Fourth season of ‘Arrow’ hits right on target

The CW’s “Arrow” has debuted its fourth season and DC Comics’ Emerald Archer is back with a vengeance. When the show originally hit the air in fall 2012 viewers were immediately hooked. Not only did it get a strong second season, its success created a universe that gave life to more DC shows on The CW. The third season, unfortunately, left fans disappointed as it tried too hard to tie in “The Flash” and the upcoming “Legends of Tomorrow.” Fortunately, Season 4’s first couple of episodes have been a big improvement from last season.

After the events of Season 3, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) have left Team Arrow to live their life happily as a couple. But their bliss is put to a halt when Starling City, now known as Star City, is under attack by a group of skilled mercenaries known as Ghosts led by a man with mystical powers named Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough). Darhk plans to terrorize Star City and targets the city’s leadership such as the district attorney and police department, creating chaos. Team Arrow, consisting of Oliver’s sister Thea (Willa Holland), Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) and John Diggle (David Ramsey), reaches out to Oliver and Felicity to help out because Darhk’s forces are too powerful. Oliver, not wanting to bring The Arrow back with him to avoid him going back into the darkness, takes on a new identity as the Green Arrow and he and Team Arrow must put a stop to Darhk’s evil plans.

arrow-season-4-thea-speedyContributed photo/The CW

Willa Holland prepares for a showdown for a deadly criminal in The CW’s “Arrow,” which started its fourth season on Oct.7.

Season 4 doesn’t hesitate to kick things into gear as it gets straight to the chaos and gives viewers an idea of what’s to come this season. The action sequences are bound to keep viewers engaged. McDonough makes his debut as Darhk known as he gives a great performance as the season’s main villain. Previous seasons showed backstories on central villains, making you feel for them and understand why they’re the way they are. With Darhk, it’s clear he is pure evil and McDonough portrays the level of villainy perfectly.

Amell, who plays the title character, does an amazing job and is also a versatile actor mastering the action scenes and scenes that involve dialogue. The romantic chemistry between him and Rickards is handled very well and is improved over last season. This season not only gets to the action right away but also twists as well. Without diving away any spoilers, the twists will make fan’s jaws drop to the floor and have them anxiously waiting every Wednesday night.

“Arrow” airs at 7 p.m. Wednesdays on The CW. If you missed the last few episodes you can go to CWtv.com to catch up. And Seasons 1 through 3 of “Arrow” are available on Netflix and Hulu if you want start from the beginning and binge watch.

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