Felicity has a little problem.
Always great to see a Felicity centric episode, and she really ran the gamut tonight, having to deal with Ray, her mother in town, and relationship issues with Oliver (not to mention how long she went without showering. I mean, I cringed every time I saw her in that purple dress, as it clearly meant she still had not found time to bathe).
Anyway, jumping in, tonight’s episode opened in less than heroic fashion, with the Queens sitting down with Alex to go over Oliver’s platform. They had also planned on going over the budget for the campaign, but Felicity was missing from the meeting, and with all the money coming from Palmer Tech, they had to postpone the budget talks. As Oliver heads out to find Felicity, Alex takes a moment to ask out Thea, who we learn is not really comfortable with dating the man so closely tried to her brother’s campaign… yet.
Felicity meanwhile has taken over Curtis’ workstation (and his obsession with candy and caffeinated beverages) in her attempt to track down Ray and the source of the message saying he is still alive and in trouble. Soon enough, she is able to make contact with Ray himself, and we learn not only that the explosion at Palmer Tech from months ago resulted in him and the suit being shrunk to Cheeto size proportions, but also that he had been kidnapped by nefarious enemies who are holding him within a glass box. Felicity is immediately on task to stage the rescue attempt, but she still needs to use schematics Ray drew up to build a machine that can resize him. Unfortunately, the main component they need is being held by Palmer Tech’s biggest competitor, which means Felicity has no legal means of retrieving the item. Fortunately, she has the Quiver Crew, who immediately agrees to suit up and break into the competition’s building to retrieve the component. And it is the whole team going, including the newly revived and re-souled Sara, who suits up in her old Canary garb and walks proudly beside her sister, the new Black Canary (I really wish we could have seen Sara’s reaction to Laurel now being the Canary, as well as her reaction to what happened with Thea, and everything that occurred while she was “dead”.)
Before the raid though, Felicity is surprised with a visit from her mother, who apparently has been texting with Oliver and invited herself into town when Oliver told her about how busy and stressed Felicity has been. While Oliver had no idea about Ray and needing to save him when the invitation was sent out, Felicity is still pissed, and snaps at Oliver a number of times over the decision to invite her mother to town (and this is after she snapped at him earlier in the episode for not being able to help her unless he somehow learned how to code). All of which leads to an entertaining exchange between Oliver and Felicity on the radio where they bicker about Oliver texting and exchanging emojis with her mother, little realizing the rest of the team can hear every word they say, as they are all about to start the mission. The raid begins, with Felicity realizing the company has upped their security, resulting in more cameras, an alarm that goes off when Thea lifts the component, and armed guards appearing. Fortunately the plan still goes fairly well, except for when the bloodlust hits Sara, and she pummels a guard almost to death, stopping only as Thea and Laurel scream for her to leave the guard alone.
Felicity meanwhile gets another message from Ray, and while she assures him that they have all the pieces they need, she sees his captor walk into the room, and realizes Ray is being held by none other than Damien Darhk. She is terrified for Ray and takes it out on Oliver, who seems to be feeling some jealousy for Ray. However, he points out that it is a good thing that Darhk has Ray as they have a man on the inside, for he has sent Captain Lance to make contact with the villain. Darhk meanwhile speaks to Ray, and reveals that he found the distress message Ray sent out. He surmises that the “Felicity” in question is none other than Felicity Smoak, officially putting her on Darhk’s radar. Here’s hoping this is not a stepping stone to Felicity being the one in the grave from the season premiere.
While waiting for the results of Lance’s work, Oliver invites Felicity to dinner with her mom, making her even more angry as she realizes that Oliver and her mom planned a dinner at the worst possible time. The dinner does not go well, with Donna Smoak burning the chicken because Oliver was too late to cook himself, and Donna eventually leaving as Oliver and Felicity start bickering (on the way out though, she does remind Felicity that the best part of a fight is the make-up sex). Felicity reveals that she blames herself for Ray still being out there, as she was too distracted with Oliver to see Ray’s original messages months ago. She fears that she lost herself in Oliver, and does not know if she is okay with that. He decides to give her time, a good choice that is confirmed later by Diggle as the two share a drink down in the Arrow Cave, having to drink Whiskey now that Oliver’s crate and bottle of Vodka from Lian Yu were lost during the raid on the original Arrow Cave.
Meanwhile Lance meets up with Darhk, asking for help with all the magical “mumbo-jumbo” in exchange for more help from Lance, but Darhk take offense at Lance’s casual statements about the mystical arts, and states this was the last time Lance would be allowed to summon him. Fortunately, Team Arrow is able to follow Darhk back to his current lair, which happens to be one of the most secure buildings on the west coast. To make matters worse, Curtis still has not had enough time to assemble the machine to resize Ray, so Felicity decides to take him into the field with her. It will once again take the entire team to accomplish the mission, which is worrisome considering Sara’s unchecked bloodlust. Still, they have to save Ray.
The plan starts with Oliver being captured by a “Ghost” (actually Diggle in disguise) and taken to Darhk, who binds him in chains. Felicity and Curtis meanwhile, base jump into the building, crashing through a window to gain entry (did I forget to mention that we learned in this episode that Curtis is an accomplished base jumper?). They are met by Diggle in disguise (code-name Sparticus because of the “guest” (Curtis) in their midst who does not need to know everyone’s identities), and Diggle leads them to the lab where Palmer is being held. At the same time, The Canaries and Speedy have launched an assault on the lower levels of the building, distracting numerous ghosts with their attack. While everyone else is moving, Darhk moves in to unmask Oliver, but is halted when Oliver does a flip and kick to knock back the mystic villain, freeing himself and taking a shot at Darhk, which once again is easily deflected by the man’s powers. Darhk next uses his abilities to make Oliver’s chains come alive and wrap around his neck, choking the hero. Back in the lab, Ray has fully suited up, and they are able to use the machine to regrow him to full size and free him from his tiny glass cell. Oliver uses a flash grenade to distract Darhk, and manages to free himself from the chains and escape, even as the rest of the team starts to head out. Unfortunately, on the lower level, the bloodlust hits Sara again, only Laurel and Thea cannot get her to stop in time. Sara snaps the neck of one of the ghosts, and then joins the rest of the team as they retreat.
In tonight’s flashbacks, Oliver takes the militia to the underground cavern where Constantine took him last week, with the suspicious soldier still saying Oliver is a traitor. That same man makes a deal with a prisoner to try to drown Oliver later while near a lake, and the man is almost successful. Luckily Oliver manages to free himself and kill the poor prisoner instead, which incites even more anger from the suspicious guard, who asks Oliver how he plans to explain that body. Oliver also visits the woman he saved a few weeks back and brings her food, and we learn she is growing to trust him since he returned as he claimed he would. All in all, not a great week for flashbacks, though the confirmation that the militia might be interested in the more mystical parts of Lian Yu was intriguing.
In the episode aftermath, Felicity’s mom counsels her daughter that her relationship with Oliver is special, and that if you really love someone it is ok to lose yourself in them. She also reminds Felicity that Oliver is not her father and will not abandon her. Laurel meanwhile learns that Sara is going to be leaving Star City, as she needs to find a way to learn to live with the bloodlust, and she cannot stay where she is. Speedy meanwhile decides to take up Alex’s offer for a date, claiming she had a recent change of heart. Let’s just hope her reprieve from her own bloodlust is not over yet, or Alex might be in trouble. Felicity offers to give the company back to Ray, but for the moment he is ok with keeping Felicity in charge and letting the public continue to think he is dead.
Felicity and Oliver reconnect, making up after the episode’s events, and seemingly coming out stronger than ever. The scene was so hopeful and full of so many windows that I truly worried a sniper from Darhk might be looking to take out Felicity in retaliation for freeing Ray. Fortunately, the couple ends on a happy note this episode. Lastly, Captain Lance meets a new woman at a bar (where he is only drinking water), both commiserating over exasperating children and being parents. The woman is Donna Smoak, and from the way the scene was shot, we might actually see the two develop a relationship in the coming weeks.
BOW-STRING THEORIES:
* So does this mean Ray now has the technology to shrink and grow back at will? Or is the show sticking with the idea that the ATOM is mainly just an Iron Man suit?
* Could setting up Captain Lance with Donna Smoak be another way to get us to like Captain Lance more so we will be more distraught when we find him in the grave? Or could the grave maybe be for Donna Smoak?
* Seem hypocritical to anyone else when Speedy was yelling at Sara during her bloodlust outbreaks? Thea should know better than anyone that you cannot be controlled when the bloodlust hits. And I am the only one who felt the whole Sara storyline this episode was rushed? They spent no time catching her up on the events since her death, and as stated before, I really wanted to see her thoughts on Laurel being a vigilante now.
While a bit of a bridge episode (getting Sara out the door, and getting Ray back in place), there was still plenty going on during tonight’s episode, and plenty of action. It was great seeing the full team working together, even with Sara, and crazy to think of how many allies Oliver has gained over the years. (with Curtis, Ray and Sara tonight, the Quiver Crew numbered at 8 heroes, almost their own Justice League). Cannot wait to see where the show is going next, and also looking forward to the next cross-over with ‘The Flash’ in the coming weeks!
