The CW's Arrow is back after a month on hiatus and although they've freshened things up a bit in the action department, the dramatic treads are starting to wear thin from traveling down the same old roads. On one hand, it would have been disingenuous of the writers to put Oliver and Felicity back together just one episode after the latter literally walked out on the former in the previous hour. On the other hand, it wouldn't be all that interesting to see Felicity leave Oliver in the lurch again, even if it confirmed their relationship status. "Broken Hearts" opted to take the latter path.

It's unfortunate that the Arrow writers seem to have written themselves into a corner and have worn a rut into it by pacing back and forth over the same plot, beat by beat. There's something tired and predictable about the action lately, and the same can be said for the drama. This show's at its best when there's a sense of urgency and stakes in both components; it suffers when neither the action sequences nor dramatic interactions are compelling. Arrow needs to find its edge of the seat again, and it's struggling to do that in a long, exhausting 23-episode season.


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I'll give Arrow credit on one front: They're at least trying to freshen up their normally excellent stunt scenes and fight sequences. Team Arrow doesn't get much action in their costumes in this episode since Darhk has been apprehended and the Ghosts have gone quiet; the only source of trouble is Cupid's emo arrival and her new habit of picking off high-profile newlyweds. The dressed-up warehouse-turned-wedding dress storage facility was a nice way to change up the setting, but they wasted what could have been an interesting arena for a costumed fight. The limo chase scene was certainly a new spin on an old favorite and I rather enjoyed how much fun they had with it.

The other interesting aspect of this episode was the courtroom drama. Like an episode of "Superhero Law and & Order," we get to see Laurel Lance finally do some solid lawyering. She has next to no evidence and her witnesses against Darhk had either committed suicide, were masked vigilantes by night, or had other questionable pasts. Not the most reliable sources. So she's forced to turn to her own father, who had long been working for Darhk under duress and has information that will directly tie him to at least one of the crimes and indirectly to the others. It's a tough scene between on-screen father and daughter, but in the end it was enough to convince the judge to deny Darhk's bail and motion for dismissal. However, Quentin's career suicide might not be the only casualty of his testimony; I'm more convinced than ever that he's the one in the grave.


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As for this episode's Villain of the Week, Carrie Cutter, a.k.a. Cupid, returns to exact her particular brand of vengeance on couples who are deeply in love. Why has the previously love-obsessed archer turned against all things romantic? Turns out that she's heart-broken after the deaths of the original Arrow (as far as she knows) and of her follow-up boyfriend, Floyd Lawton (as far as we're led to believe). In order to lure Cupid out of hiding and into the open, Oliver and Felicity plan to stage a fake private wedding and wait for the villainess to show up.

Friends, we've been here before. During the fake wedding, Oliver is given the opportunity to tell Felicity how he truly feels about her, or else he risks losing her. For Stephen Amell's part, he did great and turned in a believable, emotional performance; that's not something I praise him for all that often. Emily Bett Rickards, however, seemed to almost walk through these scenes as if she was just as tired of the same old routine as the viewers were. Perhaps it was just Felicity's frustration and exhaustion from dealing with the situation over the last couple of seasons, but it felt more like Rickards didn't care even as Felicity was supposed to. Even her final speech to Cupid, which supposedly turned the vengeful archer back to loving love itself, rang hollow.

Unfortunately, even the flashback sequence couldn't save this subpar episode. We learned that Reiter, who had grown up in a war-torn African village with the promise to himself to never feel helpless again, had been looking for some sort of powerful idol. The totem seemed to feed off of life energy since it siphoned off the life force of a man Reiter had just shot. The warlord probably should have invested a bit more money into his mercenary force, however, since Oliver and Taiana are easily able to subdue a few of them, steal their guns along with the idol, and run deeper into the cave system with it. Much like the identity of who's actually in the grave--which was teased way back in the season premiere--this Lian Yu mystery is being dragged out far too long.


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So here's what we're left with: Oliver and Felicity are no longer romantically involved let alone engaged, and it seems as if she's not even part of Team Arrow anymore. Diggle and Thea remain supportive of Oliver but are otherwise peripheral. Laurel and Quentin are happy to have cleared the air between them, but Quentin's confession of his sins in a public forum has gotten him suspended pending an investigation by the IAB. Oh and Cupid's back in police custody, perhaps bound for another round with Task Force X. Darhk, played fantastically in this episode by the Cheshire Cat that is Neal McDonough--he didn't utter a dang line in the whole hour and yet managed to turn in one of the best performances--is ushered to a prison cell, where he places a golden ring back on his finger and smiles deviously. Remember that Darhk was left without his powers when his own totem was destroyed, but perhaps there are some vestiges left within that ring ...

I appreciated the production team's attempt to freshen things up on Arrow with the wedding-themed sets, the courtroom drama, and even the little bit of fun they were having with the fandom (shipping the couples, etc.), but there are some big anchors holding this show back from being as good as it can be. I'd say it's due for a shake-up, whether that's with casting changes or a major story overhaul, as they head into the next season. For now, we'll just have to grind out the rest of Season 4 and hope that things pick up during April and May.

Rating: ★★ Fair


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Miscellanea:

Cupid: "Love is a bullet to the brain...or an arrow to the heart."

Oliver: "You are a part of the team, forever and always."

Thea: "It's Cupid, stupid."

Thea: "Vigilantes don't make good witnesses." Laurel: "No, but they make good inmates."

Reiter: "The difference in insanity and belief lies only in the number of believers." Sure, whatever you say.

Oliver: "Hey...we need to get married."

Oliver: "I will never lie to you again. You are my always, and I just want the chance to be yours."

Oliver: "Kevlar under the tux. My bodyguard insisted." Cupid: "What's his plan for C4?" Diggle: "That is a damn good question."

Cupid: "Love is death."

Felicity: "Being kidnapped by psychotic criminals has sort of been the theme of our relationship."

Felicity: "There's no fixing this; we have to let each other go."


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