| "Sins of the Father" | |
|---|---|
| Arrow episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 13 |
| Directed by | Gordon Verheul |
| Written by | |
| Featured music | Blake Neely |
| Cinematography by | Shamus Whiting-Hewlett |
| Production code | 3J5813 |
| Original air date | February 10, 2016 |
| Running time | 42 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Sins of the Father" is the 13th episode of the fourth season of The CW series Arrow and 82nd overall. The episode was written by Ben Sokolowski and Keto Shimizu and directed by Gordon Verheul. It was first broadcast on February 10, 2016, in The CW.
The episode revolves about Nyssa offering an elixir named Lotus to Oliver that can reverse the effects of the Lazarus Pit and offers him to heal Thea, in exchange for him killing Malcolm. They convince him to meet with Nyssa to give her the command of the League of Assassins but Malcolm will not give it too easy. Meanwhile, Felicity meets with her father, the Calculator, and listens to why he left, questioning if he is a bad man.
The episode received generally positive reviews.
On Lian Yu, Taiana is furious at Oliver for killing Vlad. When he shows her the rock with symbols, Taiana takes the stone and asks for Reiter to barter her escape, but Reiter takes the stone and keeps them imprisoned. He tells Taiana to kill Oliver, or she will die. They begin conspiring to escape by killing Reiter and his men. Reiter then tells Oliver that they will begin to dig underneath to find what he is looking for.
Five years later, Nyssa tells Oliver she will give him the elixir if he kills Malcolm. Meanwhile, Felicity confronts Noah, her father, over his past, and he gives her a USB proving some of his crimes. The team is considering whether to kill Malcolm. They finally decide to meet with Malcolm to give the League's ring to Nyssa. Laurel meets with Nyssa to negotiate another way: Oliver can convince Malcolm to give his power to her in exchange for the elixir. Nyssa agrees but threatens to kill people if Malcolm refuses.
Oliver asks for a sample of the elixir to prove the value. They put it on Thea and some of the scars heal themselves. Oliver, Diggle, Laurel and Malcolm meet with Nyssa to give her the ring. However, Malcolm snatches the ring and brings assassins to attack them. Nyssa and her fighters escape and Malcolm is stopped by Oliver. The team decides to intercept and neutralize Nyssa and her group. Meanwhile, Felicity takes her father to the labs of Palmer Tech but she is sending him into a "trap". Oliver confronts Malcolm for not following Nyssa's conditions, and Malcolm responds by denying Nyssa his power and also reveals that he knows Oliver has a son.
In order to bring peace, Oliver arranges a sword fight between Nyssa and Malcolm. However, before the fight, Oliver uses ancient rules to switch Nyssa's place for him, as he is still her husband. Oliver swiftly defeats Malcolm and, instead of killing him, cuts his hand with the League's ring, knocks him out and gives it to Nyssa. He is finally given the elixir and Nyssa becomes the new Ra's al Ghul. He gives the elixir to Thea and she is healed.
Noah meets with Felicity. She confronts him for having abandoned her, and he admits that the police are looking for her and Lance. Then the police arrive and arrest him. Seeing the new role and darkness on her, Nyssa brings Malcolm, Oliver and Laurel over, takes her ring and throws him on the fire, disbanding the League of Assassins. Malcolm is furious about Oliver's betrayal and threatens to make him suffer. At night, Malcolm meets with Darhk to tell him the person Oliver loves the most: William, his son.
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In January 2016, it was revealed that the 13th episode for the fourth season would be titled "Sins of the Father" and was to be directed by Gordon Verheul and written by Ben Sokolowski & Keto Shimizu. [1]
The episode was watched by 2.44 million viewers with a 0.9/3 share among adults aged 18 to 49. [2] This was a 2% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was seen by 2.48 million viewers and a 0.9/3 in the 18-49 demographics. [3] This means that 0.9 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 3 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it.
"Sins of the Father" received generally positive reviews from critics. Jesse Schedeen of IGN gave the episode an "okay" 6.7 out of 10 and wrote in his verdict, "This week's Arrow was disappointingly uneven despite the strong thematic story ties and the idea that multiple characters were grappling with change and redemption. Only one of the several action scenes stood out, and the rooftop duel was disappointingly brief and unsatisfying. Luckily, the resolution of this conflict and the major twist that resulted spell good things for the show in the weeks ahead." [4]
The A.V. Club's Alasdair Wilkins gave the episode a "B" grade and wrote, "'Sins Of The Father' is a solid enough episode, though I'll admit it feels like it's missing something. I suspect some of that goes back to the problem that hung over so much of the third season, as Arrow struggled to make all the business with Ra's al Ghul compelling. Nearly a year later, my best explanation for the relative failure of that season is that the show never really got across why the League story mattered. " [5]
Andy Behbakht of TV Overmind gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote "Overall, despite some mixed feelings about it, 'Sins of the Father' was a solid episode in many ways as the intensity worked better once the whole episode had played out and it did set up more things to look forward to. Malcolm became a bit more relevant again, even though he lost the title, the league as well as a hand (want to bet how many episodes it will take before he get some sort of cybernatic hand?), but at least now he has a bigger role to play again. The one thing that still remains irrelevant is those darn flashbacks." [6]
Jonathon Dornbush of EW stated: "When life offers a choice, do you simply accept the options presented to you, or do you, as Oliver attempts to throughout 'Sins of the Father,' discover an alternative that might actually be the best choice to make? On Arrow this week, nearly every major decision either implicitly or explicitly involved fathers. From Malcolm Merlyn to Felicity's returning father to Nyssa's dead dad to Oliver himself, fatherhood looms large over the characters' choices in this episode (which, if the utterance of that word approximately 72 times within the first 15 minutes didn't tip you off, was most certainly the theme of the week)." [7]
Carissa Pavlica from TV Fanatic, gave a 4.0 star rating out of 5.0, stating: "There were certainly some surprises on Arrow Season 4 Episode 13, but unless we're being fooled, it seems as though we have been given a pretty good indication of where the remainder of the season is heading. We might know who is in the grave and who is responsible for putting them there." [8]
Noel Kirkpatrick of TV.com wrote positive about the episode, stating "I think many of you, dear readers, are in agreement with me that Oliver has generally sucked at this sort of thing (i.e., the back of half of last season), and while he didn't suck too much less here, we at least got to see him grapple with the decision-making and what happened when his plans went awry. As a result, it was not only a nice departure from the usual Arrow routine, but it also didn't get bogged down in that whole 'I plotted this off-screen' nonsense that plagued Season 3's storyline. Essentially, while Oliver was still in charge, at least Diggle and Laurel were piping in with opinions, and Oliver was listening to them and weighing his options with their advice. I like it when the show treats Team Arrow as a team, what can I say." [9]
Nyssa Raatko is a supervillain in DC Comics. Nyssa Raatko was created by Greg Rucka and Klaus Janson for the Batman series of comic books. She is an enemy of Batman. She is the daughter of Ra's al Ghul and the older half-sister of Talia.
The League of Assassins is a group of supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The group is depicted as a collective of assassins who work for Ra's al Ghul, an enemy of the superhero Batman. The group appeared in Strange Adventures #215, but did not become officially known as the League of Assassins until Detective Comics #405.
Merlyn, also known as the Dark Archer, is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He is a deadly bow-wielding assassin and contract killer and the archnemesis of Green Arrow, though writers have developed him over the years as an adversary of other superheroes as well, such as Batman and Black Canary.
Arrow is an American superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, a costumed crime-fighter created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, and is the first series of the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with other related television series. The series premiered in the United States on The CW on October 10, 2012, and ran for eight seasons until January 28, 2020. Arrow was primarily filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Thea Dearden Queen, also known as Speedy, is a fictional character portrayed by Willa Holland on The CW television series Arrow, created by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg. She is the maternal half-sister of series protagonist Oliver Queen / Green Arrow. Although an original creation to the series, she adopts elements from the DC Comics superhero Mia Dearden / Speedy, created by writer Kevin Smith and artist Phil Hester.
Oliver Queen, also known by his alter-ego as the Green Arrow, is a fictional character in The CW's Arrowverse franchise, first introduced in the 2012 pilot episode of the television series Arrow. The character is based on the DC Comics character of the same name, created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, and was adapted for television in 2012 by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg. Stephen Amell portrayed Oliver Queen, with Jacob Hoppenbrouwer portraying a young Oliver.
Sara Lance, also known by her alter-ego White Canary, is a fictional character in The CW's Arrowverse franchise, first introduced in the 2012 pilot episode of the television series Arrow, and later starring in Legends of Tomorrow. The character is an original character to the television series, created by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg, but incorporates character and plot elements of the DC Comics character Black Canary. Sara was portrayed by Jacqueline MacInnes Wood in the pilot episode, but subsequently by Caity Lotz.
The fourth season of the American television series Arrow premiered on The CW on October 7, 2015, and concluded on May 25, 2016, with a total of 23 episodes. The series is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, a costumed crime-fighter created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, and is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with other Arrowverse television series. The showrunners for this season were Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle. Stephen Amell stars as Oliver Queen, with principal cast members Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance, David Ramsey as John Diggle, Willa Holland as Thea Queen, Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak, John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn and Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance also returning from previous seasons.
"Unchained" is the 12th episode of the fourth season of The CW series Arrow and 81st overall. The episode was written by Speed Weed and Beth Schwartz and directed by Kevin Fair. It was first broadcast on February 3, 2016, on The CW.
The third season of the American television series Arrow premiered on The CW on October 8, 2014, and concluded on May 13, 2015, with a total of 23 episodes. The series is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, a costumed crime-fighter created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, and is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with other Arrowverse television series. The showrunners for this season were Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg. Stephen Amell stars as Oliver Queen, with principal cast members Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance, David Ramsey as John Diggle, Willa Holland as Thea Queen, Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak, Colton Haynes as Roy Harper, John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn and Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance also returning from previous seasons.
"Legacy" is the 93rd episode overall and fifth-season premiere of The CW series Arrow. The episode was written by showrunners Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle from a story by Greg Berlanti and directed by James Bamford. It was first broadcast on October 5, 2016, on The CW.
"Kapiushon" is the seventeenth episode of the fifth season of Arrow. The episode features Oliver Queen being tortured by main villain Adrian Chase after being captured in the previous episode. Malcolm Merlyn and Evelyn Sharp return in this episode. The episode received acclaim from critics and has been dubbed the best episode of the season. The episode is notable in the fact it is primarily a flashback episode and primarily only features Oliver Queen and Adrian Chase while having minor roles from Evelyn Sharp, John Diggle, Curtis Holt, and Felicity Smoak.
"Lian Yu" is the twenty-third and final episode of the fifth season, and 115th episode overall of The CW series Arrow. The episode was written by showrunners Wendy Mericle and Marc Guggenheim and directed by Jesse Warn. It was first broadcast on May 24, 2017, on The CW.
John Diggle, also known by his code names Freelancer and Spartan, is a fictional character in The CW's Arrowverse franchise and Superman & Lois, first introduced in the 2012 pilot episode of the television series Arrow. The character was created for the series by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg. Diggle is portrayed by David Ramsey
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Felicity Megan Smoak, also known by her code name Overwatch, is a fictional character in The CW's Arrowverse franchise. The character was first introduced in 2012 in the first season of the television series Arrow, which is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow. The series follows the story of billionaire Oliver Queen, who returns home after five years supposedly stranded on a remote Pacific island and becomes a vigilante on a quest to save his city. Felicity is based on the comic book character of the same name, created by Gerry Conway and Rafael Kayanan and was adapted for television by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg. Felicity was portrayed by Canadian actress Emily Bett Rickards between 2012 and 2020. Initially cast as a one-episode guest star in the first season of Arrow, she returned as a recurring character in the same season, and was promoted to series regular from season two. Rickards stepped away from the show at the end of season seven, but returned in a guest capacity for the finale of Arrow's eighth and final season. She has also featured in the spin-off shows The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and web series Vixen, as well as appearing in Supergirl. The character appears in the Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham video game as part of the Arrow DLC pack, and is one of the protagonists of the Arrow and The Flash tie-in novels and comics.
Dinah Laurel Lance is the name of several fictional characters in The CW's Arrowverse franchise based on the DC Comics character of the same name, created by writer-artist team of Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino, and adapted by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg for Arrow in 2012. Katie Cassidy portrays the several multiverse versions of the character within the Arrowverse, all of whom are mostly referred to by their middle name, "Laurel", unlike the comics.
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