Arrow “Lost in the Flood” was written by the team of Brian Ford Sullivan and Oscar Balderrama and was directed by Glen Winter. First, I have to apologize for missing posting on the last few episodes. I will admit that it’s in large part because I think the show has at least somewhat gone off the rails. You can only spread a creative team so far. This episode really felt like someone decided, let’s just see how many villains we can throw into one episode. On the other hand, it was nice to see some payoff to these villains, who often feel like shadows that pass through one episode never to be seen again.
Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Diggle (David Ramsey) come upon Dahrk (Neal McDonough) just as he’s powering up from all the deaths caused by the nuclear explosion. He’s now able to do things without even trying apparently. And like all good villains, he leaves his major adversaries alive so that he can torment them further when he wins – or they can come back and kill/stop him.
Meanwhile, Thea (Willa Holland) deals with the senseless death of Alex (Parker Young). I have to admit, Alex ended up being so underdeveloped that I was underwhelmed by his death. Malcolm (John Barrowman) shows up, demonstrating his typical good parenting skills. When it’s clear he can’t get through to Thea any other way, he drugs her into compliance – because that worked so well the last time as a bonding technique. This does give us lots of opportunity for Thea on Oliver fighting, however.
The biggest threat to Darhk now, is Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) teaming up with Noah (Tom Amandes). Donna (Charlotte Ross) is very unhappy about this. To counter, Darhk brings in Felicity’s old boyfriend, Cooper Seldon (Nolan Gerard Funk). The Smoak women clearly have problems with their exes. Curtis (Echo Kellum) also joins the brain trust. Is he now their way to add silly so that Felicity can become a more serious superhero as Overwatch?
Quentin (Paul Blackthorne) is now the only one left in the lair. I really hope that they find something for Blackthorne to do in the finale – and going forward.
Ruve (Janet Kidder) is not Malcolm’s biggest fan and blames him – rightly so – for Oliver and Diggle being there to save Thea. Malcolm is clearly not happy at answering to her. She sends him to deal with them, and she goes after Lonnie (Alexander Calvert). Did anybody think this was a good idea on any level? Naturally, he gets the upper hand and takes both Ruve and Nora (Tuesday Hofmann) hostage.
Oliver and Diggle take refuge with one of the families and discover to their horror that they are there of their own free will because they have completely lost faith in the system. Why do I feel like this is simply a way to make Oliver step up again and try to save his city as mayor again? Diggle is still struggling with the darkness that has popped up in him since he killed his brother. Another development which makes no sense to me in regards to how Diggle has been portrayed up until now.
Oliver gets Thea to fight through the drug and together they go after Lonnie. Naturally, a stray shot starts the destruction of the facility – but Lonnie gets away. Ruve is trapped and killed, but she asks Oliver to save her daughter which he does. Or rather, Diggle carries her off – which may make up for not caring at all about whether Ruve was killed or not…
Back at the apartment, Felicity finally has to tell Donna that she works with the Green Arrow. Donna is pissed – she has zero tolerance for lies. And then, of course, we find out that she’s the biggest liar of all. Noah never left Felicity as a child, Donna sent him away. And then she sends him away again at the end of the episode. Which, of course, she has to or he becomes a regular, right?
When Darhk gets the news about Ruve, he is beyond angry – and already insane. Malcolm tells him that it was Lonnie’s doing, but he also suggests that Rubicon is done because there is nowhere left on earth that is safe. However, Darhk, typically, turns his attention to the one he knows Oliver loves the most and arrives on Felicity’s doorstep to bring Hell to her.
The flashbacks have been particularly disappointing this year, but in this episode, we see Taiana (Elysia Rotaru) take on the power of the idol. We also see how quickly it changes her to want revenge above all else. Presumably, in the final episode, the flashbacks will provide some clue about how to release someone from the power of the idol – but then, if Oliver knew that all along, why not try it before now? And then there’s the fact that Oliver now has magic powers himself. Also not my favorite development in the show’s history.
So, the finale is set for a showdown between Oliver and Darhk to save Star City. Felicity is once again the damsel in distress. Diggle is in a bad place, but Oliver has Lyla, Thea, and Quentin on his side too. Can we assume that Malcolm will come on board to help for this episode before disappearing again at the end? Or will he redeem himself? Will we lose more people? Having lost Katie Cassidy already, it seems unlikely that we will lose any more of the regular cast. What did you think of the episode? What are you looking forward to in the finale? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
About the Author - Lisa Macklem
I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, The X-Files, Defiance, Bitten, Killjoys, and a few others! I'm active on the Con scene when I have the time. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.
