Season 8 Episode 4 “When a mysterious new Deathstroke appears in Star City, Oliver and Team Arrow insist on taking down this villain themselves; reeling from the loss of one of its own, the future Team Arrow figures out a new way to stop JJ.”
What I Liked
1. The reactions from both Oliver, and Diggle were incredible seeing their children. Especially Diggle not knowing Connor, because he hasn’t actually adopted him yet. A fantastic start, and one I’ve been excited for since last week.
2. Sick of onions being nearby this episode. William telling Oliver that he’s gay was emotional. Oliver and Felicity already knew, but waited for William to come out when he was comfortable. A solid example of how parents should be with their children.
3. This weeks return is Curtis! As much as he annoyed me, it’s still so good to see him.
4. Return number two, Slade’s son, Grant. Mia was trapped on a mine, after the Deathstroke gang shows up, Connor shouts at JJ until Grant takes his mask off in his reveal. However, Dinah heard the shouting from Connor, thus revealing to Diggle and Renee, that JJ killed Zoe.
The reactions from both Renee and Diggle here deserve a mention. Ones son is a murderer, the others daughter was murdered by the murderer.
5. The onions are back. Oliver takes Mia to his parents graves. An emotional conversation continues as they stand there, more so about guilt.
6. I was slightly worried that this episode would be that good with the future guys involved, and they will be gone at the end. It seems different, and they will be here for the next episode. I like this, it switches it up in a big way. I hope this continues for the rest of the season, the future characters can make such impacts this way.
7. I really wanted to put this on my dislike list, but I’m so damn excited to see it. The Monitor shows up at the end of the episode, and explains to Laurel that if she betrays Oliver, he will bring back her earth. Now I’m the last person that wants to see the bore of evil Laurel return, but now she has a proper agenda, I’m curious.
What I Disliked
Mia is an absolute nightmare of a character. Since last season she’s been a constant whinge. On the odd occasion we get to see the true colours, but her complaining attitude continues through this episode. Especially towards her father. We have saw the exact same attitude previously towards Felicity. It’s getting old.
If they’re to make her the new Green Arrow character in a spin off show, they really need to start showing us more, because at the moment, she’s got me completely uninterested in that.
Favourite Moment
As much as Mia annoyed me, her teaming up with Oliver was fantastic. The fighting here when they come up against Grant and his team was amazing. Mia did slightly let it down when Oliver stopped her killing Grant. But the rest of the team deserve a notable mention. They all had their own little teams, it was just great. I really enjoyed these scenes.
Standout Character
This is my first time adding this to my reviews. At the moment I’m torn between John, and William. Both entertained me, and both delivered some incredible moments through the episode. More importantly, I have to give it to William. We saw a different side of him this week, he was emotional, geeky, excited, and genuinely wanted to be around his father.
Verdict
Arrow continues to deliver perfectness this season. This has been my favourite season so far, it’s been so interesting. The returns play a part, and Arrow’s lifespan has made these returns exciting. I sensed a great episode this week, and it delivered on a huge scale.
Rating 10/10
