Check out Violet’s recap of Season 4 Episode 10 of Arrow, titled Blood Debts, where Oliver tries to track down Damien Darhk for vengeance, and we also see the return of Lonnie Machin (a.k.a. Anarky)! Following the recap, both Josh and Violet share their thoughts about the episode.
Don’t need the Arrow episode recap for Blood Debts? Click here to jump directly to Violet’s thoughts on the episode!
To see Josh’s thoughts on this week’s Arrow episode, Blood Debts, click here to get directly there!
Episode Recap of Arrow, Season 4 Episode 10: Blood Debts
The episode begins four months in the future, with Oliver and Barry standing over a fresh grave. Oliver vows to kill “him” – presumably Damien Darhk.
In present day, Felicity is rushed to the emergency room. Oliver goes out as the Green Arrow, attacking Ghosts in an effort to find Darhk, but he isn’t having any luck, which he reports to Diggle at the Arrow Cave. Laurel stops by to inform Oliver that Felicity is going into another surgery, but he opts to stay there and find something useful from the tip line, saying it’s what Felicity would want him to do.
Diggle and Laurel join Thea and Donna at the hospital to see Felicity before she goes into her next surgery. Felicity is confident that she’ll be fine.
Diggle then goes to see Andy, who is still being held in an iron bar cage, to ask him about Darhk. He attacks his brother in an effort to get information.
Oliver stops by the police station to talk to Captain Lance and asks him where he’s been meeting with Darhk. Lance gives him the address of the office building, and Oliver heads out. When Green Arrow shows up there, he finds dead bodies and the Anarky symbol.
Back at the Arrow Cave, the team meets, and Oliver tells them about Lonnie Machin and the Anarky symbol that he found. Oliver tries to find info on Machin, while Laurel says she’ll ask her dad if SCPD found anything at the crime scene.
Diggle returns home to Lyla, who notices Diggle’s bloody knuckles. He tells her that the other guy was Andy. Lyla encourages Diggle to reach out to Andy as his brother, rather than a Ghost.
At the hospital, Thea and Laurel discuss Machin’s return, which worries Thea. When they enter Felicity’s room (while Felicity is away in surgery), they are surprised to walk in on Lance and Donna hugging. Thea and Donna go down to the cafeteria so Laurel and her dad can talk. They are both worried about each other. Lance gets a text that the blood at the crime scene got two matches.
Laurel reports back to the Arrow Cave that the matches were Machin’s foster parents, who were kidnapped 3 days ago. They hack into the security cameras at Machin’s former home, and see that Machin is there, so they head out.
The Arrow Team arrives to find the house a mess, and find Machin sitting on the couch, wearing a clear mask, watching TV. Machin is surprised to see the Arrow Team rather than Darhk’s guys. Machin has rigged up automatic firearms, which shoot at the team. They soon disable the guns. Meanwhile, Machin goes after Speedy, takes off his mask, and tells her he doesn’t want to hurt or kill her, because she’s the one that helped him find himself. Black Canary comes over to help, but as he goes to attack Laurel, Green Arrow and Diggle knock him out.
The Arrow Team brings Machin to an empty warehouse and tie him to a pole. When Machin comes to, Green Arrow asks him where Damien Darhk is. He isn’t being very helpful, which angers Oliver. Thea interrupts to tell him that Felicity is out of surgery, and insists that he go see her.
Diggle goes to talk to Andy again. He follows Lyla’s advice, talking to him brother to brother, and begs him to tell him where Darhk is. Andy tells Diggle that Darhk used to talk about Stonehaven, and how the leaves looked in Autumn.
Speedy stays behind to guard Machin, who thanks her for what she did to him. Then he taunts her, despite her claims that she can control herself. She puts an arrow to his throat, which trickles just a bit of blood, when the cops pull up, and she runs away.
Oliver finds Donna sitting outside of Felicity’s hospital room. Donna tells him that the damage to Felicity’s spinal cord is permanent, and she’s never going to walk again.
Green Arrow interrupts the police transport of Lonnie Machin, who still refuses to give up Darhk’s location. Oliver shoots an arrow breaking through the chains holding his handcuffs together, and tells Machin to make sure Darhk is dead, then walks off.
Oliver returns to the Arrow Cave and Laurel scolds him for breaking Machin out of police custody. Oliver defends his actions, and says he put a tracker on Machin, which will lead them to Darhk. Diggle comes in and reports the lead he got from Andy. Diggle says that whatever Oliver’s play is, he has his back. However, he warns Oliver not to lose what made Felicity fall in love with him in the first place.
Thea stops by to see Oliver’s campaign manager, Alex, and tells him that she can’t see him anymore due to her anger management issues. He says he’ll be there when she’s ready.
Thea returns to the Arrow Cave, where they are dismayed to learn that they’ve lost the signal to Machin’s tracker. Oliver didn’t have a plan other than that, so they tell him that he needs to go be with Felicity.
Oliver goes to the hospital, where Felicity is laying in her bed. He apologizes for not coming by sooner, and gives her an update on the Darhk situation. He says he doesn’t know what the point of being Green Arrow if he can’t protect the people closest to him, but Felicity says what’s the point if he loses himself in the process? He puts Felicity’s engagement ring back on her, and says, “For better, for worse.”
Later, while Felicity is asleep, Laurel comes by. Oliver and Laurel agree that Felicity is stronger than all of them. Laurel tells Oliver that thanks to Andy’s info, they have discovered a residential address for Darhk. Oliver decides to accompany the team.
At Darhk’s house, Machin has Darhk’s wife and daughter bound and gagged. Apparently, Darhk is on his way, but he’s running late. Just when Darhk is about to use his flamethrower on them, the Arrow team shows up and stops him. Green Arrow and Speedy fight Machin, while Black Canary and Diggle free Darhk’s wife and daughter. Machin runs off, and Green Arrow and Speedy split up to look for him.
Green Arrow comes across Darhk and fights him. Darhk demands to know where his family is, and Oliver reveals that he saved them. In exchange for saving his family, Darhk says he’ll give Green Arrow a few weeks to spend with his own.
Meanwhile, Speedy finds Machin, ties him to a tree, and pulls her bow on him, as he taunts her. Speedy sends the arrow flying at him, but she misses on purpose. Machin breaks free using a pocketknife, attacks Speedy, knocking her to the ground, and runs off.
Back at the Arrow Cave, the team reconvenes, along with Captain Lance. Apparently, Darhk’s wife and daughter are not in police custody, as they told police that they weren’t Darhk’s wife and daughter, and had fake IDs. Thea’s upset that she let Machin get away, but Oliver’s just glad she’s alright.
Diggle goes down to Andy’s cell and plays cards with him.
Thea invites Alex over, and it seems she’s ready to start things back up.
When Felicity wakes up, Oliver is sitting by her bedside, and they talk. She seems to want to continue going after Darhk.
In the back of a limo, Darhk sits with his wife and daughter. As his daughter sleeps, his wife criticizes him, saying he should have killed the Green Arrow tonight. He reminds her that he promised her a new beginning, which she will have once they’ve brought this world to its end.
Four months from now, Oliver leaves the gravesite, and gets into a limo, where Felicity is sitting. In tears she tells Oliver, “You know what you have to do, right? You have to kill that son of a b*tch.”
In the flashback, Conklin marches Oliver and Taiana to Reiter. Oliver is injured and not doing very well. Conklin gives Reiter the maps Oliver found. Oliver tries to play it off as having retrieved them for Reiter, but Reiter no longer trusts Oliver. Reiter then allows Conklin to whip Oliver. However, as he whips him, the tattoo on Oliver’s stomach begins to glow, and Reiter orders Conklin to stop. In the confusion, Oliver takes Conklin’s gun, and holds it to his own chin. Oliver says he can help Reiter find what he needs in exchange for Taiana’s safety. Reiter agrees, despite Conklin’s protests. Conklin puts Oliver and Taiana in a prison cell together. Taiana nurses his wounds and thanks him for saving her life. She says he is a good man and that her brother would have liked him.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 4 Episode 10 of Arrow: Blood Debts
Well, now we know for sure that Felicity is not the one in the grave, even though I’m pretty sure most of us had already guessed that, and probably felt that way from the moment the grave was introduced. The question of who is in the grave still remains, however. After this episode, I’m thinking it’s Diggle. I think he’s the only one whose death would cause such an upset response from both Felicity and Oliver, and whose funeral that Barry would make it a point to attend.
There was a lot going on in this episode, between Felicity’s surgeries, the return of Anarky, and Oliver’s search for Damien Darhk. We also saw the return of old school angry Oliver, which was understandable, considering he was seeking vengeance for the woman he loves. I think by the end of the episode, both Oliver’s and Thea’s bloodlust were under control. However, I don’t know if Thea’s bloodlust is actually under control, or she just thinks it is for now. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it come through again.
So now Felicity supposedly will never walk again. For some reason, I have a feeling that her paralysis is only temporary, considering how many characters on this show have come back from apparent death. In comparison, paralysis should be an easy fix, especially with how many geniuses they knew, including Felicity herself.
I am curious to see what Damien Darhk’s next move is…
Josh’s Thoughts: Arrow, Season 4 Episode 10: Blood Debts
Arrow is finally back! In more than just being back on TV too–he seems to be returning to his old ways, as the wounding of Felicity has really put a fire under Oliver to find Darhk and end him. Unfortunately, as he has already tried, attempting to have Ghosts rat out Darhk’s location still isn’t working, yet Oliver continues to try. It is a little sad he is trying so hard to get vengeance that he is not visiting his wounded fiancée. This must be particularly frustrating to Felicity’s mom as she has no idea Oliver is the Arrow anyway.
Speaking of Felicity’s mom, apparently Laurel now knows about her and Lance’s relationship. I guess it is good it is out in the open now.
It is sad to hear that Felicity might not walk again though. I have a feeling this will not be a permanent thing for the show, and something will happen to let her walk again–whether it is something built for her or she is able to “miraculously” recover, I can’t imagine her being wheelchair bound forever. Unless she plans to turn into Professor F (instead of X–get it?!)
We will have to see how Oliver moves forward with his mission to capture Darhk though. He seems to be willing to make some pretty drastic moves to do so, with his freeing of Anarky. It certainly is a good idea to take Darhk down, but I guess the real question is how much does one sacrifice in the name of good? Of course, Oliver is also fueled by vengeance, which is not generally coinciding with good, which is why we are seeing a more off-kilter Oliver.
While it is tough seeing Oliver let go of his humanity again, it is interesting to see where this takes him. I am looking forward to to the confrontation with Darhk, when it happens. I guess the question is, what is Oliver going to do when he does find him? So far, everything Oliver has thrown at Darhk has had minimal effect on him. So far, he is fighting a losing battle, even when he is face to face with Darhk. I am sure we will get more answers, but we will probably have awhile before we get them.
Scenes from Arrow, Season 4 Episode 11: A.W.O.L.
Here are scenes from the next Arrow episode, titled A.W.O.L.:
