![arrow season 1 ep 23 arrow season 1 ep 23](https://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/34500000/-Season-1-Episode-23-Sacrifice-arrow-cw-34505437-500-345.png)
To stop them, Felicity, Curtis, Thea, and Malcolm track down Felicity’s hacker-ex, Cooper, who’s manning the Rubicon program from an abandoned warehouse. In the middle of this speech, Felicity and Curtis are able to divert a missile heading straight for Star City, but there’s the matter of those other 15,000 missiles. The world is ending within a matter of minutes, and they stop to listen to some (former) billionaire give them a speech about hope? There’s not even one heckler? It’s supposed to be uplifting and inspiring, but it felt unearned and like an attempt to shoehorn a bit of Barry Allen into Oliver Queen.
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There’s no non-cheesy, grounded way to do this scene. In the next moment, we see Oliver jumping on top of a taxicab in broad daylight and giving a speech to freaked-out citizens, who are rioting because they know missiles are headed their way. Usually, I eat these Olicity scenes up, but I’ve seen this one way too many times and having their discussion center on Laurel’s death seemed out of left field, considering she’s barely been mentioned.Ĭurtis, however, convinces Oliver that he can still bring hope to the city by revealing that the Green Arrow’s speech at the beginning of season four inspired Curtis and Paul to double down on Star City. Oliver, again, questions the choices he’s made, and Felicity, again, reassures him. As their time on Earth draws to an end, a sense of gloom hangs in the bunker air.
![arrow season 1 ep 23 arrow season 1 ep 23](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/JATjjGeMAfY/maxresdefault.jpg)
(How he knew to take this is - like most things this episode - unexplained.) In essence, they have two hours until more than 15,000 nuclear missiles blow up the world. Team Arrow is safe, until they realize Darhk took the laptop with the anti-Rubicon program. If he has so much magic, why wouldn’t Darhk immediately just start sucking Oliver’s life force again after Thea released the girl? There was no other card for Team Arrow to play. In return, Thea releases his daughter, and Darhk bolts with his girl. Only when Thea bursts into the loft with Darhk’s daughter as a hostage does Darhk ease up on Oliver. (I guess the Ghosts were just waiting in the hallway for their cue?)ĭarhk starts to work his magic mojo on the Green Arrow and, this time, Oliver’s happy thoughts can’t defeat him. But despite all of his powerful magic, Darhk still needs to call in the Ghosts to help fight Team Arrow. But before Damien can suck out all of Donna’s life force, the Green Arrow bursts in through the loft’s window … and pretty much can’t do anything because Darhk recently sucked up the life force of Havenrock’s entire population. Darhk wants Felicity’s help to get Rubicon back online and is willing to threaten her mother’s life to do it. “Schism” opens with Darhk threatening Felicity, Curtis, and Donna in the loft.
![arrow season 1 ep 23 arrow season 1 ep 23](http://www.geekbinge.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Arrow_Main_Image.jpg)
Nothing felt truly heightened, and attempts to raise the stakes fell flat. It felt like a pile-on of elements we’ve already seen this season - a thwarted nuclear attack, a grand politician-like speech, light-versus-darkness - elements that were better executed the first time around. For me, the problem was there was nothing surprising or inspired about the execution of that “attack” arc. It’s not the repetitive nature of the “city under attack” finale setup that bothered me in “Schism,” although I certainly understand that being a turnoff for some viewers. But unlike in past seasons, this time I couldn’t have cared less. In this week’s season finale, like all of the prior season finales in this series, Team Arrow must work together to stop Star City from being destroyed.