Wow. So much in this one. So much already well-said. I'll just add that...
Up 'til now, I was actually almost convinced that Adrian, after basically steering Mayor Queen into the cornered position of declaring The Green Arrow to be shoot-on-sight Public Enemy #1, was trying to get Oliver to confess publicly that he is The Green Arrow. A sort of long and twisted version of making him dig his own grave.
But, now, it seems that Adrian doesn't care about that at all. It was all more about breaking Oliver and his Monster. At least... it seems so... so far...
I am curious though: did they say clearly which block the Bowmans were headed into? San Fernando was mentioned, but that's because that's to where everyone else was purported to be evacuating to. I didn't necessarily get the impression that that's where the Bowmans were headed. Was it? Or...? (As long as it's not Santa Monica, right?)
Does it seem to anyone else that Elliot and Margo have a tendency to panic themselves into wildly dangerous decisions a little too easily? I suppose it comes a bit from the quasi-spoiled shallow-esque brats they've been before all of this, but... sheesh.
I did have fun watching this season and this finale, admittedly because I still enjoy the character performances by the actors (especially Tom Mison), but there are times when the plotholes' capacity to suck me through into a pocket-universe of WTFery do make me stop and shake my head...
In this one, there was...
Henry: I hate you, Father! Die!
Ichibod: Wait!
Henry: Ergghh?
Ichibod: Because... Freedom!
Henry: Freedom good. Okay. Bye.
Me: <scratch my head> WTF?
And what was with Jobe declaring Malcolm's contract void? Just like that? I thought Hell had rules? Nothing has changed Malcolm's contract, Jobe. Malcolm's just a little less immortal than he was a minute ago. So what happened should probably have gone more like...
Malcolm: Why am I still bleeding?
Diana: Madam President, I'll explain why this was necessary later. <fires her gun>
Malcolm: <staggers back a bit, a new red stain spreading from a spot just left of his chest's center> Whaa...?
Diana: <fires her gun again>
Malcolm: <head whips back, stunned look on his face, new red spot on his forehead; falls to the floor>
Ichibod: <to Jobe> I believe this concludes your contract with Mr. Dreyfuss?
Jobe: <with the slightest of nods, bursts into gassy flames and vanishes>
I suppose that would tarnish this we-don't-kill-other-humans image the show seems to want to keep clean for its protagists, but this is a war, dammit, and not all of the demons are inhuman. Show that. (Add a little demony-red wisp of something escaping Malcolm's expiring body if it helps.) We can take it.
Anyway, these actors somehow still manage to make the rest of it fun. I could be annoyed at Ichibod's blithe declaration that he will most certainly escape his new Devilish entanglement, but I could also see how he would project such a bravado so as to reassure Diana that he will not give up on it, so, okay.
And the "Highway to Hell" outro (to the cavorting kraken in the background) was a bit blunt, perhaps -- we're they striding away to the beat of the music? -- but there was still something a bit funny about it.
Ah, well. Like others, I still enjoy the show ("This is a theater, not a morgue!"), but I really hope that the writers/producer seriously tighten up the plot construction for next season. Most of the more gaping plot holes feel more like cheap laziness than anything else; they can do better, and the show would do better...
I suppose we know now why Commander Jun Sato isn't around to be seen or mentioned during or after A New Hope -- although I'm actually slightly annoyed that those two pilots didn't demand that Sato just inform them of his plan (since they did all the work anyway) and then get the valuable asset that is "the best commander to ever come out of the Mykapo system" the hell off the ship, but maybe that's just me. Sigh.
Wow. Quentin driving home that vanquishing the big bad Beast doesn't necessarily make everybody's everything go right back to happily-ever-after normal.
Well, Quentin, and what's floating in the Wellspring, that is.
Wally starts having taunting Savitar visions, so the team thinks Savitar might be able to spy on them through Wally, so the team cuts Wally out of the planning loop, so Wally doesn't know that the team has figured out that the remaining Stone sliver is the last piece that Savitar needs, so Wally tries to get rid of it by throwing it into the Speed Force (where Savitar is), so... oops.
Savitar's detailed planning around his deep knowledge of his enemies is not only freaky, but a little too very much like Prometheus's. If Savitar turns out to be Adrian Chase...
Gypsy's "Are you trying to Luke Starkiller me?" was such a little throwaway line, but I guess that's part of why I had to flail for the pause button while I was laughing so hard at it.
"Well, take care of yourself Gypsy. I guess that's what your best as, isn't it?" ;-)
I'm a little annoyed at Talia for being so simplistic with her own you-killed-my-father contribution, like she couldn't know the whole story behind dad-Ra's al Ghul's obsession with Oliver as the prophesied next-Ra's al Ghul and all the wild implications and complications that that inflicts on everyone. I'm still hoping that some spark of sense will flicker in there somewhere.
Or maybe Señor Inigo Montoya can show up out of nowhere and tell the both of them to just shut the hell up. ;-)
But other than that... wow. This ep was dense with holy-crap moments, just getting worse by the moment. More than once I've thought that they should just tank Adrian any way they can (preferably permanently) and depend on the team (and Felicity's new friends) to find Susan, but at least it's reasonably believable that they might worry about the risk and hold on just a little longer... just a little longer... just a litt--OH, CRAP.
These characters are all always good for their artistically agile snippery, but...
"You know of Swayze?" earned a quick use of my pause button so that I could resume breathing before continuing. (And the following recitation did not disappoint.)
Did anyone else wonder just a bit if Martin's odd musical moment -- besides just being plain funny (complete with Mick's expression and join-in) -- might also have been a little yes-he-can-damn-well-sing-too nod to another very musically talented Arrowverse actor who won't happen to be included in the upcoming big Music Meister-driven The Flash and Supergirl musical crossover? (Or will he...?)
If I ignore the reverse-the-feed-and-overload-their-power-systems solution, and even with AP-5's overdoing the arrogant monologuing, it was a fun diversion before the madness heats up next ep. ;-)
"My name is Barry Allen, and I'm the fastest man alive. Except when the writers forget that basic tenet (which they do all too often) and write some lazy plothole that doesn't make any sense with The Fastest Man Alive because it's just quicker, easier, and more seductive..."
They do kinda screw that up now and then, don't they? I mean, I know Gypsy's very well advanced with her vibey talent, but she caught The Fastest Man Alive's approach far too easily when they tried to ambush her by the waterfront.
C'mon writers, thinking through a little more consistency wouldn't hurt that much.
After last episode -- "Large Blade", which I liked some of, but whose plot-sloppiness level had me again wondering if I should keep watching -- I kinda liked this one. Frank Whaley's character was very likable and believable here, despite everything he'd been through. And the plot-stretches weren't near as bad as in "Large Blade". The series so far is giving me a bit of whiplash, though, with such erratic levels of plot-execution quality. I keep hoping that it's just finding its feet...
One specific nit, though: Matty's insistence that, after having read through Mac's mission history, he prove to her that his improvisational work-style actually works despite her high level of dubiousness. What? She just read his mission history, so she already has plenty of said proof. Hello? Is this thing on? Sigh.
I'm just hoping that Winn's new friend doesn't turn out to be some sort of evil plant. Not that that wouldn't work story-wise, but that that approach is just too overused, and that, from what little we've seen so far, she has some potential to be more interesting than that...
Anyone else thinking that Red must be pretty desperate to interrogate Stone to have attacked an FBI prisoner-transport like that. That's going to be awfully difficult for the FBI to just shrug off this time...
Anyone else a little disturbed that Team Witness didn't go back in and verify the effects of the explosion? If the stone is still intact, it needs to be divided and hidden again; if not, that'd be good to verify. And verifying Dreyfuss post-kaboom state just seems like a good idea. And good ol' Headless... But... nah. It's Miller Time.
Otherwise, fun stuff. Although... So it seems that Dreyfuss survived the blast, but we don't see thousands of dead in Sleepy Hollow, so... What exactly happened? Is he fully immortal? Or just enough to protect him against the blast, given the limited life-source fuel involved. Or are we to buy that the explosion somehow bypassed the whole costs-lives-to-grant immortality thing.
Guess we'll find out soon enough.
If Red's ever dependable for something, it's getting very creatively interesting when he finds himself again "under siege".
Mick was all over it this ep. That intro, his near-mentoring of George Washington (terrifying as that thought might have been before). The real inspiration behind the brilliantly sneaky tactics that won the American Revolutionary War. Wow.
My only real gripe was near the end. We can't let the Spear-fragment get away! But we can't shoot Rip! But... But... Oh, dammit, just shoot him in the leg and reel 'em both in. I appreciate the we're-not-killers theme they keep trying to push (while shooting redcoats left and right--uh, waitaminute...), but that doesn't have to go hand-in-hand with a we're-idiots theme, does it?
Now to wonder what the "Truman Protocol" is going to turn out to be. Some shady dealings related to the Truman Doctrine or the Marshall Plan or some other big initiative of around that time? Or something entirely else...
Feels like some turning points for Will and Katie: they're going to have some fine-line juggling to do going forward to keep themselves (and the kids) out of serious danger. And I'm not so sure how Maddie'll react if/when they do get caught, or whether Nolan'll support her at all if she tries to help them.
Meanwhile... What the heck are those pods for? And what's so big that those furtive labor camp prisoners think will "change everything"?
Always interesting to see how many threads the writers have woven together for this season, and how they'll all end up tugging each other as they unfold...
"Quantum" is a simplistically used buzzword, there -- wonder if they'll delve at all into this new artificial brain model concept at all beyond that -- but at least they didn't call it "positronic". (Would've been a cool reference, but an overused one, and I'd've been expecting R. Daneel Olivaw to show up next...)
Aaand yet another bonehead discovers what a mistake it is to threaten those that Will truly cares about.
Others have said much already, so I'll just add my own highlight moments...
Yeah, okay, the writing around the speedsters vs. the motorcycle wasn't some of The Flash's tightest. It was somewhat saved, however, by Kid Flash's rather spectacular takedown move -- that was a moment worth a bit of wait for, at least.
Plunder does seem like a bit of a dimwitted thug. So how'd he escape prison so quickly? And where the hell is he getting these futuristic high-powered weapons? (Yes, plural. They confiscated the first one when he was caught the first time, he breaks out of jail days later, and immediately has another one?) I hope the writers don't just sloppily let that go, and have some sort of shady explanation. I hope we later meet [more effects of] whoever was supplying this guy (even if it's on Arrow instead of The Flash), but I have the feeling that we won't. Difficult, when the show's writing has been so uneven -- some great moments and storylines, and some real sloppinesses -- but... we'll see.
That future-vibe... H.R. on the rooftop, with some sort of futuristic gun that kinda resembles one of Plunder's futuristic weapons, sighting on the about-to-kill-Iris Savitar but doesn't fire... Makes me wonder if something odd happens to H.R. along the way. (Or if it's just something we don't know about H.R. yet, like the teaser for next week hinted could be important.) Or if the team hatched a plan along the way that H.R. was there as part of. What if, in this team-altered future, that's not actually Iris? Hmm...
Time to stop targeting any old headline you can change, guys, and start targeting changes that will matter. As soon as you can... you know... figure out... what those are...
And how can I not mention The Speedster and the Turtle? Wonder if McSnurtle will have some interesting lesson for us someday, like it's not all about being fast...
I just hadda share a couple of moments in this episode... not that the rest of the ep wasn't lots o' fun...
At the beginning, at the recognition event for Agent Daisy Johnson, did I see some political-looking "Mace/Johnson 2020" signs in the audience?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPaasuijHrq/
Niiice.
After the crash, when the pilot, Agent McCafferty, was found still in his seat, speared through by a big branch, did anyone else think wistfully for a moment of the Leaf on the Wind, Hoban "Wash" Washburne?
I definitely enjoyed Jenkins's wandering interactions with the carnival attendees at the beginning -- only he could be so perfectly politely engaging while mistaking a stranger for a friend, etc. We appreciate you, Jenkins.
And it's about time the idea of recently-created magical artifacts was brought into play. Magic's out there, and these artifacts come from somewhere. Shades of Warehouse 13, in a way, but still...
I agree with others that Felicia Day was very under-utilized here, though; she's capable of contributing so much more, and I'm sure her fans were hoping/expecting for such. Ah, well.
And the campy unrealism of simple things like crazies and clowns standing around looking menacing while the good guys discuss their theories and declare their plans... I know this show leans toward the campy, but the writers/directors really (IMO) should be careful of overdoing that to the point of driving us away for better.
Overall, fun, and important for the introduction of the fact that heretofore unknown magical artifacts can be created and brought into havoc, but... leaving us all knowing that every actor involved is capable of so much better...
At least the DOSA agents at the end weren't as hyper-over-dramatic as their debut. #littlethings
Did anyone else find the DOSA agents, in particular, to push the campiness of the show quite firmly over the top? (I know the show leans toward the slightly-goofy campiness, but even so this seems overdone.) I'm hoping that that isn't a new trend for the show -- the idea that government agencies have noticed and started to react to what's going on makes sense and should happen, but those charged with said task shouldn't come off as overdramatized morons. (And they could certainly come up with a better name.) Hoping that line improves...
Wow. Just... wow.
I think the mind-boggling depth of them all being (what appeared to be) fully "present" at several different birthday parties at once was what impressed my poor struggling brain the most. But there was so much else. The varied real personal struggles of each of Will, Lito, Sun, Kala, Wolfgang,... and the way they keep growing more fluent with their connections, keep showing up for each other...
Okay, yeah, the sex-visuals were arguably a bit much, IMO, but those weird virtual-orgy-esque crossovers are completely consistent with the growing connections (and blurring boundaries?) between the cluster-members, so...
Did I mention wow?
Looking forward to how these struggles all proceed, and what the cluster does about Whispers -- did Riley's flickering eyes look like she was chasing the beginnings of an idea? -- when episodes resume...
Woowww.
This was definitely not the season for successfully making deals with devils.
So much thickening of plot, so much dangling over cliffs at the end, so much to look forward to next season.
Wondering more and more if we'll find out somewhen along the way who this cryptic Deep Throat is. (Room 105, 11 14 PM, ???)