S04.E07: Brotherhood

[FormerMod-a1]

Team Green Arrow's ongoing battle with Damien Darhk is complicated by a shocking revelation. Thea's bloodlust returns and she loses control in front of Alex.

 

 

[apinknightmare]

Damien Darhk is using the bay as an LP, Y/Y? 

[dtissagirl]

"Palmer, even you."

 

THANK YOU, DIGGLE.

[Angel12d]

Solid episode, not the best, but omg some of the camera work in the fight scenes was TERRIBLE. I felt ill. 

Edited November 19, 2015 by Angel12d

[SonofaBiscuit]

Well, if you're impressed by stunt sequences, I guess this is the episode for you.  Not necessarily my thing, I'm afraid.  HATED how the shipping container action sequence and the Thea elevator action scene were shot.  Sadly, I was pretty bored and found my mind wandering A LOT.  Did laugh at Felicity whispering to Oliver about how he usually spends his evenings dressing in leather and tying people up.  The face of the lady that overheard was hilarious!

[Sunshine]

I think I must have blinked and missed the stunt 20 years in the making. LOL!

[apinknightmare]

Ray's little crisis doesn't make any sense to me. Why wouldn't he want to save his company? Was it going under before he died or something? Is that why he thinks his work is worthless? 

 

Bad idea jeans spokesperson Laurel counseling Diggle on bringing his brother back? A+ LOLS.

 

Poppy, well...honestly, she's a terrible actress.

[KenyaJ]

Diggle getting a showcase episode always makes me so happy. More, please! David Ramsey is such an asset to this show and his and Oliver’s relationship is everything. As for Diggle’s other brother, OMG, that last scene with them instantly made me interested in their story and glad that Andy’s not so dead after all.

 

Felicity’s accidental BDSM joke and that lady’s reaction made me LMAO. Also, what if she wasn’t talking about Oliver Green Arrowing every night? I’m just sayin’ . . .

 

When you see how beautifully Felicity and Ray work as friends, it feels like a real shame that the show forced romantic chemistry between them last season instead of writing to their natural chemistry.

 

“Just us. Thea and Laurel sit this one out.”  Maybe my favorite line of the entire season. It’s not that I begrudge Thea and Laurel out in the field. I’m just 100% over the four-mask missions. I need more two-mask missions. I don’t even care in what combination.

Edited November 19, 2015 by KenyaJ

[Tallis]

Well. That was really, really boring. Can't remember ever actually being bored with an ep of Arrow before, occasionally enraged, but not bored.

[Angel12d]

DR killed it in this episode. Some great material for him. And I kind of love how black and white he was. There was no changing his mind. Part of me really admires that, even if it is his brother.

 

All the BROTP feels were wonderful. Would have liked a Felicity/Diggle scene, especially as it appears Felicity is telling Diggle things. We just never get to see it. Wonder why...

Edited November 19, 2015 by Angel12d

[wonderwall]

WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET DIGGLE/FELICITY SCENES?!

 

I was screaming this the entire episode. Even LAUREL has had more scenes with Diggle this season than Felicity. How is that right?!??

[dtissagirl]

I think I must have blinked and missed the stunt 20 years in the making. LOL!

 

I think it was the one-off with minimal cuts Thea vs. Andy fight that went in and out of the elevator.

 

Very very very derivative of every martial arts movie coming out of Hong Kong right now, I think.

Edited November 19, 2015 by dtissagirl

[apinknightmare]

I was screaming this the entire episode. Even LAUREL has had more scenes with Diggle this season than Felicity. How is that right?!??

 

I really hate that they didn't show Felicity telling Diggle about Oliver's plan to infiltrate HIVE.

[Morrigan2575]

Who the hell wrote this episode? It was sooooo bad.

The directing was also really bad, keep Bambam to the stunts because holy shit his directing was choppy, the cuts were so unnecessary, and the pacing was horrible.

Worst of all the damn episode was boring.

There wasn't enough Diggle for a Diggle freaking episode and I'm really starting to get annoyed by this Year of the Diggle bull shit.

DR did the best he could but the dialogue was cheesy as hell. That green brother line was so bad. I also thought the exposition was beyond terrible.

The DD/Thea scene was interesting and the Ray/Felicity scenes were fun. There wasn't enough Diggle or D/O.

Edited November 19, 2015 by Morrigan2575

[wonderwall]

Diggle is everything. 

 

I loved his bromance with Oliver. 

Needed more scenes with Felicity.

David KILLED the scene where he cried (it made me tear up)

David just killed every scene

Lyla/Diggle are just the most perfect couple. Can Lyla become a regular? She can give Laurel the boot because she obviously has her head rooted in reality and not some fantasy land Laurel is in (because No Laurel. What happened to Sara and what you did with Sara =/= what happened to Andy)

[Angel12d]

Sorry but I'm not impressed with those stunt scenes AT ALL. The camera work was shaky and made me feel sick at times. And I would like this show to maybe get back to showcasing Oliver's skills out in the field. He barely had anything. It's really starting to piss me off.

[Jediknight]

Nobody on Team Arrow, or Lance think it's a setup that Darhk would just leave a note with an address laying out?  Darhk's playing them to get Andy in their base, and destroy them.

 

If Thea would have been arrested, no jury would have convicted her of assault.  The guy said "You look like one of those girls where No means Yes", no jury would convict her for beating the shit out of the guy.  If she killed him, yeah she'd get convicted.

 

I liked the episode.

[Angel12d]

I did laugh at DD calling Thea "Merida" and wondering if it was past her bedtime. Haha.

[apinknightmare]

Nobody on Team Arrow, or Lance think it's a setup that Darhk would just leave a note with an address laying out?  Darhk's playing them to get Andy in their base, and destroy them.

 

Yeah, bringing him there seemed like a really terrible idea. 

[dtissagirl]

Laurel has a basement where you can store recently back from the dead people, Diggle. That's the place to go.

 

Also, JFC the amounts of DO NO CARE for the flashbacks are reaching the stratosphere. My Candy Crush obsession thanks you, Arrow, for giving me enough breaks to play during the episodes.

Edited November 19, 2015 by dtissagirl

[foreverevolving]

Yea I found the camera work really.. umm like a moving ship in a storm, It felt like I was watching a documentary whenever there were fight scenes or big movement, and the cutting on the Oliver/Damien conversation was choppy.

 

Is it me or did Damien realized Oliver may be the GA.

Also I think he is positively sure Speedy used the LP, i wonder why his body reacted the way it did to her.. has to be the pit, obviously, but.

 

And no Thea! you don't want anything Damien has to offer!!

 

Andy looked.. like he is hiding something and was acting up on purpose to throw off Diggle.. I think he is/was undercover.

 

I get what Ray is going through, and really it doesn't feel forced or off in any way. People go through them all the time, they go through a big traumatic event and it shifts something in them, makes them reevaluate their life and change it.

 

Dear Buckles.. what on earth did you had to go through to resurrect your sister who was dead for over a year? please do tell me.
 

Is it me or did Damien threaten Lance again with hurting Laurel?

[Angel12d]

Ray's little crisis doesn't make any sense to me. Why wouldn't he want to save his company? Was it going under before he died or something? Is that why he thinks his work is worthless? 

 

Bad idea jeans spokesperson Laurel counseling Diggle on bringing his brother back? A+ LOLS.

 

Poppy, well...honestly, she's a terrible actress.

 

Ray's crisis was basically 'how can we stall Ray going off to LoT for 2 more episodes? Let's use the lamest excuse ever!'

 

Laurel helping Diggle…well…I'm saying nothing.

 

Poppy is seriously TERRIBLE. I don't know why she's even there. What a waste of time.

[Morrigan2575]

Nobody on Team Arrow, or Lance think it's a setup that Darhk would just leave a note with an address laying out? Darhk's playing them to get Andy in their base, and destroy them.

That was so fucking stupid. Hey my security people think you set me up last week and are working with GA. I'm just going to walk away and leave this address on my desk and, oh look the GA shows up here the next night?

The stupidity in this episode was astounding. I really hate when shows have to make everyone act stupid in order to further a plot

Edited November 19, 2015 by Morrigan2575

[apinknightmare]

Is it me or did Damien threaten Lance again with hurting Laurel?

 

He did, and then he said something about killing or dying, which is at least the 3rd or 4th reference to Quentin being dead since the beginning of the season.

[SmallScreenDiva]

That was ... underwhelming. I really loved David Ramsey, and for me, he sold the heartbreak of a brother who can't accept this version he's confronted with. I love his scenes with Stephen. Laughed at Felicity's line about leather and tying up people. Chuckled at Damien's "Hello Merida." Intrigued by Thea not being affected by DD. But most of it fell flat. The stunts didn't feel crisp at all. The scene by the containers felt slowed down. I'm wondering if the Green Arrow suit is too unwieldy and makes whoever is wearing it clunky. I did kinda like the Andy/Thea fight but again, it felt too slow. More thoughts after rewatch.

[AyChihuahua]

Sooooo, that sucked, right?  Not the story, but the episode itself?  I thought it sucked.

[foreverevolving]

He did, and then he said something about killing or dying, which is at least the 3rd or 4th reference to Quentin being dead since the beginning of the season.

but also makes this like the 4th time DD threatened Laurel.. which fits my head canon that Laurel is the one is gonna get killed.

[Velocity23]

So "real" girl power?

[Angel12d]

So "real" girl power?

 

Oh yeah…what was he talking about?! I must have missed something.

Edited November 19, 2015 by Angel12d

[SmallScreenDiva]

So "real" girl power?

 

Where Laurel needed to be saved again. Seriously, writers, you can't try to sell her to me as an action heroine and not have her be able to save her damn self!

[apinknightmare]

Sooooo, that sucked, right?  Not the story, but the episode itself?  I thought it sucked.

 

The 4th ep was by far the worst for me, because that one d r a g g e d. This was a little faster-paced, thankfully, but it's not one I would watch again. 

[Morrigan2575]

He did, and then he said something about killing or dying, which is at least the 3rd or 4th reference to Quentin being dead since the beginning of the season.

Actually it was Laurel's death that was threatened out right. DD then said killing your daughter isn't the worst thing I could do to you.

Speaking Laurel. WTF was with KC/LL acting smug in those 2 scenes? Truck rescue and finding the chemical. Did Bambam actually tell her to do that? Especially the scene with the van? Because that was annoying. Oh and I loved that Because Comics needed two rescues tonight and can some how float through air (seriously did the stunt team forget that part?)

Edited November 19, 2015 by Morrigan2575

[AyChihuahua]

The 4th ep was by far the worst for me, because that one d r a g g e d. This was a little faster-paced, thankfully, but it's not one I would watch again. 

That is the one in which I truly could not remember what even happened.  So boring and stupid.

 

But I am not a budding auteur, at all, and even I noticed the directing sucked balls.

[apinknightmare]

Actually it was Laurel's death that was threatened out right. DD then said killing your daughter isn't the worst thing I could do to you.

 

Well...my point still stands. :P

[Jediknight]

Andy looked.. like he is hiding something and was acting up on purpose to throw off Diggle.. I think he is/was undercover.

You think Booth and Brennan put him up to it?

[Soulfire]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Really enjoy how they're being written this season.

Edited November 19, 2015 by Soulfire

[EmeraldArcher]

My random thoughts:

DR just nailed it tonight! Loved his scenes, but dreading the fallout from his crying and being so emotional. Oh, never mind.

The ladies were wearing a hella lot of eye makeup tonight--like, pre-mask, greasepaint Hood days--but they looked gorgeous.

Felicity's one-liners were funny, but I'd enjoy them more if SA didn't play it quite so straight. I always feel that he is more exasperated than enchanted, and that isn't accurate, according to every Olicity fan fic ever.

[apinknightmare]

 

 

I love that he's just like, "Yes, I am a bad idea factory" with that smile.

Edited November 19, 2015 by apinknightmare

[KirkB]

So, it's the Lazarus Pit, right? Something about having been in the Pit kept Dark's powers from working, or blocked it or something. Which, if true, means she and Sara both would be immune to that part of his powers at least.

[NumberCruncher]

I really enjoy how they're being written this season.

Who would have thought that after the suckage that was S3's Olicity writing they would be the thing written best in S4?

[Angel12d]

I'm definitely interested in why DD's powers didn't work on Thea and why that seemed to cure her bloodlust…for a while. 

 

I'm not sure about Thea's love interest though. Not really seeing any chemistry. But the rest of her storyline is good so far. 

[Morrigan2575]

Well...my point still stands. :P

I don't think any father would consider his own death or torture to be worse than the death of his child. Worse than killing Laurel (for Lance), IMO, would be turning Laurel into a Ghost. Edited November 19, 2015 by Morrigan2575

[GirlvsTV]

Some good character stuff tonight. I loved Oliver listening to Diggle and Felicity and resolving to fight Darhk in the light. The Darhk/Oliver stare down at the end was great.

DR did some nice work tonight, but I didn't really get that last conflict between him and the Team. Mostly because I have a hard time believing they'd actually tell him he had no say in them saving his brother? I just didn't really see the point, but I enjoyed Digg calling Oliver his green brother.

That fight scene at the docks was weird. Looked like it was shot on a cell phone. Thea's extended fight sequence at the psych hospital was nice. I enjoyed how out- of-breath she was at the end.

Andy looked stone cold in that cell. Poor Diggle.

The flashbacks continually killed the momentum of this ep.

It's weird, I feel like I should be more into this episode because there was some nice character stuff but I'm pretty meh.

[apinknightmare]

I don't think any father would consider his own death or torture to be worse than the death of his child. Worse than killing Laurel (for Lance), IMO, would be turning Laurel into a Ghost.

I'm not talking about what he would consider worse, though. I'm talking about telegraphing Quentin's death to the audience, which that line was doing (IMO).

[catrox14]

Parker looks too much like Tim Tebow and it's distracting and makes me not like him.

 

I didn't like the direction of this episode at all.

 

 

LOVE everything about Thea this season.   Willa is killing it. She carries herself like a badass without posing to do it. So great.

 

I am sorry but I don't believe for two minutes that Dig really would have wanted Andy resurrected knowing full well what it did to Thea and Sara. That was written SOLELY to give some kind of credence to Laurel's bullshit decision about Sara.  Diggle is not that selfish. 

[Morrigan2575]

I can't even deal with the Flashbacks. They're super boring, pointless, and Poppy can't freaking act. Please just kill her off. She ain't working.

You want to show me Island Oliver 2.0 is well on his way to Dark/Mission Oriented/S1 Oliver? Have him kill Poppy in order to protect/complete his mission

[dtissagirl]

But hey. this episode actually highlighted everyone's on-going story arc for the season:

 

Oliver: Mayoral campaign, figuring out how to defeat DD

Diggle: Andy + HIVE

Felicity: Palmer Tech

Thea: Bloodlust

Quentin: Double agent for Team Arrow with DD

Laurel:

[AyChihuahua]

I love that he's just like, "Yes, I am a bad idea factory" with that smile.

I am SO FASCINATED by the idea of how S4 Oliver would handle S3 events.  Seriously, someone, please fic it now-ish.

[Morrigan2575]

I'm not talking about what he would consider worse, though. I'm talking about telegraphing Quentin's death to the audience, which that line was doing (IMO).

Funny, I thought it was more about Laurel being killed than Lance but I know you're 100% certain it's Lance and I'm 50/50 that it could be either.

[Delphi]

I enjoyed Thea. Of course. I also enjoyed her standoff with Darhk yeah, you better not touch Miss Dearden Queen the second!

I didn't see Andy being alive...syke.

I didn't hate Laurel.

The direction was so bad though. It really took me out of the moment.