After MUCH anticipation, and waiting, and WAITING…John bloody Constantine showed up in Arrow, and yes, it was glorious…albeit short.
“Haunted” truly lived up to its title, as the now free Sara ran amok in Star City, killing thugs, and threatening anyone who looked like Thea. It was fun to see Sara back in full assassin mode, as she easily dispatched anyone in her way. Thea, Ollie, and Laurel included. It was very interesting to see how Ollie reacted to the return of Sara. From confusion, to hurt, to just trying to keep her safe, it was a nice job by Stephen Amell. As well as the not “judging” them like both Laurel and Thea thought he would do.
Laurel’s decision to bring Sara back to life was again a forefront here, and it was telling that not only did she blame Ollie for NOT revealing what he did to Thea before, but also that she eventually gave up hope herself, as she almost shot Sara after they had finally cornered her, only for Ollie to stop her and offer a helping hand…
No, not talking about Constantine yet, let’s save him for last. The two other storylines in “Haunted” were about other ghosts not named Sara. The more revealing of which was Diggle and Lance going to do a deed for Darhk, only to find out the reason for Andy’s death. I’ll admit, it was a little anticlimatic that it wasn’t a full-on target per se, it was more of an extermination of individuals. BUT the reveal that Andy was dirty will surely shake Diggle to his core, and I look forward to seeing the fallout from that. Finally, Felicity, with help from Holt, find out that Ray is indeed alive. Yet another Legends of Tomorrow character brought back into the spotlight
Ok, NOW onto Constantine. To be clear, though I know a lot about the character, I did not watch the show of which Matt Ryan starred in. That being said, Constantine was easily the best part of Haunted, I just wish he was in it more. To be fair, the show did a fun job of bringing him into the fold, with him being on the island (of his own volition) to find a mystical artifact. Which of course brought him into a crash course with Ollie. The events of which will not only spur on the story of the rest of the season, but led to his calling to Star City to save Sara.
Matt Ryan did a great job of showing the kind of man Constantine is, he’s a showman, and a scoundrel, but also does do good…when he thinks it’s time to do such things. The true fun was when he got show off his magic style, and blow the minds of many and all in his presence when he did such things. Do you believe in magic? You better now!
That being said, the “rescuing” of Sara’s soul was a bit anticlimatic. Especially since it was as simple as pulling her out of a pool and killing three guards. Three! That’s it! Also, Constantine wasn’t brought into the present until the last 20 minutes. I REALLY wish they ended this on a cliffhanger of them going after Sara’s soul, and then concluded it with more fun and magic next episode. But alas, it wasn’t to be.
However, it was very telling that John feared the name Damian Darhk, even suggesting to Ollie that he leave town rather than try to take him down. When Constantine is scared? You pay attention.
Overall, “Haunted” was another solid Arrow episode, there were some faults, and certain scenes felt rushed, but the return of old friends, and the introductions to hopefully new recurring ones, made it worth it.
Todd Black
Todd Black is reader of comics, a watch of TV (a LOT of TV), and a writer of many different mediums. He's written teleplays, fan-fictions, and currently writes a comic book called Guardians (guardians-comic.com). He dreams of working at Nintendo, writing a SHAZAM! TV series, and working on Guardians for a very long time!
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