Arrow Season 4: 6 Ups And 5 Downs From 'Genesis'

What went right and wrong as Diggle gets pushed to his limits and Oliver begins to dabble in magic?

by Andrew Pollard
Arrow Genesis
The CW

Following last week's faux Black Canary escapade, this latest Arrow episode saw the stakes upped for the Green Arrow and Co.

When Oliver Queen reaches out to BFF John Constantine, Hellblazer points the Emerald Archer in a direction that could well help him solve his Damien Darhk problem. The only issue is whether Ollie's soul is too shrouded in darkness to be helped.

Elsewhere, and in the most engaging element of Genesis, we got to see John Diggle do battle with his younger brother, Andy. With Andy upping the ante and proving to be even more of an utter b*stard than previously, John is tasked with the tough decision of whether or not his brother can be redeemed. Either way, the whole thing doesn't end particularly well for either Diggle brother.

With Damien Darhk back causing chaos, and with magic now back in play, Genesis most definitely served up a mixed bag in comparison to some of Arrow's more recent outings. That said, the pluses just about outweighed the negatives.

So, as Arrow's fourth season continues its march towards its close, let's take a look at what this latest episode got right and what it maybe fumbled a little. Starting with the Ups...

11. Damien Darhk’s Return

Arrow Genesis
The CW

In recent weeks, we’ve not just seen Damien Darhk escape the shackles of prison life, Arrow went one further and saw the uber-rogue actually kill Laurel Lance, aka Black Canary.

Continuing the theme of making Darhk look like a total b*stard, here we see the villain reintroduced to H.I.V.E in a major way. And in a major way, I mean by killing off the two poor saps who happen to be sat in front of him.

With Murmur, Merlyn and Andy Diggle in tow, DD mercilessly kills off those at H.I.V.E. who maybe don’t give him the warm welcome that he was hoping for. Again, Arrow manages to make its Season 4 ‘big bad’ look like a huge deal, and the whole return to H.I.V.E. was made even better by Neal McDonough’s ever-charismatic performance as he quipped wise whilst causing chaos.

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.