Schism 

Oliver teams up with a surprising force in an attempt to stop Damien Darhk and his magic once and for all.

Director:

John Behring

Writers:

Greg Berlanti (developed by), Marc Guggenheim (developed by)

Stars:

Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Stephen Amell	...	Oliver Queen / Green Arrow
Katie Cassidy	...	Laurel Lance (credit only)
David Ramsey	...	John Diggle / Spartan
Willa Holland	...	Thea Queen / Speedy
Emily Bett Rickards	...	Felicity Smoak
John Barrowman	...	Malcolm Merlyn
Paul Blackthorne	...	Quentin Lance
Neal McDonough	...	Damien Darhk
Audrey Marie Anderson	...	Lyla Michaels
Cynthia Addai-Robinson	...	Amanda Waller
Echo Kellum	...	Curtis Holt
Jimmy Akingbola	...	Baron Reiter
Nolan Gerard Funk	...	Cooper Seldon
Carmen Moore	...	Mina Fayad
Elysia Rotaru	...	Taiana Venediktov

Storyline

Oliver teams up with a surprising force in an attempt to stop Damien Darhk and his magic once and for all.

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Plot Keywords:

amanda waller character | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 May 2016 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

42 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the lowest rated episode of the entire series.

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Goofs

While Oliver is giving his encouragement speech on top of the taxi, one can see a Canadian flag flying from the facade of a building. This is due to the show being filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia.

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Quotes

Lyla Michaels: When the Ghosts attacked, you froze. I've never seen you do that before.
John Diggle: Lyla, I can't talk about this.
Lyla Michaels: Was it Andy? He was a Ghost.
John Diggle: Lyla...
Lyla Michaels: If the world's going to end, then let's at least go out being honest with each other.
John Diggle: Yes. It was Andy. But not like I said, and not like you think. Earlier, you said it was a good kill. It wasn't, Lyla. I said it was self-defense. It wasn't. You must think I'm a monster.
Lyla Michaels: Fog of war, Johnny. You did what you had to do.

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Soundtracks

Arrow End Theme
Written by Blake Neely

User Reviews

Do not loose HOPE! - Summative S4 review

I am very aware of the irony of the title for this review. I actually chose to go back and watch this particular episode a second time before writing this. I've also given myself some time to reflect and cope a little :).

This is, without a doubt the show's worst outing in the history of the series, and I'm probably the biggest fan and defender of this series. Arrow is the grandfather of all of these popular comic series' and for a few seasons it was damn near flawless IMO. Then comes season 3 and everyone looses their minds. I actually liked the season and even its finale despite the shortcomings and errors in writing. It had some excellent moments and took risks that mostly paid off for me.

I feel similarly about this season. It was great (8/10) for me (exuding the finale and the flashbacks). I thought the season was really solid throughout and I personally felt that the much hated romance between Oliver and felicity was treated better than the past season. I found the story overall compelling, the villain was fantastic and every character had an interesting arc to explore for me. Now the flashbacks had potential and had some good moments but they were just underwhelming and honestly poor quality. I'd give the season a lower rating for them if they were super prolonged, they were short and simple which made them easier to digest.

Then came the finale. I could explain in detail why I feel this way but in a comprehensive sentence I'll say this: The finale simultaneously set the next season up for Greatness while also at the same time resolving its own conflict and arcs in a lazy and confusing fashion.

Arrow is so good IMO at creating unique, interesting and high stakes conflicts yet falters on execution and payoff. This is readily apparent in seasons 3 and 4.

One final note on the finale: I give the season an 8 because the finale to me, came out of nowhere in terms of quality, but it did set up s5 well, so I'll give it that. It was also entertaining and had some cool actions sequences. The finale is a 6 for me, but the season ranks higher because of my statement in the last paragraph.

If you've gotten this far, you've read other more detailed reviews which is why I didn't waste time with doing that.

In closing, I want to say this. Arrow is not at its best right now. The writing has gotten worse in crucial areas as time has went on, BUT it still has the potential to revive itself. GIVE SEASON 5 A CHANCE. However, if that season fails, this show has no future. Everything is riding on s5 and this season set it up well. Lets hope the execution is that the same or even better caliber.