Arrow season 4, episode 5, “Haunted,” aired tonight. Read our recap and discuss the episode with fellow fans.
‘Constantine’ crossover
The main event of this episode is, of course, the appearance of John Constantine, from the canceled NBC series. We learn in the flashbacks that Oliver met Constantine on Lian Yu and saved his life while Constantine was in the search of a grimoire, earning him a favor.
After Oliver discovers Sara is alive and missing her soul — based on the absence of anything behind her eyes and her continued attempts to kill her killer, Thea — he calls in that favor.
Constantine quickly arrives and casts a spell that brings him, Oliver, and Laurel to the Other Side where they can rescue Sara’s soul. Sara’s soul is being held in a facsimile of the Lazarus Pit in a spirit-y Nanda Parbat, so while Constantine fights some spiritual League of Assassins, Laurel and Oliver pull Sara free. When they return, Sara has come back to herself.
As Oliver sees Constantine out, Constantine reveals that he’s heard of Damien Darhk and warns Oliver to leave town if he is their Big Bad.
Arrow‘s integration of Constantine feels pretty seamless. In a season that is introducing mysticism, a character who deals in magic and exorcisms serves as Oliver’s perfect introduction to the mystic arts. We’ve also gotten an answer to the question of where another of Oliver’s tattoos came from — and it seems likely they will come into play before the season ends, as Constantine tells him he’ll know how to use it when the time comes.
Constantine’s exit also left room for him to return, and hopefully he will!
Oliver vs. Laurel
The conflict between Oliver and Laurel is also present in this episode, as Oliver is furious that Laurel had taken both Thea and Sara to Nanda Parbat without telling him. However, Laurel calls him out for never seeing her as an equal and tells him off for being a hypocrite, which gets Oliver thinking. (That’s one way we know he’s truly changed this season!) After they rescue Sara’s soul, he acknowledges that she was right.
Their friendship truly seems like it could truly be on the mend after this week. Having Oliver and Laurel, the Green Arrow and Black Canary, as true equals in the field can only strengthen the team’s dynamic.
Also worth noting
- Thea hires a campaign consultant for Oliver’s campaign, and he suggests Oliver distance himself from Laurel and the inevitable mention of scandals that will follow. Taking Thea’s advice, though, Oliver refuses to distance himself from someone he cares about.
- Sara attacks women who look like Thea until she can get to Thea herself because she needs to sate the bloodlust of the Lazarus Pit by killing the one who killed her. We vote that Sara and Thea work together to kill Malcolm, since he was truly to blame for their dips in the Lazarus Pit.
- We also had a side plot of Diggle and Lance working together when Darhk tasks Lance with infecting some computers with a virus that deleted files on people — including Diggle’s brother, Andy. Lance manages to find out from Darhk that Andy Diggle was into some not so legal activities in the Middle East, which H.I.V.E. had also infiltrated. Diggle takes the news fairly well, but he’s unlikely to stop with just those answers.
- As we mentioned in our look at Mister Terrific from the DC Comics, Michael Holt was an Olympic decathlete. It turns out Curtis Holt is too.
- And back at Palmer Tech, Curtis is able to remove interference from Ray’s final message. As he and Felicity listen to it, Ray reveals that he is alive and needs help. Plot twist!
We want to hear your thoughts on this topic!
Write a comment below or submit an article to Hypable.