Arrow Season 4: 18 WTF Moments From 'Unchained'

The return of not one, not two, but THREE blasts from the past, plus Daddy Smoak arrives on the scene.

by Andrew Pollard
With Unchained, Arrow amped up the tension as the stakes were well and truly raised. Not to mention, we were also given the return of a few familiar faces. At the core of the story here was Thea Queen and her bloodlust, with Thea now facing the prospect of her own life coming to an end if she chooses to not kill again. Michael Morbius eat your heart out, right? As such, this throws up a whole load of problems for Oliver Queen and Malcolm Merlyn amongst others. Elsewhere, a tech genius rogue known only as The Calculator arrived on the scene, and his battle with Felicity Smoak led to an intriguing reveal down the line. And then there was the return of Roy Harper, not seen since Season 3 and merely dropping in for a one-and-done appearance here, although it was a welcome appearance all the same. Despite having a so-so villain overseeing this particular Emerald Archer outing, Arrow still managed to deliver an intriguing and interesting episode full of WTF moments. And now, here€™s the most shocking, surprising, and random of the lot.

18. Deadly Food

When is a pepper not a pepper? Well, when it€™s conveniently holding a knife underneath its skin. In a startling opening scene, we see an apparent handmaiden take some food to the imprisoned Nyssa al Ghul. We€™d soon find out, though, that the pepper was hollowed out and within its firm skin lay a small knife. Fitting in with what we€™ve seen from Nyssa, she didn€™t need asking twice what to do with this knife as she promptly went on a masterful escape from her holding cell and out of Nanda Parbat entirely.
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.