Throw in a fan favorite DC comic character, a possible love interest for Oliver, and a big reveal and you’ve got last night’s episode of ‘Arrow’! Let’s start recapping.

Thea reminds Oliver that he’s supposed to have lunch with his mom so he heads over to Queen Consolidate to meet her. As he waits for Moira to finish her conversation with Mr. Copani, Oliver sees a motorcyclist ride up the sidewalk and pulls a gun out. He yells for them to get down but not in time for Mr. Copani to get shot and knock Moira down.

Oliver runs to his mom and makes sure she’s okay before running after the motorcyclist. Unfortunately (or rather predictably) the motorcyclist got away.

At the hospital, Moira assures Thea and Oliver that she is okay and only suffered a concussion. Oliver apologizes for leaving her like he did and said he left because he wanted to try and get the motorcycle’s license plate. Thea is not happy with her brother and told him he needs to act less of a hero. She doesn’t believe his story and tells him it’s getting hard to love him when he won’t be truthful with them.

Quentin tells Oliver that the man Moira was talking to is connected to the mob and he was the intended target. This does not make the fact that his mother was injured any less worrisome so Oliver decides to do some research.

In the Arrow lair, Diggle finds Oliver working out his frustrations (and shirtless!!!) on a Wing Chung dummy. He tells Diggle that Copani worked for the Bertinelli mob family and he’s not the only person in that organization that’s been killed. Someone is obviously targeting the crime family so he decides to go undercover to find out who is after them. In turn, that will lead him to who took a shot at Copani and almost hit his mother. And when he finds out whom that person is… that person is a dead man.

But we soon find out that this “man” is really the woman we know as The Huntress.

Later that night, Oliver is heading out for a meeting with Frank Bertinelli just as Thea is ready to head out to go clubbing. He begs her to stay in to take care of Moira as he’s got an important meeting to go to and she reluctantly does but not after commenting how she can’t figure out why he seems so uncaring.

Before Oliver can get out the door, Tommy comes in to let him know that he asked Laurel out. (And who says chivalry is dead?) Although taken aback, Oliver gives his blessing but let’s Tommy know that if he hurts her, he’ll snap his neck…just kidding…no, really.

Oliver’s meeting with Frank goes well, but it’s interrupted by his daughter Helena, who we see is the motorcyclist who gunned down Copani. After introductions are made, Frank is informed that a meeting with a certain someone can happen but it needs to be now. Frank takes his daughter to the other room and asks her to woo Oliver to get Queen Consolidated to give them the contract to build the new Applied Science building. She reluctantly agrees.

During dinner, Helena asks Oliver if there was a time he felt happy that he was on the island – away from the expectations and pressures of his family. Oliver confesses that he has and adds that “those are the days that I miss.” As they look across the table, Oliver finally realizes there may be someone who actually gets him. The loneliness that he’s felt all this time is finally fading as Helena seems to understand the deep emotions he so carefully hides from everyone.

They enjoy each other’s company as Oliver is finally able to be himself express his real feelings about being back to civilization. Helena seems to understand all his feelings and tells him that she feels the same way since her fiancé died. That changed her too. Dinner is interrupted by a call from Diggle who tells Oliver that Bertinelli’s enforcer, Salvati, has been shaking down everyone who owes the mob family money. He’s already put 4 people in the hospital and is on his way to Russo’s.

Oliver just happens to be in the area as that’s the restaurant he and Helena were having dinner at. He changes into his Arrow persona and before Salvati is able to do any harm on the owner and his wife, Arrow comes in to stop him. During the fight, the Huntress comes in and tries to help Arrow by shooting at Salvati and his men. But all Arrow sees is the person who shot at his mom. He fights the Huntress and it isn’t until he pulls off her motorcycle helmet does he realize that she is Helena. Helena runs away before anything more can happen.

Moira gets an unexpected guest in the form of the well-dressed man. He came by to see how she was doing. He is obviously close to the family as Thea let him in to see her mother. The well-dressed man came by to make sure that Moira is still on board with whatever plan they are involved in. She tells him she does not have a change of heart like her husband Robert did.

Oliver is trying to figure out why Helena is targeting her father’s organization while Diggle just wants to put her away. Oliver tries to reason with his bodyguard telling him there is a reason why she is doing what she is doing. She’s not a cold blooded killer.

What she is is a grieving fiancé. Oliver follows her to the cemetery where she tells him that his death is what changed her. As she leaves, Helena and Oliver are taken by Salvati who figured out she was the one killing everyone off as the necklace that she treasured had fallen off during the fight at Russo’s.

Here is where we find out Helena’s backstory. Apparently she found out that her father ordered the hit that killed her fiancé and that Salvati was the one that shot him. They thought her fiancé was talking to the feds and was gathering state’s evidence but Helena tells him it was really her that was talking to the Feds.

Just before Salvati is about to shoot her, Oliver is able to break free from his zip tie and tackle him. Then Helena breaks free from her zip tie and fighting ensures. In the end, Oliver witness Helena kill Salvati by breaking his neck.

Later that night, Oliver pays a visit to Helena. She tells him that she knows he’s Arrow. Oliver tells her that what she is doing is not justice – it’s revenge but she refuses to believe him. She tells him that they are the same. Helena begins to cry and she tells him that she’s been alone in her hatred for so long that it finally feels good to tell the truth. Oliver feels the same way and a romance begins…

Episode Observations:

While there was no specific bad guy for Arrow to target this week, the episode focused more on setting up for future episodes. We saw the origin of the Huntress, the beginnings of Tommy’s upcoming hardship of being a working man now that his dad has cut him off, and the stirrings of a mob war between the Bertinelli family and the Triad. As episodes go, this was a bit tame but important as it also brought in Helena who becomes a love interest for Oliver when he realizes she able to understand what he went through on that island (and is a pretty awesome fighter!).

The romantic scenes between Tommy and Laurel (like him asking her out on a date) are so sweet. At this point, Tommy seems to be the better (yet unrequited) love interest for the attorney. He’s being such an upright kind of guy, that knowing upcoming episodes will find him struggling makes you want to root for him to succeed. But knowing how these things go, this may be the beginning of Tommy becoming a foe for Arrow.

Diggle is so underused right now. I’m hoping that he’ll be seeing some action. With his military background, it’s hard to see him just as tech support.

Of course I couldn’t not mention the big reveal! The well-dressed man is really Tommy’s father!! Frankly, I thought Barrowmen looks a bit too young to have a son in his mid-late 20’s but it was a good moment to see. Although we now know who he is (and I can finally stop calling him the well-dressed man), we still don’t know what his angle is.

So what did you think of this week’s ‘Arrow?’