What Went Right & What Went Wrong. Arrow season 4 has come to a close, and as the events of the finale are processed, it is now time to examine the season as a whole. This was going to be a transitional season for the show; it was to be an answer to the shortcomings of a disappointing season 3 that pushed its characters too far into dark hero territory. Now Arrow is by no means a lighthearted show, but there are limits to everything, especially when it comes to a gloomy tone. And while the series took aim at giving its story and its characters a lighter touch early on in season 4 – going so far as to make Oliver Queen’s pursuit of “the light” part of the actual text of the season – old habits die hard it seems.

Arrow Season 5 Episode 1 Masked Man Miners

After an getting off to a solid start by introducing an Oliver Queen at peace with himself and his place in the world, the show did what any series would: it brought conflict into the life of its characters and used that to set the plot in motion. Along with some snappy new duds for the hero, the Arrow also tried its hand at introducing a new status quo for its core group, one that hinted at shifting power dynamics within Team Arrow and the personal lives of Oliver and Felicity. But when the season became bogged down in flash forward reveals and a slow- paced plot of a super powerful antagonist in Neal Mc. Donough’s flashy Damien Darhk – a character whose ambitions never quite matched up with the hero’s journey – the show felt destined to repeat recent past mistakes.

All in all, season 4 had its ups and downs (though some will say it had more of one than the other) that will have fans looking toward season 5 with mixed emotions. Here’s a rundown of what went right and what went wrong on Arrow season 4: What Went Right: The Season’s Scope Was Ambitious. Even Stephen Amell admits that Arrow works better when it’s allowed to do the things that it does best. As the first two seasons demonstrated, the series has a knack for telling street- level crime stories with just a pinch of supervillainy thrown in for good measure. What made seasons 1 and 2 stand out was the personal nature of the overarching story that still hit the sweet spots familiar to most superhero tales. As the series progressed, it was compelled to respond to the burgeoning comic- book universe it helped spawn, and that response may have attributed to Arrow losing sight of what its particular skill set is.

The results may have been mixed for the last two seasons, but there was a clear ambition in season 4 to alter the scope of Arrow and to see Oliver Queen change along with it. Without being too cheeky, there was something magical about the idea of magic and mysticism being introduced into the Arrow universe and to see how the human, “superpowerless” characters of the series would respond as something so fantastical not only entered their lives, but become a major threat to them as well. The ambition, then, extends to Damien Darhk, who, over the course of the season, became a bright spot in nearly every episode he was in, thanks to the lively, scenery- chewing performance from Neal Mc. Donough. Seeing the series bring in a gleefully mad character like Darhk and to just let him do his thing opposite the typically more serious performances of Stephen Amell, David Ramsey, and Willa Holland was a nice change of pace. Oliver Tried to Redefine Himself. As mentioned above, the early part of season 4 was, in many ways, a direct response to certain criticisms leveled against season 3 – particularly the darkness of the Ra’s al Ghul and League of Assassins storyline. It was a season filled with death and resurrection, one that saw the usual bright ray of light named Felicity Smoak turned into a dour presence who was always on the verge of tears.

The season 4 premiere, then, made good on promises from the season 3 finale that saw Ollie and Felicity as a happy couple who literally drove off into the sunset. And, true to its word, season 4 delivered a new Oliver. He smiled, he interacted with neighbors, he brunched. He also saw there were limitations to what he could do as a masked vigilante whose interactions took place with unsavory types and only at night.

From this was born Ollie’s political ambitions that, although a means to combat Damien Darhk’s methodical dismantling of Star City’s government, showed his ability to become something else wasn’t exclusive to shooting arrows into peole. For Oliver to try and change the city via legal means and to act within such specific boundaries – further rehabilitating his pre- island spoiled son- of- a- billionaire image in the process – made for a compelling commitment from the show’s writers that Arrow. Terrific. As much as Arrow season 4 wanted to present itself and its title character in a new light, some things aren’t so easy to change. As Felicity noted when breaking up with Oliver after learning he’d kept knowledge of a heretofore- unknown lovechild from her at the request of his baby mama, Oliver is just built to be secretive and selfish. It’s not a great look for anyone – let alone the hero – but hey, the guy’s trying. And while Oliver took a few smiles out for a test drive earlier in the season, it wasn’t long before he had settled back into a familiar stone- faced routine as Team Arrow’s troubles mounted. So what’s a show to do when getting a case of the glums is built into its DNA?

On March 11, 2016, Arrow was renewed for a fifth season by The CW. It premiered on October 5. Episode descriptions from the first season of Walt Disney's Zorro. Watch Les Chansons D`Amour Online Metacritic on this page. Contact Us: To correct episode titles. This review contains spoilers. Honor Thy Father. Last week’s premiere episode of The CW’s Arrow was one of the strongest debuts of the new season, and.

For Arrow, the answer has been to strike a balance in the tone with characters whose disposition is, let’s say, a little sunnier. This responsibility has fallen on Felicity over the last few seasons, but after the character misfire that was her arc in season 3, and the fact that her involvement with Oliver has gone beyond her tech role on Team Arrow, the show needed a new source of levity. So Arrow brought in Curtis Holt (Echo Kellum), resident tech genius for Palmer Technologies and all around decent human being. In addition to being a superhero in the making, Curtis works as an audience proxy of sorts. His introduction to Team Arrow is filled with the sort of gee- whiz enthusiasm you might expect if a die- hard comic- book fan learned superheroes were real. Curtis’ earnestness and dorky sense of humor helps cut through some of the show’s necessary seriousness; his presence brings balance to the tone, bringing not only levity to some heavy situations, but also a sense of hope that anything can be accomplished. Curtis is a valuable member of Team Arrow and it’s good to see him added to the regular cast in season 5.

What Went Wrong: The Villain Was Introduced Too Early. Broadcast network seasons being what they are – i. To its credit, in addition to a less burdened Oliver, Arrow had something special in Neal Mc.

Donough’s performance as Damien Darhk and so it makes sense that the show would want to start things off by putting its best foot (or feet) forward. Darhk’s name even served to underline the overarching theme of the season, so why not, right? But charming as Mc. Donough’s performance was, a villain needs a good plan and a sense of urgency to be a compelling adversary. Darhk’s plan (his ultimate plan, anyway) wasn’t revealed until the last few episodes, and so he spend much of the season doing magic hand- waiving motions at stuff and proving that a supervillain can have it all – a promising career as a homicidal maniac and a wife and kids – if he’s willing to dedicate time to both. But Arrow struggled to realize the threat the character represented on a consistent basis. Instead of dedicating a smaller but more concentrated amount of time on Darhk and HIVE’s plan to reboot humanity, the season allowed the villain to come and go as a way to generate tension for one early- in- the- season reveal.

This underserved Darhk as the big bad for much of the season. If Damien had been given a clearer objective sooner, and wasn’t used as a plot device to introduce a character death much too early, his presence might have felt more threatening than it ultimately did. The Grave Mystery Dragged on Too Long.