4 May 2016 | ThomasDrufke

8 | Magical Mystery Tour

After a wonderful episode of Flash last night, I just figured Arrow would have an off night because the two shows are never great at the same time, but I was wrong. It took some time to get going, but Genesis picked up the pace and finished strong.



With the team being unable to truly match Darhk's powers, Oliver went to Hub City to learn of his magic ways while the rest of the team "took some time off". Of course, things didn't stay normal for long as Thea found herself trapped in a small fake world like Pleasantville, while Diggle came face to face with his brother.



After not caring for the Andy character much at all this season, I was happy to see him meet his end tonight. Being that John was the one who pulled the trigger, it can't mean anything good for his conscious, especially after blaming himself for Laurel's death. Things aren't looking good for Dig.



Oliver's story line was just as important as he finally learned a way to counter Darhk's powerful magic. Felicity decided tag along which also gave a few moments of some more closure for the two of them. But the important thing is that Oliver was taught to fight Darhk by fueling himself through the light. But first he had to defeat his past demons in a semi-flashback with a special appearance from Deathstroke, which was awesome. But a few scenes with Esrin Fortuna (Pretty much Melisandre from Game of Thrones) proved to be all he needed.



I would have preferred some deeper explanation into the magic he learned because it seemed relatively easy, but it was incredibly satisfying to see Oliver finally overcome Darhk's powers by himself. That Arrow-claw body slam? Bonus points.



Thea spent the majority of the episode in a Pleasantville like arena under Star City which gave us a deeper understanding as to Darhk's plan, but for the most part, it took away from the emotional conflict going on with the other characters. I appreciated the end reveal, but it took a little too long for that story line to get going.



It was also nice seeing Lyla kick some butt while Diggle saved Sara on a motorcycle. Yeah, that was awesome. Unfortunately, it seems as though the "Rubicon" chip that Lyla once had, is now one of the final pieces to Darhk's puzzle. Overall, the pacing was a little slow but this episode got me excited for the final 3 episodes, and I can't really ask for any more from Arrow right now.



+Some tidbits about Genesis revealed



+Lyla as* kicking



+Andy got put down



+Ending reveal



+Oliver learns magic



-Though I would have liked some more explanation on that



-Starts very slow



8.7/10