“Lost Souls” opens with a flashback to the end of Season 3, when Ray first attempted his miniaturization technology now that we’re officially aware that he is, in fact, not dead. Instead, he’s actually trapped in a dinky little glass box, an image that looks like it’s pulled right out of a comic book cover when Damien Darhk decides to hover above him. For all the judging that Felicity performed at Holt’s energy drink consumption last week, she’s consuming plenty of junk food herself here to the degree of comparing Ray’s current size to other junk foods. I’ve got to wonder why I’m not a hacker genius myself considering how much caffeine and chips go into my stomach when I write these articles. Felicity is the core character throughout “Lost Souls” as she has an internal crisis about abandoning Ray, to then jump into a relationship with Oliver so quickly. This fills her with guilt now with the knowledge, that while she was off living the Desperate Housewives life, Palmer could have died at any moment.
Felicity’s efforts to save Ray throughout this episode make her the most driven and serious character through the entire episode, so much so that everyone else looks awkwardly lax in comparison. For all the complaining that has been done in the past (by yours truly) about Emily Bett Rickards performances when Felicity needs to become serious, the character isn’t simply emotionally unstable in this episode, she’s focused and on her game as much as she can be while running on low fuel. Where this could have easily been a resurfacing of old romance to complicate the status of a current one, the episode plays Felicity’s issue not as “choosing between two lovers” but rather that she feels like she somehow has lost her sense of identity in her relationship with Oliver. However, up until the point that Felicity speaker her mind, the progression of the episode feels off key with her. The rest of the cast throughout is genuinely hilarious, causing me to particularly loose it when Felicity chews Oliver out over the radio about inviting her mother to town, with everyone else on the team listening in. Between this, and Oliver and Diggle bro-ing out over whiskey to ease the awkward tension, makes for an episode that feels more like The Flash than I’ve ever seen Arrow before, and only more so when Ray returns to normal size in his flashy Atom suit. I just hope that the firmly set tone presented here continues so Felicity can promptly get on board without the other leg still on the Season 3 “darkness train.”
For the Lance family, “Lost Souls” started out far too hunky dory for things to not be depressing and sad by the end of the hour. Sara attempts to get herself back in the crime fighting game by helping the crew search for Palmer, but when put in the position to combat their foes, it proves much harder for her to not beat people to a pulp, or worse, to death, than it even was for Thea. By the episode’s end, she feels she has to go find answers for herself and figure things out, no doubt being one of the last few puzzle pieces to set up our cast for Legends of Tomorrow. It was also curious to see how differently Sara needs to handle the bloodlust from Thea, who seems all too comfortable with the fact that murder is required to hold her sanity. That’s easily expected though, considering who her father is. For Detective Lance, his attempts to help Team Arrow put him at further risk when interacting with Darhk, especially when asking some time wasting questions in the middle of a densely traveled intersection for literally no reason other than to get Darhk out of his headquarters for a few minutes. I’d also imagine he’s lost several respect points using the phrase “Magic Mumbo Jumbo.” Is Darhk up to something about Lance being up to something? We’ll hopefully find out next week, especially considering the promo’s revelation that Andrew Diggle, the soldier-supposedly-turned-crime-lord, is in fact, alive.
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–> FLASHBACK NOTES 4.5 <–
→) The mercs take Oliver back to the place in the ground, Ryder finds a message from “the ancients.”
→) Our bearded merc suspects Oliver is a mole, but Ryder won’t take any of his garbage ideas.
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→) Oliver is tasked with going to a cove to search for some kind of artifact. When he goes to take his lunch break…
→) …He arrives at the cave when girl wakes up. Oliver arrives to ask about Ryder’s mystical activities, which she knows little about.
→) When Oliver returns back to the Cove, the Ukrainian brute attempts to drown Oliver, as requested by the bearded mercenary.
Arrow 4×06 “Lost Souls” (8/10)
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Are you a fan of Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl? Check out Ally’s review of this week’s other episode in the DCTV Universe!
At the end of every week, Evan and Allyson meet up to chat about the weekly happenings on our podcast TYF DC Debrief! Available on several platforms! You can join the conversation with us every week on Twitter @EvGriff42 @AllysonAJ and @TYFOfficial
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