Arrow 4.10 “Blood Debts”

“Blood Debts” picks up right after the events seen in “Dark Waters” as Felicity goes in for emergency surgery and Oliver goes on a tear to find Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough). None of Darhk’s ghosts will give their leader up though, so desperate times call for desperate measures. John tries to beat the information out of his brother, Andy (Eugene Byrd), to no avail and Detective Lance tells Oliver the address where he and Darhk have met previous, even though this is sure to tip H.I.V.E.’s agent off that Lance and Green Arrow are working together. When the Green Arrow arrives at Darhk’s office, he finds a group of dead ghosts, courtesy of Lonnie Machin (Alexander Calvert, who was previously seen in “The Candidate” episode) and the former enforcer’s signature anarchy sign, written in blood. Machin is also gunning for Darhk and he seems to be one step closer to Damian than Team Arrow.

Detective Lance confirms that the blood at the crime scene is that of Machin’s foster parents, who he murdered and it is in their home that Team Arrow find him, avoid his death trap he had set-up for Darhk’s men and capture Machin. The Green Arrow’s interrogation of Machin has to keep as Felicity’s mom lets him know that something has happened and it is bad. Thea stands watch over Machin and finds out that he doesn’t blame her for the burns he suffered when they previously met, but rather he thanks her for freeing him at last. She was responsible for his ‘baptism of fire.’ He taunts Thea by mentioning the hunger in her eyes for death. He says he recognizes it and this strikes a nerve, one that provokes Thea enough to do damage, if not for the arrival of the police that Laurel has called.

Meanwhile, Oliver learns Felicity’s diagnosis is worse than anticipated. Donna (Charlotte Ross), who is clearly stunned that Oliver is just now showing up to see her daughter, tells him that the damage to Felicity’s spinal cord is too great. Felicity will never be able to walk again. If Ollie was desperate before, he really has nothing to lose now and the Green Arrow goes to free Machin from police custody with the order to end Darhk once and for all. The Green Arrow has a tracker on the psycho and he plans to use it to bring both men down. It happens the tracker’s location coincides with a place that Andy gives up to John, which turns out to be Darhk’s home.

The team arrives to find Machin holding Darhk’s wife, Ruvé (Janet Kidder) and daughter (Tuesday Hoffman) hostage and waiting for his final reckoning with Darhk. Team Arrow arrives first though and Diggle and Black Canary rescue Darhk’s family and get them to safety as Green Arrow and Speedy take on Machin. The archers split up when Machin makes a run for it. Green Arrow runs into Darhk who thanks him for saving his family and tells the Emerald Archer that he’ll give him a few weeks to spend with his loved ones before he ends things once and for all. Meanwhile, Speedy captures Machin, but loses him again after he taunts her about her bloodlust.

Ruvé claims that she and her daughter are not related to Darhk and so they are not in protective custody. Darhk has his family safe though and his wife chastises him for not killing the Green Arrow when he had a chance. She mentions the Genesis Project that was introduced in the previous episode and how close it is to completion. It would appear she is just a cold as her better half and is and just a much in the middle of this plot by H.I.V.E. as he is.

Once again, Arrow goes above and beyond the efforts of Season Three and delivers a solid hour of television. Felicity’s diagnosis was one twist I had not seen coming. There had been some rumblings that the Arrow producers wanted to make her the new Oracle since DC’s 52 reboot pretty much did away with that alter ego for Barbara Gordon. Looks like they are making good on that idea. While I don’t relish the idea of the character being paralyzed, I’m just happy to see her alive. I’ll be honest, Emily Bett Rickards is about 40% of the reason I love this show. If they lost her…well, I’d still watch, but it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.

One theme that runs throughout this entire episode is the fear that Oliver will go back to his old ways. At one time or another in the course of this story, Detective Lance, Diggle and especially Felicity express concern that Oliver is going back to his old ways, that he is turning his back on his vow to not kill again and they are all worried about this. What is interesting to note is that the episode begins and ends at the gravesite that has been seen all season. At the beginning, Oliver is standing by it with Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and he tells the speedster, “Now I know it’s not my fault. It’s my responsibility.” When Barry asks what that responsibility is, Oliver comments, “To end it. I’m going to kill him.”

At the end of the episode, Oliver gets in a limo where Felicity is waiting and she echoes his sentiment by telling Ollie, “You have to kill the son of a bitch.” While it is good to know Felicity makes it to the end of the season, it is clear that whoever is in that grave was someone whose death will impact both of them and it is a death that can’t go unavenged. While we can scratch Felicity off the list of people who could be in that grave (sorry anyone who had money on it being her), the glimpse we get of her at the end of this episode is of someone who is cold and damaged. I have a fear, based on the curt exchange she and Ollie have, that their relationship is going to be strained by season’s end.

For the uber comic book geeks out there, Lonnie Machin shows up in this episode sporting a mask that helps hide his burns. This goes a little further to making him look like his character in the Batman comics, Anarky. As the story unfolds, he proves to have a knack for getting under Thea Queen’s skin. Who knows, we might be seeing the beginning of Speedy having her own nemesis.

Finally, we get more action on the island as Ollie is brought before Reiter (Jimmy Akingbola) by Conklin (Ryan Robbins) and is spared only when the tattoos that Constantine (Matt Ryan) gave to Queen previously begin to glow. Reiter knows Ollie could be of use to him in the future, and for now, he’ll be kept alive and unharmed, along with Taiana (Elysia Rotaru). It looks like that plot will finally be picking up some steam now, which is good.

As I said, “Blood Debts” delivers the goods this time around and I am convinced that a few more solid episodes like this one and Arrow will be back to its former glory. As it is, it rates a solid 4.