Arrow: Haunted
November 6, 2015 12:55 PM - Season 4, Episode 5 - Subscribe

Oliver calls in a favor from old friend John Constantine when things with Sara take a turn for the worse.

A pretty solid episode with a great cameo. I've never seen the show Constantine, but from what I've seen I think Matt Ryan is a more entertaining version than Keanu. Does anyone recommend it? Should I binge season 1?

Yet another episode where I just wanna grab Laurel and shake some sense into her. The writers really need to give her less stupid excuses for hiding things from the A Team, and then playing the victim with Ollie?? "You never cared about my family!" Really?? I think the past 3 seasons have kind of disproved that...
posted by numaner (12 comments total)
 
I think I gave up on Constantine after two episodes. The guy himself does a good job, but other things in the show were not so good. Good cameo here, though.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:04 PM on November 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


The underwhelming way Oliver reacted to seeing Sarah, and the explanation from Laurel..... 0_o

Overall this was a great episode. I've been watching since almost the beginning and still don't understand what most the flashbacks are about; this was the first episode where the flashbacks tied in nicely and elevated the story line.
posted by the webmistress at 1:17 PM on November 6, 2015


Constantine had the potential to be a great show but being on network television meant it could never be as dark as it needed to be. This episode still made me really miss it, though. Definitely enjoyed this episode.
posted by mstokes650 at 3:42 PM on November 6, 2015


Constantine needed to be more like Hannibal. Instead it was Constantine-lite.
posted by Justinian at 5:17 PM on November 6, 2015


Sometimes I desperately want to give Stephen Amell acting lessons, but he's otherwise excellent in this role. Sometimes I desperately want Wack Canary to die in a fire, and then I remember it's not Laurel's fault or even the actress that's the problem -- it's the goddamned writers.

That said, more Caity Lotz on my TV is always welcome. Especially when she's able to speak and change out of that outfit she was buried in.

Does anyone know what kind of leather store they have a product placement deal with? Every actor/actress in this show seemingly has a new leather jacket/blazer/pair of pants/corset each ep, and it's become something of a running joke in our house about spotting the leather wardrobe placements.

Sorry about your bro, Diggle. I'm sure his dark secret past will show up this season in one of Oliver's neverending flashbacks, but I'm super stoked that we've moved past the filthy long wig timeline. #wigtalk
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 5:18 PM on November 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


I forgot to add how awesome Echo Kellum is as Mr. Terrific and I would gladly get him a case of Red Bull each month on Amazon Subscribe & Save. Best new recurring character we've had this season, and I'm excited to see him interact with the rest of Team Arrow and not just Felicity.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 5:23 PM on November 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


I was looking forward to seeing Constantine again, but I thought this episode was pretty weak. It felt like it should have been divided into two episodes which fleshed out their relationship more. And at the end I was hoping Constantine would at least give Oliver (who just pledged to be there for him any time he needed him) some info about Dark, the source his powers and his history, but just "get out of town"? Meh.
posted by homunculus at 6:53 PM on November 6, 2015


There is only one season of Constantine, so if you feel like catching up it won't take long. And since there won't ever be a season two, once you're done, you're done. As everybody upthread has said, the show had potential, but it never reached it. It was mostly okay, and sometimes annoying. I don't think they really gained anything by swapping out actress 1 for actress 2 (Zed) and Chas isn't Chas as comic readers came to know him. Still, I wouldn't mind old ConJob showing up again in the Flarrowverse.

Speaking of John, that artifact he found on Flashback Island, does it tie in some way with the Hawks? I think he called it the Orb of Horus. And since one version of the Hawks had ties to ancient Egypt and carried a mace, is this a foreshadow of that? I'm asking because I'm not familiar with the Kendra version of Hawkgirl/woman (I'm not even sure which she is, but I think it's "girl") that popped up on the Flash and is scheduled for Legends. Or does it have something to do with Metamorpho? It's been ages, but wasn't there something Rex was searching for as part of his cure or something Simon Stagg (RIP in the Flarrowverse) found that was related to Rex's transformation? (It's been too many years for the details of that story line to be accurately retrieved from my memory banks.)

It did bug me that Oliver didn't ask John to cure Thea as well, or that Thea didn't ask him for help herself. I mean the solution for her isn't to off random members of the League every few weeks, is it? Or are the writers going to drop that storyline plot and hope we forget about it?

And while it's not related to this episode directly, if anybody wants to see Robot Chicken play in the Flarrowverse (compete with comic creator shout-outs) here you go.
posted by sardonyx at 9:10 PM on November 6, 2015


I quite liked Constantine the movie (probably because I'm not as harsh on Keanu as most others), so if the show isn't that dark I'll probably skip it.

From what I've wikied Kendra is Hawkgirl, and I guess we'll see how she gets along with team Flash. I'd forgotten about Simon Stagg!

I think what's implied is that because Sara died her soul had left this plane. But Thea wasn't completely dead yet. I dunno if Sara would still have the bloodlust for killing like Thea does, but perhaps that's separate from not having a soul?
posted by numaner at 12:15 PM on November 7, 2015


I liked the episode for continuing a huge change in Oliver's characterization and the ability of characters to actively address personal conflict. The Diggle subplot was the best part of the episode, and I like that Lance is getting in deeper with Darhk and Arrow.

I'm disappointed with so much focus on setting up Atom and White Canary. Maybe that's better than random mobster of the week or Cupid/Huntress episodes.

I kinda didn't like Constantine, but plot wise it worked. I think I just have too much baggage associated with Vertigo titles from the 90s and that English Street Magick stuff seems a little too... Buffy? THe tone is just off.

Great to see Sarah back though! How many windows did she crash through? Caity Lotz is amazing. I bet most of you have seen The Machine but she is also great as the main character in The Pact. Its low-budget horror, no gore, just tension.
posted by kittensofthenight at 2:10 PM on November 8, 2015


numaner: what I gathered from the past few eps was that Thea wasn't dead and so she was only partly touched by the Lazarus Pit- she feels only a portion of the bloodlust that Sarah feels. Since her 'killer' is dead, the rage is aimless. Sarah (before the recovery of her soul) was completely taken by the power of the Lazarus Pit completely consumed by vengeance. Now Sarah is whole again the bloodlust is gone. Part of Thea is still damaged and perhaps that is more of an issue of self control, meditation, ninja support group rather than magical intervention.
posted by kittensofthenight at 2:18 PM on November 8, 2015


I'm wishing they had taken the opportunity to adapt some of the ideas in Kevin Smith's "Quiver" Green Arrow run. Constantine definitely made the flashback a little more interesting than usual. I think they really need to rework that gimmick.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 6:35 PM on November 8, 2015


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