‘Arrow’ Episode 4.5 “Haunted” (8 out of 10) Starring Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Emily Bett Rickards, Paul Blackthorne. Guest Starring Matt Ryan, Neal McDonough, Echo Kellum, Caity Lotz, Brandon Routh, Jimmy Akingbola. First aired November 4, 2015
I’ve never read any of the John Constantine “Hellblazer” comics. I never watched any episodes of his short-lived, now-canceled series on NBC. I know he’s British, I know he’s in a trenchcoat, and he’s a magician of sorts. In DC Comics lore, there are several magicians who turn up as occasional members of the Justice League or Justice Society — chiefly Zatanna and Dr. Fate. Both of whom I really like. Constantine — between his snarky non-team-player attitude and his smoking habit, has been kept offscreen for most of his adventures. So it was interesting to see how this mysterious, magic-wielding guy would interact with Team Arrow, a relatively grounded, “realistic” group of heroes.
Star City is (again) under siege, this time by a savage blonde woman. She’s going after HIVE ghosts and gangbangers and muggers, but leaving a trail of bodies in her wake. We the audience (and Laurel and Thea) know this is Sara Lance, recently reanimated, but without a soul. She’s fueled by bloodlust after exiting the Lazarus Pit, and the bloodlust is pushing her towards killing Thea…the one who killed Sara at the beginning of Season Three. Eventually this leads Sara to cross paths with Oliver, Diggle, and the rest of Team Arrow. Oliver’s shocked, sad, and furious that Laurel and Thea would go behind his back, taking Sara to Nanda Parbat to resurrect her; even though he did exactly the same thing when Thea was near death. This leads to some of my favorite Oliver moments of this season (and possibly the series) with him needing to reconcile the way he has kept secrets for the good of his friends and family–and how they’ve done the same to him. Laurel and Ollie’s friendship is under the microscope for this entire episode. I liked it, and liked that it came to resolution and a closer friendship instead of a(nother) schism for half a season.
Sara’s body is alive. It needs her soul. This goes beyond the techie abilities of Felicity Smoak or even the mysticism of Ra’s Al Ghul. It requires magic. Like, legit, occult, magic. That’s where John Constantine comes in. Turns out when Oliver was employed by Baron Reiter on Lian Yu, he and Constantine had a little adventure involving an artifact. Ollie saved John’s life; Constantine owes him one.
We get the flames, we get the stylized seal of Horus, we get the nonsensical mutterings and spells and oaths. Everything that makes the rest of Team Arrow WTF-y, but gives Ollie and Laurel hope. When the Big Event happens, and Constantine, Ollie, and Laurel journey to the Other Side to retrieve Sara…it’s kind of a let down. “You’ll need to battle for her very soul, and it won’t be easy”…or something like that. But really? It was pretty easy. Kill a few minions dressed like the League of Assassins crew, pull Sara out of the Lazarus Pit…and they’re done. It took maybe six minutes of the episode. Probably less.
Other than that decidedly tame adventure, this was a good episode. I liked Constantine and how he worked with the team, but it just whetted my appetite for other mages. I can easily see Dr. Fate turning up on Earth-2 on “The Flash,” and Zatanna coming to either Star City or Central City. Now that the door to mysticism and magic has been opened, it can happen again. It shouldn’t be commonplace, it shouldn’t be part of their standard quiver, but it would be cool to see how they can bring a different flavor to the series.
The other thing that stuck out to me about this episode — I’m liking Damien Darhk. I haven’t been sure what to make of him. He’s not the growling menace of Deathstroke, or the Machivellilan Malcolm Merlyn, or the cunning Ra’s Al Ghul. He’s…funny. He reminds me more of a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” Big Bad than anything else. Still a threat, to be sure. Deadly. Unforgiving. But with a wry wit and a twinkle in his eye (okay sometimes glowing magical eyes) that makes him more unpredictable than other villains have been. His interactions with Quentin Lance have left Lance alive after every encounter. Undoubtedly for Darhk’s own purposes, but other villains we’ve seen would have offed him by now.
Other plots progress, like Diggle finally finding out why his brother Andy was targeted by HIVE — I’m not sure yet if that’s going to bring him closure or just sharpen his need for revenge. The other, biggest (and also smallest) thing is that Felicity finds out that Ray Palmer is still alive. He’s encoded a message onto a thumb drive — that somehow, for some reason, Felicity is requiring Curtis Holt’s help to decipher. Which is weird, because this is the thing that Felicity does. She could do this in three minutes. With her hands tied behind her back. Underwater. With piranhas nipping at her. Maybe the shock of hearing from Ray, maybe the stress with her friend being reanimated — it’s fine. And I’m liking Curtis. We find out that in addition to a brilliant mind, he’s also an Olympic decathelete (although only a bronze medalist). Anyway. We like him. Turns out Ray’s been alive for the last seven months, and he’s in danger. In the preview for next week, we see that he’s been shrunk down to itty bitty size (he is The Atom after all), and it looks like Damien Darhk has him captive. I’m excited to see what happens on that front. I’ve loved Brandon Routh as a recurring character, and I can’t wait to see what he brings to “Legends of Tomorrow.”