Arrow Season 4: 12 Big Questions We're Asking After 'A.W.O.L.'

5. What Was The Point Of Thea And Laurel In This Episode?

By typical Arrow standards, Oliver didn't have too much to do here. He still had some nice moments with Felicity, and was there to help save the day against Shadowspire, but those stories were much more focused on Felicity and the Diggles respectively, while even the flashbacks deviated away from the story of Mr Queen. Given even less to do, though, were Thea and Laurel. They were just sort of there. Laurel had a couple of brief moments, at the crime scene and then training with Oliver, but they didn't feel massively important. When they then got to the A.R.G.U.S. HQ, they split up, and Speedy and Black Canary didn't have a big part to play in saving the day. Again, just sort of there. This was a problem with Laurel last week as well, and this week it extends to Thea. They didn't particularly fit with the storyline, and ultimately had very little to do. Neither character has had a great season overall, with Thea's bloodlust storyline not being very captivating and Laurel just being unlikable, but there's still potential for them both to be very important members of the show - it's been shown in flashes this season and in previous years - but it's definitely something the writers need to work on.