Photo Source: Tell-Tale TV/Arrow/the CW
Episode synopsis:
In his darkest place yet, Oliver wonders if he has failed at everything – being a father, a mayor and a hero. His frustration rising, Oliver lashes out at Felicity and William. A surprising visit from an old friend has Oliver questioning his next move. – the CW
The episode opens with the best 5 minutes of Arrow I’ve seen in quite sometime. Oliver is in the season 1 suit and engaging in a full on assault on the SCPD. Diaz is hold up in the precinct with all his dirty cops. Before we get to see Oliver do anything else, “Ten Hours Earlier” flashes on the screen.
Felicity was the one who found out Diaz would be at SCPD. Everyday at 10:13 pm Diaz goes to SCPD and stays for 45 minutes. Now that Oliver knows where to find Diaz, he needs to make his attack. Felicity does not want Oliver to do it alone and attempts to get John back by parent trapping him and Oliver. It didn’t work.
Things for Ollie aren’t going so great, John’s out still and now the city council is giving him flak for firing the DA and Captain Hill. There will be a city council meeting later for Oliver to explain himself.
At least with that out of the way for now, Oliver can enjoy some family time. It’s the day of the science fair and William cloned a cabbage. More good news, Felicity found evidence to prove that Hill and the DA were being blackmailed. There’s bad news though, the evidence could incriminate Oliver as the Green Arrow, with SCPD corrupt how else could he have gotten the evidence. In anger Oliver accidentally kills William’s cabbage and with that Felicity kicks him out.
Photo Source: Arrow/the CW
Oliver heads to the Arrow cave for some brooding. Felicity interrupts Oliver’s brood sesh to tell him they need a break, he isn’t the man she married anymore. Women, am I right? People just keep interrupting Oliver and his brooding. This time it’s Quentin but with him he brings words of wisdom and idea of what to do with the evidence. Agent Watson may want to use the evidence, you know lesser of two evils or something.
Another guest but this one is different mostly because he died last season. It’s Adrian Chase. Of course a fight breaks out between the two and Chase goads Oliver into killing him. But that doesn’t get rid of him because he is in Ollie’s head and he is there to teach Oliver a lesson, Oliver is his own biggest enemy. Ollie might be crazy but he runs a blood test to make sure it’s not something else and sure enough it reveals that he is tripping balls on vertigo. It looks one of the council members at city hall dosed him.
Photo Source: Green Arrow TV/Arrow/the CW
Ollie still very high is late for the city council meeting, trying to get there he runs through a bunch of hallucinations of people his let down, his Laurel, Rene, Curtis, Dinah and finally a Raisa who’d been stabbed by Diaz looking for William. Chase accompanies Ollie on his wild drug fueled ride. At what looks like to be the end of the trip Ollie comes face to face with himself, where the lesson from Adrian further cements itself but going off of this Oliver realizes he needs to go back to the beginning when he didn’t have a team.
Oliver sobers up enough to make it do the meeting. Lance informs him that Watson is a no on the helping front but he still reveals the evidence to the council. Things go south when he says it came from the Green Arrow. Quentin cuts the meeting sort and Oliver meets with Adrian Chase once more. Chase convinces him that he needs to stop Diaz tonight. They should keep Ollie doped up every episode just so I can see more of Adrian Chase.
Felicity has a tracker on Ollie’s bow and notices that he is making his move on the precinct. She needs to stop him and she recruits Quentin to help before he gets himself hurt. And apparently her throwing Oliver out and telling him they needed a break was part of the hallucinating.
Ollie’s in the old suit we’re just before where the episode started. Outside the precinct Quentin tries to stop Oliver, that doesn’t work and he smacks him. Felicity is just behind Ollie as she walks through the hall of the precinct see his handiwork. She catches up to him and talks him down before walks into a trap. The pair escapes before the cops and Diaz can subdue them.
Oliver tells Felicity of his epiphany of going back to the basics. He reconciles with William and we learn of Oliver’s impeachment. Quentin Lance is now the mayor of Star City.
The episode closes with Laurel meeting with Diaz at SCPD. Apparently this was all part of his plan and he isn’t done dismantling Oliver. Star City is open for business.
This was a great episode, it felt like season 1. I hope the keep going in this direction.
Catch Arrow Thursday nights at 9pm on the CW.
Source: CW Arrow
