Arrow Season 4 Mid-Season Round Table

As we approach the end of 2015, most shows have now gone on hiatus and with mid-season breaks, it only means one thing here at TVOvermind: round table discussions! This year’s first mid-season round table will cover the first half of Arrow‘s fourth season.

Spoiler alert: Below, our writers will be sharing what they’ve thought about Arrow Season 4 up until this point and discussing major events from the season’s first nine episodes. Therefore, if you’re not caught up on this season of Arrow and don’t want to be spoiled on certain storylines, stop reading at this point and check out this article once you’ve watched the first half of Season 4.

Arrow Season 4 has shifted into a much brighter tone this year, as Oliver is leaving the Arrow persona behind and fully becoming the Green Arrow. How do you feel about the adjustments that the creative team has made to the show’s overall tone while also staying true to the series that Arrow has been since it started?

Andy Behbakht: The season premiere was a great foundation for the shift of tone, because unlike last season, I’m actually enjoying Oliver Queen again and even more as the Green Arrow! He is smiling and funny, being more collaborative with his big awesome teaml he is actually focusing on establishing the Oliver Queen persona to the public while also being the Emerald Archer. More importantly, he is slowly learning from his mistakes and just improving as a whole. If you do all of that, the rest of the show sort of follows along with those improvements, which is being shown quite clear here. I have loved pretty much everything about Team Green Arrow because this feels like an actual family. Members aren’t holding back as many secrets from each other anymore, they have a greater sense of respect towards one another, and you can feel that everyone wants to focus on being the best team that they can be.

Sean Colletti: Tone has been a pretty touchy subject for Arrow from the get-go. What first drew me to the series was how it adopted a similar tone to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight films without feeling like a blatant rip-off. But over the years, Arrow has tonally gone from sometimes taking itself too seriously all the way to the beginning of this season, when Oliver and Felicity are so happy together that it felt like I was being punk’d. Having The Flash around has done wonders for Arrow, because it can still be gritty (at its absolute peak in Season 2, it was incredibly dark) without being obnoxious about it; the two have really balanced each other out. Even with a somewhat lighter tone this season, there have been difficult arcs, like Diggle struggling to let Oliver back into his life or Thea and Sara dealing with bloodlust, all of which look and sound like vintage Arrow. So, for me, the transition in tone has been pretty seamless, which has been a huge relief.

Jasef Wisener: I absolutely love the direction that Arrow has taken in Season 4. While I still enjoyed it, last season just went a little too dark, and it took away from what made the series so fun (the immensely better season of The Flash last year may have also had something to do with that). This season has still been dark at times, with the mid-season finale probably containing the darkest moment so far, but the series has managed to re-embrace the fun and excitement that made me fall in love with the show in the beginning. Oliver is also, finally, the character I’ve wanted him to be since the beginning, but I’m glad we did get to see the way he got to this point, too.

Laura Schinner: While Oliver has unarguably become happier this season, in large part thanks to his relationship with Felicity, I think it’s safe to say that Arrow has not strayed too far from what they started out as. We were told before the season started that the tone would be lighter, and that can be seen in Oliver’s attitude and demeanor. But the overall tone of the show had remained consistent, with this season perhaps seeming even darker than last season thanks to the outright fear that Damien Darhk has brought to Star City. The stakes are still incredibly high, with Damien threatening both the city and everyone that Oliver loves. Felicity has always represented the light in Oliver’s life and now that he has finally allowed himself to be with her, that light has taken up a larger part in his life. However, the outside threats to him and the city are just as dark as ever, grounding the show in the same tone we’ve seen throughout the series run.

Blaise Hopkins: I think it’s working really well. I wouldn’t really even call them changes, but a progression. Everyone else is the same but Oliver is more reasonable this season, which, as a result, has allowed everyone else to not be on edge whenever they are around him. The show has had a nice tone this season and really balanced out the interaction between everyone by giving us Green Arrow.

Nick Hogan: It’s so much more relatable and true to life. Life has darkness and light, and a stronger mix of the two definitely makes Arrow a stronger show than it’s been in some time. Even great dramas like Macbeth and Hamlet have comic relief, and it’s important to relieve your audience of the emotional burden. I always loved Arrow, but I look forward to it more when it takes the emotional burden off.

Chris King: I don’t see this season’s “shift in tone” as any major change to Arrow‘s DNA; in my mind, it’s always been the same show throughout its three-plus seasons. While Oliver’s relationship with Felicity has helped him become a more open and honest person in Season 4, it’s natural that the story would develop in such a way, and this development is leading to more humor, romance, and even a couple smiles from Oliver. Arrow Season 3 was only seen as dark as it was because of Oliver’s decision to go in alone and do things totally by himself. Season 4 reflects the happier, stronger, and just plain better character that he has become, but that only happens as a byproduct of what he and the team went through last season. So am I enjoying it? Most definitely. This season of Arrow has been a good blend of nail-biting drama, fast-paced action, and solid comic relief. It’s been incredibly entertaining to watch, and it feels like a very natural progression for Oliver’s character and the show as a whole.

Out of all the big bads that Oliver has had to face throughout the series, Damien Darhk may be the toughest one he’s encountered so far. What are your thoughts on Neal McDonough as Damien and the terror that he has unleashed on Star City so far?

Andy Behbakht: You can tell that McDonough is having a blast playing this character, and I love the fact that we are getting this insanely powerful antagonist that is both terrifying but also comedic from time to time. He is definitely up there with great villains like Malcolm and Slade, but he is getting to the point where he may actually be the best villain Arrow has had so far, just because of how entertaining and ruthless he is. I hope to see more of his background in the second half of the season, though. Maybe some flashbacks?

Sean Colletti: My undying love for Manu Bennett aside, Neal McDonough has been a joy to watch on Arrow this season. He’s entertainingly hammy at worst and terrifying in his best scenes. Darhk is an interesting villain in the sense that he’s powerful without coming off invincible (he makes mistakes and gets distracted) and offers different challenges for Oliver Queen and the Green Arrow. That’s probably the biggest compliment I can give the writing staff regarding Darhk. Until another villain really comes along and knocks me off my feet, Slade Wilson is my high water mark for Arrow, but that conflict mostly came down to Slade and Oliver settling a score. Darhk doesn’t even know the Green Arrow’s identity at this stage, but he’s still been a tough adversary for both sides of Oliver, and if that can continue to run smoothly and believably, it will likely end up as the season’s greatest strength (powered by McDonough’s fantastic performance).

Jasef Wisener: Neal McDonough has absolutely shined this season as Damien Darhk. Even though we haven’t spent a ton of time with him (although more than we did with Ra’s last season), he feels like the biggest threat that Oliver has faced every time he appears in a scene. Fitting with the season’s overall theme, though, he manages to be fun and, at times, comedic while never diminishing the darkness that his threat brings.

Laura Schinner: Neal McDonough has brought something to this season of Arrow that was seriously lacking last season: a legitimately terrifying villain. He’s unpredictable and quite possibly insane but also the most fun villain we’ve ever seen on the show. They’ve also done a great job this season of weaving the Green Arrow’s mission with Oliver’s personal goal to become mayor, and using Damien Darhk as a barrier to both pursuits. And on a side note, Neal McDonough is an absolutely delightful person, proving himself to be a crowd favorite at Heroes and Villains.

Blaise Hopkins: Neal is probably the best experienced actor they have brought on to the show. He has done such a phenomenal job so far and is showing his acting skills through his wide range. Darhk is a guy that believes he’s unstoppable, which gives McDonough a lot of variety to bring to the table; we see him view Team Arrow as a joke to start before he constantly gets more frustrated with Oliver, and even his odd confrontation with Thea has allowed him to show fear, surpris,  and uncertainty for the first time ever. I love having McDonough on Arrow and think he was the perfect choice for the role. The one thing that both Arrow and The Flash have done so well with is their casting choices.

Nick Hogan: I love the casting of Neal McDonough. When the casting was announced, I was excited to see what he would bring, and suffice to say I was not disappointed. He brings this quiet, Dexter-like psychopathy to the role, and the way he carries himself makes him extremely fearsome. On my list to this point, he’s still number two next to Slade Wilson, but that could definitely change by the end of the season.

Chris King: Words can’t describe just how much of a blessing Neal McDonough has been as Damien Darhk in this season of Arrow. He’s doing a lot scenery chewing and is, in many ways, a version of his Justified character, Robert Quarles, but with magic, and it’s just been so much fun to watch him go back and forth with Oliver. The enjoyment that McDonough exudes when playing the role is infectious, and Damien has proven to be an incredibly formidable foe in a short space of time, attacking Oliver and Team Arrow in various ways, with his most devastating blow being delivered in last week’s fall finale. That’s what makes Damien Darhk such a terrific villain: there’s a real fear that’s felt every time he appears onscreen, even though you can’t stop smiling because of just how damn good the guy playing him is.

[Photos via The CW]