'Arrow' Season 4 Spoilers: The Calculator 'Both Menacing And Really Warm'; Character Becomes Series Regular?
The latest episode of CW series "Arrow" season 4 revealed a major part of Felicity Smoak's past. According to the latest spoilers, her bloodline is not an ordinary one.
The episode "Unchained" saw the debut of recurring villain, The Calculator (Tom Amendes), who is also the father of Emily Bett Rickards' character.
It took long for the show to bring him in, and showrunner Wendy Mericle said they planned it perfectly because they also managed to bring in a former central character in an organic way.
"It was kind of a double whammy," he told TV Line when asked to dish spoilers for "Arrow" season 4.
"We knew we wanted to bring Roy back, and we wanted to do that in a way that was organic," she said. "When we sent him off, we pretty much sold the world on the idea that he was the Arrow and he was gone, so we needed somebody who was going to be able to dig out that information and be really smart about it."
The showrunner added, "We wanted Felicity's father to be somebody who had a very similar skill set to her, to kind of explain the genetics of her brainpower, and it just seemed like a perfect marriage to have Roy working for this guy who seemingly has a higher, better agenda, something that has some socially conscious angle, but doing it in ways that are very questionable."
When asked how long The Calculator will be in the show, she said it could be longer than expected.
"We love him. He's one of those rare actors who can be both menacing and really warm and kind and fatherly, so we would love to keep him around as long as possible," she said.
"It's just a question of us having a lot of other fish to fry this season. But our goal would be to have him play a part in Felicity's life going forward."
The next "Arrow" season 4 episode will explore the relationship between Felicity and her father, according to the spoilers. The episode, called "Sins of the Father," will air on Feb. 10.
