Arrow Recap: ‘Haunted’

As someone who didn’t watch Constantine, I honestly didn’t know what to expect going into last week’s episode of Arrow. Luckily, I was right to assume that John visiting Star City didn’t take up the whole episode, and actually benefited the plot in an organic way. Let’s dive in, shall we?

We start off by being introduced to Oliver’s new VERY attractive campaign manager, Alex. Is he going to be Thea’s new love interest? I am SO cool with that. Although he was a little mean with telling Oliver he needs to stay away from Laurel. She may be a mope, nosy, and pretty selfish, she is still his friend, and I really feel like Star City has way too much horrible crap going on for the news to be worrying about Oliver Queen and Laurel Lance staying friends after a scandal.

Although, maybe Alex the campaign manager has a point… they do create a lot of negative attention. But this scene buried the hatchet a little bit.

Although I just stuck up for Laurel, it’s time to get on her case again. In these four seasons, she seems to be the only one who still hasn’t learned to think through her decisions and think about others. It’s a character fault I really wish they would drop out of the script. She made the decision to bring back Sara on her own without caring how Nyssa, her father, or any of her friends would feel. Not to mention she put no thought into all the warnings that Sara would come back a different person, and then she had to turn to someone else (as usual, Oliver) to help her fix it. I digress.

I love that Lance is finally basically a full-fledged member of Team Arrow. Him in the Arrow Cave is awesome. I hope there’s more banter back and forth between him and Felicity about her illicit ways to obtain information, I see him as a father figure for her just as much as he is for Oliver and Laurel. I can also see him bonding with Diggle, since they both come from a protective authority background.

Now, I’m going to play into a fan-wish fantasy for a moment. I think Lance and Mama Smoak would be downright adorable. Is she supposed to be in this week’s episode? They HAVE to meet.He’s so grumpy and she’s the complete opposite. But them together would also be interesting for other reasons (AKA PLOT TWIST Darhk actually IS Felicity’s father, making it super awkward for Lance once Mama Smoak is in the know). Just for the record though, I’m still on the outs of Damien Darhk being Felicity’s dad. First of all, every fan fiction counts it as canon, so I think the writers will stay away from it. And second of all, didn’t he leave them when Felicity was like 8 or 10? She should know what the guy looks like, and there’s definitely pictures of them in happier times somewhere in a box. I say no dice to that theory, then.

Excuse me mate, I’m in this episode, remember?

Oh yeah, sorry Mr. Constantine. Enough of my rambling (hey, isn’t that what this blog is all about?).

Back to the main plot line of this episode. So we discover that Oliver and Constantine actually met back on the island, because Constantine was looking for some magical relic thingy.

Sorry, had to add that in there.

Now, I am happy that I didn’t feel like they overdid the magic stuff. But I feel like one of the many reasons I love Arrow so much is because it’s such a badass, fantasy world rooted in reality. These guys don’t have superpowers, they just kick ass (mirakuru soldiers and metahumans aside). Even The Flash, which is obviously a lot less realistic, TRIES to explain superpowers and metahumans like it all has a scientific explanation. So I’m happy they kept the magic to a minimum and only used it when necessary. Obviously a demon exorcism isn’t really realistic, but I’ve watched enough Supernatural to basically be numb to those by now.

This episode also really makes me curious about how much writers have story lines set up in advance. Oliver’s tattoo is a perfect example of that. Oliver’s had that tattoo since we met him in the Pilot. So what were the writers’ original plans for it? I feel like John Constantine’s cameo in this episode came about with the cancellation of Constantine and because Stephen Amell really wanted him on the show, so it’s not like they always had the idea of John Constantine being the story behind that tattoo. Yet when they tell the story on the show, it seems organic and a natural plot twist/revelation. Good job, writers! I wonder what that tattoo is going to come in handy for… Constantine said it would be useful… hmm…

Also, thank you Constantine for providing this moment.

So now Sara is back, and she’s going to have to settle a whole bunch of NEW emotional issues before her stint on Legends of Tomorrow. That girl has really been through the ringer, huh? Side note, it took me 3/4 of this episode to realize Sara was going after Thea because she killed her. I swear my memory is failing me by the day.

Also John Constantine, thanks for stopping by, but why does everyone always have to leave cryptic warnings with NO details? “Stay away from Darhk.” “Why do you say that? Any tips?” “Oh look, the elevator is closing, bye friend!” Some help you are.

To close, here’s some other quick, random thoughts I had while watching this episode:

• A couple of my favorite lines from this episode was of course from Felicity.. “I am your overlord Felicity Smoak!” “We have a PA system?” “Another decision I will live to regret.” LOLZ
• Oliver is so dependent on Felicity now it’s downright adorable. Heart-to-hearts on the couch. Immediately searching for her and finding comfort when he returns from Sara’s exorcism-thingy. The feels are real.
• I’m sorry but how many times can Laurel’s apartment get wrecked? The landlord has to be so pissed and asking so many questions. Plus, I don’t really think that her being a public, civil servant pays THAT well that she can afford the rent AND get it fixed up every month. And what apartment in the middle of the city has a private basement that you can safely hide away your crazy, resurrected sister? Sign me up for that co-op, please.
• Does the hospital have a private Oliver Queen / Team Arrow wing at this point? They maybe should thinking about designating one. The Queen family is really running out of excuses for the doctors.
• Duhhh, of course Ray is alive! Do you think they are going too heavy with the LOT set up? They aren’t doing too bad so far is my opinion, this week’s episode looks Ray-heavy though so we shall see.

Thanks for tuning in! I would love to get some good conversation going!