Arrow: The Candidate Recap & Review

That. Was. Awesome. I don’t know how they managed to pull it off, but the second episode of the fourth season is actually even better than the premiere last week. Fans of Arrow, I have a feeling we are in for an amazing season, and that is definitely good news for us. The Arrow and gang face off with one of Damien Darhk’s contractors, Speedy snaps, Laurel digs up her sister’s grave, and more on Arrow: “The Candidate.” Spoiler alert.

The Candidate

TheCandidate

Last week on Arrow, we met season four’s villain, Damien Darhk, and were introduced to his legion of thugs, the media dubbed “ghosts.” This week, the “ghosts” continued their reign of terror in Star City, with the Arrow and the gang attempting to, of course, put a stop to it. The unfortunate victim in their warpath this time was Jessica Danforth, a longtime family friend of the Queens. Poor Jessica was just a woman looking to continue the legacy of her late friend, Moira Queen, who you may recall was also running for Mayor of Starling City—as it was then called—at the time of her death.

In an attempt to help take back Star City from the likes of Damien Darhk and his henchmen, Jessica thought it prudent for her to run for Mayor. Too bad her bravery was cut short when her daughter, Madison, was kidnapped by one of Darhk’s anarchist contractors by the name of Lonnie Machin, in an attempt to thwart her mayoral candidacy. But then again, could you blame her? Somebody messes with your kids and all bets are off, I would imagine. With Jessica out of the race by the end of the episode, coupled with his desire to be “the person who the city needs in the day, not somebody lurking around in the shadows” as Captain Lance put it, Oliver revealed to his girlfriend, Felicity, that he was planning to run for Mayor of Star City. Like mother, like son—if that were a thing.

Speedy Snaps

SpeedySnaps

Speaking of family, Star City wasn’t the only thing that needed help, so does his sister, Thea aka Speedy. Speedy lost her damn mind in this week’s episode; some would even say she snapped like a twig. Just saying. But, in her defense, it’s the side effects from her little dip in the Lazarus Pit in Nanda Parbat. Remember, last season she was just about to meet her maker when in an attempt to save her life/resuscitate her, Oliver took her to Nanda Parbat and made a deal with the devil, I mean Ra’s Al Ghul—who was the one who stabbed Thea/Speedy to begin with. Oliver knew the risks, both to himself and his sister, but at the time thought they were well worth bringing his Speedy back.

For a while, all seemed fine and dandy until slowly but surely Speedy was beginning to exhibit some uber violent behavior, albeit directed towards the thugs in Star City so it wasn’t like anybody really cared. Diggle may have noticed something last week, but since he didn’t make a big deal about it, it kind of flew under the radar. This week, however, Oliver saw it for himself. Speedy not only broke some guy’s arm, whom they were just questioning for information, but also set fire to Darhk’s contractor Machin, then proceeded to kick his butt as he burned. Damn, that girl is hardcore. Once Oliver got his bearings from getting the wind knocked out of him, he finally stepped in to put out the fire, both literally and figuratively. He knew without a doubt, then, that his little sis was going through some serious Lazarus Pit withdrawals, if you can call it that, and that he needed to enlist some help for her. Enter Laurel.

Laurel’s Mission

Laurel

Under the pretense of solely helping her fellow vigilante comrade and longtime family friend, Laurel agreed to take Thea on a girls only getaway for some much needed R&R. Once Oliver was satisfied with the plan, she then took the opportunity to spill the beans on her true intention, an idea she got when she learned about what really happened to Thea in the events surrounding her trip to Nanda Parbat with Oliver. It was kind of funny, as Laurel was learning about what happened, you could almost see the wheels turning in her mind. And anybody who knows anything about the connecting DC TV storylines or just watches enough TV pretty much knew what was going to happen next.

In a classic case of “oh no she didn’t,” Laurel, who has been pretty quiet for the most part as of late, got the hairbrained scheme to dig up her sister and bring her to Nanda Parbat. Why? Brace yourself for a DC’s Legends of Tomorrow setup episode, as we’re likely to witness just how Sara Lance—aka the first Black Canary on Arrow—comes back to life. We already know Sara Lance will be featured on Legends of Tomorrow as the White Canary, so obviously she will be brought back to life, and we just might get to see it on Arrow.

Setup plot for a companion DC TV show aside, it was nice to see Laurel back in the fold again. We also got to see Felicity flexing her new CEO muscles by taking on the Board of Directors at Palmer Technologies with her new ally Mr. Holt, and we learned more about Diggle’s past and apparent connection to the H.I.V.E. organization, which is associated with Damien Darhk, as well, making for a densely plot driven episode. Like I said, it was awesome, and all the more reason to look forward to the unfolding of the rest of this season.

Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8:00pm EST on CW.