‘Arrow’ season 4, episode 7 review: David Ramsey rocks intense, action-packed ‘Brotherhood’
We admit that someone over at “Arrow” should give a serious, Stephen Colbert style wag of the finger to The CW for giving away in promos for “Brotherhood” that Andy Diggle was still alive. With that being said, at least the episode was eventful enough that we still had some serious surprises in here.
Let’s start things off with a massive round of applause to the show’s stunt-master James “Bam Bam” Bamford for directing this episode. He of course had a knack for some of the best fight sequences that we’ve ever seen on the show, and some of these may be the coolest we’ve seen since the season 2 battle against Slade Wilson, one of our favorites from any movie / TV show ever. Aside from the action, he also hit with some human moments.
The key story of this hour was John coming to terms with the idea that Andy was alive, but not in the way he remembered. The issue was that HIVE basically brainwashes their men to be good soldiers, which is what Oliver suspected may have happened in Andy’s case. The unfortunate thing is that John had a hard time necessarily buying that this Andy was the same he remembered, mostly because of his major trust issues that formed over time. He even had a hard time trusting Oliver, and reminded him of the Ra’s al Ghul fiasco the moment that it was suggested that he was going to get into bed with Damien Darhk (thank goodness this did not happen). With Diggle’s help, he has realized that there may be a different way to take on Darhk.
Unfortunately, the news was not nearly as good for Diggle trying to figure out how to connect to his brother. Andy admitted that he was the man in Darhk’s files during a heated confrontation with his brother, one that reminded us of how brilliant David Ramsey can be in these intense, dramatic sequences.
Thea’s discovery – Apparently, the Lazarus Pit is the kryptonite for Damien’s powers. In confronting him he could not hurt her; not only that, but it temporarily cured her of her bloodlust. So much for needing Malcolm’s him.
Flashback story – Oliver beat a man. Then, he talked to his potential love interest. Needs Constantine back.
Overall – Flashback story aside, a really strong episode. Ramsey was brilliant, Bamford did a tremendous job directing, and we always love it when Diggle takes center stage. Grade: B+.
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