Jessie Robertson reviews the tenth episode of Arrow season 4…
Nothing cures what ails you except a bunch of men poking around inside you….
I want to again remind and advise about this review: SPOILER ALERT! Just in case it wasn’t implied before…..
I begin with what could be one of the most important questions as we move forward this season…Who is Brie Thorpe? We open 4 months in the future as Oliver and Barry stand over a headstone, vowing revenge on someone, blood revenge. As the episode closes, we finally see who rests under that garden of stone. Could it be Darhk’s wife? Complete guess in the da(h)rk.
B-T-Dubs, Anarky is back and after Thea (out loud) spells out exactly what connects her and him together (a penchant for bloodlust) they actually have a couple of really effective scenes together. You have to love Thea because she’s a quipping young adult empowered female but she wears her storylines on her sleeve; what should be her internal monologue is often on the page and in the episode, so her need to spell out her inner most worries and fears and anxieties also are fun to hear when it’s the super hero social group’s failings. Machin is just a sick, deranged dude who thinks by being burned, his true self was revealed by the flames and is having a lot of sick fun in the aftermath. As I said when he debuted earlier in the season, this is a far stretch from the pure liberal and conservative opposed destructive idealist from the comics and loses a lot of the characters punch, but I do like the idea of giving Thea her own baddie to have conflicts with.
As Felicity goes in for a second surgery, Oliver does what he does best: beats people up and swears revenge on someone. He’s chided by his friends as to why he’s not visiting his fiancée but at this point, they all seem to just say “That’s Ollie!” and let him be. He exhausts every avenue he can to finding Dahrk, who seems to have went into hiding; Ghosts are dropping like flies around him and even his “allies” are giving up what they know. It sort of restarts Dahrk’s base of operation and plan of attack and I expect to see him ratcheted up from now till season’s end. When Oliver finally does visit Felicity, she instantly forgives him and makes sure he’s not completely unhinged because the girl’s done so much work on him thus far! It’s 2 quick, quiet scenes that again reaffirm the strength of this yin-yang pair and why people even fell onto the “Ollicity” pairing seasons ago and why it has worked so brilliantly this season. Oliver’s confrontation with Dahrk is another telling moment; he physically gets the best of him for a moment before Dahrk realizes brute strength could be a battle he loses against a foe as determined as the Green Arrow, so they call a sort of truce, both due to Dahrk’s strange code of honor and Oliver’s existential feel of Felicity tugging on his reins from her hospital bed. It’s not a deep scene but one that sets this year’s season long villain apart from others the way Slade Wilson was portrayed and it’s all great stuff.
Also, Andy and Lyla are still around and we get to see John brood and be strong-emotional with them. It’s usually his best stuff.
8.5/10- another strong start for the rest of the season and a huge surprise that makes this fanboy geek out something big seals the deal:
Other Notes:
– Anarky’s costume design is dead-nuts from the Arkham video game series, which is a cool touch.
– so, Darhk’s wife is psycho too? Who said opposites always attract?
– Before I leave you, feast your eyes on this:
THIS…..JUST…..HAPPENED!
I could do a thesis on the strength and power of Oracle, the comic book character featured above, but bringing that idea into Felicity on Arrow, which a lot has been drawn to her anyways from the books is going to be bonkers cool and also a huge dramatic struggle for everyone on the show. I can’t wait to see this unfold.
Oliver tells Laurel they suit up every night and fight criminals and yet she’s the strongest one of them all; Damn right.
Visit Jessie Robertson as he plays vintage video games and WRITES ALL THE THINGS- FOR YOU!
https://youtu.be/awfT2dB6YmA?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published January 21, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
