'Arrow' recap: 'Broken Hearts'

In the appropriately titled “Broken Hearts,” Team Arrow deals with the fallout of a broken engagement, the prosecution (legally, this time) of Damien Darhk, and the return of a sassy and cute archer (or two). After The Flash dealt with their own female version of the protagonist, Arrow followed suit. Turns out, King Shark wasn’t the only one out of A.R.G.U.S. custody: Carrie “Cupid” Cutter is also running out and about. Except, she’s no longer trying to get the attention of The Arrow or lovestruck over Deadshot: now, she’s kidnapping newly married couples and killing them.

The real star of this episode was the Oliver and Felicity angst, though. It felt like Marc Guggenheim and crew spent the entire winter and mid-season hiatuses pouring through every way to break the fans’ hearts before the finale and channeled all the angst to bring us “Broken Hearts.” After three and a half seasons of watching our two lovebirds be star-crossed, it seemed we finally were getting our happy ending. So, naturally, it not only had to come crashing down around us but we had to watch wounded puppy Oliver look on as Felicity tried to move on without him despite his best efforts.

Now that we’ve all had enough time to process the pain that this episode brought us, let’s recap, shall we?

Cupid is back and doing...couples counseling? Or not, as she promptly announces that “love is a bullet to the brain...or an arrow to the heart,” as she shoots each of them with her signature arrows.

Law & Order: Star City

We finally see Laurel in action in the courtroom; Darhk is forgoing bail to put his efforts in to dismissing the case. His attorney is arguing that Darhk is actually not Damien Darhk, but a normal civilian, and was also being held at the house against his will. Laurel’s aghast and argues that they have plenty of evidence to prove that Darhk is the one who not only kidnapped him but is the villain known as Damien Darhk that’s been terrorizing the city.

As she later stresses out in the foundry about the fact that she does not, actually, have concrete evidence to support her claims against Darhk without revealing she knows all of this because she’s also been running around the city at night, Diggle and Thea come in to help. They’ll testify for her, using the kidnapping at Oliver’s holiday party to back their stories.

In court, Diggle goes first and his testimony goes pretty well until the defense attorney comes up. He nullifies Diggle’s credibility when he brings up the fact that he once helped Thea buy thousands of dollars in cocaine, done when the duo was undercover (but not a fact known to the court). They’re back to square one.

”The Elephant in the Room”
Felicity is moving her stuff out of Oliver’s apartment and making small talk regarding “cost savings suggestions” for the moving company. Things only get awkward as she accidentally voices the elephant in the room: their cancelled engagement. He’s not sure he’ll see her again but she reminds him that she was part of Team Arrow before their relationship, she assumed she was going to be afterwards, too.

That night, Felicity breaks the news to the rest of the team but also warns them she’s not going to talk about it. When Digg goes to talk to Oliver about it, they’re interrupted by Thea coming in to announce that Lance called the team regarding “an old friend.” Making his way to the scene, Oliver is presented with Cupid’s arrow, the two lovebirds shaped into a heart, and a note announcing, “love is dead,” which may well be the theme of this episode (and it’s only been ten minutes at this point).

Back in the foundry, the team is trying to track down Cupid. She’s been taking couples and murdering them, a different M.O. from before. Felicity stays behind to track her down while the rest of the team heads to court for Darhk’s trial.

Felicity manageS to track down Cupid by tracing the cell signal on the couple’s phones and the team separates, Oliver, Digg, and Thea heading to track down Cupid while Lance and Laurel stay behind to continue prosecution of Darhk. Realizing she’s got company, Carrie loses them by turning into a low wall, knocking Thea off the back of the limo and off her trail. Oliver speeds away while Diggle stays with Thea and he ambushes her. Though he quickly gains the upper hand, she cuts her bonds and steals away as he turns to release her hostages.

The team is trying to figure out Carrie’s reasoning behind her change of heart (pun intended?) but Felicity understands. She and Oliver radiate tension and he takes Diggle and Thea out to scour the streets for her before she attacks anyone else. They try to talk to Oliver about the tension between him and Felicity but he’s not sure what to do about it anymore.

Cupid’s Arrow to the Heart

Felicity’s managed to track down where Cupid may be hiding and they trace her to a wedding dress storage facility. Felicity’s not picking up any activity other than Team Arrow but Diggle manages to stumble upon a shrine with the past couples she’s attacked and her new ones -- including Oliver and Felicity.

The team is at a loss of what to do so Oliver proposes again. Felicity’s less than thrilled with the idea but they’re not seeing another way. Thea plans to leak the news to the press and draw Carrie out.

At the venue, the team is in position for the wedding. The tension is palpable between the two. They go through the ceremony quickly, choosing to keep the option of reciting their written vows. Felicity keeps her short and sweet but Oliver gives her a heartfelt speech about how she’s changed his life. He vows to never lie to her again and she’s clearly touched, getting lost in the moment. Side note: cheers to Stephen and Emily and their superb acting during this scene.

Cupid crashes their ceremony as Oliver’s sliding the ring back on her finger. He orders the minister to run and before he can do much, Felicity’s watching as Cupid shoots him right in the heart and announces her wedding gift is an explosion that’s going to take down the building. She’s antagonizing the couple as Oliver gets up, uninjured thanks to kevlar under his tux.

However, Felicity proves that she’s just as strong as the other members on the team as she stands up to Carrie. She explains that love isn’t death, it’s life, that even though she’s struggled, she’s made it through because she’s had love. Carrie’s starting to have a change of heart but Diggle and Thea swoop in and disarm her.

After she’s apprehended by police, Oliver tries to talk to Felicity about everything that’s happened but they’re supposed to be making their way back to the court for the decision on Darhk’s trial.

The Prosecution of Damien Darhk

Though Laurel was initially hesitant, the refusal of other eyewitnesses at the holiday party to testify backs her into a corner. Lance wants to testify and she has no choice but to let him. On the stand, he’s admitting to everything he did for Darhk and, when questioned, he explains that he didn’t know his intentions originally and when questioned, admits that Darhk threatened his daughter’s life. When the defense attorney goes to question him, Lance tells him straight-faced that he was doing everything to protect his daughter and his credibility is due to the fact that his admissions are ruining his career -- what reason does he have to lie at this point? The lawyer, speechless, returns to his seat.

The case is determined to be a little thin but the judge decides that due to Quentin’s testimony and the fact that he was willing to ruin himself for his testimony, the case stands. Darhk is to be held without bail and the case’s motion to dismiss is...dismissed. Instead of being able to celebrate their victory, Quentin is stopped by a detective in an outside hallway and told he’s being suspended and pending trial himself.

Where Do Broken Hearts Go?

Back in the foundry, Oliver is watching case footage when Felicity walks on him and the two finally talk about the conversation. Oliver pleads with her to forgive him, begs her to understand he wants to change. However, she’s not sure he can, sure he’s always going to default to the man who came back from the island and was determined to do all of this alone. As a result, she’s pulling out of Team Arrow in an effort to let each other go.

“I don’t want to let you go,” they whisper to each other as Felicity walks out the door. Again, cheers to the superb acting of Emily and Stephen in this episode; from the start of the episode, they managed to play the tension of “exes wanting to get back together but knowing better” expertly and had me hooked from the get-go. After the photo from the wedding leaked, I was a little worried about this episode but they managed to exceed expectations.

Oh, and as for everyone’s favorite villain? Darhk is back behind bars but has his wedding ring back, which is maybe another totem to provide him with power? Can’t keep the bad guy locked up with six more weeks to go, obviously. Excited to see where we go from here. Maybe getting a hint about Project Genesis?

Island Time

Oliver and co. are exploring the recently opened cave tunnel. They walk into a large room where they see what appears to be a shrine to a mask. The captain is sharing a story of his home country and, in an effort to show the power of the voodoo head (do they ever explain what’s actually happening on the island or…?), shoots one of the other prisoners. Before he gets a chance to show the power of the totem, Oliver and Taiana attack him and run off...only to be cornered. When Reiter laughs that they’re trapped and sends guards after him, the duo fights them off, stealing their guns and levelling the playing field in the process. Teamwork.

Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.