Arrow Season 5 Episode 4 Review: Penance
Paul Dailly
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Why can the team not just leave Wild Dog to rot with Tobias?
On Arrow Season 5 Episode 4 Wild Dog continued to not listen to orders and it's getting a little tiring. He's very much in trouble with Tobias after being captured, but I can't help but think he should just disappear.
It's integral when working as part of a team to follow protocol, but he just can not follow any sort of order that's given to him. It's already rubbing everyone else on the team the wrong way, so why even bother with him?
I just tune out as soon as he has any dialog because he's just so full of angst, and I don't have time for that. Calling Felicity "Blondie" every other scene did nothing to make me like him.
Can someone not allow Oliver to hire the recruits from here on out?
Thus far, Rory seems like the best addition to the team. I was annoyed when he announced his departure, but his reasons were perfectly valid. It was basically a conflict of interest for both him and Felicity.
Felicity was also struggling in the aftermath of it. She knew she was responsible for causing Rory the great loss, but it was one of those situations that nothing good was going to come out of, so she had to make a decision.
Even though Rory is back on the team, I can't help but think a villain will use it to turn him against the team at some point down the line. Maybe Tobias will get wind of Felicity's part in the destruction of Havenrock.
Tobias continues to be one of the best villains on the show in quite some time, but we're not seeing nearly enough Prometheus. We've probably witnessed him in about three scenes.
He needs to do something to add some jeopardy into the show. We need to know this villain means business before getting invested in his storyline.
I enjoyed Oliver and Lyla teaming up to get Diggle out of prison. It was a great way to break away from the drama that was going on for the recruits.
However, I didn't like just how quickly Diggle seemed to get over being back on the outside. He was so adamant that he would pay for a crime he didn't commit with one that the law didn't even know about.
Maybe all it took was getting back to his life at home, but it still seemed rather convoluted, and I would have preferred if we got another episode or two about his struggle to move on.
The way we left him sort of makes me think it's going to be brushed under the rug from here on out. That would not be a good move from the powers that be.
Throughout Arrow Season 5, the flashbacks have been pretty good, but they kind of hit a lull tonight. It was literally a second in a car and then in a jail cell with someone dying.
It really did nothing to advance the plot and the writers need to get a handle on them if we still have a lot of flashbacks to go. It's not asking for much to be entertained for a good chunk of the hour, is it?
All things considered, "Penance" was a decent episode. There are just some minor issues that need to be ironed out for the show to continue to gain ground creatively. Supergirl and DC's Legends of Tomorrow are way more fun to watch, but Arrow seems to be going a bit overboard trying to replicate that with the recruits. All we need is great chemistry between them and we're good to go.
Other tidbits from the episode:
- Did anyone else think there was a chance that Curtis was actually going to die? It was kind of needed to show just how silly Wild Dog had been.
- Keeping Felicity away from Oliver romantically is really doing wonders for the character. I sure hope they remain apart until the show comes to a close.
- Oliver using the lethal solution on the ladders was completely hilarious.
- Is Lance basically becoming a designated driver for when the team get caught up in something serious?
Remember you can watch Arrow online right here on TV Fanatic. Get caught up now!
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Note: Arrow Season 5 Episode 5 airs November 2 on The CW.
Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
