Welcome back to ‘Arrow!’ After the mulit-week hiatus, it was nice jumping back in and watching the “previously on” section, reminding me how much the team accomplished in the last episode, with Darhk being arrested, and with Felicity realizing her relationship with Oliver is over.
Back to the present, where we see old psychotic villain Cupid torturing a newly married couple, and learn that she now has it out for those in love, as she has been hurt too many times and now believes love only causes pain and destruction, a gift she wants to accelerate for newly weds by capturing and killing them. This particular couple she ends up leaving dead on a a lawn, their bodies in the shape of a heart, with a note inside saying “Love is dead.”
At the former home of Oliver and Felicity, we find that Felicity seems cheerful, but definitely with an edge, as she tells Oliver about her system of packing up her belongings to move out of the Queen loft. Oliver listens to her glumly, still having trouble with the break-up, and informs her that he got movers to help, thus nullifying her efforts. As she urges him to cancel the venue of their wedding, they bid farewell for the moment, with Felicity reminding Oliver that she will see him that night during Team Arrow operations, as they worked together pre-coupling up and she would like to continue to be part of the team. He agrees, but we all know that working together after a break-up is going to be anything but smooth.
Team Arrow convenes and learns about Cupid being back in town, and also about the break-up of Oliver and Felicity. Diggle, of course, takes time to talk to Oliver about his romantic issues, telling his friend that Felicity most likely just needs time and space, with Dig clearly believing that the couple belongs together, and will find a way to work it out. Fortunately, Felicity can multi-task, and can compartmentalize her issues with Oliver enough to help the group track down the next most likely victims (thanks to a tip by Thea who recognizes the first couple as a particularly famous couple from the gossip magazines). Felicity finds another high profile marriage that just occurred, and the team hunts down the wedding limo, which is now being driven by Cupid herself, with the terrified couple in the back. Team Arrow chases the limo in their van (Diggle driving) and by Arrow-cycle, with Oliver driving and Thea hanging on to the back. She jumps onto the roof of the limo, but Cupid manages to turn into a parking garage with a low roof, which smacks into Thea and knocks her off the limo. Diggle stays behind to check on Thea, while Oliver goes in after Cupid alone, while Felicity snipes on the radio that he does not have to do go in there alone, and should wait for Diggle.
Inside (yep, you guessed it) another abandoned warehouse, Oliver is almost run down by the limo, but when he checks the drivers seat, Cupid is not there. She swoops in an attacks him, commenting that she loved the Arrow, but with him dead she does not feel the same about the Green Arrow, even if she does like the sleeveless look. Oliver thinks he has her trapped by one of his net arrows, but Cupid manages to break fee. Felicity makes a comment about how he should have made sure that he had her, and it is clear that the Quiver Crew cannot survive while Felicity and Oliver have all this pent up frustration toward one another.
Laurel meanwhile is attempting to bring Damien Darhk to justice in court, but the man has good legal representation, starting with a ploy claiming he is actually a man from Markovia. Laurel needs evidence and witnesses to keep the man in jail, never mind open up a real trial, but everyone who could help is too afraid of Darhk to step forward. When she tries to bring in Diggle and Thea as witnesses (due to their presence when Dark attacked the Queen Christmas Party), they are written off by Darhk’s defense because of their shady business a few months back where they attempted to buy mass quantities of drugs (which Dig and Thea cannot explain as they were undercover for Team Arrow at the time). Laurel’s only choice is to allow her father to take the stand, a move Quentin is more than happy to do if it means keeping Dark behind bars. Captain Lance explains to the court everything that happened with him and Darhk, including the blackmail, the murders, and the threats to his family, incriminating himself in the process, but proving to the judge that Darhk is a legitimate threat, and needs to be tried. Following the trial, Lance is put on probation by the SCPD, and though he may face his own criminal charges, he is happy that he got to help Laurel keep Darhk in jail.
During his fight with Cupid, Oliver did manage to tear off a bit of her sleeve, which Felicity analyzes and uses to track down Cupid’s most likely hiding spot, a wedding dress storage warehouse (still a warehouse, but at least its not entirely abandoned). When the team arrives, Cupid is nowhere to be found, but they do find evidence that she was tracking Oliver and Felicity as targets, until their untimely break-up. Using that information, Oliver decides they should set a trap for Cupid, and use him and Felicity as bait, and claim that the whole “break-up” was just a ruse to throw the press off of their big day. Felicity understandably does not seem thrilled at the idea, but agrees to go along with it nonetheless.
During the ceremony Diggle and Thea lie in wait to trap Cupid, while Oliver and Felicity approach the altar and prepare to make their vows (don’t they need like, witnesses to make it valid? I can’t really believe that Cupid would buy this is a real wedding with how half-assed everything is). The officiant asks for the couple to read their vows, and Felicity blurts out something a little harsh and to the point, while Oliver pours out his heart to his one-time fiance, vowing to be a better man and be honest with her, that she changed everything for him when they met. His words clearly touch a nerve for Felicity, but before she can react the couple is attacked by Cupid, who sends an arrow into Oliver’s chest. Fortunately, he is wearing Kevlar, but Cupid does not mind, as she has rigged the entire building to blow, thus ending their “big day.” Thea and Diggle luckily swoop in at that moment, and they manage to take down Cupid, and take the detonator from her before she kills everyone in the building.
In the flashbacks of this week, Oliver, Taiana, and Reiter make their way into the caves, where they uncover what looks like another totem (similar to the one Darhk had in the last episode). Reiter kills one of his men in front of Oliver and Taiana, and they see his life-essence, or soul, or energy (something) go into the Totem, as Reiter prepares to kill all of his captives outside to feed the Totem. Horrified, Taiana and Oliver steal the Totem and flee further into the caves, taking along a radio to Reiter for some reason. He taunts them with the knowledge that there is no way out of the cave except through the entrance where he waits for them, and that he and his men are well-armed and ready for them, while they do not even have guns. He sends some men in after the pair, and after Oliver and Taiana take them down, they arm themselves with the guns from Reiter’s men, preparing for their escape. However, we do not get to see them make that daring escape this week, clearly they are saving it for next week’s flashbacks.
In the episode aftermath, Felicity and Oliver talk, and while she was grateful to hear his words during their “wedding,” she says they are really, truly over, and now believes that it is too hard for her to even be around Oliver during Team Arrow activities, so she is leaving the team as well. She claims she still loves him, but knows they could never work, and knows it is too hard for both of them to be around each other. In prison, as Darhk is escorted into his cell, he opens his mouth and reveals that he hid his ring inside, and then places it on his hand. Clearly Darhk does not plan on staying in prison for long, and somehow the ring is going to help him escape.
BOW-STRING THEORIES:
* Coffin theories, little new information, but as though Darhk did not already have motive to kill Captain Lance, now that he is the star witness for the prosecution in the case against Darhk, there is even more reason for him to be the one that ends up in the coffin.
* Felicity will be back, though I wonder how long before she is officially back on Team Arrow. As for her and Oliver’s relationship, Diggle’s words made me somewhat optimistic, but they are driving pretty hard at the idea that it is really and truly over. Maybe they are making way for Oliver to reunite with his original love interest, Laurel? (I can hear the fanboys groaning about this prospect now)
* Now that Darhk is in prison, has Malcolm Merlyn taken over his duties at HIVE? Why are things so quiet in Star City? As the end of the season draws near, it definitely feels like the calm before the storm.
Not the best episode to come back with, as I personally think Cupid is a weak villain, and her whole schtick is kind of meh. Still, I like the idea of Darhk brooding in prison, getting more and more angry as he plots his escape, and I really want to see how Team Arrow is going to operate without Felicity there to help. See you back here next week!
