Arrow (TV Series) Bratva (2017) User Reviews

An Imperfect Union

[ThomasDrufke · 8/10 · 8 February 2017]

Oh, how I love the yearly trips to Russia. This time, Team Arrow had to take care of General Walker as he was caught dealing nuclear weapons in Star City's sister city in Russia.

The flashbacks have been exciting thus far, but I liked that tonight's episode chose to implement them in a more fluent way. In fact, it was actually flashbacks to other points in the show's history that could have informed us more so tonight. There weren't forced quotes or lessons Oliver learned in the past that appeared magically in the present like there usually is. Instead, the flashbacks just enhanced the present with an added focus put on Russia.

Not everyone made the trip though as Rene and Quentin had to fight off the feisty interviewer Susan Williams with Quentin's return to Oliver's office. Boy it's been awhile since Quentin has had any role in an episode, and pairing him with Rene was brilliant. Finding out Quentin inspired Rene to be a better person way back in the day was a nice touch, even if it did feel like yet another thing taken right from The Dark Knight trilogy. No matter, I would like to see more of these two going forward.

Part of the reason why I like these Russia episodes so much is that they feel aesthetically different from the main show. For some reason, the writers have an easier time using the entire team's strengths better in Russia than in Star City. Seriously, even Rory had some nice moments tonight. Or maybe I'm just tired of Ragman so I was happy to see him depart. The episode also played well as a foil to the flashbacks as we got to see Oliver act more like he usually does in the flashbacks (torturing and taking chances with Bratva) and vice-versa (Oliver suited up as Arrow in flashbacks). Speaking of which, I'm really enjoying Talia, but I'd like to see further explanations as to her ultimate purpose.

The only time the episode failed for me was when Felicity continued to her take on the "Dark Felicity" persona. Oliver's speech about moving past his mistakes worked on Diggle but apparently not on Felicity. I've defended her when I felt the criticism wasn't valid, but this is something I can't get behind. Does anybody honestly care about her hacking vigilante stuff? I'm so tired of stupid secrets within the team. Overall though, this was an improvement on the last two mediocre episodes. Dinah, Talia, and Susan have been welcomed additions to this show, and tonight highlighted those additions.

+Russia is always fun

+Quentin & Rene

+Dinah fitting in well

+Everyone got their chance

-Come on now, Felicity

8.6/10

Arrow - S05E12 Bratva

[j_forbesy · 9/10 · 8 February 2017]

Heading into this week's episode I was really excited. I really love when the Arrow flashback cross over with the modern day story and this is what we were getting this episode with the Bratva. With all my excitement, there was a part of me that was worried that it wouldn't hold up, but it did.

For me, I saw this as a sort of closing book on Diggle's military story we have gotten all season. While I don't think it is the last nail in the coffin on it, it's not far off it. I really liked how they ended it by having the whole team present, and not as Team Arrow but as these shady forms they take when they want to do something outside of the Arrow name. The last time we saw these forms was when they broke Diggle out of prison, so it only seemed fitting that they would take these forms again. What I really loved about this main story for the episode was that we got to see how dedicated Diggle was to putting Walker to an end. Most the most part of the whole series, Diggle has always been the calm, level headed member. Last season after Laurel's death we saw a new side of Diggle and we saw that again tonight, and I like it. I like to see Diggle losing it sometimes and be the aggressor of the team. I've always liked Diggle as a character because he always has a presence of experience and maturity to him, so it's nice to see this contrasting and recklessness to him.

This episode some had some great one on one moments between the characters. Whether it was Oliver and Dinah, Felicity and Rory, Diggle and Oliver or Renee and Quentin, they were all great character moments that were well written and played out well on screen. I thought many of these one on one moments brought the highlights from this episode. We got to see the relationship between Oliver and Dinah become more understanding. We got a great goodbye moment from Felicity and Rory, who is someone I am going to miss going forward. We had a great moment of confrontation where Oliver and Diggle are at a disagreement on how this should be done, only this time it is Diggle being the impulsive and reckless one. Finally we had some great scenes with Renee and Quentin. It was great having Quentin back this episode and I thought that pairing him off with Renee was a really great idea because we got to see Renee get under his skin while still getting a great emotional scene where we learn about Quentin's interaction with young Renee.

Overall, a really good episode from Arrow. Everything from the performances to the action was really good and I don't have much of a negative for it. Based off how they have started the second half of the season, I'm really looking forward to what they are going to do and what they are going to give us for the big episodes.

9/10

...Stays in Russia

[highmarksreviews · 7/10 · 2 February 2018]

It would seem like Season 5 is on a smaller downward spiral come its second half. "Bratva", while fun at times with the return of Anatoly Knyazev (David Nykl) and occasional bursts of action, seems to be to caught up in a mostly uninteresting side-plot, cutting the Prometheus arc and focusing on, yet again, the team.

Original Team Arrow Reunited

[BBloomcamera · 10/10 · 8 February 2017]

This was such an amazing episode. There were so many good parts that I will watch over and over. But the main reason this was such an awesome episode was the character interaction. I loved every second of Oliver, Diggle, and Felicity interacting as true team members again. It really seemed like old times. They are just so incredible together, and each one of them has so much hurt/drama in their lives right now.

**The other great part of this episode was the return of Quentin Lance. I loved his big entrance into Oliver's office. That was amazing timing. His interaction with Rene/Wild Dog was very impressive and enjoyable. Quentin actually helped to bring out some interesting qualities in Rene that never surfaced before.

**Dinah Drake is really an interesting character, and she had immediate chemistry with the main characters. It is like she has always been there on the team. I really enjoyed the scene with her and Oliver when they were discussing his past.

**The other character interaction in this episode that was interesting was Oliver and Susan. I loved her reaction to the Bratva tattoo, which she recognized and focused in on even more than all of scars. It was interesting how Susan was sort of brought in to help drive the Russian flashback storyline and brought attention to all of Oliver's past scars again. All of the other current characters on the show are aware of them, and they just do not have the reactions/interest that a new character would have to seeing them for the first time.

**Although this episode did not have the exciting Green Arrow/superhero action scenes, those scenes were replaced by such great action scenes as Oliver being Oliver Queen. There really are some exciting and interesting subplots going on here.

**When Anatoly mentioned that he would be visiting Star City, that was a jaw dropping moment. He is really scaring me now, and I always somehow trusted Anatoly in the past. Oliver's re-initiation into the Bratva will -- I am sure-- cause some issues in the future. Honestly, I think the Bratva will make a more interesting adversary (if this were to happen/if they become a problem) than Prometheus.

**There were a few other great subplots in this episode, such as Adrian Chase still covering up Det. Malone's death. The Felicity storyline is becoming very interesting too, and it's a much better subplot than turning her into a vigilante too. Overall, this episode had the best character interaction of the season. The storyline and overall plot was great, and this episode really set up some neat future plot directions. 10/10

That's it, I'm done

[sarastro7 · 2/10 · 12 February 2017]

Green Arrow - in the comics - is one of my all-time favorite characters. One of the most classic and character-defining stories was the one where he accidentally shoots a crook, and is so shocked and regretful that he enters a monastery for a good long time to atone for it.

This show has now become the absolute anti-thesis to everything that is admirable about the character in the comics. The TV Oliver Queen is now a mass-murderer who just kills people left and right, is not above torturing them, and his co-workers are just as far out. This is ridiculous. They are total and complete anti-heroes. This show has eradicated everything remotely heroic about these characters. It's complete and utter trash and this was the last episode I'm watching of this show.

Still confused.....

[ultimateninja-22785 · 1/10 · 18 September 2018]

Still confused with the whole Ra's al Ghul in the Arrow-verse thing, considering he is Batman's adversary, and Talia is Bat's love interest, but one of the main reasons I like to check IMDB is for the Trivia/Goofs/etc concerning an episode. That said, I watched "Bratva" on Netflix/ and whoever contributed to the "Crazy Credits" section "Failed this City", (to quote GA). The end credits are the same as every other episode without being LEGO-fied, and IMDB needs better fact checkers instead of just posting every submission. (in some cases, multiple submissions that re-print what someone else previously posted).