Oh, Arrow. In some ways, the show is Moses, leading DC TV to the promised land, but never quite making it there itself. The show has struggled to maintain its tone, its focus, and its intrigue at various points in its run, but there has always been a strong undercurrent to the show that gave us all hope that the show would not fail its audience.
And while season four, perhaps, improved over season three overall, there were a few truly great aspects of the show this season. Let’s get to them:
5. Damien Darhk had…a personality!
After a bland Ra’s al Ghul and a strong, but relatively charmless Deathstroke, it was nice to see a season’s big bad return to Malcolm Merlyn-level personality. There is something that really works when Ollie – a pleasant but somewhat milquetoast protagonist – runs up against a scenery chewing dynamo, and that’s exactly what Neal McDonough brought to the role. If he wasn’t pure evil, you’d almost want to go out for a drink with the guy. He does magic tricks, he has pithy puns, he’s a bit of a cad – who wouldn’t want to hang out with him?
Except, you know, he’d straight up murder you.
4. It cut down on the time we were flashing back (I think)
Look, we all know that the flashbacks are by far the worst part of the show by a country mile. They are stupid, they are unnecessary, and those fucking transitions between scenes is the stuff of madness. But, this season, it appeared that they were considerably shorter than in years past. Sure, we would still get three pointless cutaways, but instead of lasting five minutes, it seemed like they would only last two. And hey, that’s a win in my book.
3. Mayor Queen
While the comics stories of Ollie being mayor are not exactly the best Green Arrow stories, bringing Ollie into civil service is helping to make ‘Green Batman’ a little more in line with his comics counterpart. Ollie in the comics is a left wing, sigh, ‘social justice warrior,’ that cares deeply about every single person he comes into contact with. His compassion separates him from a lot of his superhero counterparts, who will save you from falling off a building, but would rarely ask why you were jumping.
To take some of that to the show, and to give Ollie something to do outside of being a vigilante that isn’t just brooding and looking good is a step in the right direction. People love Barry on The Flash because Barry cares; Ollie has always seemed to care more about the city as a construct than as a place made up of individuals. By making him the mayor, they could change that.
2. Echo Kellum as Curtis Holt
While it was nice to see Vixen show up, the new character that was best this season was, hands down, Curtis (why not just call him Michael?) Holt, the future Mister Terrific. He was a perfect counterpart to Felicity – just as bubbly, brilliant, and focused. Making him in a committed gay relationship was another brilliant move for the show – one of Holt’s traits in the comics was the absolute devotion he had to his wife, even in death. Giving him a similar love, and making it more inclusive, was great. (Side note: Arrow might be one of the more queer friendly mainstream TV shows out there. Sara’s bisexuality was addressed so matter of factly that it was sort of shocking. Bravo to Arrow for putting diversity on their list of needs for the show. Of course, there’s a long way to go, but this is a nice start).
Now, with the season ending with Ollie and Felicity standing alone in the Arrow Cave, I can’t hep but think that Curtis is going to get the call to suit up – and to see what that will do to his relationship is something I really hope season 5 tackles.
1. The supporting cast did stuff
I know, this sounds like such a small point, but to me, this is how season 4 upped its game big time. Diggle had beef with his brother, saw Lyla ascend to the head of A.R.G.U.S., struggle with his soldier-ness, and realize that Ollie was right about him having a blind spot for his family.
Continued belowThea started dating someone (someone far better than DJ Dip Shit), began to deal with her bloodlust, rejected her father, and decided that maybe superheroics weren’t for her.
Laurel died.
That is actual growth and change for the entire main support cast. For a show that sometimes has felt like the Ollie and Felicity show, guest starring everyone else, we get honest to goodness development from these characters. And while Laurel’s death was a heartbreaker, it really set up the rest of the season and, perhaps, the show. Will Diggle and Thea be gone forever? Hell no – I doubt they’re gone more than a month of S5, but that’s ok. Giving the characters new adventures and wrinkles will keep the show fresh. Let’s keep it up.
What moments did you love? Tell us in the comments!
