The villain finally gets a reason to do villain things in Arrow’s ‘Lost in the Flood’

Damien Darhk has been the opposite of a quintessential “Arrow” villain. He has no martial arts background, he doesn’t brood. He has no personal connection to Oliver, Star City or anyone around our hero.

Darhk is some form of sorcerer, or given the way he wields his powers, he’s more of a snickering, sneering Sith Lord. He laughs that hearty, bellowing Neal McDonough laugh, where past “Arrow” big bads merely scowled.

The only thing Darhk really has in common with his villainous predecessors is his plan of widespread destruction. Darhk has doubled down on Merlyn, Deathstroke and Ra’s Al Ghul’s plots to obliterate Star City, seeking to create a new world after incinerating the old one in a lake of nuclear fire. We’ve already covered how the mechanics of this plan (which relied on him stealing a piece of Argus tech that can inexplicably control the world’s nuclear arsenal) are... not great. But the bigger, season-long hitch, has been the why.

I am often guilty of asking shows to reveal too much too fast, but Episode 22 of 23 seems like a reasonable point for the villain to explain the rationale behind his plot to ... ya know ... murder 99% of the Earth’s population!

Sure, other people have offered reasons on his behalf. The world’s gone mad, we need to rebuild, etc. Few problems with that:

A. Really?

B. Merlyn already did that in Season 1.

C. Why is Merlyn the one who has to explain this on Darhk’s behalf. Why isn’t Darhk explaining his own character motivations?

But this week’s episode, “Lost in the Flood” finally gives Darhk a legitimate reason for his apocalyptic desires, after Anarky murders Ruve near the episode’s end, capping off an otherwise solid chapter of “Arrow.” Darhk no longer wants to rebuild a broken world, he wants revenge.

In a vacuum, I enjoyed this episode. But the fact that the show waited until after Darhk’s master plan was foiled to give him proper motivation to even carry out that master plan is a dizzying piece of narrative disconnect that I can’t ignore. Pair that with the fact that the killing of a wife is what sent Merlyn off to do the exact same thing in Season 1, and you’ve got deja vu.

Darhk is a good villain. McDonough is a great character actor. But this character simply hasn’t fit in the Arrow-verse. Beyond the motivation problems, the bad guy is simply too powerful a foe for Oliver Queen. The show hasn’t figured out a way to balance magical realism against its kung-fu norms. We’ve seen Darhk play with his food (Oliver) far too many times, opting not to kill Oliver or Diggle or any other member of Team Arrow because ... reasons? I’m starting to wonder if he only killed Laurel because he shared some of my past opinions about the character.

But like I said last week, to enjoy “Arrow” these days is to divorce yourself from the various design flaws in its main plot. When you do that, there’s a lot to like about “Lost in the Flood.”

Everything about the Smoak family drama works, with Donna’s discomfort at watching her ex-husband and daughter bond as they try to save the worlds spliced between Felicity’s struggle to both protect herself and enjoy the brief flashes of paternal pride she’s been robbed of nearly her whole life. The reveal that Donna absconded with Felicity at a young age gives Momma Smoak more agency than we’ve seen in a while, and leaves just the slightest room to make the Calculator forgivable in the future, should the show choose to go that route. Previous problems with the Rubicon plot aside, it has allowed the series to delve into the Smoak family history and gave Curtis something to do this week, and the quickest way to my heart is more Curtis.

The subterranean fisticuffs among Anarky, Merlyn, Oliver, Thea and Diggle also worked nicely, something of a return to form for the show’s action sequences in a year overpopulated by Darhk force choking people.

Lonnie Machin has been a welcome addition to “Arrow’s” rogues gallery, especially as a foil for Thea, and his hit-and-run chaotic tactics give the show a nice ground-level threat to counter-balance Darhk’s cosmic ambitions. Part of me wants to complain that we didn’t get a blow off to his rivalry with Thea here, but I can forgive that because Anarky’s live-to-fight-another-day mentality makes perfect sense. He hurt Darhk, ruined his plans, and got out relatively unscathed. That’s all he really set out to do, so why not turn tail and flee once Team Arrow showed up? Here’s hoping for more Anarky in Season 5, as the character really melds into the show’s tone in a way Darhk just hasn’t.

Even the flashbacks made themselves useful this week. Taiana falling under the idol’s influence sets up an interesting confrontation with Reiter in next week’s finale and foreshadows a possible path to Darhk’s defeat in the present day. Is someone on Team Arrow going to have to match Darhk’s sorcery in order to bring the big bad down? Will they lose themselves in the process? The flashbacks did well to mirror the final battle between Oliver and Deathstroke in Season 2, and the similarities between Reiter and Darhk’s powersets give me hopes for a similarly intercut finale showdown here.

At this point, enjoying “Arrow” is really about making the same thematic choice the show has been battering us with all year. Choose the light: Ignore the questionable plot points surrounding the show’s arch-fiend and enjoy the rest of what the series has to offer, or choose the darkness, and keep complaining by my side.

Left in the quiver:

• Given we only have 40-plus minutes of runtime left in Season 4, I think it’s safe to assume Curtis will not be adopting his Mr. Terrific persona this year?
• So if Darhk’s new plan is to end the universe, will this mark the third season finale in a row where Merlyn is forced to fight alongside the forces of light? Dude lacks for personal growth...
• Curious if Darhk’s Ragnarok-esque ambitions will force us to ponder the DC television universe’s version of Marvel’s Avengers question: If the world is ending, is anyone going to call Flash? I know he’s busy with Zoom, but it seems like someone should at least acknowledge that with a nuclear holocaust imminent.

Unlike Darhk, you have a clear motive to follow @JamesQueallyLAT -- because he’ll bring you all the snarky Arrow, Flash and Daredevil commentary you can muster, and because he’ll be at San Diego Comicon this year acting like a crazy person, and you know you can’t look away!