Arrow Season 4: 9 Ups And 6 Downs From 'Eleven-Fifty-Nine'

12. Secret Identities?

Arrow Green Arrow
The CW

One of the biggest downers of Eleven-Fifty-Nine took place during the hospital-based final moments of the episode, and no, I’m not talking about the death of Laurel Lance.

What was poorly conceived here was how slack the notion of secret identities was. Yes, seeing one of their own fighting for their life was a massive shocker to Team Arrow, but even then the group, particularly Oliver Queen, would’ve been more guarded when it comes to keeping their real identities under wraps.

The Green Arrow delivering a dying Black Canary to a hospital bed made for a great visual, but seeing Oliver Queen, Thea Queen, John Diggle and Felicity Smoak all turn up in their civilian clothes shortly after seemed a little slack from our usually-vigilant crew.

It wouldn’t take a genius to piece together that the very same hooded hero who brought in Black Canary was in fact one-time playboy Oliver Queen. Maybe I’m being a little harsh given the emotion of the hour, but even in times of hardship and game-changing moments we usually see Ollie able to detach himself from the situation at hand.

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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/Saints, Jamie Hayter, 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.