Arrow 4x05 Recap

Haunted. 
Star City's got a special visitor and old friend of Oliver's this week and he goes by the name of John Constantine (Matt Ryan). According to what we've been told and the preview, he'll play a crucial role in getting Sara back to normal. The mystical being is reprising his role on Arrow despite the solo show being canceled and it's safe to say a lot of people were excited to watch. Let's get into the recap. Warning: Contains Spoilers. 

Oliver Queen looks great in a suit and tie. Not the point, though. His new political strategist Alex says that even though his scandal with the Lance sisters is 8 years old, the people crave scandal, so every time he's asked about her, Oliver has to distance herself from Laurel. Chances of that happening? Slim to none.

John Constantine is a man Oliver met in the flashback scenes we see. He was being beat by one of the official men Oliver was working with on the island when they first met for information on whatever it was he was looking for on the island. Constantine used Oliver to get to the place he had marked on his map because Oliver knew the island after kicking some ass to escape the other officers. He helps him get the thing he needs, and then saves his life. And thus, a friendship forms between the two, or rather an exchange of favors. And also, he gave him one of the tattoos on his chest, directly from his own skin. So now we know how that tattoo came about.

Oliver doesn't think distancing himself from the Lance family is a bad idea, but Thea makes a good point. His slogan being "United" doesn't show if he starts kicking his friends to the curb. People want to see Oliver Queen, the person, who cares about his friends. Not Oliver Queen, the person, who distances himself from his friends in order to have a successful political campaign. The scandal was in the past and people need to realize he's changed from the playboy we met in the early episodes and flashbacks of the show.

In the meantime, Sara Lance is running around acting crazy because she is. She saved a person's life, then attacked them. When Felicity gets a notification about a crazy blonde running around the city, Oliver sees Sara in person for the first time and he's not happy that he wasn't told. There's something similar about the people she's going after: they all look like Thea. And it doesn't take long for her to actually find and attack Thea, herself.

While Thea's in the hospital, she admits that Sara is going through the same thing that Thea is, only more extreme. She admits that she killed two men in Nanda Parbat, two men that Malcolm set up for her to satisfy her bloodlust and Oliver's not at all happy about it, first because she killed someone, and second because Laurel is the reason Thea was in Nanda Parbat in the first place, but he in for some words from Laurel.

Laurel may not let people realize it, but she's going through hell right now, too. And she's not playing the innocence card. Her sister is going insane right now because Laurel brought her back from the dead. She knows it's her fault for not knowing all the information she should have. From the way she's feeling, she's always cared about the Queen family, but sometimes, she questions if Oliver cares about hers. Both of them have done rights and wrongs by each other. You can't deny that, but this was the first real argument we've seen between the two this season.

While Thea's sleeping in the hospital and Laurel and Oliver are having a conversation outside, Sara gets into her hospital room, again, but Oliver and Laurel get in before any harm is done. Sara's body may be back, but her soul wasn't restored, and Oliver doesn't think it's coincidental that she knows exactly where to look for Thea. There has to be some connection between them for her to know where she is and when. Despite Oliver not wanting to use her as bait, they do use Thea's presence to lure her into a trap. Laurel pulls a gun on her, but Oliver prevents her from going any further with the gun and shoots Sara with a tranquilizer arrow. And then he calls his old friend, John Constantine, who owes him a favor.

Constantine is meant to restore Sara's soul, and besides having magic, he's quite an entertaining character and his theme music was so much fun to listen to. The spell involves Constantine, Oliver, and Laurel being transported to the place of Sara's trapped soul, and it's up to them to save it. It's protected by assassins and Oliver takes down two, while Constantine fights the other and Oliver & Laurel each rescue Sara's soul from the pit. Their mission is successful and Sara's soul is restored. And we saw Laurel and Oliver's relationship endure rough waters, but still make it through. No matter what scandal occurred 8 years ago, Oliver's not going to push her to the side.

They do set it up for Constantine to possibly come back at some point by Oliver offering his services to him whenever he needs them. He also gives Oliver a warning about Damien Darhk, saying that he should leave town while he still can. So maybe we'll get to see him again in the future, who knows. If he can't have his own show back, I'd certainly love to see him back on Arrow.

It was fantastic having John Constantine as a character on this week's episode. Matt Ryan does a great job with the role and brought a great presence to this week's episode entertainment-wise, while also playing a crucial role in the storyline of Sara Lance back from the dead. I'm so glad he was about to come back. Also, with the help of Curtis, it's revealed that Ray is alive, and next week, we will finally get to see the Atom. Tonight was a great, fun, and important episode, and next week appears to be keeping that same vibe alive. I'm looking forward to it.

Other things worth mentioning:
- Felicity and Oliver had a nice scene when Felicity brought up the recording she got from Ray. They would each do anything to see the people they've lost again, but with Sara, she's hurting people, and it's not helping anyones pain. It's making the worse.
- Diggle is working with Lance to find out more information on what exactly happened to his brother and what Darhk had to do with it. Lance gets hold of the file and delivers it to Diggle. It contains all the information about HIVE killing Diggle's brother and now he knows why they did it.
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