‘Arrow’ 4.10 Episode Recap and Review: Blood Debts

Arrow

The Arrow midseason premiere opens with a quick recap of the midseason finale (you know, in case you forgot that the life of a main character was hanging in the balance). With Felicity in the hospital, Oliver has put that whole “no kill” thing on hiatus until he has a better handle on how to take down Damien Darhk once and for all. He’s taking out some serious rage issues on any random Ghosts he happens to find around the city while the rest of Team Arrow is actually visiting his fiancée in the hospital.

As it turns out, Felicity is the one character on Arrow who can’t take a bullet without lasting repercussions. There’s been serious nerve damage that the doctors are hoping to repair in what we learn is yet another surgery. Still no Oliver lurking around the halls of Starling General, but the rest of Team Arrow is aware of the issue and dealing with it in their own ways. Diggle’s way is to put the hurt on Andy back in the lair. It’s understandable, but it isn’t getting them anywhere.

Oliver decides to play their trump card and ask Quentin where Darhk’s lair is. He goes in, only to find a roomful of dead Ghosts and Anarky’s calling card in the cabinet that used to hold Darhk’s shrine. DNA testing proves that the blood used to write the symbol belonged to Anarky’s foster parents. He’s holed up in their old house, lying in wait for Darhk, but Team Arrow gets there first and captures him. Oliver’s going all Dark!Arrow on him when Thea interrupts to tell Oliver that he’s needed at the hospital and the news isn’t good.

The news is that Felicity is never going to walk again. Oliver, surprisingly absolutely no one, does not take the news well. While he was visiting Felicity in the hospital, Laurel, our Lady of Perpetual Disapproval, turned Anarky over to the SCPD. Oliver breaks him out and tells him to go make sure Damien Darhk dies. Of course, he places a tracker on the kid first so that he can lead Team Arrow straight to Darhk’s hiding place.

The plan would have worked a treat, only this is Arrow, so Anarky’s signal goes down pretty quickly. Oliver starts having a minor breakdown, so the rest of the team sends him to the hospital to spend time with Felicity. She gives him the requisite pep talk while he reassures her that he still wants to marry her. (Felicity had concerns, seeing as how Oliver had been AWOL, along with her engagement ring.)

Lyla convinces Digg to be a little more bro and a little less “grr” around Andy. In return, Andy gives up a major clue as to Darhk’s location. The team is able to find Darhk’s home just as Anarky is about to torch his wife and daughter. Team Arrow rescues them, and Darhk decides to give them a breather as a thank you gift. However, in the fracas, Anarky escapes once more. Surely this isn’t going to come back to bite anyone in the rear. Nope.

And in case you were curious as to whether Darhk’s family knew about his nefarious schemes, we’re treated to a scene of his wife going all Lady MacBeth on him for letting up on Oliver, even temporarily. So Darhk is the face of this particular season’s evil, but Mrs. Darhk is right up there behind him.

In this episode’s flashback, Conklin brings Oliver and Taiana back to Baron Reiter and manages to successfully prove that Oliver has been playing them the whole time. Reiter gives Conklin permission to kill Oliver, but stops him when he sees the tats that Constantine magicked onto him a few episodes back. Evidently, Oliver has some use to Reiter yet.

Far more interestingly (because does anyone still care about the flashbacks anymore?), we also see Oliver back at the mystery grave four months from now. Once Barry leaves, he joins a coldly distraught Felicity back in the limo. There’s a palpable distance between the two, and she tells Oliver that he has to “kill that son of a b*tch.”

First and foremost, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief that we know Felicity survived the attack. The Powers That Be deny that Felicity is going to become Oracle, but now that she’s wheelchair-bound for the foreseeable future, I have a powerful need to see our favorite tech support take up eskrima. Anyone else on board with that?

Also, I’m never going to get tired of watching Lyla be Digg’s voice of reason. I like that the writers have given him someone to lean on when Digg often seems to be the moral center of the team. Her ability to talk Diggle into turning back into the big brother that we all know and love saved the day this episode, and while I desperately want to see her back in the field, I’ll take this Lyla over no Lyla at all.

Arrow 4.10

Arrow 4.10 Episode Recap and Review: Blood Debts

Best Quote:

Felicity: “What’s Damien Darhk doing in Bali?”

 

Things to Ponder:

  • So we know who ISN’T in the grave now. Who’s still up for elimination? Felicity’s reaction has me adding Donna to the list, while the mid-season promo makes me think it could be Thea, as well. Thoughts?
  • Speaking of four months from now, the eagle eyes of Meredith Jacobs (@MeredithJJacobs) caught that Felicity wasn’t wearing her engagement ring in the limo. What’s going to go down in the next four months to make that happen?
  • What actual plot plans are in store for the few weeks of ‘peace’ that Darhk is giving Team Arrow?

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