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'Arrow' Recap: Felicity's Fate Sends Oliver Into a Violent Tailspin Wednesday, January 20, 2016 http://www.buddytv.com/articles/arrow/arrow-recap-felicitys-fate-sen-58587.aspx

Collider review of 410 (gave it a 3-star GOOD rating)... 'Arrow’ Midseason Premiere Recap: “Blood Debts” – It’s Got a Familiar Ring to It BY DAVE TRUMBORE 13 HOURS AGO http://collider.com/arrow-midseason-premiere-recap-blood-debts/

Review: ‘Arrow’ Pays its ‘Blood Debts,’ Back in Fighting Form With Felicity Twist Kevin Fitzpatrick | 13 hours ago http://screencrush.com/arrow-blood-debts-review/

Blastr review of 410 (for rest of review, go to link)... Anarky returns to Star City as Felicity's fate is revealed on Arrow Trent Moore Thu, Jan 21, 2016 9:30am http://www.blastr.com/2016-1-21/anarky-returns-star-city-felicitys-fate-revealed-arrow

Yahoo review of 410... 'Arrow' Recap: Anarky's Back... and Felicity's Spine Robert ChanJ anuary 20, 2016 https://www.yahoo.com/tv/arrow-recap-4x10-blood-debts-anarky-felicity-044043533.html

WeMinoredInFilm's generally positive review of 410... ARROW’S “BLOOD DEBTS” (S4,EP10): ABOUT THAT FLASH-FORWARD Posted on January 21, 2016 by Kelly Konda http://weminoredinfilm.com/2016/01/21/arrows-blood-debts-s4ep10-about-that-flash-forward/

Robert Dougherty's review of 410 (rated it 6.5 out of 10) - warning: article includes references to spoilery scenes in that midseason sizzle promo (not quoted below)... Arrow S4: E10 -- 'Blood Debts' By Robert Dougherty January 21, 2016 07:30AM EST http://www.themovienetwork.com/review/arrow-s4-e10-blood-debts

Laura Hurley's Cinemablend article focuses on DD's wife... The Arrow Midseason Premiere Just Introduced A Surprising New Villain BY LAURA HURLEY 11 HOURS AGO http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Arrow-Midseason-Premiere-Just-Introduced-Surprising-Villain-112857.html

A.V. Club's mixed review of 401... Arrow makes an anarchic return By Alasdair Wilkins Jan 20, 2016 8:00 PM http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/arrow-makes-anarchic-return-231051

I hope EBR is wrong - I also wonder when this interview was actually done since Emily refers to the city as Starling... Arrow's Emily Bett Rickards Reveals Surprising Connection Between 'Olicity' and 'Bennifer' BY KARA WARNER 01/20/2016 AT 05:30 PM EST http://www.people.com/article/arrow-emily-bett-rickards-connection-between-olicity-bennifer

Clearly, I'm in the minority because I liked this episode - but mostly for the scenes between Oliver & Felicity and between Oliver & Diggle ((I've conveniently blocked from my memory anything and anyone I didn't like)... -- The scene when Diggle tells Oliver that he has his back and then tries to rein him in by bringing up Felicity: "You've recovered a humanity that you lost when I first met you. I know you want payback for what Darhk did to Felicity, and you should. But don't lose what made her fall in love with you in the first place." -- The scene when Oliver finally visits Felicity. She says, "My point being is, we didn't really exchange any vows, so the whole 'for better, for worse' thing doesn't really apply here." In response, Oliver puts the ring back on her finger and says, "For better, for worse." -- The scene where Oliver is looking at a sleeping Felicity and tells Laurel, "You know, we go out every night - suiting up, risking our lives, fighting assassins and metahumans, and all the worst kinds of people. She's stronger than all of us." And Laurel responds, "You won't get an argument from me." -- The scene where Oliver tells Felicity that he wants to go to Bali and asks her to go with him, and she responds, "Yeah. I'd go anywhere with you," but then brings up Damian Darhk. Then when Oliver asks her how she got to be so strong, she responds, "I took my lead from you." The acting by both EBR and SA was so spot on and perfectly understated in those scenes. Yes, Oliver should've visited her sooner. But I read his reaction as a mixture of anger and fear. He needed to hit people, not sit quietly in a hospital waiting room. And he was terrified of going to the hospital and maybe facing Felicity's death. Also, as WM's quote (below) clarifies, he was reacting as the old Oliver at first, but then realized his error and changed. I had no problem with Felicity's welcoming response to Oliver. She was drowsy from painkillers. I did like the realism of having her make-up free, with pale lips and dark shadows under her eyes. (I've watched too many tv shows where they show a female character who's recuperating from surgery with full make-up on her face, er, Castle.) I think we'll see a more assertive Felicity in the next episode, when she's not so drugged up, and when the full reality of her new condition really hits her. That episode will probably explore more fully her reaction to her injury. In THR article (posted in the Spoilers thread), WM addresses why Felicity wasn't mad at Oliver: "The traditional way would have been to have her be really upset that he wasn't by her side. But the nice thing about Felicity and Oliver is that she's been with him since season one. She understands who he is and what he's been through. She knew and, I hope this played in that last scene with them in the hospital, she understood that this is what he was going to do. He wasn't going to rest until Dahrk was off the board. Even though he doesn't succeed in accomplishing that, he does realize his mistake. That's what we love about this season. Oliver is evolving and he's able to see, 'Oh, that's what old Oliver would have done, and this Oliver is not going to leave your side going forward.' That's the progress he's made." (Warning, rest of article includes spoilery stuff). Yes, it's a bit irksome that Felicity's injury turns into a story about Oliver, but hopefully the next episode will address Felicity's feelings more. Strangely enough, I also liked the scenes between Thea and Anarky. They have a weird, antagonistic dynamic together. P.S. This is one of the parts I've 'forgotten' but since someone asked about making more out of Oliver and Laurel's interactions, here's WM's response in her TVLine interview: Unfortunately,

Vulture review of 410... Arrow Recap: Remaking a Murderer By Jenny Raftery January 20, 2016 9:00 p.m. http://www.vulture.com/2016/01/arrow-recap-season-4-episode-10.html?mid=twitter_vulture#

From the EW interview with WM (in the Spoilers thread)...

Who comes up with these ideas?... Reality Shows These 10 TV Characters Should Audition For Wednesday, January 20, 2016 Derek Stauffer http://www.buddytv.com/articles/supernatural/the-reality-show-these-10-tv-c-58541.aspx

Wendy's comments in her CBR interview (posted in Spoilers thread) make me think that Oliver is going to be using magic himself by the end of this season. Maybe that will even out the playing field when he's fighting with/against metahumans in the future.

On the friendship between CH and EBR... 9 Times Colton Haynes & Emily Bett Rickards Were Ultimate #FriendshipGoals ALLYSON KOERNER an hour ago http://www.bustle.com/articles/136791-9-times-colton-haynes-emily-bett-rickards-were-ultimate-friendshipgoals

Arrow and Teen Wolf star Colton Haynes to guest on The Grinder BY DAN SNIERSON January 20 2016 — 4:41 PM EST http://www.ew.com/article/2016/01/20/arrow-teen-wolf-colton-haynes-grinder-rob-lowe-son

Being a good lawyer should also mean not meeting with the defendant in a case you're prosecuting without that defendant's lawyer present, disclosing prosecution strategy, and trying to get the defendant to accept a plea deal (State v. Queen).

Robert Dougherty's usual pessimistic opinion of what's going to happen going forward (mostly speculation, but I'll add a spoiler warning anyway - so don't read if you don't want even a hint of what may happen)... What 'Arrow' Should But Won't Do In Second Half Of Season Four By Robert Dougherty Jan 20, 2016 01:30 PM http://www.themovienetwork.com/article/what-arrow-should-wont-do-second-half-season-four

More grave speculation - this time from a guy at DC Comics' website (perhaps not surprising, given the source, this guy believes that Laurel is the least likely to die)... Who's In the Box?: Unearthing Arrow's Grave By Tim BeedleWednesday, January 20th, 2016 http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2016/01/20/whos-in-the-box-unearthing-arrows-grave

https://twitter.com/JimmyAkingbola/status/689504957532241920

https://twitter.com/AJKreisberg/status/689872776530792449

17 Characters Who Could Use A Nice Dose Of Reality Paul Dailly at January 20, 2016 6:54 am. http://www.tvfanatic.com/slideshows/17-characters-who-could-use-a-nice-dose-of-reality/

For Sara fans... 11 Reasons Why We’re Excited To See Sara Lance on ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ Hollywood.com 11 hours ago http://www.hollywood.com/tv/reasons-why-were-excited-to-see-sara-lance-in-legends-of-tomorrow-60519331/?hw_ref=hb-featured

Matt's Inside Line: Scoop on Scandal, Sleepy Hollow, Castle, The Flash, Once, Supernatural, Grey's, Reign and More By Matt Webb Mitovich / January 19 2016, 11:18 AM PST http://tvline.com/2016/01/19/sleepy-hollow-season-3-papa-mills-spoilers/