Arrow season 4, episode 10, “Blood Debts,” aired tonight. Read our recap and discuss the episode with fellow fans.
Felicity’s fate
The big question left hanging at the end of the mid-season finale was what would become of Felicity. Had she been fatally shot? Would she be paralyzed? We discover pretty early on that Felicity survived the shooting after emergency care, but she had nerve damage and was in need of more surgery. After her second surgery, Donna reveals that the damage to Felicity’s spinal cord is permanent; she’s never going to walk again.
We’ve already learned that Oracle is off the board, but it wasn’t clear whether it was just the nickname or the entire Oracle origin story. Considering Felicity has been paralyzed, it seems that it’s just the nickname off the table.
As Felicity rarely goes out into the field anyway, this development isn’t likely to change her ability to help the team from the bunker. What this means, however, is that Felicity will have to come to terms with a new status quo, and her relationship with Oliver will have to navigate a life-altering trauma.
Though Oliver realizes Felicity is one of the strongest people he knows, Felicity will undoubtedly have highs and lows. This development offers the opportunity for Felicity to have her own storyline and her relationship with Oliver to grow even stronger.
Oliver’s regression
Oliver returns to his season 1 roots in his quest for vengeance against Damien Darhk. He starts dropping the bodies of Ghosts who refuse to tell on their boss. When Team Arrow discovers that Anarky is also on Damien Darhk’s trail — as their last business arrangement ended poorly — they track him down and take him hostage.
Laurel gives him up to the SCPD, not liking where Oliver’s head is, but The Green Arrow breaks Anarky out and tells him to make sure he kills Darhk. But when the tracker Oliver placed on Anarky goes dark, things pretty much fall apart for Oliver and he finally visits Felicity.
When Oliver tells Felicity what he’s been doing, Felicity is immediately concerned that he’s regressed — which he has. It just shows that he needs his loved ones to keep him grounded. It’s this meeting — and realizing that Felicity was afraid he would leave her now that she’s paralyzed — that brings him back to himself. His development might be here to stay after all.
The showdown
Anarky finds Darhk’s home and takes his wife and daughter captive. He’s ready to start torturing them when Team Arrow arrives. They free Darhk’s family, but the Green Arrow and Darhk come face to face. After some fighting, Darhk learns that the Green Arrow saved his family. He offers his nemesis a couple of weeks of reprieve in gratitude.
If nothing else, this shows us another example of what we already knew: Darhk has his own moral code. He has a family he loves, proving he is capable of that emotion, which only complicates his character even more. He’s evil, yes, but there is plenty of grey as well.
Also worth noting
- In an attempt to get information out of Andy, John first beats his brother bloody but gets nowhere. Lyla advises him to reach out to Andy as his brother, and this actually gets Andy to speak. Later, John brings a deck of cards to Andy’s cage, and the two play a game. Could this be the first step in some sort of reconciliation between the Diggle brothers?
- Anarky has developed some weird attachment to Thea after she set him on fire. He sees what happened as setting him free. This clearly disturbs Thea, and who can blame her? Later, the two come face to face again, and Anarky eventually gets away.
- Damien Darhk’s wife is in on his plans.
- After the grave scene, Oliver joins a tearful Felicity in the grave. She’s also upset, indicating the person in the grave is someone important to both of them.
- In the flashbacks, Oliver is on the verge of being killed for sneaking around. But when the tattoo he got from Constantine starts glowing, he gets a reprieve. For now.
We want to hear your thoughts on this topic!
Write a comment below or submit an article to Hypable.