This week’s episode of Arrow shows the return of Cupid, which is aptly named Broken Hearts for a number of reasons. Check out Josh’s recap of the episode below, as well as Violet and Josh’s thoughts!
Arrow Season 4 Episode 16: Broken Hearts Recap
Don’t need the Arrow episode recap for Broken Hearts? Click here to jump directly to Violet’s thoughts on the episode!
To see Josh’s thoughts on this week’s Arrow episode, Broken Hearts, click here to get directly there!
Cupid Makes Her Bloody Return
- Read about Cupid’s Origin story in the DC TV Universe here
- Here is her first tangle with Arrow, in the episode Draw Back Your Bow
So, one of my least favorite characters is making a return this episode. Cupid! Hooray! The episode opens up with her having kidnapped a high-profile couple, and winds up killing them, remarking that love is dead. Doing some checking, the Team figures out that Cupid is no longer with Task Force X, and is now on a mission to kill high profile couples.
Felicity is able to find her next victims, where Cupid has commandeered a limo of newlyweds. Team Arrow jumps into action to try to stop her, and Thea gets a little overzealous, jumping onto the limo, and winds up smacking into the wall of a parking garage. Luckily she is fine.
Inside the garage, Oliver has managed to stop the limo, but Cupid has already left it. Oliver is surprised by Cupid attacking him from behind, but Oliver is able to tangle her up with a bolo arrow. Cupid is able to cut her way free though, and makes an escape.
Oliver managed to snag a piece of Cupid’s costume, and Felicity analyzes it. She determines, based on materials found on the item, that she must be holding up in a wedding dress storage place. Inside they find her hideout, and it looks like Felicity and Oliver were on the hit list until they broke off the engagement.
This gives Oliver an idea—Felicity and Oliver should pretend to get married, to lure Cupid to them. Felicity is pretty against this idea, at first, but does eventually agree.
The two “lovers” get in their wedding outfits, and head to their “secret” wedding location. The vows are begun to make it look official, and Felicity is a little aggravated by this whole bit. Oliver delivers his vows though, and Felicity seems to brighten up, as they seem to be genuine. Cupid interrupts all this though, and shoots Oliver with an arrow straight to the chest. She then tells Felicity that the place is rigged to blow up to finish her off.
But Oliver is fine, using the excuse his bodyguard insisted he wear Kevlar. Cupid seems fine with this though, as she still has her explosives to go off. Felicity then gets sentimental, and tries to talk Cupid down. It seems to work, too, as she seems to be calming down. Then Thea and Diggle show up, and take her down.
In the aftermath of Cupid, Oliver asks Felicity if they can talk. Felicity seems less against this now, but asks to talk later.
They wind up running into each other at the Arrow Cave though, as Oliver is just milling about, and Felicity walks in to pick up some item, she says. They then have their talk, which ends with Felicity saying that while she loves Oliver, and thought they could have it all when they moved back to Star City, she was wrong, and can’t marry Oliver. She also takes it even further, saying she is leaving the team, as it is too hard to be there working with Oliver.
The People Versus Damien Darhk
While this story with Cupid is going on, Laurel is working her law magic, to try to indict Damien Darhk. Darhk’s lawyer is trying to play some games however, saying that this case should be dismissed, as Darhk is the victim, not the perpetrator. The judge isn’t buying this, but says that Laurel must provide enough evidence for a trial to take place.
At the Arrow Cave, Laurel talks with the team as they discuss Cupid. They try to come up with evidence to use against Darhk. Ghost’s cyanide pills have been taken, so there is no evidence to be gained there. Thea and Felicity offer to testify, but Laurel doesn’t think that will really help.
Back at court, Darhk’s lawyer talks to Diggle, and reveals a big piece of “evidence”, that Diggle helped Thea buy cocaine. Diggle tries to deny it, but it looks pretty bad. Later, Lance talks with Laurel, and says that he has to testify to make sure Darhk does not get out. Laurel refuses to let this happen though.
Later, Lance visits Laurel again, and they try to come up with solutions, but it all seems to be dead ends. Lance says that he must testify, and Laurel agrees, even though Lance will not be given immunity for helping Darhk. Laurel insists that Lance says that he was under duress when he helped Darhk though, to try to minimize his involvement.
On the stand, Lance’s testimony works very well in Laurel’s favor. Because he is putting his own career/life on the line, the judge thinks, despite the lack of physical evidence, that there is enough from Lance’s testimony to move forward.
Damien Darhk is taken back to jail, and is denied bail. He is all smiles though, as he managed to get his ring smuggled into his cell. We will have to see his plan with it, likely on the next episode.
Arrow Flashbacks
In the flashbacks, Reiter has decided to shoot one of his men to prove a point—and we see the soul of the man enter the idol. Taiana and Oliver decide to grab the idol and make a run for it, but they wind up in a dead end. They have a radio as well, and Reiter tells the two he knows they are trapped, and that they should give up. Reiter decides to send some men after them, and Oliver and Taiana take them out. The good news is they also have guns now.
Josh’s Thoughts: Arrow, Season 4 Episode 16: Broken Hearts
I really am not a fan of Cupid. If you check my previous recaps on Cupid, I think I have made that pretty clear. I think right now both The Flash and Arrow are in the filler episode-mode, where they are telling one-off stories, that don’t really push the overall story ahead too much. It is unfortunate that Cupid is such an aggravating character for me.
I did like the trial part of the episode though, and I was really hoping to see some big piece of evidence come down against Darhk. Lance certainly seems ready to burn Darhk though, even though it might mean his own demise. Even though Lance has been on and off about his feelings on the Arrow, I really do think he is a good guy, and it is sad he might go down in flames for what he is about to do. I think Darhk might even try to kill him, since so far he is the biggest piece of evidence Laurel has.
As for the flashbacks, I am not too invested in them anymore. I was wondering if this idol was the same one Damien Darhk had, which made me wonder how it wound up in Darhk’s hands after it leaves Oliver. I am sure this will be answered eventually, if it was the same one.
I am sad about Felicity leaving the team. I am thinking this is just a temporary thing though. As for Oliver and Felicity getting back together, I wonder if this is done for good. Usually I don’t get wrapped up in these silly relationship things, but I really like Felicity and Oliver together. We will have to see what happens I guess.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 4 Episode 16 of Arrow: Broken Hearts
Cupid’s back again?? Ugh. She’s always seemed like a pretty weak character to me, not to mention annoying. She was so very easily swayed by Felicity’s speech about love at the end, though kudos to Felicity for making that speech and talking Cupid down, especially in the middle of such an emotional crisis for Felicity. It was very brave of Felicity to agree to this fake wedding, and remain strong throughout. I was really hoping that Oliver’s vows would make Felicity come around, and that when they ran into each other at the Arrow Cave and talked, that they would make up. Yes, Oliver hid the fact of his son from her, which is huge, but he saw that he was wrong, and promised to never lie again. What more does she want from him? I suppose the sting is still raw, as not much time has passed. I’m hoping that she just needs a little more time to process things, and that this isn’t the end of Oliver and Felicity for good. Maybe this time away from both Oliver and the team will bring her around.
As for Damien Darhk’s hearing, I was a little confused as to why Lance was supposedly the only person who could testify. They mentioned that all the guests at the Christmas party were too afraid to testify. However, what about Felicity’s mother? Or Curtis? Both of them were at that party, yet neither one was mentioned. I’m sure that one or both of them would have been happy to testify. Or at least they should have said something about the two of them being afraid too, because as it stands, not saying anything about either of them seems like an oversight. I feel bad for Captain Lance, and hope he doesn’t get demoted again, or worse. Hopefully his duress defense will be enough to save him. Although, his testimony might be all for naught, depending on what Damien Darhk plans to do with that ring, such as escape and wreak havoc on the city. But that’s just one guess. His plans might be a little more subtle than that.
Scenes from Arrow, Season 4 Episode 17 – Beacon of Hope
Here are scenes from the next Arrow episode, titled Beacon of Hope:
