Arrow season 4, episode 17, “Beacon of Hope,” brings back Felicity’s nemesis, the Bug-Eyed Bandit. She wants the implant in Felicity’s spine.
“Beacon of Hope,” an episode that features more title drops than I could count, looks at the evolving team dynamics of Team Arrow without Felicity working the computers. Instead, Felicity has returned to working full-time at Palmer Tech, and she’s frustrated by how expensive the spinal implants like the one she has a prototype of are to create — and of course her board wants to add more zeroes to the end of that already-inflated price.
This becomes relevant when Brie Larvan, who Felicity helped take down on The Flash last season, hacks her way out of prison. She brings her bees to Palmer Tech and kills one board member then threatens the rest unless Felicity offers up the spinal implant, which is too expensive for her to afford; she has a tumor around her spine and the surgery to remove it will leave her paralyzed — but then she heard about Felicity’s recovery.
Felicity’s spinal implant has been a source of controversy among many — me included — but at least it is serving as a source of conflict within the narrative as well. Will others target her for the technology? Could the prototype fail at some point?
Plus, Felicity eventually decides she wants to use Palmer Technologies to make a difference for others the way Curtis made a difference for her by helping her walk again. Making a difference was the reason she joined Team Arrow full-time, and now that Team Arrow is a place that is too hard for her to be, she’s found another path. I would have preferred to see her dealing with the consequences of the attack and living a fulfilling life in a wheelchair — for longer than a couple of episodes anyway — but at least her recovery isn’t being ignored.
While Felicity, Thea and Donna help the other board members escape Brie’s hostage situation, Curtis sees the attack on the news from home and immediately sets out to help. He uses the phone he used to help find Ray Palmer to find the Arrow cave and — after his shock at seeing the identities of the vigilantes — offers his services. He is overly cheerful and full of pop culture references as he sits at Felicity’s usual station.
Curtis brings some much-needed levity to the Arrow cave, which has been sorely missing since before Felicity left the team. Things have been pretty Darhk lately, but Curtis’ desire to celebrate even the small victories is welcome among the team. Unfortunately, Oliver is struggling with the breakup and snaps at Curtis, but Laurel — who really rocks in this episode — talks him down. And eventually Oliver gives Curtis the credit he deserves.
It’s not enough, though, as Curtis decides one stint with Team Arrow is enough. He’d rather be at home with his hubby. It seemed like he was being set up to be the “new Felicity,” but with a comic book destiny as Mister Terrific, his future should lie out in the field. Felicity, I assume, will eventually be brought back into the fold, but Curtis is a valuable ally for Team Arrow in the meantime.
Eventually the combined efforts of the Green Arrow, Curtis, and Felicity take Brie and her bees down. Oliver is there for Felicity despite the pain he’s going through, Curtis remotely takes control of the bees, and Felicity has her own Big Damn Hero moment when she smashes a lamp and uses the exposed wiring to electrocute and destroy Brie’s bee-based exoskeleton. It’s a triumphant moment for her, even though she’s quit the hero business. For now.
Meanwhile in prison, Damien Darhk is attacked by some other inmates, but he bribes one, Murmur from season 3, episode 16, to kill them instead. Malcolm also visits him and says H.I.V.E. has no interest in rescuing him. Malcolm seems to be coming out on top in H.I.V.E. like the roach that he is, and we see him speaking to Andy Diggle in the final moments of the episode, calling him an ace in the hole for H.I.V.E. Uh oh.
As much as this episode was biding its time until the big reveal of who dies in the next episode while H.I.V.E.’s Genesis plot goes forward, it brought a sense of fun that Arrow has been missing for a while now.
The first half of the season felt like it was fixing the mistakes the second half of season 3 made, but the second half of season 4 has fallen into many of the same traps as the League of Assassins plot — mostly poorly defined motives and soap opera-esque drama. But “Beacon of Hope,” minus the excessive number of episode title drops, felt like Arrow again. I can only hope the final stretch of episodes of season 4 continue that trend.
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