SPOILER ALERT! (stop reading if you don’t want to know what happens in this episode)
It’s the moment we’ve been waiting for since they showed us the grave at the beginning of the season. We lose someone this episode and as the previews say, it’s definitely an end of an era. Check out the recap below!
Taiana acts as a decoy to try to steal the set of keys from Reiter’s guards. She gets them and starts freeing the prisoners while Oliver shoots at the guards. Oliver comes up with an idea to blow up the opening to the cave and trap Reiter inside. Reiter kills his two remaining guards so that he can live.
A Matter of Trust
Andy takes Diggle’s gun for protection and tells him that he was approached by Malcolm Merlyn who wanted him to help him hijack a truck of missiles. He asks Diggle what he should do and Diggle tells the team. Oliver tells them that he’s seen the idol before when he was on the island. Diggle believes they can trust Andy to work as a double agent but Oliver is too convinced. The team has to stop to attend Ruve’s acceptance speech and they find out that 48% of the city wrote Oliver’s name in on the ballet. Ruve then makes Laurel an offer asking her if she wants to take the district attorney spot.
Oliver and Diggle stakeout the place where Andy says the missiles when the convoy moves. They follow after it trying to stop Malcolm’s men but when they pull one off the truck it’s Andy. Oliver thinks it was too easy to stop the convoy. Laurel and Thea are back at the lair discussing Ruve’s offer when Malcolm shows up with some of his men for the idol. They fight off Malcolm and his men but he gets the upper hand against Thea and is able to slip out with the idol.
They return to the lair and Oliver tells Laurel that he believes it’s possible that Andy played them. Laurel tells him he needs to be sure before telling Diggle his thoughts. Laurel has dinner with Quentin and they discuss Ruve’s offer but Quentin tells her that taking the D.A. job would mean taking off the Black Canary mask forever.
Andy calls Diggle and tells them he has eyes on Malcolm. When they get there and try to go after him they get separated and Andy ends up taking an arrow for Oliver. He tells them that they need to get to Iron Heights before Malcolm hands the idol off to Darhk. At the prison, Malcolm goes to hand the idol over but Darhk tells him it’s missing a piece and he needs to find it.
Andy is scared that Darhk will come for him because he was seen helping them. Diggle assures him that he’s safe and tells him that he hid a piece of the idol himself. Oliver tells Diggle they need to keep the secret contained but he thinks Oliver doesn’t fully trust Andy. Laurel goes to the prison and has all of the cells searched under the claim that there was an anonymous tip. Meanwhile, Oliver walks in on Andy searching Diggle’s apartment and asks him what he’s looking for. He tells him that he thinks he’s been playing them and breaks his shoulder when Diggle walks in on them. Oliver tries to tell him they can’t trust Andy but he isn’t hearing any of it and pulls out his gun telling him to leave.
Back at the lair, Diggle confronts Oliver who tries to explain why he needs to watch Andy. He tells him that he’s still the same person from the island, he hasn’t changed but Diggle tells him that not all men are like him and his thinking is why Felicity left him. Laurel tells Oliver that she plans to turn down Ruve’s offer because she wants to stay on the team but he tells her the team is falling apart. He tells her she owes it to herself to pursue the dreams she once had and the city has enough masked men fighting for them, they need Laurel.
Darhk gets the inmates weapons and they turn on the guards and hold them hostage. Seeing the prison footage they team suits up and Laurel tells Oliver she’ll suit up this one last time to help make sure Darhk stays in custody so she can prosecute him (huge red herring). Quentin shows up as what looks like a distraction so that the team can get into the prison. They get in and Diggle shows up with Andy who insists that he can be trusted. They start fighting the prisoners when Malcolm shows up and takes on Thea. He tells Everyone else goes to where the hostages are being held and fights off the prisoners.
Darhk gets a gun and tells them to drop their weapons while holding Andy at gunpoint. They drop it and Andy hands over the missing piece of the idol. Diggle is flabbergasted as Darhk puts the missing piece back in the idol. Thea enters and shoots Darhk with arrows. He needs more bodies as a sacrifice to power the idol and Andy kills one of the prisoners. Darhk gets his power back and reveals that he’s known all along that Oliver was the green arrow and the identities of the people on his team. He throws Diggle and Thea at the wall and turns to Laurel telling her that he made a promise to Quentin. Oliver tires to stop him but he can’t and Darhk stabs her in the torso with an arrow. He releases Oliver as he escapes and Oliver rushes to try to help her.
He takes her to the hospital but she’s lost a lot of blood. The rest of the team shows up while she’s in surgery and Diggle tells Oliver that he’ll never be able to forgive himself for not listening to him. Laurel comes out of surgery and the doctor tells them she will pull through. She talks to the team and tells them that she had planned to give up fighting but she realized that she can’t because she loves fighting alongside them.
They all leave while Oliver stays and she has him get something out of her pouch for her. It’s the picture of her that Oliver carried around while he was on the island. She tells him that she hopes he finds his way back to Felicity; she knows she’s not the love of his life but he will always be the love of his. She makes him promise her something but as we don’t overhear it. The doctors come rushing in because Laurel goes into cardiac arrest but they aren’t able to revive her. The team watches on as she flat lines and the doctor calls the time of death. Quentin finally gets there but it’s too late.
Some takeaways…
- So, I didn’t call who would die until this episode. By now, it shouldn’t be hard to spot in the episode when someone dies who that person will be. Laurel’s arc this episode was a huge red herring; the talk about the job, this being her last fight before taking the D.A. position and even the exchange between her and Darhk. I’m sad to see her go, she’s definitely grown a lot since the first season and I totally enjoyed her as the Black Canary. Well done Katie Cassidy and farewell Laurel Lance.
- We’re taking a short break but when we return it will be interesting to see how Laurel’s death impacts the team. From the previews it looks like Diggle might go off the rails. I mean, once you cross that line it’s hard to go back. I’m ready to see how the team takes down Darhk because that’s going to take a huge team effort.
What did you think about Laurel’s death? Let me know below and on Twitter!
