arrow crossing lines

“Sometimes you have to cross the line for the greater good.”

An ominous beginning that’s nothing more than an overblown ruse, Felicity and Rene team up with Dinah and Agent Watson to track down Diaz, and Lilah channels her inner vigilante ethos as we catch up with our dysfunctional band in Star City.

Oliver is desperate to find this “Demon”.

One of the more interesting things thus far in Arrow has been the fact that there’s no silver bullet used to get Oliver free of prison. He’s been forced to navigate the tricky paths, staying true to himself but also getting what he needs and now he knows what he’s looking for: “The Demon”. Said to have a direct connection with Diaz, The Demon is Oliver’s only way to locate the man that’s still in the process of destroying his life. In order to get it done, he has to get thrown down to Level 2 and, what better way to do that than to superficially wound some guards?

Back in Star City, Felicity discovers that Diaz wants something from the CDC. She’s able to convince a

Unlike her appearances last season, Agent Watson was actually competent in this episode.

more sympathetic than she lets on Watson that using Diaz’s CDC infiltration as the perfect time to trap him. Of course, the plan goes awry, with Diaz and two of his Longbow Hunters escaping but, thanks to Rene, they’re able to trap Silencer—though Felicity and Rene keep that information between the two of them.

In Zurich, Lilah, John, and Curtis do their own brand of espionage; capturing data from a major bank where half the criminal underworld filters their funds through. The mission itself seems random enough but Lilah’s actions are what make things interesting. Thanks to Curtis, Diggle realizes that his wife copied the data that stole, giving into to a shady unknown. He confronts her on it and she comes clean; admitting that she’s crossing boundaries because it needs to be done.

In fact, both Lilah and Agent Watson realize something; they may believe that the rule of law is paramount in maintaining societal order but there are times when even an officer of the law has to bend or, even break, laws to get the job done. It’s an ironic stance, especially considering how driven Watson was to take down Oliver. This ideology also gives “Crossing Lines” something more than the one-too-many fight scenes or the bland Longbow Hunters. Lilah’s line on crossing the line for the greater good has always been at the heart of Oliver’s mission. Understanding that some criminals—in this world, at least—are levels above even the most diligent of agents put the good guys at a supreme disadvantage. It begs the question of when is it okay to cross that line for the greater good and what does it take to make sure that you don’t lose yourself in the process?

Finally, while the entire Diaz caper didn’t offer much in the way of captivating television, the last scene where they show him injecting himself with one of the stolen compounds with his strength curiously multiplied—not to mention his tale of having his bones shattered from last season’s rooftop explosion—but what happened to him between that time and his re-appearance is admittedly an interesting little nugget. To heal so completely from such catastrophic injuries would require something highly sophisticated, even supernatural, to foster that type of regeneration. Adding to this theorizing is the fact that Oliver has set himself up with an opportunity to meet the Demon and one has to wonder if Ra’s Al Ghul’s—whose nickname was the Demon—Lazarus pits may not have been destroyed after all…

It’s a wild guess, but there has to be a power behind Diaz, one more intimidating and with greater reach than the Dragon. As decent a villain as he is, Diaz just doesn’t have the power to captivate as the Big Bad for a second go-round. Whether we see someone of the Al Ghul line return, we can only hope.

Arrow – “Crossing Lines”