if I keep it a total secret from everyone I know, almost as if she sensed I was in a committed, loving relationship which needed a somewhat artificial obstacle thrown at it because some force larger than us worried we were becoming boring.”
That’s still how I feel about this whole thing. William was but a plot device, one which was introduced rather poorly thus forcing this episode and last week’s to bend over backwards to better explain everything. Stephen Amell can try his best Grant Gustin with a heart-breaking speech at the end, but while the sacrifice is easy to understand it doesn’t mean as much as it could have it we’d ever seen Oliver with his son other than that one time.
I admire the Civil War-esque nature of the romantic strife which has befallen the show’s central couple. Have at it with deciding who’s wrong, or maybe more wrong. I just wish that this wasn’t all built off of something (i.e.,Samantha’s ultimatum) which felt so transparently concocted to add conflict to a TV couple which had become too happy. A third-act complication was inevitable. It didn’t have to be “forced to lie to you, but if I didn’t I would haven’t seen my son.”
THE OTHER STUFF THAT HAPPENED
They were in wrap-up mode tonight. Darhk is defeated and neutralized. Oliver and Felicity are off-again. So are Malcolm and Thea. Oliver’s mayoral campaign is over. William and Samantha are gone, moving away to a different town far, far away, and William won’t find out about his father until he’s 18. At this point, I don’t know what the rest of the season will bring other than Malcolm taking over whatever Damien’s plan was, Oliver and Felicity possibly reconciling and someone dying.
On top of all that, Vixen made her live action debut. I really hope you already watched her animated series on CW Seed because this episode accepted all of that as canon thus the reason Vixen already knew Oliver, Barry, Laurel and Felicity.
The episode made several jokes about the increasingly elastic reality of the show’s universe that they’re now partnering with an aspiring fashion designer from Detroit who has a magical pendant giving her the powers of various animals. Eh. It is what it is. The special effects perfectly recalled and updated the way Vixen’s powers were realized in both Justice League Unlimited and her own SEED series, and the performance seamlessly fit into the show’s style, with Megalyn Echikunwoke easily at her most interesting as she gave Oliver advice about his son.
Lastly, there was a little scene which will likely get overlooked. “Taken” actually takes a moment to let Laurel acknowledge how much it hurts to find out that Oliver not only cheated on her but had a child with another woman while they were together. That’s not a scene I imagine making it into season 3 Arrow, but season 4 remembers that Laurel needs to have a response, however brief, in that situation. It’s just one of the ways that this show is so much better this season.
Weekly Update from Pointless Island
John Constantine’s magic helped Oliver gain access past a spirit which threatened to kill them all. Now they’ve found a deep underground cavern. Good for them.
Favorite Line
Damien: [After Vixen jumped over his head and flew threw the roof his house] “So that just happened.”
Runner-up would go to the interaction which ended with Oliver explaining that Constantine was literally in hell.
Biggest Nitpick
Damien Darhk still hasn’t realize Green Arrow and Oliver Queen are the same person? Seriously?