Do you ever have that moment where you run into an old friend out the blue and suddenly everything you love about them and your friendship comes flooding back? All the good times, all the unforgettable moments that you shared together and just getting the chance to relive them is just as great as seeing their face again. Sometimes, TV characters can create those feelings. When a long departed cast member suddenly reappears on screen for a guest appearance and your enjoyment gets amplified from remembering just why you’ve missed them do much. Arrow brings a few old friends back into town this week and the results are kinda great.
Unchained – A highly agile thief with a surprising identity is steeling tech supplies for the hacker based villain, The Calculator. Felicity and Curtis have to make their big presentation at Palmer Tech and Thea’s Lazarus Pit blood lust takes a new twist as resisting it threatens her own life.
If this episode does one thing above all else, it is remind us all just how great Arrow’s character base is. All manner of characters make a re-appearance and are utterly delightful to watch. What’s more, this episode is the beginning of a two part story, so most should be back next week also. The biggest return is our original Red arrow sidekick, Roy Harper. His alternative re-introduction as the mystery thief is a good play on the season 3 events as he’s blackmailed over having his identity exposed (remember that Roy Harper is officially The Arrow... and also dead). It permits Hayes some against character moments in the first half while making his redemption immediate as he acted out of loyalty. Yet it’s just how quickly he fits back into the existing team dynamic that really reminds us what an asset he was to the show, suiting up in the fights to laying down the banter it makes us want him to stay and Hayes himself really looks like he’s enjoying it. He even gets possibly his biggest ever hero shot in the final act as he zip lines away from the explosion.
Roy’s return may be the star attraction but he’s not the only delightful comeback. The episode doesn’t just feature Nyssa al Ghul again for the first time since episode 3 but gives her a story arc of her own as she makes her play to oust Merlyn from the League leadership (and his own neck if possible). Although we’ve had some great action from Merlyn in Star City, we haven’t seen half as much of the League and Nanda Parbatt as expected so far this season but that finally looks like changing. Their scenes boast some fantastic swordplay choreography as Nyssa’s loyalists spring her from captivity but especially concerning Nyssa’s equally matched feature opponent later in the episode. It may play a bit loose with explaining said character’s return but the visual awe alone is enough to back kick that logic out the nearest window. As much as the troll generation would disagree, a show doesn’t have to be perfect with its continuity if the results are worthwhile and this most certainly is. Nyssa’s concluding gambit really brings many of the preceding episode events into context and sets up for a decision and show down next week. Speaking of Merlyn, John Barrowman has another great episode as he blurs the line between sympathetic villain and anti-hero. The parental themes with Thea have really brought the best out of his character as he proves here by becoming the unlikely voice of reason against Oliver’s rash actions to save his sister. Thea’s bloodlust making a self-fatal flip feels a bit hollow and merely there for further “grave speculation” and just with Felicity’s shooting we know Thea won’t be filling it. A large part of Season 3 revolved around bringing Thea back to life, so there’s no way in hell they’d casually kill her off like that as it would devalue those events.
Next up: we get a long awaited catch up with Curtis Holt as we finally return to the interiors of Palmer tech. Curtis has really been missed so it’s so great to immediately have him paired back with Felicity and let their chemistry flow again. We get a few more teases that he’s heading in the hero direction. Despite taking a whooping, he still shows some degree of skill in his fight with Roy but the biggest clue (and most geek out worthy moment of the episode) comes as uses his prototype T-Sphere as a weapon. It’s a good point of establishment as an idea for Curtis to develop further. The Palmer tech scenes are quite enjoyable as, like the also featured Mayor campaign antics of Oliver, they bring the day job/real life element back into the characters and play better to the realism. It gives us both an awkward and overconfident Felicity, both of which are hilarious. Although it’s Felicity’s hacker/”Overwatch” battling with The Calculator that produces her best moments. It’s rare that she gets a formidable tech nemesis but when she does it’s highly rewarding as we’ve seen with the likes of Bug Eyed Bandit. The Calculator isn’t as impressive as he should be. He’s amusing enough as he brags mid-hack and his previously confirmed connection to Felicity makes things interesting between them but something about the performance from Tom Amandes just doesn’t come together. Granted he may fair much better when he has greater screen time next episode.
Even the flashbacks get their own surprise return from Shado via a pain/torture induced hallucination. Unlike any of the aforementioned character reappearances, this one is purely indulgent rather than purposeful; however, it is great to see Celina Jade again and this is still much better than her twin sister encore last season. The flashback scenes are still the biggest problem of this season (and last), and a lot of that is due to the minimal progress they make each episode. Unchained is no exception as everything builds up to a single moment of Oliver confessing his guilt to Taianna.
Despite a few slips, Unchained is terrific fun for the roll call of faces it brings back on screen. It creates some excellent story setup to pay off in next week’s Daddy issues fest, Sins of the Father. Making Darhk’s wife Oliver’s new election opponent is a great move but we really need to see Darhk and HIVE after this 2 part concludes; they’re starting to feel left behind. Unchained sees Arrow unleashed with a fast and fulfilling pace; let’s hope that continues.