‘Arrow’ Season 4 Episode 1 Recap and Review: Green Arrow

Arrow Season 4 Episode 1 Cast
The cast of ‘Arrow’ on season 4 episode 1 (Photo © 2015 The CW)

The CW’s Arrow season four episode one introduced new villains and found fan favorite couple Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) living a relatively blissful life away from Team Arrow. Felicity can’t cook, but otherwise the couple’s domestic life seems calm and peaceful. Of course, a season of Oliver whipping up delicious dishes wouldn’t be all that thrilling so it wasn’t long before the twosome were back on the job and protecting Starling City’s citizens.

(Warning: the following is a recap and contains all the details from the first episode of season four titled “Green Arrow.”)

Season four starts off with Oliver appearing as though he’s running from danger but he’s actually just out for a jog in a well-manicured neighborhood. He arrives home to Felicity who’s failing at cooking omelettes. Suddenly they’re in bed, talking quietly, and Felicity asks him how he’d like his company back. Oliver dismisses that suggestion with a thanks but no thanks response.

Thea (Willa Holland) and Black Canary/Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) are on a motorcycle chasing bad guys in a truck. Thea is fully into the costumed hero role and wants to be called Red Arrow from now on. Diggle (David Ramsey), wearing his new mask, helps Red Arrow and Black Canary disable the truck. Unfortunately for our heroic threesome, a van races up and is able to hold the good guys off long enough to grab the weapon containers from the truck and race off.

Back at Team Arrow’s headquarters (we’ll keep referring to it as Team Arrow even when Oliver’s not around, for convenience sake), the threesome try to figure out who these “Ghosts” are. Laurel wants them to call on Oliver for help but Diggle vetoes that idea.

Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne) is in a meeting with city bigwigs, trying to explain why these Ghosts are so hard to catch and talks about how they have brought some peace to the Starling City despite this new threat. He even jokes that maybe they can have a Flash Day, just like Central City (nice nod to The Flash episode one of season two). In comes a stranger (Neal McDonough) who compares the city to puppies writhing in pain. He says you put them down…“You don’t let them suffer.” He tosses out a threat to the city’s movers and shakers before leaving.


Back at Oliver and Felicity’s peaceful home, they’re having breakfast with neighbors and discussing schools and getting kids on waiting lists. Felicity jokes, “Would it help to have kids first – or at least a kid?” Felicity leaves to go get more mimosas and while she’s gone Oliver shows the neighbors his mom’s ring that he hopes to give to Felicity later that day.

Flashback to when Arrow was pushed off a roof by a drug dealer.

Laurel’s the first to realize the leadership of the city is being targeted. They’re all under attack, including Quentin Lance. Masked gunmen kill police officers to get to Quentin but Black Canary arrives just in time to help save her dad. The city’s leadership, including the district attorney, have been killed.

After an intimate dinner at home with wine and candles, Oliver is ready to serve up dessert along with the engagement ring. Talk about your bad timing…Laurel and Thea arrive to tell them about the Ghosts. They don’t know the end game but they do know the Ghosts are building war chests. They don’t know the Ghosts’ base of operations, and Thea thinks they’re in over their heads. Laurel says, “We need The Arrow.” “The Arrow is dead,” responds Oliver. Thea promises he can return to his domestic life if he helps them. Felicity agrees, saying, “Our friends need our help. We should already be in the car.”

Another flashback arrives with Amanda Waller (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) in a bar talking to Oliver who’s drowning his troubles in alcohol. “Stop trying to run from your inner darkness. Embrace it,” Amanda advises. She’s drugged him but before he passes out, she tells him she’s just trying to help him.

Oliver and Felicity are in the back of a limo and he’s looking out at boarded-up buildings, wondering what they really accomplished. At their headquarters Thea and Laurel admit they don’t have much they can offer him in way of leading to the Ghosts. Diggle is pissed Oliver’s back and won’t go into battle with a man he can’t trust. Felicity quickly figures out what the Ghosts are stealing: extremely powerful cluster bombs. Diggle says he’ll do whatever he has to to save his city.

Oliver gives the team orders but they just stand there. After Laurel and Diggle finally leave, Thea tells her brother the team will come around. Felicity and Oliver continue to investigate the Ghosts and Oliver quickly figures out Felicity has been helping the team behind his back, but he doesn’t seem too upset.

Laurel offers her father help with the Ghosts, but he’s reluctant to work with her and Team Arrow.

Diggle’s at home playing with his baby daughter while Lyla (Audrey Marie Anderson) wants to know what went down with Team Arrow. Lyla forgives Oliver for kidnapping her six months ago. She reminds Diggle that in times of war “we do what we have to do.” Lyla says, “Oliver did what he thought he had to do to defeat Ra’s.”

Felicity has apparently been working with the team a long time, even faking illness during their vacation. She jokes that listening to cooking tips has made her want to gouge her eyes out. She was bored to tears and missed saving the city. Oliver doesn’t care that she lied but he does care that when they were together part of her was still with the team. The discussion comes to a halt when she gets an alert on a possible lead at a truck depot and off Oliver goes, but not before she lets him know Cisco made him a new suit before he knew Oliver was hanging it up as The Arrow. “I’m not staying long enough for a new suit,” says Oliver, heading out the door in just his regular clothes.

Black Canary, Oliver, Speedy/Red Arrow/Thea and Diggle go to the truck depot and witness the Ghosts and their leader in a meeting. One of the Ghosts is called out for his mishandling of the incident with the truck, and the leader kills him simply by placing his hand on his chest.

Willa Holland Arrow Season 4
Willa Holland (Photo © The CW)

Team Arrow attack the Ghosts with Red Arrow beating one of the bad guys senseless. SCPD arrives but not before Oliver (still not wearing his The Arrow suit) gets one of the Ghosts to tell him they’re going to destroy the train station.

Back at headquarter, they tell Felicity about the target of the attack and discuss the guy who just killed someone by laying his hand on the victim’s chest. “Wait, we’re dealing with a metahuman? Like we didn’t have enough problems,” says Felicity. “He wasn’t a metahuman; he was mystical,” corrects Oliver.

Thea and Oliver are out investigating things the next day at the train depot and Oliver tells her it’s restraint that separates them from the bad guys. He thinks she’s out of control. Thea jokes that he’s only been back 24 hours and he’s already giving her a lecture, but Oliver is serious. Thea says she’s just a better fighter now, but Oliver knows that’s not the truth.

Oliver meets up with Diggle at the depot and tells him he’s happy Diggle took his advice about concealment with the helmet. Diggle isn’t about to let Oliver off easy, saying Oliver doesn’t trust anyone and he doesn’t love. He thinks Oliver is dark inside, just like everyone in the League.

Laurel’s happy she’s working with her dad again as Captain Lance shows up at the train depot. Quentin approaches Oliver and tells him he brought madness to the town and inspired monsters. Everyone is putting Oliver down and he’s got to be wondering why he ever agreed to help take down the Ghosts.

Flashback, Oliver is in a plane and forced to take on a mission. Amanda Waller chose him for the mission because he knows the terrain; he’s headed by to Lian Yu. He’s supposed to infiltrate the island, assess the threat, and report back.

Back at Team Arrow’s headquarters, Oliver tells Felicity he ran into Lance. “We should never have come back here.” Felicity says they should just go home but Oliver knows she doesn’t want that. Oliver likes the sense of purpose, but Lance was right in saying he brought pain and darkness back from the island. The only way he knows to fight the darkness is to be the darkness. Felicity tells him he’s not doing it alone anymore.

Thea, Diggle, and Laurel didn’t find the bomb at the train station and Felicity figures out that’s because the bomb is arriving via train. Time to suit up and Oliver finally dons his new The Arrow suit!

The train zooms toward the station with The Arrow and Diggle racing alongside it in a van. Meanwhile at the station Red Arrow tells everyone gathered at the station to leave immediately because it’s not safe. Felicity keeps the guys informed about the status of the train, and The Arrow boards the train to tell the leader of the ghosts to stop the train. He can’t because he destroyed the braking system and reveals he’s Damien Darhk. The Arrow shoots at him but Damien easily stops each of the arrows and bests Oliver in hand to hand combat. He’s killing The Arrow when Diggle shows up and shoots him in the back. Damien’s not there when they turn around. They jump off and blow up the train before the bomb can explode at the station.

“What are you going to call yourself now? Everyone thinks Roy was The Arrow,” says Thea. Oliver says he’s missed everyone and so has Felicity. Damien Darhk is leading the Ghosts and has a hive of operatives at his disposal. “Hive” rings a bell with Diggle, but he’s not quite ready to tell Oliver why.

Team Arrow takes over the broadcast system. “Six months ago The Arrow died but what he stood for didn’t,” declares Oliver, “Tonight I am declaring my intention to stand with them to fight for this city, to be the symbol of hope that The Arrow never was. I am the Green Arrow.”

Damien opens a cabinet and pulls out a blade, cutting himself and letting the blood drip into a statue’s bowl. He chants something and symbols appear on his forearm. Interrupted, he has a visitor and it’s Captain Lance. Damien reminds Lance he doesn’t have a choice but to do whatever he asks him to do.

Felicity and Oliver move back into Oliver’s family home. They kiss and the camera pans down to the ring, which he still hasn’t given her.

Six months later, Oliver and Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) are in suits at a cemetery in front of a freshly covered grave. Barry’s sorry he missed the funeral because of Zoom. Oliver says in the past he would have thought he brought the darkness upon them but he now knows it’s not his fault. It is his responsibly to end it. “I’m going to kill him,” announces Oliver. Barry asks if there’s anything he can do and Oliver says he wants to be left alone. Oliver kneels down in front of the tombstone and cries. Who is it?!

Season four episode one finished up with a jaw-dropping scene, and Arrow viewers can expect to be kept in the dark as to who is in the grave for quite a while as six months in the future could be at the end of this new season or even next season. If it’s Felicity fans will be in an uproar, but we’ll also miss any of the other likely choices: Diggle, Laurel, or Thea.

Episode one kicked off the new season by throwing in a few game-changers, including Captain Lance’s association with Damien Darkh. It was great to get to see Oliver and Felicity share a few quiet, relaxed moments together, but getting the two back into headquarters and reintegrated with Team Arrow quickly was the perfect way to start off season four.

GRADE: B

Arrow Season Four Interviews: Stephen Amell / Katie Cassidy / Emily Bett Rickards / John Barrownman / Willa Holland / Paul Blackthorne