'Arrow' Review: "Unchained"

Nora Dominick ’17/ Emertainment Monthly Co-Executive Stage Editor
This week’s brand-new episode of Arrow brought back an old favorite and offered twists and turns around every corner. When a mysterious tech mastermind named The Calculator (Tom Amandes) appears in Star City, Team Arrow must take him out before he wipes the city off the map. Arrow continues to explore Felicity’s (Emily Bett Rickards) disability and offered a heartbreaking obstacle for Thea (Willa Holland). Arrow delivered classic action heavy, fast paced moments in the latest episode “Unchained.”
Roy Harper, the Arrow universe has missed your sweet face and adorable charm. This week Colton Haynes was welcomed back to Arrow and it was one of the young actors best episodes to date. Last season, fans had to bid Roy goodbye when he faked his own death after revealing he was the Arrow. Haynes has been greatly missed on Arrow, but his comeback episode was one of the actors best to date. When Team Arrow goes up against a thief that is stealing tech throughout Star City, they aren’t ready when it turns out that thief is Roy. Stephen Amell said it best when he described this episode as “Hardcore Parkour” and that’s exactly what it was. The entire stunt team, led by Curtis Bracconier, brought their A-game and further proved Arrow’s stunt team is one of the best on TV. One moment that stick out in this episode is when Oliver is chasing down Roy through Star City. The jumps off buildings, running and jumping onto moving vehicles are so beautifully synchronized it’s like an elaborate dance. The stunt team continues to bring their A-game and this episode capitalized on their abilities.
Another incredible fight sequence that happened this week on Arrow involved Roy and Curtis (Echo Kellum). When Roy breaks into Palmer Tech to steal a final piece of tech for The Calculator, Curtis and Roy go head to head. This is one of the first times fans have seen Curtis engage in a physical altercation and he held his own. Echo Kellum continues to be a wonderful addition to Arrow this season and seeing the early makings of him turning into a superhero was very special. As Curtis gets a few great punches and even uses the T-Sphere while protecting his new piece of tech, Team Arrow swoops in to finish the job. The entire scene is beautifully shot and once again the stunt team further proves their incredible abilities. When Felicity, oh we’re sorry Overwatch, spies a camera-contact on Roy, Green Arrow shoots him thus continuing the cycle of Roy pretending to be dead.

Having Roy awaken in the new Arrow Cave is an amazing scene for any long-time Arrow fan. Having him surrounded by Oliver, Felicity, Diggle (David Ramsey) and Laurel (Katie Cassidy) is something truly special. Colton Haynes dominates every single scene he’s part of this week and his interactions with his old teammates are incredible. Emily Bett Rickards and Colton Haynes fall perfectly in sync once again from the first moment Roy spies Felicity. The small moment where the duo exchange a look acknowledging Felicity’s accident says it all. Rickards and Haynes continue to be the best friends on television today and their scenes together are always beautifully acted.
Stephen Amell and Colton Haynes bring “brotp” to a whole new level this week on Arrow. The duo have always had a special relationship, but it was out in full force in “Unchained.” Amell and Haynes have several incredible moments together this week. After getting patched up in the Arrow cave, Oliver and Roy reminisce about the past. This scene allows them to finally discuss the event of last season when Roy faked his own death to protect Oliver. Oliver tells Roy, “I’m sorry that I put you in this position,” to which Roy replies, “Do you ever get tired, carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders all the time?” The duo create some of the best scenes on Arrow this week and fans are reminded why Haynes and Amell dominated scenes together in previous seasons.

Last week’s episode of Arrow fans watched as Felicity dealt with her disability and the idea of not being part of Team Arrow. This week, the classic Felicity Smoak is back in full force and what better way to get her mojo back than going up against a super hacker and dealing with Palmer Tech. When Palmer Tech wants to push up the release of Curtis’ new super battery, Felicity must face one of her own fears: pitching the tech to an entire board room. Everything is going smoothly until one of the board members suggests someone who isn’t in a wheelchair and is more confident run the pitch. Emily Bett Rickards has showcased every side to Felicity this season. Felicity’s injury isn’t simply ignored, she is constantly dealing with this massive life-change as the episodes progress.
One of Rickards best scenes this week comes opposite Echo Kellum. From the beginning of season 4, the duo have touched upon a beautiful dynamic for their characters. After Felicity engages in a hack off with The Calculator, she realizes she needs a piece of tech Ray (Brandon Routh) built in order to stop him. As she comes wheeling into Palmer Tech, confident and prepared as ever, Curtis takes the time to instill some words of wisdom on his friend. Curtis tells Felicity, “There are two Felicitys, Felicity. The one in that board room whose wheelchair makes her doubt herself. And this Felicity. Brilliant force of nature. This company needs the second Felicity.” Kellum and Rickards continue to create one of the best friendships on Arrow and this pep talk solidifies this. Kellum has ascended to one of the best guest stars on Arrow this season and fans are clamoring for him to become a bigger presence. Rickards has the natural ability to click with any actor she works with and that shows in this emotional, heartwarming scene opposite Kellum.

Thea Queen was riding the struggle bus this week on Arrow. This episode begins with Speedy and Green Arrow trying to apprehend a thief (now assumed to be Roy), but suddenly Speedy collapses and almost falls off a building. It turns out the effects of the Lazarus Pit are worse than suspected. Malcolm (John Barrowman) tells Oliver and Thea that because Thea is suppressing her bloodlust it is slowly eating away at her. Talk about scary. Amell and Holland have some very impressive, emotional moments in this episode of Arrow. With Thea getting worse and worse, Oliver reveals he has set up a meeting with Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) so he can help Thea get better. In a devastating interaction Ollie tells Thea, “I can’t let you die… I won’t.” If the tears in Amell’s eyes aren’t enough to rip your heart open, it might be Thea’s reply that sends you over the edge. She tells her big brother, “That’s not up to you. You can’t fix this one Ollie.” Amell and Holland have established one of the best sibling relationships on TV and this scene further proves it.
While Oliver grapples with Thea’s condition, Team Arrow and Arsenal spring into action when Felicity figures out where The Calculator will be launching his tech device. In another epic action sequence, Team Arrow must figure out how to stop The Calculator’s device, while Felicity engages in an epic hack battle with him. The stunts continue to be the best, however what makes this sequence great is the mixture of stunts with pure emotion. When Felicity can’t remote detonate a bomb, Roy volunteers to stay behind. In an emotional moment, Oliver tells Roy, “You just got a fresh start, I don’t want you to throw that away.” Roy replies with the perfect hero answer when he says, “It’s my life. My choice.” The stunt team once again kicks it into high gear as Roy blows up the building and comes swinging out in true vigilante form. The stunt team on Arrow delivered some of their best work in this week’s episode and here’s hoping they continue to repeat the epicness as the season progresses.
Although every actor on Arrow delivered stellar performances this week, it was Willa Holland and Colton Haynes who knocked the ball so far out of the park it’s going to take us an entire week to find it. After helping Team Arrow save the day, Roy decides it’s time for him to leave Star City once again, but not before an emotional exchange with an ailing Thea. Holland and Haynes continue to showcase their unmatchable chemistry and deliver one of their best scenes to date. When Thea realizes things aren’t looking good for her, she tells Roy, “Go live an amazing life. Get married. Have a couple of kids. Get a minivan. Just go be normal. There’s nothing in this world that would make me happier than that.” Any Arrow fan who has followed this duo’s incredible journey was most likely sobbing at this point. The writing coupled with Holland’s brilliant acting makes this scene one of the most emotional. Roy replies to Thea by saying, “You know if I could do this all over again, I would do every single one of those things with you.” Haynes delivers the line with such raw emotion that Arrow fans are left in a puddle on the floor. This brilliantly acted scene ends with Thea and Roy exchanging “I love you’s” and it’s perfect. The duo have created one of the best, most heartbreaking relationships on TV and it makes fans miss Haynes even more. We think we speak for every Arrow fan right now when we say, we love you Roy Harper and Thea Queen.

By episode’s end, Thea slips into a coma and Oliver desperately tries to figure out how to save his little sister. Little does he know that during the episode, Nyssa (Katrina Law) travelled to Japan, epicly fought Katana/Tatsu (Rila Fukushima) and got the lotus, a possible cure for the Lazarus Pit bloodlust. Before Oliver can use it on Thea, Nyssa has one condition: kill Malcolm Merlyn. Talk about a crazy twist to end a fast paced episode.
“Dad?” The single word every Arrow fan has been waiting for Felicity Smoak to say for four seasons. In this week’s episode Felicity uttered that word after her successful pitch at Palmer Tech. Felicity wheels around and comes face to face with her estranged Dad, who also happens to be The Calculator. Talk about an Arrow twist for the ages! This moment has been building for four season of Arrow and to see it come to fruition is truly special. How will this revelation effect Felicity? How will Donna Smoak (Charlotte Ross) feel? Next week’s episode will hopefully offer some more answers.

Arrow continues to up the stakes as they keep climbing for the major reveal of the season: Who’s in the grave? With every character, except Oliver and Felicity, looking like possibilities Arrow delivers twist after twist. This week’s episode rode on the shoulder’s of Colton Haynes and Willa Holland’s incredible chemistry and acting and it will be hard to say goodbye to Haynes once again. Arrow has been producing some of its best episodes to date and here’s hoping they continue to get better and better.

Arrow airs Wednesday’s at 8/7c on The CW

Overall Grade: A-

Check out the trailer for next week’s brand-new episode entitled “Sins of the Father”:

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G3TTAu7Epk[/embedyt]