SPOILER ALERT! (stop reading if you don’t want to know what happens in this episode)
We’re introduced to a few new characters while the writers set up some the season’s interweaving story lines. A lot happens this episode and I’ve get the detailed recap below!
The Flashback
Oliver is back on the island at gunpoint but he quickly defuses the situation. He takes out the mini computer that was sent down with him and is told to wait for infiltration. More “soldiers” show up and he tells them who he is and how he first got to the island while also warning them about the mines. They take him to Reiter who already knows who he is. He tells Oliver that he can’t take him home because then he would expose what they’re doing on the island. He tells him he’s not going to kill him but offers him a job replacing the man Oliver killed.
The Gangs Back
The gang isn’t playing any games as we open in the midst of a fight against the ghosts, which features Black Canary gliding down a rope shot by Oliver, and stop a bomb for blowing up the city’s water supply. Oliver pulls Thea aside because she’s still being aggressive in combat but she tells him he’s fine.
Felicity is back at work as boss of Palmer Tech and she’s even sent off with a packed lunch and plant courtesy of Oliver. She walks into a shareholder meeting to bad news involving finances. We’re introduced to Curtis Holt who has a list of people she should consider letting go to cut costs. She tells them she wants to start by reducing their bonuses but they quickly let her know that that’s already been done and there won’t be a Palmer legacy to protect if the don’t reduce costs.
Oliver and Thea have lunch with old family friends, Jessica Danforth and her daughter Madison, and she announces that she plans to run for mayor. Oliver and Thea are hesitant but show up at her press conference for her announce that she’s running. During the conference gun shots go off and Thea and Oliver split up. Thea finds a decoy weapon while Oliver saves Jessica from being snagged by a faux security detail person. Oliver goes after him but ends up losing him after getting hit by a car.
The team gathers to try to figure out who was after Jessica and use fingerprints that they got off the windshield of the car the person touched. Oliver pays Quentin a visit to offer his services to help keep Jessica safe but he lets him know that he’s been gone for awhile and what the city needs is someone who’s going to stand up during the day and not lurk in the shadows. He asks him how this time around is going to be different.
Felicity meets with Curtis to discuss his algorithm and lets her know that it wasn’t his idea to come up with a way to fire people, it was Mr. Dennis. An employee, Carla Jones, enters and Felicity delivers the news that she has to let her go and the employee tells her that everyone thought Felicity’s return would make things better but she guests they were wrong.
Diggle and Laurel are on shift to watch Jessica and Laurel uses this opportunity to find out what’s really going on with Diggle. He tells her to let it go but she tells him they’re not keeping secrets and he tells her about how an organization called Hive killed his brother. After further digging he knows that the ghosts are hive. She tells him that keeping this to himself will only end badly.
Damien meets with the faux security guard and tells him he pretty much failed. The guy begs for one more chance and Damien lets him know that there won’t be a third chance. At the lair, Felicity has discovered that the guy had a substance on his hands ,cellulose, that’s been patented by Palmer Technologies and linked to a paper mill she recently shut down. Oliver and Thea go to the location and question a guy about if he’s seen the mysterious man. Thea gets too aggressive and breaks the guy’s arm causing Oliver to tell her to leave.
Felicity ID’s the mystery man as Lonnie Machin just as Oliver and Thea return in the midst of arguing about Thea’s actions. Oliver shows her how she could’ve taken down an opponent but instead she used techniques to cripple. Thea goes ape shit and Diggle and Laurel have to pull her off Oliver. Oliver tells her that Malcolm told him that people who go in the pit don’t come out the same and she’s clearly not fine.
Felicity finds out that her list of people to fire is twice as long due to the pages being double sided and tells Curtis there has to be another way after realizing he’s also on the list. He tells her it’s okay because he pretty much fired himself. Oliver pays Jessica a visit and tells her it’s not too late to drop out but she doesn’t want to send the wrong message. He tells her that the Green Arrow is there to be brave but she tells him they need someone who will inspire them.
Lonnie snatches Madison from the library killing the officers who were watching her and Oliver tells Quentin Lonnie’s real name. He tells him to let them help because he can’t do it alone. Damien is over Lonnie because he crossed the line snatching Madison and tells him their relationship is over and he needs to fix the mess he made.
Laurel asks Thea what happened on Nanda Parbat and she gives her all of the details and Laurel gets that faraway look in her eye (I think we know where this is going). Quentin goes to Damien and tells him that Madison better be okay but he tells him it’s out of his control. Quentin tells him he’s out but Damien threatens him by using Laurel. He then gives him the location of Madison while swiftly reprimanding him.
Laurel’s got a plan
Felicity vents to Oliver about everything that’s been going wrong since they returned and he tells her that they just need time to figure out how to do things differently. Oliver gets a call from Quentin giving him the location of Madison and he tells him this is his chance to prove things are different.
Lonnie is goes psycho on Madison and breaks her fingers. Oliver and crew show up and Diggle and Laurel take Madison to safety while Oliver and Thea go after Lonnie. Lonnie takes out Thea from behind by electrocuting her. He then goes against Oliver before eventually getting the upper hand but Thea is back and lights him on fire. Oliver barely saves his life by shooting on the sprinklers as Thea looks on finally realizing that there just might be something wrong with her.
Madison is returned to Jessica who tells Oliver and Quentin she’s dropping out. Quentin also tells Oliver that it doesn’t look like things are different but worse and he’s lucky Lonnie is alive or he’d be booking him for murder. Felicity lets the shareholders know that she’s not firing anyone and she tells them that Curtis is working on something that will revolutionize technology and save the company. They tells her that they have a month to show them what he’s working on.
Oliver talks to Thea and tells her that he should’ve told her about the pit but he’s now a new person. Laurel tells him that she needs some time out of town and he gives them his blessing. After Oliver leaves Laurel tells Thea that they’re going to Nanda Parbat so the league can help with what’s going on with her and another personal reason.
Lonnie escapes the ambulance killing everyone on it and leaves a sign for anarchy. Meanwhile Oliver unloads on Felicity about how things aren’t being done different because the city needs something that the Green Arrow can’t offer: hope, inspiration. He tells her that he’s going to run for mayor.
We end with Laurel and Thea digging Sara up so they can take her to Nanda Parbat.
Some takeaways…
- Can we just talk about the knew intro voice over for a minute? I actually chuckled a little. “I had to become something else… I had to become the Green Arrow”.
- We knew the whole Sara angle was coming this season thanks to her being apart of the new spinoff show Legends of Tomorrow. At least they’re integrating this angle early and I’m glad that they showed us a decaying Sara. If that girl was still in there looking like she just got in the coffin I was going to have a lot of issues… but it’s still really gross.
- I was glad that we got Olicity in smaller doses. Oliver telling her that he plans to run for mayor only strengthens my prediction that Felicity is the one who dies during what I believe will be the mid-season finale.
- I do have to add that I’m loving all of this diversity that they gave us in the episode.
Should Oliver run for mayor and would the city support him? Let me know below and on Twitter!
Photos: The CW
