S04.E12: Unchained

[Tara Ariano]

The team battles a formidable villain nicknamed the Calculator. Meanwhile, Nyssa makes her move; and Roy Harper returns to Star City.

[dtissagirl]

Lol.

[InsertWordHere]

How I have missed Roy Harper, who performs unnecessary flips and warns mercenaries to exit soon to be blown up buildings.

 

Tatsu and Nyssa just talked it out, right? I know Katana is in the Suicide Squad movie so I am a little worried, especially given what they just did to Amanda Waller. 

[calliope1975]

I'll have to catch the first half later (traffic was terrible,) but I miss Roy. He was such a pleasant background character. I hope he does return, and I'd love to see him reunite romantically with Thea.

 

I'm excited to see Felicity versus her father. Well, more of that, now that she knows he's in town. I hope she figures out his alter ego quickly. Most importantly, EBR looks gorgeous in that shade of blue. 

[Jediknight]

Nyssa, Tatsu, Roy, and Shado, it was a reunion episode.  Everybody gets to come back.

 

Loved the returns of Nyssa and Tatsu, just wish we would have gotten to see the Nyssa Tatsu conversation.  I wouldn't be opposed to Nyssa being a regular for the rest of the season.  And because I haven't said it in a long time, Katrina Law is absolutely stunning.

 

Of course Felicity's father is a villain.

[hogwash]

When the crap did Oliver have time to go to Central City??? Whatever. Roy and Thea were awesome. Malcolm is gonna die (unless Oliver punks out)!!! Thank you, Nyssa al Ghul. 

[Morrigan2575]

I watched live for Roy. Not a bad episode but some heavy freaking anvils and rather predictable at times,

Nyssa's offer to save save Thea, we thought it might have been Felicity.

Heavy handed on the Poppy front as well, "you killed your love's brother" WTF?!

I always figured Oliver was going to CC to see William, what an asshole.

Really enjoyed seeing Roy again, even with the unnecessary flips. I did love his exit from the building and every scene with Thea. I also loved the parkour chase with Oliver, nice to see that again.

However, I hated the Oliver fight scene in the warehouse. My god that was lame as all shit. The bad guys just stood there. Soo freaking bad.

PS - Glad they didn't kill Katana.

Speaking of anvils, they dropped that "my life, my choice" line 3 times. Lots of Thea death anvils but obviously false, too early.

They also changed up that Board thingy to make it earlier so I don't think the tech that saves PT will have anything to do with Felicity walking again.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Morrigan2575

[Guest]

Solid episode but there was lots going on. Maybe too much?

 

Loved the banter between Felicity and Calculator, actually wish there had been more of it. And nice reveal at the end that he's her dad. Does that mean he knows he was battling his daughter online or did he just check in to see her because he was in town?

 

Oliver going back and forth to CC to see his son (not confirmed but pretty obvious why that line was dropped in there) is so disappointing. I thought he was supposed to be there for Felicity? Not exactly what I call being there tbh. Sigh. Samantha is even more of a garbage human and makes her need for the lie even more ridiculous and contrived. Just GTFO trash.

 

The Thea stuff feels like a retread of s3. Kind of bored by this. And I predicted that Nyssa would have something to offer Oliver but not relating to Thea. Kinda thought it might help Felicity. Guess everyone gets a second chance but Felicity gets stuck in a wheelchair. Cool. That's cool. Thanks.

 

The stunts and parkour were really great tonight. And Oliver finally took out some guys on his own. IT'S A MIRACLE! THEY REMEMBERED! 

Edited February 4, 2016 by Guest

[Lantern7]

Wow . . . who didn't come back tonight? Roy, Shado, Nyssa, Tatsu . . .  all that was missing was Slade and the ghost of the OG Ra's al Guhl.

 

I take it Colton Haynes has a better acting gig. I kinda hope we get to see Roy in the DCCWU. Maybe he could teach Barry how to parkour.

 

Calculator is Felicity's father . . . telegraphed well, but still telegraphed. I guess hacking runs in the family. How soon does Felicity put two and two together? Maybe Calc can be the S5 big bad. In other news, Felicity has taken to the chair pretty quickly. How long did EBR have to practice?

 

Anybody else see the mark on Thea's chest and think of Whitney Frost's face from Agent Carter?

 

ETA: Forgot about Curtis trying to use a T-Sphere on Roy. Man, he held out well against an ex-vigilante.

[kismet]

Sorry Guys, Jennifer Garner nailed that "Mom?" so much better than EBR's "Dad?". I also blame the editor for not making that the closing scene. It would have been more dramatic than the whole lotus reveal & kill MM plan again.

 

Kudos to those who predicted Nyssa would trade something to save TQ but require MM's death in return.

 

Also, fair warning, I do believe the ugly shirt that should never be worn again is in next week's episode. Here's hoping they have snarky MM make some quip about it.

 

Overall, decent episode. My biggest take-home message - Why can't we keep Roy??? He just blended so naturally with everyone. Why can't we keep his buckles and trade the other buckles to suburbia. And his running away from the C4 explosion was an wicked cool stunt. And all his parkouring was great.

 

And I think we need to prepare for the apocalypse, the writers used "game-changer" &  "epic" in the same episode. Somebody identify some shelters right now. I'm not even sure its safe enough to shelter in place.

[KenyaJ]

With the exception of the Flashbacks and the Nyssa scenes, which felt kind of shoehorned in, I really liked this episode.  It was great having Roy back. I’d give anything to go back to S3 days when he was on the team. Also, he and Thea had more chemistry in 2 minutes that she and Alex will ever have.

 

And OMG, Oliver got to do stunts by himself tonight! It was glorious! More of that, show!

 

I love that the show isn’t done exploring how Felicity’s paralysis is affecting her life. Having her doubt her ability to do her day job because of it was genius. And awww, I loved Curtis’s pep talk. And “Break a leg. Sorry!”  I’ve missed their scenes together. Also, she and Oliver are just so effortless together. I’m trying to get over it, but I just can’t.

[janeta]

I love Felicity.

OK, that's all I got. But I love Nyssa and Tatsu as well.

Edited February 4, 2016 by janeta

[nksarmi]

When the crap did Oliver have time to go to Central City??? Whatever. Roy and Thea were awesome. Malcolm is gonna die (unless Oliver punks out)!!! Thank you, Nyssa al Ghul. 

 

I am hoping that is a reference to the crossover with the Hawks because otherwise no.

 

I ship Roy and Thea.  This show better end with a flashfoward of them happily raising little archers.

[hogwash]

Boo at the show trying to give Oliver and Malcolm a ~relationship~ so Oliver can feel ~conflicted~ about doing what should've happened in the first half of S03. Let's ignore the Undertaking and trying to murder the entire Lance family and compare the two. On one side, we have the father of the year who trained/tortured Thea then drugged her and forced her to kill Sara, which ultimately lead to her getting killed by Ra's and this entire bloodlust stuff. One the other side, we have Nyssa who is awesome. What a hard choice. 

[Primal Slayer]

It was a fairly enjoyable episode, very nice to see Roy back though it was a shame we couldn't see Speedy/Arsenal team up. I wasn't exactly sure, were those mercenaries Calculator hired. Ghosts? If not can they please get some different looks?

 

Seeing Katana, however brief, was so nice and this (to me) puts to bed that DC is forcing them to kill off these characters that they share with SS. Though was she going to spend her life sitting in front of that alter thing? The set looked straight from Tomb Raider which I loved.

 

And we get to add two more characters to "this is my life" speech to Oliver, that should hopefully be over with now.

 

I wonder why Oliver doesn't try to get in contact with Constantine again, at least mention that he has tried.

 

I was a bit surprised that they seemingly wrapped up the Palmer tech storyline. Though Papa Smoak could always jeopardize that in the future. I feel like the writers are kind of moving through Felicity's insecurities a little to quickly, I don't need 5-6 episodes of her agonizing or questioning herself, I think 2-3 episodes would be a good amount, but good for her getting back that fire in her for her job.

[Guest]

Felicity's scene where she was flustered and unsure of herself in the wheelchair was exactly the kind of thing I wanted from this terrible storyline. If we had to endure this, I wanted to see her struggle sometimes.

 

And the scene where Curtis gives her a pep talk was really great and kind of moving in a way. Nicely done. 

[apinknightmare]

Who did fake!Shado tell Oliver he was in love with while she was giving him a beyond-the-grave pep talk? Was it Poppy?

[Coop33]

For my sanity, I'm not going to let Oliver's line about visiting Central City get to me until it's confirmed that they meant he's seen the kid since the Crossover. If that does end up being the case, I will lose my ability to even with him very quickly.

 

It was so, so great to have Roy back, unnecessarily parkouring everywhere he went. I thought his scene with Thea was great, and maybe Colton's best performance in the series. I didn't realize how much I missed him, and I hope he gets to come back(flip) again.

 

It was nice to see Stephen getting in on the parkour as well. Overall, I thought this was a pretty strong episode for stunts.

 

Really liked Felicity and Calculator going head to head. I was hoping they'd go straight for the Alias reference with a "Daddy?" but I guess "Dad?" works just as well. Looking forward to seeing them as father/daughter next week.

[GirlvsTV]

I wanted more Felicity vs Calculator stuff. It was really the only storyline I was interested in. I'm disappointed at not feeling more invested in Thea's stuff, but it's leaving me pretty cold.

Also, of course there is a sooper seekrit flower that can save Thea which is revealed at the very moment she needs it the most and not before *cough*mirakuru cure*cough*

I cannot believe they legit had Oliver thank Malcolm, without whom Thea never would have needed to be pitted in the first place.

Between lying to Felicity, ditching her in the hospital and, now, making buds with Malcolm I'm starting to think that, for me, the season 4 villain is Oliver Queen. Which is a real shame considering how invested I was in the growth he was showing up until the crossover.

I hate these writers.

ETA - I was confused at the end with Thea in the hospital, was that a flash forward? Did I miss some text saying exactly what the timeframe for that was?

And, I just realized Nyssa using Thea to get Oliver to kill Malcolm is almost the exact same story they did last year with Malcolm doing the same thing to get Oliver to kill RAG. Why can't Nyssa just kill Malcolm? She's a total badass.

Edited February 4, 2016 by GirlvsTV

[Guest]

Who did fake!Shado tell Oliver he was in love with while she was giving him a beyond-the-grave pep talk? Was it Poppy?

 

Yes. LOL.

[Morrigan2575]

Who did fake!Shado tell Oliver he was in love with while she was giving him a beyond-the-grave pep talk? Was it Poppy?

Yeppers. Oliver denied it, which of course means ut twu, it's twu

Edited February 4, 2016 by Morrigan2575

[Primal Slayer]

It was kind of weird/sad that Nyssa has to rely on Oliver to fix her problem, she is never allowed any real wins and I want her to be the one to defeat Malcolm.

[chaos is welcome]

That last scene with thea and Roy had my whole house going "Alex??? Who is Alex?+" they are wonderful, really missed Colton and his chiseled cheek bones.

The end of this ep was so darn predictable.

Groan at Oliver going to cc regularly. Dude really is dumb.

I guess they will maybe parallel poppy's inability to forgive o with the bmd? Who knows, lame either way.

Bummed we didn't get thea and Roy fighting side by side in red suits.

Roy on a zip line >>>>>>>>>> bc comics on a zip line.

[apinknightmare]

o

Yeppers. Oliver denied it, which of course means ut twu, it's twu

 

Really? Like...how? When? Why? 

[Morrigan2575]

Really? Like...how? When? Why?

Pretty sure this is the show, telling you it's love because the plot demands it.

[bethy]

Loved getting to see Oliver parkour along after Roy.

Tatiana is Oliver's "love"? Yeesh. They've got to say it, I guess, since there's no evidence of that on screen.

Loved seeing Roy again. "I can't believe you'd shoot me?" "Really?" Oliver and Roy are awesome together.

And I'm sorry, but KC's reading on"Oliver, it's Thea," was like they'd wound her up and opened the door.

Edited February 4, 2016 by bethy

[apinknightmare]

Pretty sure this is the show, telling you it's love because the plot demands it.

 

And you telling me it's love because I literally cannot be bothered to pay attention. So thank you - you're doing the lord's work. 

[Orion]

It was a Meh episode for me.  It wasn't bad but it wasn't captivating TV either.

 

Too much jammed into the plot. Roy, Thea, MM, Tatsu, Nyssa, Shado, Calculator, Palmer Tech and the board member that should have been gut punched for his comments. Just too much. It felt like 4 episodes that were edited together with no connecting thread.

 

Flashbacks of I have no idea what is going on and dear god please stop already.

 

Roy felt underused.

 

Curtis can now punch and create batteries, lovely.

 

I don't think they should have used another character developing hallucination right after having that be the main plot in last weeks episode.

 

If Cisco on the Flash can now hack and create tech for the heroes(along with everything else he does) can Arrow let Felicity start creating her own things instead of having to reverse engineer things from villains, depend on something Ray created that she suddenly rememberd or something Curtis built? Why is she the only character limited to the skills she had in season 2 (and even some of those have been taken away and given to others).

 

Remember when this show had day light parkour scenes where you could see Oliver clearly? Remember when continuity during those scenes was a thing and rain didn't start and stop at random places during the fights? Good times.

 

Nothing captured me and other than the scene with Oliver and Thea and the Thea and Roy scene I just couldn't emotionally invest in any of it because it was so choppy.

 

Still no Diggle/Felicity scenes and no Thea/Felicity scenes; do better show.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Orion

[Guest]

Really? Like...how? When? Why? 

 

#Poppy took care of him and wiped his brow and sometimes cooked him food. He's totally in love with her. LMAO. It's actually hilarious.

[kismet]

Until the writers clarify, I'm going to believe that the only visits to CC have been for the crossover & the 1 initial visit to BM/W. I don't want to believe that OQ would be visiting BM/W while FS is recovering, not with how attentive he was last week.

 

I don't deny that the writers dropped the line in there to perhaps set up more. But I'm gonna ignore it as evidence of OQ visiting BM/W until I am told. It's not denial. It's just waiting for the evidence to be confirmed. I don't trust these writers, so I would rather not read more beyond what they have written in black and white.

[calliope1975]

Tatiana is Oliver's "love"? Yeesh. They've got to say it, I guess, since there's no evidence of that on screen.

 

It would help if SA didn't appear to be sleepwalking through his scenes with Poppy. Every time I have paid attention to the flashbacks, he looks annoyed by Poppy. This is clearly a case of love the one you're with. Even then, that other fake Southern guy who's name I've clearly not retained would be a better candidate for Oliver's romantic attentions. 

[AyChihuahua]

People crack me up.

[Guest]

The thing that is confusing me most about the flashbacks is how Oliver is feeling guilty and wanting forgiveness. This doesn't really connect to the Oliver we saw in the Pilot. Aren't we supposed to be building to that? I feel like they've gotten lost somehow.

 

Also they're dull. SO DULL. So much bad acting. 

[apinknightmare]

The thing that is confusing me most about the flashbacks is how Oliver is feeling guilty and wanting forgiveness. This doesn't really connect to the Oliver we saw in the Pilot. Aren't we supposed to be building to that? I feel like they've gotten lost somehow.

 

Did he want forgiveness because he's IN LURVE with Poppy and has this totally big secret hanging over him and can't be with her until he confesses and it's somehow maybe going to tie into what he does/doesn't tell Felicity with is idiotic secret keeping in the present? IDK

[SleepDeprived]

Well, look at that. I think someone heard all the complaints about how much Oliver sucks now at stunt scenes. We got a short, kinda neat Oliver-only fight scene.

 

Roy! You've parkoured your way into my heart and I've missed you terribly, dude. His scenes with Thea were lovely. Come back soon, buddy!

 

The flashbacks are legit excruciating. I have missed Shado and it was nice to see her back but please, for the love of cat videos on the internet, someone put a stop to the flashbacks. They make ZERO sense. Stop it. I'm begging.

 

I really don't like that the show is trying to fool us again with their Malcolm Merlyn Redemption Agenda. You can't trick me that he's really wanting to be a good father to Thea with letting her make her own choices when he mind-raped her last season, made her a murderer, and was the one to put her in Ra's sights, Show. Whatever. Oliver better take Nyssa's Lotus offer and finally get rid of Malcolm. Don't try to make it that he'll be conflicted about doing this. I know Oliver's a dummy but, ugh, such BS. Dude's evil and needs to go.

 

Speaking of Nyssa, Tatsu better be alive in Japan, girl. Not even your fabulous hair and badassery can make me not mad at you, if she's dead. No more killing off Suicide Squad characters on this show because of the movie coming out in August, please.

 

Needs more Calculator and Felicity scenes. I'm excited to, possibly, have more of the Smoaks soon! I enjoyed every single scene with Felicity, as always.

 

*pointedly ignoring that specter of the BM drama. Shitty plot is shitty.

[hogwash]

He couldn't have visited when Felicity was still in the hospital. He could barely visit her cause he was going after Darhk??? This is BM drama is S03 lazy.

 

What the heck is happening the flashbacks? I actually watch them and I have no idea. They keep bringing back the Shado actress and it's really starting to feel like they regret killing her character. 

[Soulfire]

GIFs and stuff --

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 4, 2016 by Soulfire

[Guest]

Did he want forgiveness because he's IN LURVE with Poppy and has this totally big secret hanging over him and can't be with her until he confesses and it's somehow maybe going to tie into what he does/doesn't tell Felicity with is idiotic secret keeping in the present? IDK

 

I don't know. I couldn't make sense of it. There was talk about his darkness but first he has to have #Poppy's forgiveness and huh? I just don't get it. They lost me. This is not the kind of Oliver I was expecting in s4 flashbacks. I thought he'd be more ruthless and unfeeling by now but look! He's falling in love and feeling guilty. Whaaaat?

[AyChihuahua]

He couldn't have visited when Felicity was still in the hospital. He could barely visit her cause he was going after Darhk??? This is BM drama is S03 lazy.

It's like five hours away. That's one day. He leaves early one morning and returns late that evening after spending a couple hours with the kid. 

 

People just don't want to believe it, but it's very obviously happening.

[kismet]

It would help if SA didn't appear to be sleepwalking through his scenes with Poppy. Every time I have paid attention to the flashbacks, he looks annoyed by Poppy. This is clearly a case of love the one you're with. Even then, that other fake Southern guy who's name I've clearly not retained would be a better candidate for Oliver's romantic attentions. 

I'm telling you he should have just gone for a coconut! :)

 

Love that we have to be told by a hallucination that OQ loves #Poppy, because when they sleep together in a few weeks it won't be just because plot. It will be an organic for plot moment. 

 

Also, I really enjoy Shado. She made the flashbacks a little more interesting, even if it was only to give OQ a magic rock & some meditation. Even as a hallucination Shado & CJ prove to be captivating. #Poppy better have a greater plot purpose, because at this point, I would have preferred they had Shado or Mae be the ones working in the drug fields. I could have believed OQ in love with her and feeling guilt for killing her brother. It would have made a better comparison to the present.

Edited February 4, 2016 by kismet

[EmilyBettFan]

That was a great episode with an OTA moment, Felicity and her father. Roy and Oliver defeating all those bad guys on his own.

[calliope1975]

#Poppy's 

 

This just made me sputter/laugh. I'm so glad I wasn't drinking anything. 

[Guest]

I'm liking the parallel/contrast between Felicity and her father though. Both highly intelligent and skilled on the computers and yet both on opposite paths. One chose to use their skills for good and the other for evil. I dig it. Hopefully it should create some nice conflict. Gimmie!

[GirlvsTV]

I love all those Felicity GIFS and I really really hate the writers because I could not enjoy any of the Oliver/Felicity interactions after the CC mention. It even ruined that nice OTA moment for me.

[tennisgurl]

Of course Felicitys dad is the villain. Of course he is. And he is ALSO the Dad from Everwood! DundunDUN! 

 

Roy! I have missed you and your unnecessary flips. Why must you go? WHY?!?! 

 

Nyssa is awesome, as always. With a completely reasonable request. JUST KILL MALCOLM OLIVER! 

 

Of course, why she does not just plunge a katana into his chest and save us all the trouble is beyond me. 

 

Kind of a come down after last weeks awesomeness, but I`ll take some Felicity goodness, and her and Oliver being cute. 

Edited February 4, 2016 by tennisgurl

[benteen]

A lot of happy returns here.  Great to see Roy and Nyssa especially.  I certainly wouldn’t oppose Katrina Law becoming a regular on Arrow or Legends of Tomorrow.

 

I had a feeling the Calculator would be Felicity’s father.

 

The flashbacks are more useless than ever and I can’t believe how the showrunners continue to cling for them.

 

Great Oliver to Roy exchange “Why don’t you pop that shirt off.  I’ll get you patched up.”

Edited February 4, 2016 by benteen

[Guest]

I really liked Nyssa's escape and how she still has a lot of loyal followers. But why does she need Oliver to kill Malcolm? Can't she just do it herself? SLIT HIS THROAT ALREADY. 

 

And yeah, MM is totally the 'him' they're talking about in the flash forward.

[BkWurm1]

They also changed up that Board thingy to make it earlier so I don't think the tech that saves PT will have anything to do with Felicity walking again.

 

Yeah, they clearly had something plotty  in mind that they changed.  Wonder what was pushed back or changed. 

 

Well, Palmer Tech should be sitting pretty.  That GaryStu of a battery (completely recyclable, fast charge, stores massive amounts of energy, compact and already compatible with multiple devices like cars and buildings) would change the world.  It would be able to bank all the unused energy created for a rainy day.  Curtis should be both proud and really bummed that all he gets is an annual salary for a product that could revolutionize the world. It's ok though, he's just that terrific of a guy, he doesn't mind.  

 

I sound more hostile toward Curtis than I really  am.  I like the guy a lot, but his sparkly perfection is so heavy handed.  

 

 

Boo at the show trying to give Oliver and Malcolm a ~relationship~ so Oliver can feel ~conflicted~ about doing what should've happened in the first half of S03. Let's ignore the Undertaking and trying to murder the entire Lance family and compare the two. On one side, we have the father of the year who trained/tortured Thea then drugged her and forced her to kill Sara, which ultimately lead to her getting killed by Ra's and this entire bloodlust stuff. One the other side, we have Nyssa who is awesome. What a hard choice. 

 

Seriously though.  I didn't understand why Oliver was thanking Malcolm at all.  I sometimes think Oliver just plain forgets about who the real Malcolm is. 

 

When Nyssa asked him to kill Malcolm, my reaction was, "Sure."  Problem solved.  Let's move on now.    

[tennisgurl]

Oh, and it was nice seeing Shado again. Reminds me of a time when the island flashbacks weren't a never ending pit of pointlessness. Good times. 

[wonderwall]

Regardless of how good or bad or meh this episode was, I haven't seen the episode but I HAVE seen gifs (people are so fast at making them wtf) at least we can all agree on a few things:

 

• Felicity is awesome
• And they narrowed the death down to 2 contenders (Diggle, Laurel) and we're grateful that Laurel's still in the running! :p
• Roy/Thea were perfect and Roy needs to come back
• If you ignore the Oliver going to CC thing, then the Olicity scenes were great
• And Curtis Stu's speech was great
• Nyssa wanting to kill Malcolm will be A+ especially if she succeeds.