At the end of Season 3, with the “death” of the ARROW was given. Season 4 begins with Oliver and Felicity living peacefully in suburbia. Jokes about pressure cookers and badly made omelettes aside, Oliver is ever ready to move on — even having one of his signature tattoos removed — as he is ready to leave a painful memory of its origin in the past.
Will they be able to live at ease? Of course not.
Six months have passed since Oliver and Felicity drove off into the sunset leaving the other members of Team Arrow to struggle with a series of escalating armed attacks on the newly re-named Star City (named in honor of the death of billionaire inventor Ray Palmer at the end of last season). Laurel/Black Canary, Diggle and Thea “Don’t Call Me Speedy” Queen fail to stop these so called "Ghosts" and realize even the bad guys have back up. Laurel and Thea put forward the idea of asking Oliver for his help. Not surprisingly Diggle is against this, especially since Oliver’s subterfuge at the end of last season involved kidnapping Mrs. Diggle and endangering their child.
The shows executive producers promised a different sort of villain with new big bad Damien Dahrk, and right now his goals seem to be in line with the standard “I’m going to destroy this city for reasons” as has previous series villains. Dahrk stands out with his entrance alone. Walking straight into a meeting of city leaders and admitting he is responsible for the escalating armed attacks by these “Ghosts” and claiming that for standing in his way they should all kiss their loved ones goodbye. This isn’t just posturing either, as within a day they all start dropping like flies. Captain Lance would have been just another victim had it not been for the timely intervention from his daughter in full Black Canary mode.
This huge move by Dahrk causes Laurel and Thea to go to Oliver without telling Diggle and ask him to return (and unknowingly interrupting his attempt to propose to Felicity). At first reluctant, Felicity, who had been secretly helping the team behind Oliver’s back, convinces Oliver that he can return to his old way of life, do good and make a difference all without the darkness he fears returning to destroy them.
In trying to stop Dahrk and his HIVE of operatives (the name given to them in Season 3), Team Arrow witnesses him killing one of his own men with nothing more than a touch. At first they float the idea that he may be a meta-human, the CW universe’s answer to all super powered people, before Oliver points out this isn’t science but mysticism at work since he has “seen things.”
Donning a new suit (fashioned by Cisco from THE FLASH), Oliver and his team manage to stop Dahrk in his plan to blow up Star City Station on the eve of its re-opening. A pretty stale plan but one that serves its functions to pull Team Arrow back together, also giving Oliver and Dahrk a head-to-head confrontation in the very first episode of the new season. Dahrk does show off another of his powers... telekinesis. Hijacking an emergency broadcast system, Oliver re-introduces himself to his city as the Green Arrow, a man who wants to be the symbol of hope the Arrow never was.
In the episode's flashbacks — where the highlight is without doubt the blink and you’ll miss it references to Green Lantern — Oliver is seen running around as a sort of proto-Arrow trying his best and failing to take out one lowly drug dealer. Forced by A.R.G.U.S. leader Amanda Waller to take part on a new mission, Queen is unceremoniously pushed out of a plane and made to parachute back onto the island he found himself stranded on back in Season 1, Lian Yu. While a slight weakness of the show, Oliver is bound to come across the hitherto barely mentioned mystical happenings as they take a major part of this season.
The episode ends with two revelations. Dahrk using some sort of blood magic to muster his power is visited by one of the members of his HIVE organization; Captain Lance himself.
We end with another time jump, not a flashback this time but a flash forward of six months with Oliver standing over a grave. Barry Allen approaches him, apologizing he couldn’t make the funeral due to “Zoom” — the main villain of THE FLASH Season 2, who has yet to be revealed. Oliver talks once again about the darkness in what he does and how he is going to end it by “killing him.” Crucially we do not see who the grave belongs and the showrunners have said they're going to keep us guessing until they’re ready to reveal it.
The shows executive producers promised a different sort of villain with new big bad Damien Dahrk, and right now his goals seem to be in line with the standard “I’m going to destroy this city for reasons” as has previous series villains. Dahrk stands out with his entrance alone. Walking straight into a meeting of city leaders and admitting he is responsible for the escalating armed attacks by these “Ghosts” and claiming that for standing in his way they should all kiss their loved ones goodbye. This isn’t just posturing either, as within a day they all start dropping like flies. Captain Lance would have been just another victim had it not been for the timely intervention from his daughter in full Black Canary mode.
This huge move by Dahrk causes Laurel and Thea to go to Oliver without telling Diggle and ask him to return (and unknowingly interrupting his attempt to propose to Felicity). At first reluctant, Felicity, who had been secretly helping the team behind Oliver’s back, convinces Oliver that he can return to his old way of life, do good and make a difference all without the darkness he fears returning to destroy them.
In trying to stop Dahrk and his HIVE of operatives (the name given to them in Season 3), Team Arrow witnesses him killing one of his own men with nothing more than a touch. At first they float the idea that he may be a meta-human, the CW universe’s answer to all super powered people, before Oliver points out this isn’t science but mysticism at work since he has “seen things.”
Donning a new suit (fashioned by Cisco from THE FLASH), Oliver and his team manage to stop Dahrk in his plan to blow up Star City Station on the eve of its re-opening. A pretty stale plan but one that serves its functions to pull Team Arrow back together, also giving Oliver and Dahrk a head-to-head confrontation in the very first episode of the new season. Dahrk does show off another of his powers... telekinesis. Hijacking an emergency broadcast system, Oliver re-introduces himself to his city as the Green Arrow, a man who wants to be the symbol of hope the Arrow never was.
In the episode's flashbacks — where the highlight is without doubt the blink and you’ll miss it references to Green Lantern — Oliver is seen running around as a sort of proto-Arrow trying his best and failing to take out one lowly drug dealer. Forced by A.R.G.U.S. leader Amanda Waller to take part on a new mission, Queen is unceremoniously pushed out of a plane and made to parachute back onto the island he found himself stranded on back in Season 1, Lian Yu. While a slight weakness of the show, Oliver is bound to come across the hitherto barely mentioned mystical happenings as they take a major part of this season.
The episode ends with two revelations. Dahrk using some sort of blood magic to muster his power is visited by one of the members of his HIVE organization; Captain Lance himself.
We end with another time jump, not a flashback this time but a flash forward of six months with Oliver standing over a grave. Barry Allen approaches him, apologizing he couldn’t make the funeral due to “Zoom” — the main villain of THE FLASH Season 2, who has yet to be revealed. Oliver talks once again about the darkness in what he does and how he is going to end it by “killing him.” Crucially we do not see who the grave belongs and the showrunners have said they're going to keep us guessing until they’re ready to reveal it.
Written by Nick Whitney, ARROW Beat Writer