Arrow Review: Blood Debts (Season 4 Episode 10)

Let’s all let out a huge sigh of relief. FELICITY LIVES!

Not that it was ever too much in question, what with Emily Bett Rickards still filming episodes, and countless promos foretelling her survival and subsequent diagnosis. But still, those regular people who don’t troll the internet for spoilers must have been downright frantic.

This episode of Arrow doesn’t move at quiet the brisk pace the mid-season finale did, but that’s not technically a bad thing. We’ve got to build moment again, moving into second half the season, and that’s exactly what “Blood Debts” does.

First, we have the slow progress of Andy Diggle. No longer being treated like a prisoner, Andy decides to give up the location of Darhk’s family home in exchange for a bit of soul-bearing from Diggle. For a while now, it’s seemed like Andy’s fate would be decidedly tragic. A brainwashed, drug-dealing, assassin does not make for the best redemption arc. However, now that we’ve seen some brotherly affection between Andy and John, you almost have to hope that there’s a happy ending for these two brothers. The alternative is Diggle losing his brother again just as he begins to find him.

Next up, Thea’s slow but steady recovery from her inner bloodlust. It’s been unclear at best, whether Thea still feels the insatiable urge to kill that plagued her at the beginning of the season, or if Darhk’s juju managed to kick that habit for good. The answer seems to lie somewhere in the middle. The rage and murderous intent are still there, just not quiet so hard to fight anymore.

And now that Thea has a sexy new love interest to keep her on the straight and narrow, she might just be able to keep herself from setting any more bad guys on fire.

Finally, Felicity’s paralysis has created the perfect ‘slow burn’ arc for the rest of the season. Too often, the superhero aspect of the show gets in the way of any extended character arcs for these crime fighters, which can be a bummer. Even in a wheelchair, Felicity can crime fight with the best of them, but I’m more curious to see the physical and mental challenges that come with this diagnosis when she’s not saving the city, and more importantly, how she fights through them.

There is another possible route this paralysis subplot could take though.

Paralyzing Felicity permanently could just be a ruse, while the real plan is to find a way to ‘cure’ her by the end of the year. After all, we can’t forget that she works at the world’s most innovative tech company (the one that help produce Ray Palmer’s Atom suit), and her new BFF is a master inventor. Whether it’s nanites, or leg braces, or whatever, who’s to say Curtis Holt can’t find a way for Felicity to walk again with some technology based assistance?

After all, he did promise the company a new invention that would revolution technology as we know it.

Other thoughts:

• I can’t be the only one that noticed Felicity’s ring was missing in that limo flashforward, right?
• It’s seeming more and more like Diggle might be in the grave now, and that’s terrifying!
• I wonder what Roy will think of Thea’s new boyfriend? He’s returning to Star City, according to the new mid-season trailer.

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Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

Lindsay MacDonald

Lindsay is an associate editor for Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer, viewer, and internet addict. Her obsession with TV started with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and has been going strong ever since; current favorites include Scandal, The 100, The Walking Dead, and Arrow. She considers a perfect Friday night to be a joint-cuddle-session between an adorable puppy dog and her Netflix queue. Follow @lindsayjoane