by Emerald Smith (Reporter),

“Haunted”: Fan-favorite actor Matt Ryan joins the “Arrowverse” universe officially as Constantine! NBC and CW worked out a deal to allow the character to appear in a single episode, and it turned out to be one of the best of the season. After Laurel uses the Lazarus Pit to bring Sara back to life, Oliver requests mystical assistance from John Constantine. With help from his old friend, Team Arrow fights to reunite Sarah’s soul with her rejuvenated body. Can they find a way to bring back the old Sara before it is too late? Meanwhile, Felicity and Curtis learn the true fate of Ray Palmer!

“Lost Souls”: After the startling explosion at the end of Season Three, Ray Palmer’s fate was very much up in the air. Felicity discovers that Ray is actually alive, miniaturized, and currently the captive of Damien Darhk. Team Arrow, with the help from the newly returned Sara Lance, and tech genius Curtis Holt, must race to the rescue to save their friend before Darhk can crack his technology.

“Legends of Yesterday”: The Flash/Arrow crossover continues! The looming threat of Vandal Savage weighs heavily on our heroes, and a plan is placed in motion to stop the villain once and for all. With help from Malcolm Merlin, a meeting is arranged with Savage to turn over Hawkman and Hawkgirl. When their plan to double-cross Savage is thwarted, Barry is forced to time-travel in order to save his friends. With the timeline changed, can Barry set his friends on a better path? Time travel always has consequences, and characters will forever change as a result of his actions…

“Unchained”: The Calculator makes his first live-action appearance in the DC Universe. When a skilled burglar is revealed to be Roy Harper, Team Arrowrushes to find out what has happened to their old friend. Why has Roy reverted to a life of crime? Who is the man controlling him from behind the scenes? What connection does this man have to Felicity Smoak?

“Taken”: When Oliver’s son is kidnapped by Darhk, he must enlist the aid of the mystical Vixen! Making the jump from the CW Seed Animated Series to the small screen, Mari McCabe (Megalyn Echikunwoke) joins Team Arrow to help recover William. More is revealed about Darhk’s own Idol and abilities, and a serious blow is waged against the big bad. This episode also reveals Oliver’s drastic actions to protect William from future harm, which in turn deals a fatal blow to his relationship with Felicity.

“Eleven-Fifty-Nine”: Tragedy strikes Team Arrow! Damien Darhk plans to escape from prison (with help from his newly restored powers), Oliver and the gang must rush to stop him before more lives are lost. Who lives and who dies? This is one of the most important episodes of the season!

“Schism”: Darhk’s end game has arrived. Now that he has full control over the missile platform known as Rubicon, the villain plans to end the world as we know it, and start fresh with a select group of survivors in his “Genesis Program.” With help from the citizens of Star City, Oliver launches a last ditch effort to nullify Darhk’s powers and take back the city with a bit of hope. Can the Green Arrow save the day one last time?

Cast

Season Four of Arrow featured Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen/Green Arrow), Katie Cassidy (Laurel Lance/Black Canary), David Ramsey (John Diggle/Spartan), Willa Holland (Thea Queen/Speedy), Emily Bett Rickards (Felicity Smoak/Overwatch), John Barrowman (Malcom Merlyn), and Paul Blackthorne (Quentin Lance). This season also featured Neal McDonough (Captain America: The First Avenger) as Damien Darhk, Echo Kellum (Rick and Morty) as Curtis Holt, Tom Amandes (Chicago Fire) as Noah Kuttler/The Calculator, and saw the return of Charlotte Ross (Glee) as Donna Smoak, Caity Lotz (Mad Men) as Sara Lance/The Canary, and Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) as Ray Palmer/The Atom. The stand out performance for the season goes to Katie Cassidy, who really stepped up her game for the back half of the season. I was extremely impressed with Cassidy’s performances during the final few episodes, and I truly enjoyed her intensity as Black Canary. Echo Kellum proved to be another solid addition to Team Arrow, and I am looking forward to seeing more of Mr. Terrific in action next season. Willa Holland also did an amazing job as Speedy, and I loved every moment of screen time that she got in the red suit. The sibling dynamic between Oliver and Thea in the field was handled very well by the creative team, and I hope to see this element explored further in future episodes.

The one creative choice that I wasn’t thrilled with this season was Damien Darhk as the “big bad”. While Neal McDonough did an admirable job with what he was given, the overall character arc for this villain felt very two dimensional compared to the threat of Slade Wilson. While the audience was made aware of Darhk’s previous connections to the League of Assassins, we weren’t given a lot of character development. One of the most interesting things about Slade Wilson in the earlier seasons was that we got to see his rise and fall. Darhk appeared right off the bat at the beginning of the season, and it felt like the show was missing something this year by not having a more gradual build to introduce the main threat and the seriousness that came with him.

Special Features:

• Star-Crossed Hawks Featurette
• Star-Crossed Hawks: The Hunt for Vandal Savage Featurette
• Smooth Criminal: The Damien Darhk Story Featurette
• Arrow 2015 Comic-Con Panel
• Crossover Event with The Flash
• Unaired Scenes
• Gag Reel
• Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy

Overall:

Season Four of Arrow was a bit of a hit or miss for me. I really love the cast and creative team of the show, and I think they have truly done some phenomenal work over the years. This year included some  truly classic moments, and we got to see the characters pushed in some interesting new directions, but the mystical elements seemed to be more of a hindrance than a success. From the beginning, Arrow was a show that attempted to stay somewhat grounded. The season long flashbacks to Lian Yu started off as an interesting component to Oliver’s journey but ended up having a very small payoff to the season-wide arc for Damien Darhk. The show also suffered a bit from having to strategically place all of the characters to move to the Legends of Tomorrow spin-off, which slowed down the momentum of its own stories. That being said, while this most recent season wasn’t my favorite of the show, it is still quality television and is absolutely worth your time. It is amazing to see what this team has done within the confines of television, and I feel that their skills keep getting better and better with each passing year. This Arrow fan is here to stay, and I am very excited to see what Team Arrow brings to the table next year.

Rating: [3.5/5]