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TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Arrow Season 04 Episode 13: Sins Of The Father

February 11th, 2016 by Todd Black Comments

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After a near flawless episode last week, “Sins Of The Father” had a lot to live up to. Did it match its quality? No. Did it come close? Yeah, yeah it did.

The big struggle here was what Oliver would do to save Thea. Would he take up Nyssa on her offer and kill Merlyn to get the cure? Or would he try and find another way. Well, while the previews teased the end result, the buildup and payoff was no less satisfying.

Ollie’s “no killing” mantra was put into full “no turning back” mode, and it was great to see. What sold it though was that he repeatedly noted how he still hates Merlyn for what he did, HOWEVER, killing him would remove him from Thea’s life. And he knew that him killing Merlyn for her would give her a new wound right after healing the fatal one. Not a fair swap, especially after the “this is my choice” speech from last episode.

I loved how everyone in Team Arrow, save for Thea for logical reasons, played their parts to sell and even manage the situation. Even Malcom did great, as he noted he’d do anything for his daughter, but he had doubts about how much he could trust Nyssa. I’m glad Ollie checked into the validity of the Lotus, and even brought Tatsu (who Malcolm met) into the fold. Heck, even the sample Lotus test was brilliant, as you had to wonder just how far Nyssa would go to get her revenge.

Which, thankfully, brought in Laurel. The Laurel/Nyssa relationship was honestly one of the funner parts of Season 03, as they connected because of Sara and their lack of fatherly love at the time. Seeing Laurel want what’s best for Nyssa was very believable, not to mention touching. Seeing the conflict in Nyssa as Laurel mentioned that this was something Ra’s would do was very cool.

Of course, you knew things would break down, and leave it to Merlyn to start a double cross. And a fun one at that, it added a lot of tension to the proceedings as the body count not only included both sides of the League, but also innocent bystandards caught in the crossfire. But how was it to end?

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Well, leave Oliver to find an interesting solution that did give the best outcome…but will no doubt cost him in the end most likely. He set up a duel between Nyssa and Merlyn, only to take Nyssa’s place (as they are still married in the League’s eyes…as she mentioned four times in the episode…) and beat Merlyn not by killing him, but by removing his hand that had the ring of Ra’s Al Ghul. Yep, he went Skywalker on him!

The result of this was anything but a given, as Nyssa would then, based on Ollie and Laurel’s support, dissolve the League of Assassins! Which will no doubt cause ramifications if done right. And, it made an enemy, a true enemy, of Merlyn once again. Going so far as for Merlyn to tell Damien about his son William! Could he be in the grave? That might explain a lot!

Felicity had a nice little arc too, as her father not only revealed himself to her in full, but noted how he knew she was Overwatch! I’m glad that got revealed, as it made the rest of the story much more fun. As she tried to connect with her dad…only for her to truly realize the man he was. What also sold this was Donna, who I have always bashed, but the moment Felicity said her dad was back, her entire personality changed. And oh what a change it was. Her demeanor, her speech pattern, everything was different. And seeing Felicity set a trap based on this was oh so good. Hopefully he’ll return, but for now, this was a good way to end it.

The flashbacks were short and simple, but thankfully, we might find out what the Baron is looking for! The teases have been going on too long, we need something to make us believe this is relevant. Will we get it next episode? We’ll find out.

“Sins of the Father’ did a great job bring many arcs to a close, while opening new ones. Thea is healed, Nyssa is free, the League is gone, Merlyn is back in full villain mode, and Dahrk has new ammunition. I’m very excited to see what happens next.

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Todd Black is reader of comics, a watch of TV (a LOT of TV), and a writer of many different mediums. He's written teleplays, fan-fictions, and currently writes a comic book called Guardians (guardians-comic.com). He dreams of working at Nintendo, writing a SHAZAM! TV series, and working on Guardians for a very long time!