This finale held so much promise... The first half was great, Malcolm saving everyone, Barry showing up (although why were they waiting for thunder as the signal? Can Barry cause thunder now?)
Then "My NAME... Is Oliver Queen". Utterly badass, the first fight with Ra's in the plane was great.
But then it all goes downhill. After that part of the episode there was so much wrong with it.
Firstly, how did Team Arrow get back to Palmer Tech before Oliver did? They were stranded in Nanda Parbat and Barry didn't give them a lift home. Although this isn't the first time that Nanda Parbat appears to have a hyperspace lane connecting it to Central and Starling City either.
Also, why was Barry in such a hurry to speak to Harrison that he could not stop and lend a hand in Starling first? Let's face it, he could have solved all of their problems for them in a couple of minutes and been back to Central City about five minutes later than he otherwise would have. Yeah, I guess they can't just use Barry to solve all their problems, otherwise it'd be boring.
The final fight with Ra's was quite cool but I fell that Oliver beat him too easily. Just reversing the same trick that Ra's used on him in episode 9. Still, it wasn't bad.
Although, on the subject of that fight, how did the police know that they were there? And why did the snipers not listen to Lance? And why, if they were going to be there not listening to Lance anyway, didn't they open fire before that? They were not on anyone's side, they were going to kill them both, whoever won. So why were they holding fire until one had killed the other? It's not like they had any reason to be concerned about hitting a friendly. Were they just interested to see who would win? They were there to kill them both, I suppose that the shot was easier when they had stopped fighting, but they were standing/kneeling completely still for extended periods prior to that, sitting ducks.
Now... The writers pandering to the Olicity fangirls has been the bane of this season, I liked Felicity's character in season 1 and 2, but in this season it was all-but destroyed with only a few decent moments and lines throughout all 23 episodes. In this episode, however, it reached an all-time low with Felicity saving Oliver in the ATOM suit. What... The actual... I don't even have the words to describe how stupid that scene was. She didn't even fit in it, she doesn't know how to control it, she looked ridiculous wearing it. It makes no sense whatsoever, could Felicity not have taken over Ray's job and Ray could have flown off to save Oliver? That would at least have made some sense. Or just have Oliver fall and manage to hit the water in a way that did not kill him, the bullets only bruised him through the League Armour after all.
Now, to rub salt into the wound, the League's plan makes no sense. Why choose to disperse the virus like that? It would have been much quicker, easier and more efficient just to have the people throw phials down at the floor, or had Ra's predicted that Team Arrow would survive, the League would be taken down by a man with super-speed who would then free Team Arrow and then they would find a way back to Starling? Or was it just in case that scenario occurred? Either way, some top-notch foresight on Ra's part, that or just stupidity. I'm going to go with stupidity, given that even with Team Arrow returning, throwing phials at the floor would still have been more effective. Especially when your suicidal guys decide to, instead of slitting their throats, engage the people coming at them in combat despite the fact that the only possible result is "no difference" or "you lose".
Then of course, Oliver just drives off into the sunset with Felicity. The only way this series could have been properly resolved is with Felicity's death. It was the logical conclusion, I thought that is what it was building towards, which would have made a lot of what has been wrong with this series forgivable build-up. But no, instead of the logical Felicity's death, they gave us Felicity in the ATOM suit and an ending that I would have been okay with as the final ever episode, but not when we have a season or two left... All in all, extremely disappointing.
Then "My NAME... Is Oliver Queen". Utterly badass, the first fight with Ra's in the plane was great.
But then it all goes downhill. After that part of the episode there was so much wrong with it.
Firstly, how did Team Arrow get back to Palmer Tech before Oliver did? They were stranded in Nanda Parbat and Barry didn't give them a lift home. Although this isn't the first time that Nanda Parbat appears to have a hyperspace lane connecting it to Central and Starling City either.
Also, why was Barry in such a hurry to speak to Harrison that he could not stop and lend a hand in Starling first? Let's face it, he could have solved all of their problems for them in a couple of minutes and been back to Central City about five minutes later than he otherwise would have. Yeah, I guess they can't just use Barry to solve all their problems, otherwise it'd be boring.
The final fight with Ra's was quite cool but I fell that Oliver beat him too easily. Just reversing the same trick that Ra's used on him in episode 9. Still, it wasn't bad.
Although, on the subject of that fight, how did the police know that they were there? And why did the snipers not listen to Lance? And why, if they were going to be there not listening to Lance anyway, didn't they open fire before that? They were not on anyone's side, they were going to kill them both, whoever won. So why were they holding fire until one had killed the other? It's not like they had any reason to be concerned about hitting a friendly. Were they just interested to see who would win? They were there to kill them both, I suppose that the shot was easier when they had stopped fighting, but they were standing/kneeling completely still for extended periods prior to that, sitting ducks.
Now... The writers pandering to the Olicity fangirls has been the bane of this season, I liked Felicity's character in season 1 and 2, but in this season it was all-but destroyed with only a few decent moments and lines throughout all 23 episodes. In this episode, however, it reached an all-time low with Felicity saving Oliver in the ATOM suit. What... The actual... I don't even have the words to describe how stupid that scene was. She didn't even fit in it, she doesn't know how to control it, she looked ridiculous wearing it. It makes no sense whatsoever, could Felicity not have taken over Ray's job and Ray could have flown off to save Oliver? That would at least have made some sense. Or just have Oliver fall and manage to hit the water in a way that did not kill him, the bullets only bruised him through the League Armour after all.
Now, to rub salt into the wound, the League's plan makes no sense. Why choose to disperse the virus like that? It would have been much quicker, easier and more efficient just to have the people throw phials down at the floor, or had Ra's predicted that Team Arrow would survive, the League would be taken down by a man with super-speed who would then free Team Arrow and then they would find a way back to Starling? Or was it just in case that scenario occurred? Either way, some top-notch foresight on Ra's part, that or just stupidity. I'm going to go with stupidity, given that even with Team Arrow returning, throwing phials at the floor would still have been more effective. Especially when your suicidal guys decide to, instead of slitting their throats, engage the people coming at them in combat despite the fact that the only possible result is "no difference" or "you lose".
Then of course, Oliver just drives off into the sunset with Felicity. The only way this series could have been properly resolved is with Felicity's death. It was the logical conclusion, I thought that is what it was building towards, which would have made a lot of what has been wrong with this series forgivable build-up. But no, instead of the logical Felicity's death, they gave us Felicity in the ATOM suit and an ending that I would have been okay with as the final ever episode, but not when we have a season or two left... All in all, extremely disappointing.