'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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'The Flash' Season 2 Episode 8 'Legends of Today' Review

Non Spoiler Review- A very fun crossover episode that manages to advance the plot of both series while setting up the foundation for 'Legends of Tomorrow'. I really enjoyed the episode and how it was able to play up the interaction of characters for some great humor and action sequences. 

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

Highlights of the episode

1. Oliver and Barry vs Vandal Savage- The main action was the end action when Barry and Oliver confront Vandal Savage, who has the Staff of Horus. It was a bit anticlimactic though since Vandal was distanced from the two but the scene was entertaining and it allowed for more quips between Barry and Oliver that were hilarious. 

2. Green Arrow and Flash vs. Hawkman- One of the big fights in this episode featured Hawkman taking on both Barry and Oliver and I thought it was a pretty entertaining action sequence. I liked seeing them work together with new gadgets and abilities since the last time they teamed up. 

3. Hawkgirl believes in herself- Towards the end of the episode Kendra finally has confidence Hawkman is telling the truth and jumps off of the buildings to have her wings emerge and she flies around for a bit. This was a big character moment for Kendra as it was a step towards her accepting the truth and becoming Hawkgirl. 

4. Oliver meets his son- Something that has been steadily developing since Season 2 of 'Arrow' was the revelation that Oliver Queen had a child with Samantha and he bumped into her in the last Flash/Arrow crossover. This was very intriguing and I'm positive that this will certainly be further explored soon as it's too interesting of a character arc for Oliver Queen tone forgotten.

5. Hawkman/Hawkgirl backstory explained- Hawkman and Hawkgirl's powers and origin were explained very effectively for the most part in this episode and I expect this to be furthered in the second half of the crossover. I'm excited to see both characters onscreen and can't wait to see them in 'Legends of Tomorrow'.

6. Vandal Savage- I liked Vandal Savage's introduction to the show and think he is a very formidable threat and seems to be a great adversary for the team. I  can't wait to see him as the big bad of 'Legends of Tomorrow'.

7. Jay uses the Velocity-6 Serum- In this episode Wells and Caitlin collaborate to create a serum that can help Barry run faster. A moment of the episode that would have felt larger if it weren't included in this crossover was when Jay Garrick was able to use the Velocity-6 Serum to temporarily regain his speed and save Wells. I'm curious to see if Wells will listen to Garrick's words and keep it away from Barry or if he will continue to try to enhance the serum and possibly bring back Jay's speed so he could help Barry stop Zoom.

8. Team Flash and Team Arrow working together- It was great to see all of these heroes working together in the field and it allowed for many great character interactions for both humor and to help raise the stakes of the action. I also found it interesting that a majority of the episode took place in Star City considering it's an episode of 'Arrow'.

9. Continuation of both series storylines-  I really liked how this crossover episode advanced the arcs of both series by including a subplot with Harrison Wells creating the Velocity 6 to help stop Zoom and also in Team Arrow's fight against Damien Darhk with a scene at the beginning of the episode. I like how the crossover isn't as self contained as last year's Flash/Arrow crossover was because it will impact both series as well as laying the foundation for 'Legends of Tomorrow'.

10. Interactions between Team Flash and Team Arrow- There was plenty of hilarious quippy dialogue between the group in this crossover episode. In particular there were humorous quips between Cisco and Thea involving a new nickname for her. I also liked the small quips that were exchanged between Oliver and Barry like Barry commenting on how Oliver's suit doesn't have sleeves and using if he will get cold. Also, I never realized Thea had never met Flash till this episode when she mentioned it and thought it was  great little moment. The interaction between different characters is what makes crossovers so entertaining and I love when that is a large part of 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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'Arrow' Season 4 Episode 6 'Lost Souls' Review

Non Spoiler Review- This episode seemed to be a step backward from the quality of last week's terrific episode. The action scenes were memorable in this episode and this episode had some lighter humorous moments that help keep the tone from seeming too dark. The episode centers around finding and rescuing Ray and primarily focuses on the relationship between Felicity and Oliver as the two hit a bit of a rough patch this week. I didn't mind the conflict between the two but it seemed to be unnecessary to the plot of the episode and Felicity's character came off as being a little annoying at times when she was frustrated at Oliver. Overall this episode was good, just not quite what I've come to expect this season. 

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

Highlights of the episode

1. Team Arrow saves Ray- The big moment of the episode was seeing Team Arrow rescue Ray. I liked that this subplot was quickly resolved as I enjoy having Ray Palmer on the show and am excited that this also helps to set up 'Legends of Tomorrow'. I found it to be very interesting that Curtis was brought along for the mission as maybe it's a nod that he will become Mr. Terrific before the end of the season. 

2. Damien Dark's box?- Damien Darhk has some mysterious box that seems to be crucial to his plan for Star City. I have absolutely no idea as to what it could be or what it can do but am anticipating learning more about the object as well as Dark's plan. 

3. Rematch against Darhk- In this episode, Diggle poses as one of Darhk's men and captures Oliver as a distraction to Darhk so the remainder of the team can retrieve Ray. I liked this scene as we see Oliver and Darhk fight again and it's clear that next time Oliver will definitely need some assistance (Flash/Arrow Crossover maybe?) as Darhk once again has a huge advantage with Oliver only escaping by using a trick arrow. I'm hoping to see more confrontations between the two throughout the season and see Team Arrow learn how to defeat Darhk. 

4. Sara in the field- Now that Sara's soul has been restored we see her back in action fighting alongside Team Arrow in the field. However there are consequences as Sara's bloodlust takes over quite a bit and becomes a bit of a problem. However Sara decides the best course of action is to leave and she goes off to Central City to see her mother. I thought it was a little funny to see two Black Canaries in the field at the same time since Laurel took up her sister's mantle after Sara's death. Another thing I found to be a little strange was Sara's use of a gun as her weapon which I don't remember her ever using in any previous episodes.

5. Lance meets Donna Smoak- A small interesting moment occurs at the end when Lance meets Donna Smoak and the two seem to hit it off quite well implicating they may have a relationship soon. 

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'Arrow' Season 4 Episode 5 'Haunted' Review

Non Spoiler Review- This week's episode of 'Arrow' is not only one of the season's best but also one of the series' best episodes. I really liked the addition of Constantine and how that was able to slightly resolve the issues with Sara. I really like how 'Arrow' and 'The Flash' are not only progressing their own storylines but setting up 'Legends of Tomorrow' as well by bringing back Sara and next week they are supposed to save Ray Palmer. This episode was able to incorporate progression of multiple character arcs through the main plot with one or two subplots and it all worked together quite well. I can't wait for next week's episode and really hope this trend of getting a better episode each week will continue throughout the season given how Season 3 of 'Arrow' was a mixed bag. 

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

Highlights of the episode

1. Sara's soul is saved- The crucial core of the episode focused on restoring Sara's soul and I was glad that the show decided to resolve this quickly as it would have felt like it was being dragged on if the subplot was left alone a bit longer. I liked how Oliver and Laurel were both crucial to save her and how that helped resolve their conflict which I will discuss further as well as the inclusion of Constantine. I'm glad to see Sara slightly fixed and see her progress towards becoming the White Canary before 'Legends of Tomorrow' and how her character will be developed. 

2. Constantine- One of the aspects I really liked was the inclusion of the John Constantine character not only in the current story but the flashbacks of the episode as well. I liked how naturally he fit into the episode and didn't feel like his character was forced in the episode. I haven't seen any episodes of the 'Constantine' series that was cancelled last year after 13 episodes but now I'm genuinely very interested in watching the series as I quite enjoyed the character I would love to see the character return in a future episode of 'Arrow' or 'The Flash' or even make an appearance of 'Legends of Tomorrow'. 

3. Felicity learns Ray is alive- This wasn't too surprising to me given the nature of his disappearance. Ray disappeared in an explosion while working on his Atom suit, and the character is supposed to shrink so I suspected he accidentally shrunk himself and caused an explosion as well. I was happy to see that Team Arrow and Felicity now know he's alive and can't wait to see the next episode which will focus on finding and saving him. 

4. Diggle learns why H.I.V.E. targeted his brother- An interesting reveal was that one of the subplots of the episode featured a Diggle and Lance team up. This was due to Darhk asking Lance to break into a military installation and connect a USB that wiped information about people, one of which was Diggle's brother. Lance asks Darhk about this and Darhk tells Lance that HIVE hired Headshot to kill Andrew Diggle because he was a crime lord competitor for HIVE. Lance brings this information to John Diggle and Diggle reacted quite well to the news given that his brother was a crime lord. I'm curious to see how this affects Diggle's quest for revenge by learning his brother wasn't quite the man he thought he believed him to be. 

5. Oliver and Laurel resolve conflict- In this episode there is tension between Laurel and Oliver as they both are frustrated that they both are consistently keeping secrets from one another and to save Sara have to work together and trust in one another. I liked that the conflict didn't seem to come out of nowhere and was resolved quickly before dragging on across future episodes. 

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'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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