Arrow (Season 4) (1 Viewer)

[DaveHof2]

I know this is stating the ridiculously obvious, but this is such a golden age for superhero adaptations. Seeing all these DC characters played so well and with the proper reverence to the original sources, and then checking out the latest trailer for Batman v. Superman, and all the great stuff Marvel has been doing since the first Iron Man. If, like me, you're old enough to remember when Captain America was played by Reb Brown, every day in pop culture now is like Christmas.

 

[NeilO]

Nice conclusion to the crossover. I was quite surprised that were able to seemingly completely defeat Savage. I've no idea what Merlyn wants (or can) to do with the dust.


Oliver is in a dilemma about his son. In order to see him he promised not to tell anyone else, but keeping the secret from Felicity will backfire.


Too bad the staff is dust as well. They might have been able to use it with Dark.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I was surprised how much location shooting there was on this episode, for a show that's usually pretty set bound except for the action sequences in generic Vancouver streets and warehouses. That farm was a beautiful setting.

A satisfying conclusion of the crossover event, but Oliver keeping the truth from Felicity just isn't going to end well, and that kind of keeping secrets for someone else's good is the very reason I dropped the show from my line-up (that and Oliver always feeling like every thing that went wrong was always his fault). Eventually, these secrets ALWAYS come back to bite folks and usually at the worst possible times.

Thankfully this is the only real example of a self-defeating secret so far this season. Oliver's in kind of a no-win situation. His mother is the reason he hasn't been a part of his son's life, and now the only way he can have any role in his son's life is if he doesn't tell anybody else about him. I can't imagine him keeping this secret forever, but I can understand why he'd want to build up some good will with his ex before he broaches the subject again.

 

[Todd J Moore]

Based on the last episode, I think either Ollie's son or the mother (or both) are who's in the grave.

 

[DavidJ]

I had forgotten about the grave. Could be.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Mid-season finale trailer:

 

[NeilO]

Season high ratings for Arrow for the crossover according to TV by the Numbers.

 

[DavidJ]

So, thoughts?

 

[Sam Favate]

It was a good mid-season cliffhanger, although I don't think for a minute that Felicity is gone. She's arguably the show's most popular character, so I don't see the producers writing her out, however bold a move that may be. It also doesn't fit with the promised lighter tone of season 4.


I don't know the character Damien Darhk. Is there more to him? He's seems a bit of a mustache-twirling villain, and last night even referred to himself as the "bad guy." Maybe there is more, as seen in his domestic scene at the end of the episode, but right now, he seems a very one-note character, and not very interesting.

 

[NeilO]

The Darhk domestic scene was quite a surprise. I wonder what they think he does at work.


Anyone catch the mystical spell he was saying to save his life?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It was a good mid-season cliffhanger, although I don't think for a minute that Felicity is gone.

I agree. I wouldn't say that the show will never kill her, depending how wedded the writers still are to a Green Arrow/Black Canary endgame, but I don't think it would happen until the show has a definitive end date.

The Darhk domestic scene was quite a surprise. I wonder what they think he does at work.

That scene instantly made Darhk more interesting to me; the idea that this nefarious villain has a pretty picturesque home life.

 

[DavidJ]

A lot of love for The Godfather on The Flash and Arrow this week. The Earth 2 Wells exchange with Cisco on The Flash and the end of Arrow with the shooting of the car contrasted with Darhk's home life seemed to pay homage to it too.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Mid-season premiere promo:

 

[NeilO]

While watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens I thought that Supreme Leader "Snoke" was "Smoak". I was wondering what could have happened with Felicity.

 

[Jason_V]

Mid-season premiere promo:

Ah, so we're back to teasing that 90 second snippet most people have forgotten from early in the season...just after mentioning Felicity is in surgery. As someone stated before, I find it highly unlikely Felicity dies. There isn't a way to bring her back right now and the show would be missing its humor and vitality.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Returns Wednesday. Midseason "extended trailer":




EDIT: Good catch, David. I have absolutely no idea why I typed that. Fixed now.

 

[DavidJ]

It's moving to Thursday?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The show really hit the ground running on its return.


Again I feel jerked around by the producers of a TV show: In all of the interviews over the hiatus, they were adamant that Felicity wasn't going to be paralyzed and wasn't going to become the Arrow version of Oracle. The episode airs, and lo and behold, she's paralyzed. I'd rather them say nothing than lie to artificially create a sense of surprise.


Otherwise, there was a lot to like: Thea overcoming her (apparently still diminished) bloodlust; Felicity saying exactly the right things at exactly the right times; Diggle starting to mend fences with the younger Diggle; Green Arrow and company saving Darhk's wife and daughter from the psychopath that Oliver set upon them.


Not sure where they're headed with the flashback story. This week's flashbacks mainly seemed to serve to remind us where we left off.


The original gravesite scene was "Six Months Later", and these gravesite scenes were "Four Months Later", so we've covered a third of the skipped over time already. Thanks to the limo scene, we know it's not Felicity that's in the grave, but otherwise all bets are off. Whoever died, it's made Felicity furious enough to urge Oliver to break his no killing policy.

 

[NeilO]

As far as who is in the grave - Felicity's mother is my current guess, but we really only know 3 characters who it can't be now (Flash, Arrow, Felicity).


I was surprised that Speedy didn't try to remove another dose of bloodlust via Darhk. Darkh's wife showed that she didn't deserve to be rescued. Again, they had to know and it was demonstrated that they can't personally hurt Darhk. So, why did they go after him when they weren't ready? They need something more.

 

[Sam Favate]

Lots of good character moments in the show amid the action. I'm interested to see how this all plays out and what Darhk's plan is, but right now having a character that's evil for evil's sake isn't that gripping. I want to know what he wants.