Arrow: Season 4 [DVD]

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season three, but no major season four spoilers+++There is a lot going on in season four of Arrow. In the present, Thea is feeling the effects of the Lazarus pit, becoming more and more aggressive, yet is also feeling guilty about killing Sara and tries to get Malcolm Merlyn to revive her. Also in the present, Oliver has taken the mantle of The Green Arrow, vowing to protect the city, yet try to work more within the bounds of the law. The new big bad of the season is revealed to be Damien Darhk, the leader of a group called H.I.V.E., terrorizing the city as Darhk tries to take down Oliver. Team Arrow has expanded with Diggle and Laurel joining Oliver in the field, while Felicity operates as Overwatch. In the flashbacks, we see more of Oliver's time on the island, now working, against his will, for A.R.G.U.S. and Amanda Waller. The character of Constantine is officially brought into the Arrowverse with the appearance of Matt Ryan, who was fresh from his canceled show on NBC. This season also gives us crossover episodes withThe Flash, which also sever as a backdoor pilot for the newest Arrowverse series Legends of Tomorrow. The Flash episode of the crossover is included on this set, so you do not have to get (or switch over to) the Flash DVD or Blu-Ray set to watch it.For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the show looks and sounds great in HD, as it has in the prior seasons. Of course, the show makes a lot of use of CGI effects and does a great job (especially for a TV show) of making them look seamless with the practical effects. The extras are not as extensive as in the prior season releases, however. Those include deleted scenes across the four discs, two featurettes focused on characters (Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and Vandal Savage) from "Legends of Tomorrow", and a featurette on Damien Dahrk. Then there is also a short gag reel and footage from a Comic-Con panel. Even though there are not as many extras as we got in prior seasons, what was included is good.Overall, the season is good. It builds the Oliver vs. Darhk to a crescendo with a final battle. Darhk's past is a bit of a mystery at the beginning of the season and more details get revealed throughout the course of the season. There is more cast juggling, some of which is a bit of a misdirection, with some characters being introduced that will take a larger role in subsequent seasons and others that were shifted over to Legends of Tomorrow. In general, the DC tv universe has been a lot more cohesive and well-run than the DC movie universe, and the Arrowverse is really telling a bunch of different intertwined stories with Arrow as the lead show. The show is a very good blend of action and drama, and Stephen Amell continues to grow into the main character, doing a great job as the series lead. So, if you were a fan of the first few seasons of the show, this one is definitely worth watching.

The first episode of Season 4 of "Arrow" is a great watch. The action is non stop, the hints of what's to come through out the season are several and dropped through out the episode. This episode sets in motion several storylines including one VERY jaw dropping story! I hate spoilers so if you don't want to know more about this episode stop reading now. ***Possible Spoiler Alert*** Not only do you get a taste of what's to come, such as the continuation of storylines from Season 3, you get further insight into storylines started in Season 1, as well as a the start of new adventures for the new season. The big surprise comes at the end of the episode in a 6 month flash forward. That's all I'll say about that episode.As for the quality of the episode, I am very impressed with the progression in quality High Definition content Amazon has provided. The picture quality is not yet true HD like you would get on TV, but it's getting closer to that level. Keep up the great job Amazon! The only bad thing about this that Amazon is moving very slowly on is the audio portion of its content. I have a 32 inch Samsung LCD TV and usually listen to TV Shows at a '25' level in volume. When I watch TV shows or movies on Amazon the volume goes up as high as '35'.The HD quality is getting better, but the audio issues seem to be the same as they were years ago. Hopefully Amazon can take care of that real soon.Overall, this is still a great episode with wonderful HD quality. You just might have to raise the volume a little higher, then you're all set to enjoy yourself.

I have enjoyed the lighter episodes of late (clearly with one exception), especially the last episode of season 3 and the first of season 4. That changed radically in the week's episode (12-9-15), the midseason finale. After seeing the promo for the return of the show in 2016, I felt devastated and stopped watching tv--a rare event for me--because it was like getting hit in the stomach and I had to try to process it. I still feel sad and angry. I don't know for sure what is to come, but the Lazarus Pit has been destroyed, and even if it hadn't been, Felicity would change drastically. She always the cheerful, funny, nice thoughtful, sweet, capable, ingenious, able to call the team members on their behavior when needed, and a vital part of the team: she is the modern woman in the best sense of the term. I hope they will find a way to resolve this without killing her permanently. Oliver desperately needs her to prevent him from becoming the worst part of himself. I am surprised how deeply this has affected me. I have watched this show from the beginning, and despite how depressing it can be, I find the writing and the actors to be excellent in this show. If you like adventure, suspense, humor, and depth of the stories, I strongly suggest those of you who have not seen it to do the same.

Great movie

My family and I love this show. This season was enjoyable, but I need to rant. I'm worried that the writers are getting stale, maybe its time to clean up shop and get some fresh energy and ideas in the mix for the seasons to come. You can only bring people back to life so many times before it starts becoming ridiculous, plus with Moira gone, and Slade, its just different..less depth and no real mysteries to solve, plus, can we have a new story line please...crazy guy comes in threatens to destroy the city, all hell brakes loose and city gets destroyed, team Arrow saves the day, rinse, repeat...too predictable now. Also, can we just get rid of Malcolm already, or give him some character development? He's not a good bad guy, he just comes off as annoying, either make him a good guy, or remove him. Maybe they can bring in a good Malcolm from the Flash's Earth 2. Plus the season finale was a bit of a disappointment on so many levels. Still enjoy it overall, but getting bored and hoping for more in the next season.