Arrow Season 4 Review

Arrow Season 4 Review!!!

by

Daphnium

 

This Blerd’s mixed emotions about Arrow Season 4 and why I’m still looking forward to Season 5

The conclusion of Arrow’s fourth season left me in a rather interesting place. I think my exact sentiments at the conclusion of the final episode were “hmm.” There were things that I loved about the season and then there were things that I absolutely hated. Don’t get me wrong, the season had its moments but overall I ended season 4 with a feeling of “really, that’s it?”

So first let me just put this out there… I’m a huge Olicity fan. I thought their little domestic scenes at the beginning of the season were adorbs. I love the fact that Oliver the former billionaire who never really had to do anything for himself prior to being shipwrecked on Lian Yu can cook amazing, fancy meals while Felicity who’s absolutely brilliant in every other aspect can’t even seem to make toast. The dichotomy of their relationship is part of what makes it so near and dear to my heart. But let’s be honest; domestic!Oliver was never going to last. If that were possible then he wouldn’t be the hero that we all know and love.

Other things that I loved about the season:

I don’t think I could call myself a true Blerd if I didn’t mention Mr. Terrific as one of the great things about this season. Not only is Curtis dorky and quirky and scatterbrained and brilliant but he’s great at showcasing how representation just works and doesn’t have to be forced or awkward. How awesome is it to have a gay, black, scientist on a show and have the focus be solely on him as a well-rounded, fleshed out character? And that speech he gave to inspire Ollie towards the end of the final episode… c’est magnifique!

The death of Black Canary. This was a powerful moment in what to me was a relatively underwhelming season. Laurel’s death was also so simply executed (no pun intended) and well written that you couldn’t help but be moved by it. Plus, watching her father grow to accept the fact that this time he wasn’t going to get his little girl back… heartbreaking. IMO her death really reinvigorated the show, it escalated things between Darhk and Team Arrow and gave them all a reason to keep fighting. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there.

Things I didn’t love so much:

Arrow logic fails. Starting with this season’s Big Bad, Damien Darhk. Darhk had all of the makings of an excellent villain. He was cold, calculating, and well dressed. But that whole magic thing? So overrated. Arrow is about ordinary people becoming heroes (or villains) through their own blood, sweat, and tears. There’s no particle accelerator exploding, they weren’t sent here from another planet. They’re just people, like you or me, who saw a need and worked their assess off to develop the skills to fix it. So right from the beginning I wasn’t a big fan of the whole “I’m magic, you don’t have the power to stop me,” thing (it did make for some nice cameos though like Constantine, Savage, and Vixen) So that’s big issue number one. Big issue number two is if you ARE magic then why can’t you just use your magic to defeat your enemies in one fell swoop and call it a day? By the end of the season Darhk was empowered by the deaths of thousands of people yet the best he can do to attack Team Arrow is steal Felicity’s computer and stop Oliver’s arrows in midair (again, like seriously why are you still trying to shoot arrows at the guy???) And why does he still need HIVE agents with him at all times? And why do those HIVE agents always put down their guns and instead engage in hand to hand combat? It just doesn’t make sense.

The whole I have a secret kid and it’s going to break us up trope. I’m not even going to expound upon this one. I’ll just say that it’s overused and I hate it.

Those flashback scenes. yawn Normally I look forward to the flashbacks as they really help with character development but this season they quickly devolved into a series of short, boring sequences with no plot progression. Where were the personal struggles that drove Ollie into becoming the Green Arrow? The story of Ollie and Slade, of the implosion of their friendship leading one to become a hero and the other to become his nemesis was so much more powerful. It honestly felt as if the only purpose served by the season 4 flashbacks was to demonstrate that Ollie had indeed seen magic before.

Final thoughts

I’ll be honest, overall I was a little bored this season. There were moments of excitement but they just never coalesced enough to have the big emotional impact that leaves you wanting more. At this point I’m starting to wonder if Arrow peaked at Season Two. Regardless, I’m super excited for season 5 and will be watching with bated breath on Wednesday, October 5^th. Why? One word: Bratva!

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XOXOX – DaphniumDaphnium

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