‘Arrow’: Season 4 Recap

We are just a week away from the airing of Season 5 of the CW‘s hit television series, Arrow. For months now we have been teased with trailers, photos and celebrity interviews at various conventions. We are now entering the stages of our final countdown, my fellow Arrow-tivists. I can hardly contain my excitement and I’m sure the majority of you can’t either. For those of you who may have missed Season 4 and are looking for a quick reminder of what happened this past season, I am here for you.

Season 4 kicked off exactly where Season 3 left off (yeah I know, go figure, right?). Oliver and Felicty had settled into a seemingly ‘happily-ever-after’ fairytale life in suburbia. Just when Oliver thought he left his vigilante days behind him, he was visited by Thea and Laurel, who told him that Star City was in trouble and they needed his help. Star City was being overtaken by a new enemy called the ‘G.H.O.S.T.S’; who were followers of the diabolical Damien Darhk. Darhk and his ‘G.H.O.S.T.S’ worked for an organization referred to as H.I.V.E, whom had wicked plans for Star City. Dark was so diabolical and influential, that he even managed to blackmail Captain Lance into working for him by threatening to kill Laurel if Lance did not do what Darhk asked of him.

When Oliver realized what his city was up against, he decided to ‘suit up’ once more, only this time he would be following a new set of rules. Instead of fighting darkness with darkness, he would be the light emerging from the shadows. He made a new name for himself; The Green Arrow. After several banters between the two of them, Oliver and Diggle found their friendship once more. However, for every good thing… a wicked one lie just around the corner, at least… in the CW universe it certainly does! Oliver came to the realization that Thea was in a lot of trouble. After almost dying at the hands of Ra’s Al Ghul last season, Oliver took Thea to the Lazarus Pit at Nanda Parbat to have her restored. Well, the evil of the pit finally began to affect Thea. She had become so full of malice and blood lust that she was risking the lives of her fellow team members.

While Oliver struggled with finding a way to keep his sister from becoming a murderous psychopath, another problem emerged. Laurel took it upon herself to use the pit to bring her sister Sara back from the dead. (Sara was murdered by Malcolm in the Season 3 premiere episode). Like Thea, Sara was fully restored by the Lazarus Pit. There was just one problem, since she was dead… and not wounded like Thea, she returned without her soul. So Oliver already had his plate full with a mystical villain, his sister, a mayoral campaign (which he decided to run for shortly after returning to Star City), maintaining a relationship with Felicity, and now he had to deal with one of his former friends running around on a murderous rampage.

This led Oliver to a desperate action; which was to call in his old friend, John Constantine. We learned through flashbacks this past season that Oliver and Constantine met on Lian Yu; where a man named Reiter was harvesting the island in search for mystical artifacts. Constantine assisted Oliver and the rest of Team Arrow, and used his magic to help restore Sara’s soul.

Along with Constantine, we also met some new faces in Season 4 of Arrow. We were introduced to Hawkman and Hawkgirl, in a crossover episode with Season 2 of The Flash. Just a few episodes later, we were also introduced to Vixen (who recently joined the character list for DC’s Legends of Tomorrow).

Sure, meeting all these new super people is awesome… and gaining all these allies seemed like a win for Oliver in the battle against Damien Darhk. However, victories are never easy. In a crossover episode with The Flash, Oliver discovered a secret of his very own. Back in Season 2, we learned that Oliver had an affair with a woman named Samantha and he got her pregnant. After being paid off by Moira (Oliver’s mother), Samantha told Oliver that she lost the baby and she moved back to Central City. Oliver discovered it was all a lie, and learned that he was a father. Samantha ordered Oliver that if he wanted to be a part of his son’s life, he had to keep it a secret from everyone… including Felicity.

Now, in my opinion Felicity had it pretty rough this season. She was forced to take sides multiple times when all of her teammates were bickering amongst each other, she had to deal with being the CEO of a falling company and to top it all off, she was temporarily paralyzed after being caught up in a gunfight between the ‘G.H.O.S.T.S’ and Oliver. Poor Felicity… and poor Oliver.

After being tricked by Oliver into handing over the League of Assassins, Malcolm Merlyn took the information he had learned about Oliver being a father and reported it back to Damien Dark. Damien ordered the kidnapping of Oliver’s son as a way to coax Oliver into dropping out of the race for the office of mayor, so that Ruve Adams (Darhk’s wife) would become mayor of Star City. After a successful rescue mission that resulted in Oliver’s son being rescued and Damien landing behind bars, Oliver was met with heartbreak once more. Felicity decided to end their relationship, unable to put up with the lies any longer.

Despite all these happenings, Oliver knew he had to focus on the task at hand… and that was defeating Damien Darhk and saving Star City. The fight against Damien was brutal, as Damien was always one step ahead of Team Arrow. Oliver began to focus on finding out as much as he could about Darhk’s ‘G.H.O.S.T.S’, and he even enlisted Captain Lance’s help (who about halfway through the Season entrusted in Team Arrow and left Darhk to the wind); which lead him to discovering a major secret. Diggle’s brother Andy was alive… and he was one of Darhk’s ‘G.H.O.S.T.S’. After capturing Andy and holding him in a cell for weeks, Diggle tried to convince Oliver that it was okay and that they could trust Andy…or so they thought.

Remember how I told you Darhk wound up in prison after they rescued Oliver’s son? Well.. here is where it really hit them where it hurt. Andy ‘betrayed’ Team Arrow and helped orchestrate Darhk’s release from prison. While Team Arrow attempted to take down Darhk gained the upper hand. This resulted in one of the most tragic moments we have ever seen on Arrow. Darhk stabbed Laurel, ultimately killing her.

Following Laurel’s death, Oliver realized that killing Darhk was the only answer. After stumbling upon Darhk’s hidden ‘lair’, Oliver forced Darhk to the surface. Oliver focused on channeling all the ‘light’ that was inside of him, which enabled him to summon his ‘light’ magic to defeat Damien Darhk in a final showdown battle in Star City. Surprisingly, he wasn’t alone. Half of Star City’s population came out of the woodworks, to help the Green Arrow defeat Damien Darhk and his G.H.O.S.T.S

Now, we are at odds. Diggle left Team Arrow to go reenlist in the Army. Thea left the team to take some time for herself. Captain Lance left Star City with Donna Smoak to also get away for some time. Currently, all that remains of Team Arrow is Oliver and Felicity.. who have a pretty broken relationship of their very own. Following the death of Ruve Adams, who was killed in the crossfire between Team Arrow and their enemy ‘Anarachy’, Oliver was elected for the position of mayor… interim mayor to be exact.

What lies in store for Team Arrow? Only time will tell.

Arrow Season 5 premieres Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 8PM/EST on The CW.