Arrow Arrow Season 4 Episode 12: "Unchained"

[Slade W]

I was a bit surprised that they seemingly wrapped up the Palmer tech storyline. Though Papa Smoak could always jeopardize that in the future. I feel like the writers are kind of moving through Felicity's insecurities a little to quickly, I don't need 5-6 episodes of her agonizing or questioning herself, I think 2-3 episodes would be a good amount, but good for her getting back that fire in her for her job.

It was kind of weird/sad that Nyssa has to rely on Oliver to fix her problem, she is never allowed any real wins and I want her to be the one to defeat Malcolm.

She beat Malcolm last season and she also beat Oliver in "The Magician" (she had her blade at his throat before Malcolm interfered). I think she beat Oliver in season 2 also, but I am not sure.

 

[herolee10]

She beat Malcolm last season and she also beat Oliver in "The Magician" (she had her blade at his throat before Malcolm interfered). I think she beat Oliver in season 2 also, but I am not sure.

Malcolm seems to have gotten better since. When they had sparred with each other earlier this season, they seemed to be on even footing.

And Oliver, for the most part, has had Nyssa's number whenever they'v fought with each other.

 

[Slade W]

Malcolm seems to have gotten better since. When they had sparred with each other earlier this season, they seemed to be on even footing.

And Oliver, for the most part, has had Nyssa's number whenever they'v fought with each other.

Fair enough, but the poster I was responding to was saying that Nyssa has never been allowed by the writers to have had any wins, and I was saying that this was not the case by providing examples of her getting the better of other big characters.

 

[DigificWriter]

I was a little underwhelmed by the whole thing with Felicity's dad being The Calculator because it was one of those situations where the writers were trying to hide a surprise that wasn't actually surprising.

What was surprising was the return of Katana and Nyssa's plan to force Oliver to act as her proxy in taking out Malcolm.

The Thea thing was by far the best part of the episode, and I really hope they don't kill her off because Willa Holland is just awesome. The scene where she and Roy talk about their feelings was among the most poignant writing we've ever gotten on the show, and Willa acted the **** out of it.

 

[chamber-music]

So Thea has to control her bloodlust, Ollie tries not to kill anymore, but it's ok for Dingle to just randomly shoot somebody.

If I remember correctly they said Diggle was firing rubber bullets and other non-lethal projectiles. I'm pretty sure he isn't firing live rounds.

 

[BlueLanternKal]

Best episode in a long time.

So we can finally put to bed that Oliver survived the infamous "fall" from last season. Whatever the elusive "Lotus" is, it's what Katana used to bring Oliver back from death. It was great seeing both Shado and Katana again. The former made me care about the flashbacks again and the latter was just about the only great thing from last season.

The choreography and parkour were pretty good (keep bringing it Bam Bam), and all the characters got some feats except for Laurel and Digg. Hoping either one of them fights somebody top tier soon.

I think Thea's going to make it, Merlyn will survive, but after almost being killed his alliance with the Arrow Family will fall apart. Calculator being Felicity's father was a non-reveal. Nyssa's little revolt will be unsuccessful too.

There's really nothing to complain about after a first watch. Well done.

 

[JC00]

Preliminary rating for the episode was 0.9, down from 1.1 last week


Seems like the fans have spoken:

They don't want it to be Felicity and Friends.


And before people jump all over me, go watch the preview that aired after last week's episode and tell me that didn't scream "Felicity centric" episode.

 

[SpideyVille]

The sad thing is most episodes seem Felicity centric based on the promos.

 

[divan]

It's been a while since I've watched an episode of Arrow, felt perfectly satisfied by the episode's content and gotten to the ending just wanting more. Perhaps since Season 2.

Kudos.

 

[The Navigator]

It was a decent episode, but Merlyn continues to ruin everything he touches.

"Kill Malcolm Merlyn" seems pretty straightforward. I mean, he killed 500 people, including his own son. He mind-controlled his daughter ("It's her life Oliver, her choice") into killing her friend and Oliver's lover. This, to force Oliver to try and kill Ra's Al Ghul because he was too much of a coward to face the man himself. And he saved the ashes of Vandal Savage because a guy who's been around for eons and can regenerate from a single cell would now "owe [him] a favor."

Malcolm's a mass murderer, and the show (and its heroes) need to stop pretending he's just some unpleasant Uncle we have to see at family reunions. Oliver outright thanking Merlyn "for EVERYTHING" is absurd.

Can we just make Darhk the Big Bad from now on? At least the heroes still hate him...

 

[Jedi Arrow]

I think she beat Oliver in season 2 also, but I am not sure.

Nah, that was a close fight (and an extremely exciting one) but it ended with Oliver choking her out.

 

[JC00]

Half hours were 0.9/0.9

Meaning people made up their decision not to watch before the episode and the people that did watch stayed for the all episode.

 

[JC00]

The sad thing is most episodes seem Felicity centric based on the promos.

Ya. An indication that producers and/or the CW are pushing her as the star of the show or at least on an even level as Oliver

 

[Primal Slayer]

I wonder if Malcolm has someone watching Thea, he always manages to show up right as she is in danger.

 

[Guard82]

There were a lot of great things in this episode -- Roy being back; the brief reunion between him and Thea; Felicity's arc; and Nyssa's attempted rebellion within the League. There's a lot of interesting plot points for the show to follow from this point on, and this episode did a nice job of showcasing them.

 

[JC00]

I wonder if Malcolm has someone watching Thea, he always manages to show up right as she is in danger.

That or he has all of Team Arrow's places bugged.

 

[Slade W]

That or he has all of Team Arrow's places bugged.

He probably does. Remember last season in the Brick episodes, that it showed him spying on them when they were in the Arrow cave through a camera.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I loved this ep, where to start!

The flashbacks were good, I loved seeing Shado again, shame she was only an hallucination. Now Ollie has confessed I wonder how that will pan out.

The return of Roy and The Calculator is instantly one of my fav storylines the show has done. From the first heist where Thea fainted, to Ollie chasing him in that awesome parkour sequence, the fight at Palmer tech where Felicity spotted the retinal tech to her keyboard showdown with The Calculator, just some of the best stuff the show has done IMO.

It also had good arcs for Felicity with her presentation and for Thea as she made her choice and sorted out the emotional position she is in with Ollie and Roy, with both respecting her wishes, the scene with her and Roy saying goodbye was really nicely played.

There was also some good humour in the ep, Felicity's face when she explained the bomb's explosive capabilities was hilarious and Ollie's grin "Really?" when Roy said he couldn't believe Ollie shot him.

Then there was the Nyssa storyline that began, her escape was great but her meeting and sword fight with Katana was pure gold! I love this direction for her and hopefully they won't just kill Katana off like they did Waller.

The reveal of The Calculator being Felicity's father was known but still well done, I wonder if he knows Felicity is on the other end of the computer he battled.

The action in this ep was quality as well, from the 3 sequences I already mentioned, to Team Arrow taking on Calculators mercs and Roy's big escape shot.

 

[vantheman77]

I'm surprised they didn't play the Van Halen song, Unchained, during this episode.

Glad to see Roy back. I wish he and Wally would team up when Wally gets his super-speed.

 

[TX85]

Felicity got on my nerves with her kinda being *****y about The Calculator name, She's actually worse than Cisco and as soon as she shouted "I Powned You!" I wanted to snap her neck!

Rest was great though.

 

[Slade W]

Great episode. I thought Roy and Thea were good in this. Good job by Colton and Willa. I cannot wait to find out what Oliver does in regards to Malcolm next week.

 

[Jedi Arrow]

Felicity got on my nerves with her kinda being *****y about The Calculator name, She's actually worse than Cisco and as soon as she shouted "I Powned You!" I wanted to snap her neck!

Rest was great though.

...wow, really? People typically prefer this Felicity to whiny quavering-voice Felicity, so what...I mean, you're like one of the few people I've ever seen who don't like this aspect of her character.

 

[herolee10]

Someone pointed this out elsewhere, but if Nyssa already knew about the Lotus Potion, then why was she so reluctant to go through with Sara's revival if the Lotus thing could cure her of the side effects?

 

[SpideyVille]

Someone pointed this out elsewhere, but if Nyssa already knew about the Lotus Potion, then why was she so reluctant to go through with Sara's revival if the Lotus thing could cure her of the side effects?

Because the writers didn't know about it at that point.

The bigger question is, if she were a prison for the past 2-3 months, how did she know that Thea needed to be helped at that exact moment?

 

[Slade W]

Someone pointed this out elsewhere, but if Nyssa already knew about the Lotus Potion, then why was she so reluctant to go through with Sara's revival if the Lotus thing could cure her of the side effects?

Do you want the honest answer? Probably because the writers had not thought that far ahead at that point. These shows are an ongoing thing, the writers make up a lot of stuff as they go along. It is the same with movie franchises too. Star Wars is a good example. A lot of changes were made and there are things that contradict each other in it. Also, probably because it did not suit the writers at the time and they wanted to make Nyssa mad at Malcolm.