'Arrow' Season 4 Episode 4 'Beyond Redemption' Review

Non Spoiler Review- I thought this was one of the best episodes of the series thus far and definitely the best of the season! Paul Blackthorne delivers a phenomenal performance as Quentin Lance this episode with really emotional episode that centered on his character and the dynamic between him and Oliver which also gave Stephen Amell a great opportunity to shine in a more emotional dialogue heavy scene as opposed to delivering a great monologue or one liner in the midst of action. Another thing I liked from the episode was how the opening was tied into Oliver's closing speech announcing his candidacy for mayor and how it also tied into the characters arcs. I was very impressed with this episode and thought the cast delivered some of the best performances on the show thus far, I can't wait for next week's episode and hope the season only gets better from here. 

*******There will be Spoilers from this point on*******

Highlights of the episode

1. Oliver and Lance- This episode primarily featured the relationship and dynamic between Quentin and Oliver and it was very tense and emotional. I loved all of their scenes together this episode and loved how it contributed to the episode! I liked learning more about how Oliver always believed Quentin to be a better man than him and see his disappointment in Quentin and how he inspired him to run for mayor. I really hope to see more scenes like this on 'Arrow' this season as I really enjoyed all of them and the character conflict and resolution was great!

2. Quentin learns about Sara- A big moment and portion of the episode centered around Laurel telling her father about Sara's resurrection and his reaction to seeing his daughter alive. I really enjoyed the scene where he was about to shoot her after hearing from Damien Darhk that she is no longer the same person and the emotional tensity of the scene. I also liked that Laurel realized she should tell her father the truth and he handled it surprisingly well. It somewhat bothers me when characters would keep secrets from one another on a television show and then when it's revealed everyone has such a negative reaction to the fact people were keeping secrets and was glad to see this wouldn't be the case. I really enjoyed this scene and am very curious to see how Sara will be repaired in the coming episodes. 

3. Team Arrow learns about Quentin and Darhk- I was surprised to see the team learn about Lance's alliance so quickly and I suspected it would be revealed closer to the end of the midseason. I really liked how Oliver reacted to this as it ruined the man that he respected and how he confronted Lance about it rather than waiting. I also really liked when Oliver suggested that he remain as a mole so that they can learn more about Darhk and have someone close to him. I'm excited to see what will come of this as Darhk will certainly have a negative backlash to learning Lance is a spy of sorts. 

4. Ray's last words?- This episode reveals that the glitch messages that have been appearing on Felicity's phone come from Ray. I suspected it would be related to Ray being alive but instead was just an audio right before his supposed death but when Felicity is listening to the dialogue it's muffled by the score and Oliver's voiceover so I'm curious to learn if there was important information in that message. I also found it to be hilarious when the encrypted password was password as that was a small humorous part of the episode. 

5. New Lair- At the beginning of the episode Oliver shows the team the new lair he's been working on and we learn that he bought Sebastian Blood's old campaign office which already contained a lair so half of the work was done for Oliver. I liked that they still acknowledged that Sebastian Blood was a part of the show and that it would be logical to buy out his old office for a lair and a campaign office. I really liked the new lair as it looks awesome and I'm excited to see any new features of the lair. One thing that slightly bothered me in the episode was that the electricity kept glitching out a little which was sort of annoying at times. Overall, I loved the look of the lair and am very excited to see how it's used in the coming episodes. 

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