'Arrow' Season 4 Episode 11 'A.W.O.L.' Review

Non Spoiler Review- A phenomenal episode of 'Arrow' that does a great job spotlighting some of the supporting characters who are usually somewhat sidelined. 

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

Highlights of the episode

1. Amanda Waller's dead- The shocking moment of the episode was when they killed off Amanda Waller, putting a bullet in her head on camera. I think this is in large part because of the upcoming 'Suicide Squad' film because Warner Bros. doesn't want confusion between the characters in the DC films and CW television universe. I'm sad to see her character go, but she could still pop up in flashbacks.

2. Diggle Bros- My favorite part of the episode was it's focus on the Diggles and I really liked how the episode went towards repairing their relationship, which has been severely strained this season. I'm glad to see John being more trusting of Andy and the two working together again. I really liked the focus on the two and hope to see more episodes focused on more supporting characters soon.

3. Felicity gets a code name- This episode finally gives Felicity a code name "Overwatch". I liked how they made a brief reference to Oracle already being taken possibly as a nod that Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) is in this CW Arrow/Flashverse. I liked how she finally has gotten an actual codename after suggesting it all season and proving she's still integral to the team.

4. Felicity abandons her past- Another moment I enjoyed from the episode was when Felicity had a moment in which she abandons her dark past that comes back to haunt her throughout the episode as she hallucinates her old self. I liked it as a character moment and am curious to see what ther direction Felicity's character is headed. 

5. Reiter Flashback connection- This episode's flashbacks focused on the Diggles and it seems that all the flashbacks are beginning to become more interconnected and I'm interested to see where they lie in the bigger picture.

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'Arrow' Season 4 Episode 10 'Blood Debts' Review

Non Spoiler Review- A terrific return to 'Arrow' after it's midseason break. The episode was filled with interesting subplots developing the core team members, some great action, and a intriguing mixture of a dark and light tone. The episode has me even more curious for what will come during the remainder of the season. 

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

Highlights of the episode

1. Another Flash forward- This episode showed a little more of the flash forward from the beginning of the season. We see that shortly after Oliver's conversation with Barry over the grave, Oliver enters a limo with Felicity inside. This had few interesting implications. First of all, she's not wearing her engagement ring so something must happen between her and Oliver, maybe she learns about his son and is enraged he didn't share that information with her. Second of all, it eliminates all speculation that Felicity is the one in the grave since she is obviously alive in the flash forward. That helps to slightly narrow down the character who dies but at the same time leaves a lot of potential candidates for the grave.

2. Darhk's wife- At the end of the episode when Darhk is reunited with his family, his wife speaks to him and tells him he shouldn't have spared Green Arrow and also we learn she's involved with the Project Genesis, which seems to involve wiping out the world or something along those lines. I was very surprised to learn she's involved in his grand scheme and is quite knowledgable about his plan.

3. Oliver is relentless- One point made clear in this episode is that Oliver will not hold back to defeat Darhk and will do whatever is necessary to get to him. Unfortunately Darhk almost defeated him but then he spared Oliver since Team Arrow saved his wife and daughter. It was interesting that even Darhk will hold back though since he seemed to be a very unsympathetic villain.

4. John begins to repair his relationship with his brother- Another interesting subplot from this episode was the beginning of the resolution of the relationship between John Diggle and his brother. I liked how John came to the realization that maybe he should repair the relationship instead of straining it. I hope that the Team can find a way tot bring Andrew back and restore him since he's still brainwashed.

5. Anarky idolizes Thea- Another interesting aspect of the episode was that Anarky wasn't angry with Thea for scarring him bit rather he seems to have genuine respect for her. I was surprised by this because I assumed he would want revenge but instead it seemed that he wanted to drive her insane as well, because he is aware to an extent that she has the bloodlust and that he can possibly activate it to make her insane, etc. It seems that she has control over the bloodlust now but that of course could change at anytime.

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'Arrow' Season 4 Episode 9 'Dark Waters' Mid-Season Finale Review

Non Spoiler Review- A crazy mid-season finale that may be one of the best episodes of the season if not the entire series with a huge cliffhanger and some exciting twists and turns. Unfortunately a weak point for the episode was the flashbacks, which have been very lack luster this season. Aside from that the episode made for a thrilling mid-season finale.

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

Highlights of the episode

1. Is Felicity dead?- The big cliffhanger of the episode is the question of whether or not Felicity is dead. The episode ended with an attack on Oliver and Felicity by HIVE and Oliver manages to escape and pulls Felicity out of the limo and as you can see above he holds her in his arms where Felicity appears to be lifeless and the episode seems to point that she will be the one in the grave. However, I think this is very misleading for many reasons. First of all, at the beginning of the season when it flash forwards to that scene of Oliver in front of the grave said it occurred six months later and 'Arrow' occurs at real time and so it hasn't quite been six months in the continuity of the show and even if it had and suppose Oliver is just revisiting the grave it doesn't make sense that Barry would arrive and apologize  for missing the funeral if that had occurred four months earlier. Also I included a gif because if you look at the gif included above you can see Felicity move her head by herself. So this definitely suggests that she is certainly still alive for the moment. Now it's very possible she could die but I think it's very unlikely she is the person in the grave unless she survives and dies later. We'll have to wait and see in January when the series returns however and I think it's very likely Felicity will survive as last year the series "killed" off Oliver only to have him survive when the series returned.

2. Darhk's grander plans?- The episode also subtly reveals more of what Darhk is up to although I'm still very confused what all of this means, It shows Darhk showing a board of some sort these  corn fields and saying that the algae they used for the gas chamber made the air breathable here. I have literally no idea what this could possibly mean as it's extremely subtle and doesn't reveal too much.

3. Darhk has a family- A very intriguing reveal saw Darhk celebrating Christmas with his family. The big reveal about this was that Damien Darhk has a family which also means a weakness Oliver might be able to exploit since Darhk hasn't held back kidnappingand almost killing Oliver's friends.

4. Darhk will go to great lengths to stop Oliver- One thing that makes Damien Daehk such a great villain for the series was that he won't hold back in his battle against Oliver and will harm his loved ones without blinking an eye. I think this proves that Darhk is significantly a larger threat than Oliver has been lead to believe. I'm curious to see how this will affect Oliver's side of the battle and if he will stop holding back at this point.

5. Oliver proposes- Throughout the episode Felicity learns more about Oliver's original intentions to propose and asks him about it and at the end of the episode Oliver finally asks her and she says yes although the happy moment is short lived before they are attacked by HIVE. If Felicity does survive I'm curious if she will learn of Oliver's son as he is still keeping that a secret from her.

6. Laurel and Malcolm team up- During Oliver's attempt to save his friends by offering himself in exchange for them, he has a back up plan to have Laurel and Malcolm, dressed in the Green Arrow suit, come in to save them. I thought it was interesting to see Merlin utilize Oliver's arsenal in a very different way and doesn't hold back at all. It was cool to see the two of them fighting HIVE's soldiers and it made for some great action.

7. Oliver saves Malcolm- Malcolm tries to confront Damien Dark dressed as the Green Arrow and manages to find brief success before Darhk begins to use his abilities to choke Merlin and Oliver arrives to stop it and Merlin and Oliver then help each other against Dahrk and manage to subdue him and they think he is possibly dead but Darhk uses his powers and survives somehow, I'm curious to learn what he did as he recited some words before the explosion and survived.

8. Oliver outs Darhk publicly- It was very interesting when Oliver decides to reveal Darhk as the leader of HIVE on the news telling them about his intentions to destroy Star City and this had some huge repercussions as Darhk went after the Oliver cared about but it was interesting to see Oliver fight Darhk on another front.

9. Diggle's troubled interrogation- A small subplot of the episode showed John Diggle tries to get some information from his brother but Andrew doesn't want to cooperate. It was especially interesting that Andrew is no longer under Dark's influence and is still not cooperating. It made for some great dramatic tension for Diggle's character and I'm curious to see this arc further explored this season.

10. Laurel learns about her father's involvement with Darhk- I never realized that Laurel had no idea her father was working with Darhk. I just assumed she knew since she's a part of Team Arrow but never really thought about the fact she may not realize this was going on. I think that her reaction was interesting as it made since she would be angry about it but she seems to have quickly forgiven him when Quentin turned against Darhk later in the episode.

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'Arrow' Season 4 Episode 7 'Brotherhood' Review

Non Spoiler Review- A much improved episode from last week's which was somewhat of a disappointment given how consistent the quality of the season has been as opposed to previous seasons. This episode is directed by James Bamford, who is one of the stunt coordinators for the show, and I really liked what he did with this episode as it was very action packed and the fight scenes were among the best of the season so far. The episode also shifted focus to John Diggle for the most part with a few subplots around the other members of Team Arrow but David Ramsey was really given an opportunity to shine in the spotlight thanks to his emotional scenes this episode. Overall, I can say this was a very solid episode of 'Arrow' and I'm very psyched for the two part Flash/Arrow crossover next week as well as each show's respective mid season finales.

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

Highlights of the episode

1. Oliver to take on Darhk in he light of day- One big part of the episode was a conflict within Oliver when an opportunity arises for him to work with Darhk as the mayoral candidate and Oliver strongly considers it since Darhk is losing trust in Lance and it would allow for another mole within HIVE. After discussing it with John Diggle, at the end of the episode he reveals he wants to fight for Star City in the light of day and not in the shadows and locks eyes with Damien Darhk. I like that Oliver will be fighting Darhk on two fronts as the Green Arrow and Oliver Queen. I'm very excited see how this fight will go and curious what the consequences for Oliver will be since we saw someone will be in a grave by the end of the season.

2. Diggle struggling with his brother's return- At the beginning of the episode when Team Arrow is trying to retrieve a compound that will help them learn more about HIVE and the ghosts, Diggle fights with one of the ghosts and manages to unmask him revealing his brother, Andrew Diggle. Throughout the episode John struggles with this news as he is frustrated that Andrew's been alive all this time and hasn't told his family and isn't the strong moral person he thought he knew and so Oliver tries to convince him of otherwise when they learn HIVE has been controlling the ghosts with some sort of drug that makes them susceptible to suggestion. Oliver then plans an assault to save Andrew from HIVE and it is successful. John then confronts his brother towards the end of the episode in the cage in the Arrow Cave and Andy tells him everything in the files is true. I'm curious to see if Team Arrow can undo the brainwashing done by HIVE later this season as a way to possibly stop HIVE. 

3. Possible cure for the "Blood Lust"- In this episode Thea's bloodlust comes back and she as the urge to kill throughout but manages to somewhat resist it. Merlin makes a brief appearance visiting Thea to help her with her bloodlust, as he estimated the effects are coming back. He then provides her with information of a man Merlin believes deserves to die and she refuses. She almost falls into it when a guy confronts her on a date and she almost kills him but she manages to stop herself. Larter in the episode she comes across Darhk, who recognizes her as having had training from Malcolm and tries to use his powers but has some side effect and is slightly immobilized being slightly injured likely due to the blood lust in her system. Thea invites Merlin back and tells him that Dahrk's powers didn't work on her and her blood lust was gone. She wants him to help him find a way to permanently remove the blood lust and I think that Thea will be a weapon against Darhk later this season since his powers won't work on her and this could also help remove the blood lust from her system. 

4. Ray's internal conflict- In this episode Ray stays hidden from the outside world, and we learn why he doesn't want to reveal himself to the world. In the present, Ray tells Felicity that it doesn't seem like he made a positive impact on the world, so he doesn't know why he should admit he's back from the "dead." He then comes in later in the episode to help out Team Arrow as Atom and decides he will think things out but still be a superhero. I think this is setting up a character arc that will be further explored on 'Legends of Tomorrow' and I really like it as it allows for a much deeper characterization for Ray Palmer, since his character didn't really have too much depth last season. 

5. Action- This episode has some of the best action scenes all season and I liked seeing Atom in action for the first time in awhile and can't wait to see if this grand team up next week which Stephen Amell has teased there will be a fight scene with nine heroes in the Flash/Arrow crossover so I'm very excited to see that since it's essentially like a Justice League but on television. 

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