Arrow

Malcolm was Arrow's best antagonist by far.

Badass as Slade was, his entire quest was built upon something of a sham iirc, and he was beaten in an anti-climatic manner.

Ra's...meh.

Darrhk's hammy and cool, but isn't really as intimidating as he was set up to be. Just like Ra's (and unlike Malcolm & Slade), he doesn't really have any personal connections to the team.

Pity that Malcolm's gone through a severe decay process, and has become more of a jerkass. Then again, this is the show that has given us the train-wreck that is Oliver+Felicity.

Originally posted by TheVaultDweller
I also liked him to begin with. I thought he made a great villain in season 1. Despite being a bad guy, he had elements about him that were enjoyable. But he is just a total d***head nowadays. And yeah, based on promo pieces for the rest of the season, it looks like Merlyn is gunning to take over Darhk's position.

As to the comic, it appears to be set in between seasons again, right after he becomes Ra's but, from what I have heard, also delves more into his past, and the 2 odd decades of his life in between his wife's death and Ollie coming back to Star City.

And yeah, same here pretty much.

Originally posted by Demonic Phoenix
Malcolm was Arrow's best antagonist by far.

Badass as Slade was, his entire quest was built upon something of a sham iirc, and he was beaten in an anti-climatic manner.

Ra's...meh.

Darrhk's hammy and cool, but isn't really as intimidating as he was set up to be. Just like Ra's (and unlike Malcolm & Slade), he doesn't really have any personal connections to the team.

Pity that Malcolm's gone through a severe decay process, and has become more of a jerkass. Then again, this is the show that has given us the train-wreck that is Oliver+Felicity.

When Ra's forced Nyssa to marry Oliver, etc., that was pretty much when he became unlikable. Still enjoyed the actor playing him, but they didn't give him much to work with after his initial fight with Ollie.

Pretty much @ Darhk. He was still the breath of fresh air the show needed though, especially with whose been playing him.

But overall, I agree that Malcolm was the show's best antagonist, even if only because he was handled alright the longest, up until his character assassination in the current season. That said though, compared to S3, I'm surprised this is the only main problem I have with S4, aside from the now usual bullshit with Felicity.

Malcolm was a great antagonist but then the show stopped making him an antagonist and started bending over backwards to have him on Olivers side because the writers were so in love with him.

Also it's funny how Oliver was against Felicity and him dating because it would be difficult with his issues and Felicity wore him down and swore that she wanted him anyway and then she gets pissed when he has issues.

It's funny how Oliver was perfectly content in his suburban life with Felicity until she convinced him to go back to being the Arrow and then gets pissed when that lifestyle brings out the worst (not really, Oliver has been a ****ing saint this season ffs) in him.

And by funny I mean teeth-grindingly frustrating.

I am still holding out that the chip malfunctions at some point. I know that sounds mean, but considering the character in question...

So even when Oliver doesn't screw up he still gets sandbagged. I guess Felicity has officially dethroned Laurel as worst character if it wasn't already confirmed.

Also that was a pretty lame way to get rid of Cupid.

Originally posted by Ridley_Prime

Despite some of the PIS, I didn't really have a problem with how Slade was beaten. The S2 finale fight with him was definitely up there with the S1 finale duel with Merlyn, for me at least. It was how the show/writers treated him afterward where I (and apparently his portrayer) started to really have a problem. I agree though that he could've been better written & handled during the whole mirakuru arc (though he was still a compelling antagonist even then, when he was in control at least). He was actually decently better written when he was still friends with Oliver on the island of purgatory, but meh.

When Ra's forced Nyssa to marry Oliver, etc., that was pretty much when he became unlikable. Still enjoyed the actor playing him, but they didn't give him much to work with after his initial fight with Ollie.

Pretty much @ Darhk. He was still the breath of fresh air the show needed though, especially with whose been playing him.

But overall, I agree that Malcolm was the show's best antagonist, even if only because he was handled alright the longest, up until his character assassination in the current season. That said though, compared to S3, I'm surprised this is the only main problem I have with S4, aside from the now usual bullshit with Felicity.

Yeah, he was in control over himself for the most part in S2's present day arc, but you'd think he wouldn't have fallen for such a cheap trick.
And yeah, much like Malcolm, they've shafted Slade after his Big Bad arc was over. I liked Slade as Oliver's friend.
I forget but why exactly did Oliver take out his eye? Was is just a random thing for Oliver or was there any extra meaning behind it?

Yep. The actor's cool, but they butchered the character. The whole legacy character bit was cool though, but they've ruined that as well now.

Yeah, I still have hopes for Darhk. At this point, I've found Baron Reiter to be more intimidating.

Yeah, S4 has been a lot better than S3, and yeah, some of the dumbest things have involved Felicity.
Show needs more crossovers.

The crossovers and guest stars really do make this show. The angsty drama constantly threatens to make me stop watching, but there's always something to like. They need to ramp up the silliness. Vixen, Flash crossovers, that buildup they did with Vandal Savage, the crazier stuff involving the League, Slade, and Darhk. All good.

Originally posted by Demonic Phoenix
Yeah, he was in control over himself for the most part in S2's present day arc, but you'd think he wouldn't have fallen for such a cheap trick.
And yeah, much like Malcolm, they've shafted Slade after his Big Bad arc was over. I liked Slade as Oliver's friend.
I forget but why exactly did Oliver take out his eye? Was is just a random thing for Oliver or was there any extra meaning behind it?

Yep. The actor's cool, but they butchered the character. The whole legacy character bit was cool though, but they've ruined that as well now.

Yeah, I still have hopes for Darhk. At this point, I've found Baron Reiter to be more intimidating.

Yeah, S4 has been a lot better than S3, and yeah, some of the dumbest things have involved Felicity.
Show needs more crossovers.

Yep... =(

I do have to wonder now if Reiter will somehow be relevant in the present-day arc of the season. Either way, gotta agree about him.

Speaking of some of that other stuff, while it wasn't a crossover necessarily, I did like what they did with today's episode; Curtis sorta becoming part of the team and all that. Yeah, he's cheesy, but he's a more fun character than Felicity's been for a long time, so him being the team's new computer technician/hacker is fine by me. The complete change in direction with Felicity's role is fine now too, considering. There even being some short comedy moments that gave me a slight laugh like the Flash; didn't think Arrow was ever capable of that again, haha. (oh, and I'm not talking about the terrible bee puns, lol)

Interesting episode. I actually enjoyed the over-the-top villain and plot and, aside from Oliver's bit of moping, didn't mind the rest of it either.

And, based on the ending,

Spoiler:
it seems like Andy is way more than just some grunt or pawn. The fact that he also has ties to Reiter further supports this IMO.

The idols shown both look extremely similar actually, now that I think about it. And Reiter also gained tk as a result of being empowered by one, just like Darhk.

Darhk getting beaten down by two prison thugs was lame, but I like how he got the last laugh in the end.

Also, the overall action choreography of the episode looked better than it has in weeks.

Spoiler:
Hoping Darhk will somehow be able to get back at Merlyn after the last dialogue/encounter they just had

Spoiler:
Not sure how to feel about the Andy thing yet, at least until we learn just how he's their "ace in the hole".

decent episode last night... glad it had a comedic tone

I enjoyed the lighter tone. The Flash manages to consistently find the right balance, but Arrow is often very grim, and becomes less enjoyable because of all the constant drama. This last episode was a bit of a breath of fresh air IMO.

Yep. Let's just hope it stays like that again, at least for awhile.

Same.

lol. the muscle for the fodder villain had the best costume this show has ever seen.

this ep was good based on the 'My Girl' reference alone.

Oh sh*t, I missed the My Girl reference. Agreed on the costume. It was slick as hell.

If this is a well-reviewed episode, though, I may have to think about seriously quitting, and dropping down to just Flash and maybe LoT. It didn't click with me, and I'm struggling to remember the last episode that did (that wasn't a team-up or Flash crossover).

Originally posted by Ridley_Prime
Yeah.. Blame the mirakuru or the writing for that I guess.
Aye... As for your question, there seems to be a number of different continuities in the comics and somesuch that shows how Slade loses one of his eyes, one of which was due to Green Arrow stabbing him in the eye with an arrow in Identity Crisis, so I guess they took a page from that for the show here.

Yep... =(

I do have to wonder now if Reiter will somehow be relevant in the present-day arc of the season. Either way, gotta agree about him.

Speaking of some of that other stuff, while it wasn't a crossover necessarily, I did like what they did with today's episode; Curtis sorta becoming part of the team and all that. Yeah, he's cheesy, but he's a more fun character than Felicity's been for a long time, so him being the team's new computer technician/hacker is fine by me. The complete change in direction with Felicity's role is fine now too, considering. There even being some short comedy moments that gave me a slight laugh like the Flash; didn't think Arrow was ever capable of that again, haha. (oh, and I'm not talking about the terrible bee puns, lol)

Probably writing. Hardly surprising really.
No, I meant that did Oliver specifically target his eye because of something significant in-universe?

Ra's made an appearance on Legends of Tomorrow's episode last night. He was cool there.

Reiter should be relevant. I doubt if he is still alive, but he displayed powers that were a lot like Darhk's. Although I do not recall if Darhk ever laughed off bullets.

Yeah, they need someone like Curtis/Felicity on the team. His humour and geekiness was a big part of why I liked the episode. Is he going to be a part of the team though? Didn't he say that it wasn't the sort of life for him?

I would like Felicity a whole lot more if she had far more moments of verbal-slip ups and motor mouth speeches as opposed to her romance drama queen moments with Oliver. Even her intelligence took a bit of a backseat to that imo considering more of her idiotic moments happen because of said drama.

Originally posted by Digi
The crossovers and guest stars really do make this show. The angsty drama constantly threatens to make me stop watching, but there's always something to like. They need to ramp up the silliness. Vixen, Flash crossovers, that buildup they did with Vandal Savage, the crazier stuff involving the League, Slade, and Darhk. All good.

Agreed, Arrow definitely needs more comic-book esque stuff and less soap-opera stuff. 👆
S4 has had some pretty good guest appearances. Constantine, Vixen, and the Legends of Tomorrow setup episodes especially. Even the calculator was pretty interesting.

Originally posted by marwash22
lol. the muscle for the fodder villain had the best costume this show has ever seen.

this ep was good based on the 'My Girl' reference alone.

What was the reference?

Originally posted by Demonic Phoenix
Probably writing. Hardly surprising really.
No, I meant that did Oliver specifically target his eye because of something significant in-universe?

Ra's made an appearance on Legends of Tomorrow's episode last night. He was cool there.

Reiter should be relevant. I doubt if he is still alive, but he displayed powers that were a lot like Darhk's. Although I do not recall if Darhk ever laughed off bullets.

Yeah, they need someone like Curtis/Felicity on the team. His humour and geekiness was a big part of why I liked the episode. Is he going to be a part of the team though? Didn't he say that it wasn't the sort of life for him?

I would like Felicity a whole lot more if she had far more moments of verbal-slip ups and motor mouth speeches as opposed to her romance drama queen moments with Oliver. Even her intelligence took a bit of a backseat to that imo considering more of her idiotic moments happen because of said drama.

Gave my impressions on it in the LoT thread. An okay appearance for what it was, I suppose.

mmm

Still have yet to see, but think you may be right, sadly.

Aye... After today's episode though, I'm even more mad that Felicity wasn't one to actually die,

Spoiler:
but props to the show for actually having the balls to kill someone important again I guess, even though I didn't like that it was Laurel, but hey.

Rolled my eyes at first when there was more drama again after how much a change there was in the episode prior, but was satisfied when it didn't turn out to be another "let's shit on Oliver" plot, and that he was actually right about Andy.

Well...

Spoiler:
Andy is an a**hole, and now we're going to have to deal with Emo Diggle for the rest of the season, because he shares a big part of the responsibility by not listening to Oliver. And now Laurel is dead. Just when she started becoming likable again. Should have been robo-spine instead.

they just killed her because WB is going to put Black Canary in Justice League or so the rumor suggests