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Hey Arrow Squad! This week, myself (Miss Ice) and The Shadow are joined by The Wonder Twins (Harley Quinn and The Flash) in light of Podcast Overlord’s super secret mission taking him out of town. Yes, it takes two people to fill the Overlord’s shoes! We missed him, but had a blast chatting with Jess and Martin about Arrow season 4 episode 4, “Beyond Redemption.”
There is something about the fourth episode of many seasons that I just love. The fourth episode of basically every season of Fringe is spectacular; season 1 episode 4 of Lost is “Walkabout”, in which we get our first look into the life of John Locke. I would go on, but the particulars aren’t important, it’s just something about the placement of the episode within a season that gives the story an extra kick. Nearly everything about this episode worked for me.
Let’s start with this scene, shall we? To the right you’ll see a screen capture from the moment the team gets into the lift to be brought down to the new Team Arrow HQ. I thought this picture perfectly encapsulated the characterizations of each woman. Thea’s excited, Felicity is overwhelmed, and Laurel is unimpressed. It was hilarious.
I had a feeling this was coming. Was it only the end of the previous episode when Oliver said he had a surprise for his team? I knew things like an engagement or his candidacy for mayor was on the horizon, but due to the timing of their previous lair being infiltrated seamlessly by Double Down, I thought we might be seeing a new HQ here soon. And if Cisco helped design it, you know it’s going to be all tricked out!
My assumption is that very few people really think Ray Palmer is dead. There could very well, and not unlikely, be a large subset of people who just don’t know the mythology of Atom, or even haven’t seen the trailer for Legends of Tomorrow. And hopefully every small discovery along the way has been a treat for them as they start to realize that he’s not dead! Because even though I know he isn’t, it has been really cool, and very rewarding, to see the methodical way they’re bringing Felicity into this discovery. It isn’t blatant, it isn’t rushed.
Discovery of Palmer’s not-deadness is a step-by-step process. And I appreciate those, particularly with how quickly they brought Sara back from the dead. Leading up to Legends of Tomorrow, we know both characters have to be alive, but if you’ve been listening to the podcast then you’ll know that I was very surprised that Sara’s resurrection happened already. If before the season begun someone told me that one character would be discovered alive in episode 3 and another in, say, episode 7, I would have guessed Palmer first, then Sara.
But here we are! And the conclusion of this episode may very well shed light on why they brought Sara back so quickly. Did she escape, or did someone set her free?
Last but not least, at least insofar that this blog post is concerned, I really, really enjoy Oliver’s new personable personality. It’s like he’s mashing up his former playboy persona (the outgoing, fun-loving guy) with the tragic hero (the thoughtful and considerate guy). This leads him to be so much more wise when sitting down to confront Captain Lance, but also really vulnerable with someone like his sister.
We had a lot of incredible moments of juxtaposition in this episode, particularly with Thea. While she and Diggle wait with the cocaine she comments that buying drugs and feeling that thrill brought her back to high school. Well, it brought us back to season 1! And that spoiled brat who didn’t care about anyone but herself. Now look at Thea! She’s grown into an incredible young woman (slight caveat with the effects of the Lazarus Pit) who took it upon herself to initiate her brother’s campaign. These two have come a long way and it’s awesome to see it manifest on screen.
Next Week
Season 4 Episode 5 “Haunted” (starring Matt Ryan as John Constantine!)
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