TV Review: ARROW: Season 4, Episode 7: Brotherhood [The CW]

The CW‘s Arrow Brotherhood TV Show Review. Arrow: Season 4, Episode 7: Brotherhood was about family. In particular, Diggle (David Ramsey) was reunited with his brother, but it was not easy to convince Dig the reunion was worth it. He did not want to forgive Andy (Eugene Byrd)for Andy’s criminal past or his apparent decision to join HIVE and abandon his family. Oliver (Stephen Amell) seemed to take the task of “rescuing” Andy  from being one of Damien Darhk’s (Neal McDonough) ghosts personally. Mainly because Oliver himself had prolonged his own reunion with his family for five years without explanation. The team still does not know everything about Oliver’s time away from Star City. So, bringing Andy back into the fold, believing that his absence from his family was somehow not voluntary, was really Oliver’s hope that he too could be forgiven for staying away so long.

We saw some more of what Oliver went through on the island. In the flashback sequence, Oliver had to confess killing his cave friend’s brother, Vlad (Zoran Vukelic) although Oliver does not actually say he killed him, and in self-defense no less. Oliver was forced to punish Conklin (Ryan Robbins) in front of the entire camp for having Vlad attack him. Okay, he was not exactly forced. Oliver was dying for a chance to hurt Conklin. Honestly, I did not cry over that one.

The overall issue in Brotherhood was whether anyone can go into a criminal organization against their will, do awful things, and still be forgiven. Andy was clearly under the influence of a mind altering drug that Darhk administers to his ghosts. In comparison, Oliver was undercover with Reiter (Jimmy Akingbola) and did horrible things to complete his unknown mission on the island. Oliver did the same last year when he infiltrated the League of Assassins in order to take down Ra’s al Ghul. Andy may not have been with Darhk voluntarily, but he confessed that he used to be a criminal before meeting Darhk. Joining HIVE may have been a conscious decision. Others clearly made that choice in the episode. There is a lot to get over when people come back to family after inflicting so much pain. Diggle was understandably sad, thankful, and angry all at once. It was a very emotional episode for Ramsey, and he carried it well.

Darhk approached Oliver offering to boost his campaign for mayor if Oliver abandoned his own proposal to clean up Star City bay. Now, Oliver wants to pretend to collaborate with Damien Darhk in order to bring him down from the inside. Diggle and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) are opposed to this plan and they have reason to be. Working in the shadows never goes well for this team, and Oliver would be jeopardizing his goal to work in the light this time around if he chose to use shady means to get Darhk. After a heart to heart with Diggle, Oliver wisely switched gears and chose to continue with his mayoral campaign plans to clean up the bay in an effort to tell Darhk this fight will happen in the light of day.

The action sequences in Brotherhood felt like they were filmed differently this episode and I kind of liked it. The scenes were filmed with hand-held camera tracking shots that put us right in the middle of the fights. It really showcased the individual fighting styles of the group. I especially loved the fight scene between Speedy (Willa Holland) and Andy Diggle. We followed them from one level into an elevator and onto another level in a two-minute tussle. It was pretty special. Speaking of Speedy, Thea’s struggling with bloodlust again. She nearly beat a guy to death while on a date with Alex (Parker Young), who answered a phone call mysteriously in the middle of the date. Merlyn (John Barrowman) sensed she may be feeling the bloodlust again and showed up just in time to offer up a victim/disgusting criminal for her to kill. Strangely enough, Thea found peace when she randomly encountered Darhk during her fight with Andy. Darhk tried to use his magic on her and it backfired, hurting himself, and causing her bloodlust to go away. I have no idea what that means, but she hopes that Merlyn will help her figure it out. Anything is better than murdering people for sport, which is what Merlyn would suggest.

In other news, Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) was reluctant to reveal he is alive and reclaim his company, feeling the company did nothing productive for the city. He was concerned about his legacy. Felicity was eager to give Ray his company back, but that will not happen soon. Ray chose to leave the company with her, embrace his new life, and find a new path. It was a pretty sweet way to do The Atom origin story.

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