Violet recaps Season 5 Episode 5 of Arrow, titled Human Target, where the Arrow Team tries to track down Tobias Church, who has been torturing Wild Dog. Following the recap, both Josh and Violet share their thoughts about the episode.
- His thoughts on Human Target, Episode 505 of Arrow
- Her thoughts on Arrow, Season 5 Episode 5: Human Target
Recap of Arrow, Season 5 Episode 5: Human Target
Tobias Church tortures Wild Dog. Meanwhile, Green Arrow, Artemis, and Rag Man chase down a guy and try to get him to reveal Tobias Church’s location. They return to the Arrow Cave and report that they’ve narrowed it down to the Northwest side of the city. Felicity says she’ll work on figuring it out. Diggle comes in, and Oliver introduces him to the new recruits.
Oliver heads out for a meeting at city hall. Lance says he’ll vet some new guys for the ACU. Thea tells Oliver about a holdout on the city council.
Rory and Evelyn go to the location where Tobias was holding Wild Dog, but everyone is gone. Felicity is able to track Wild Dog’s current location, which she only reveals to Oliver. We see that Tobias with Wild Dog and his men in the forest, having Wild Dog dig. Green Arrow shows up and rescues him, as everyone runs off. Wild Dog confesses that he revealed to Tobias Church that he is Oliver Queen.
Back at the Arrow Cave, Oliver asks Diggle to debrief Rene and find out what he heard about Tobias Church’s plans.
Oliver heads to the office, and Thea warns him that the reporter Susan Williams is waiting in his office with Councilman Kullens. They discuss the rezoning ordinance. Kullens refuses to change his vote.
Over at Felicity’s place, she and Billy Malone have just had an afternoon delight. Billy informs her that he’s signed on to Oliver’s ACU, and asks if it’s going to be weird for him to be reporting to her ex-fiance. He also asks if Oliver knows about the two of them, and Felicity says that he’s definitely “aware” of him.
Rene and Diggle talk at the old HIVE HQ. But it seems like Rene doesn’t want to listen to what Diggle has to say, and claims he didn’t overhear anything from Tobias.
That night, Prometheus confronts Tobias and gives him a warning shot, saying it’s his second warning. It seems that Tobias has hired someone to kill the mayor.
The next day, Oliver shows up to his office for an interview with Susan Williams. Oliver wants to win her over and make her an ally. She agrees to give him a month with no attacks, and also gives him her personal cell phone number.
Rene comes back later to talk to Diggle, and Diggle convinces Rene to reveal any information that he learned about Tobias Church.
Meanwhile, Oliver and Thea dig up some compromising information on Kullens and blackmail him. When Oliver and Thea are walking out of the building, Oliver’s security detail is attacked, and Oliver is shot several times by Tobias Church’s hired man.
Lance holds a press conference and announces that Oliver Queen has been pronounced dead. But back at the Arrow Cave, Oliver is alive and well. Then another Oliver comes out of the elevator. It turns out that this other Oliver is named Christopher Chance, who is known as the Human Target, and is wearing a mask of Oliver’s face. He was the one who had been “shot.” In fact, it turns out he was acting as Oliver all day, ever since the interview with Susan Williams. Christopher also breaks the news to Oliver about Felicity seeing Billy, which he learned from meeting with Billy about the ACU.
Diggle helps Rene remember what happened while he was being tortured by Tobias. Rene recalls hearing “The trust goes to the brace 0-4 in 72.”
Oliver sneaks onto the balcony at Felicity’s place to talk to her about her seeing Billy. He says he’s hurt that she didn’t tell him. She says that she meant to, but was waiting until it was real — which she doesn’t know yet if it is. Just then Oliver gets a text from Diggle about what Rene remembered.
Oliver, Felicity, Diggle and Rene put their heads together and figure out what the phrase means. The team gets ready to head out, including Spartan, who has to talk Rene into joining them.
Tobias Church meets up with some people at the airfield, but the Arrow Team ambushes them, and there’s a shootout, then they all fight. Wild Dog takes on Tobias. Christopher also shows up disguised as one of Church’s men and takes out the guy that Tobias hired. Green Arrow confronts Tobias in the hangar, and they fight. Green Arrow gets the better of Tobias, who warns him that Prometheus is still coming after him.
The next day, Oliver holds a press conference to explain his actions, and to report that Tobias Church, his underlings, and severals heads of organized crime were apprehended. He also reports that the city council passed the rezoning ordinance for low-income housing.
Oliver bids goodbye to Christopher. Felicity stops by to talk to Oliver. He tells her that he wants her to be happy, and that she should have the chance to figure out if things between her and Billy are real. He says he will always care about her.
Susan Williams meets up with a guy named Ian for some intel. He tells her that the guy who took the bullets for Oliver was Christopher Chance, with whom she seems familiar. Ian also says he thinks he knows how Oliver knows Christopher. He shows her a photo of Oliver that was taken 5 years ago in Russia — when he was supposed to be stranded on a desert island.
As the police escort Tobias Church to prison, Prometheus attacks and kills everyone, except Tobias, who tells Prometheus that Green Arrow is Oliver Queen, thinking this will save his life. But Prometheus just kills him too.
Flashbacks
Anatoli brings Oliver to sit before a few Bratva members, who question him. Satisfied with his answers, Oliver is welcomed into Bratva. They have a party to celebrate, but Vicktor still considers Oliver an outsider. Anatoli and Oliver drink some more, and Oliver dwells on the promise that he made to Taiana. Outside in the alley, Oliver gets jumped by two of Vicktor’s men. However, a man comes by and saves him. It turns out that it’s Christopher Chance, wearing a mask. Anatoli knew that Vicktor wanted Oliver dead, so he hired Christopher.
Her Thoughts on Arrow, Season 5 Episode 5: Human Target
I think we can all agree that it was pretty obvious that Oliver wasn’t going to be killed off, so when Oliver is shown in the Arrow Cave after Lance announces his death, it was not surprising. But what was surprising was when another Oliver Queen entered the Arrow Cave just moments later. I started racking my brain, trying to remember if there was a metahuman who was a shapeshifter. However, it was quickly revealed that it was this “Human Target” Christopher Chance, who was wearing a mask to make him look exactly like Oliver. Then we saw him use masks a couple other times in the episode. I kind of think a shapeshifter metahuman would have been more believable, but I suppose metahumans are more a thing in The Flash than in Arrow — even though now a member of the Arrow Team is a metahuman, but ah well, I guess I’ll just have to let it slide. I’m not really familiar with the character, but it seemed like this episode was an excuse to make an homage to him. I’m guessing he won’t be a regular, but that he may pop up again some time down the line when the show feels like pulling a fast one on us.
As for Tobias Church, I thought he would be more of a “big bad” this season, and was a bit surprised to see him killed off already. But I guess it was inevitable with the Prometheus threat hanging around. Both of them couldn’t continue to be the big villain this season, and it doesn’t seem like Promotheus would be the type to want to work with others. He appears to be more of a lone wolf.
His Thoughts on Arrow, Season 5 Episode 5: Human Target
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Scenes from Arrow, Season 5 Episode 6: So It Begins
Preview of Season 5 Episode 5 of Arrow
