Arrow: “Leap of Faith” Review

Title: Arrow: “Leap of Faith” Review

Release Date: October 29th, 2019

Network: The CW

Genre: Superhero, Drama, Action

Up to this point, the flashforwards storyline in Arrow season 8 has been boring and uneventful with no character development for any of the characters involved. For a storyline that is about to get its own spin-off series, I thought this season was the nail in the coffin for the flashforwards and my interest in the flashforwards crew. “Leap of Faith” was actually a solid step in the right direction for the storyline.

We finally saw some critical consequences when Mia goes off and does something reckless. Her character thus far has been just that. Reckless, angry, and unwilling to work as a team with her friends. This time, it cost her as it turns out that we now know one character who won’t be making it to the spin-off series, Zoe Ramirez. This shocking death immediately took a storyline that was on its last legs and gave it a glimmer of hope (as strange as that sounds). For the first time this season, I actually care about the flashforwards. I want to see how the team reacts to this and if they can come together to take down J.J’s army. When Connor had J.J dead to rights and was honing in on killing his adoptive brother, I was surprisingly on the edge of my seat.

All of that alone would have enticed me enough to give the flashforwards another shot next week. But, that’s not where this episode ended. Instead of ending on a somber route, as The Flash did just an hour prior, our flashforwards heroes have been whisked away to 2019 and united with the Team Arrow of that era. This most likely means we’ll see these characters get fleshed out a lot more in the coming weeks towards Crisis and it also gives Oliver a major emotional storyline heading into the crossover.

Another thing  I really enjoyed about “Leap of Faith” was all the League of Assassins lore and traps. It all felt similar to something out of Indiana Jones or even Assassin’s Creed. I kept thinking to myself throughout that a series about the early days of the League of Assassins would be awesome to see sometime down the line. Still, what we got was cool and it saw the return of two great characters.

Willa Holland did not miss a beat as Thea Queen. She was on-point throughout the episode with some hilarious one-liners. Unfortunately, it seems that this was a goodbye episode for Holland as Thea but at least it was a fantastic finale for her character, especially now that her quest to destroy the Thanatos Guild is probably over. Seeing Talia Al Ghul back was a nice touch considering the brief redemption she had back in Arrow season 7. I like the direction both Talia and Thea went in here. Forming a new, totally different, League is an intriguing concept. I initially thought we would see it play out in the flashforwards or in the spin-off series but, considering that ending, I’m a little unsure of that now.

Now that it’s become apparent that The Monitor is holding something back from Oliver, I’m not so sure he’s going to end up opposite of our heroes in Crisis (which totally ruins the theory I’ve been talking about in these reviews). It’s all starting to shape up to be a misunderstanding that’ll cost our heroes heading into Crisis instead of an epic twist that Oliver’s been working for the bad guy all along. Still, I like that The Monitor himself is getting some backstory and that an old organization such as the League of Assassins has information about his existence. I’m sure a lot of this will be sorted out next week and Oliver’s motivation will begin to switch from looking into The Monitor to his children’s emergence in 2019.

The Diggle and Lyla stuff was okay. I mean, it had to be there considering the Diggles take in Connor at some point. It also featured some possible foreshadowing with Lyla as well. It just didn’t flow as well with the other two storylines. I’m sure Lyla’s part in all this will be fully explained soon and she’ll start to be featured more prominently heading into Crisis.

This season has been thriving with its outside-the-box storytelling that effectively builds up the importance of Crisis on Infinite Earths, creative ways to callback to previous seasons, returning characters, and outstanding action scenes. Seriously, this show is kinda hitting on all cylinders right now and I can’t see it hitting a speedbump anytime soon, outside of another catastrophic setback for the flashforwards crew.

Verdict: “Leap of Faith” was yet another stellar outing for Arrow during its final season. Its location was unique, the action was awesome, the comedy worked, and it featured the return of two of Arrow’s best characters. Not only that but this episode may have been exactly what the flashforwards needed as the stakes have started to raise heading into Crisis.