Violet recaps Season 5 Episode 8 of Arrow, titled Invasion!, which continues the four part crossover event! Following the recap, both Violet and Josh share their thoughts about the episode.
The episode begins with Oliver going for a run and returning to the Queen mansion… where Laurel is waiting for him in the shower. It also turns out that they are engaged. But then we see that this scene is all in Oliver’s head, as in real life Oliver is asleep in an alien pod, along with the others who were taken up into the alien ship at the end of The Flash crossover episode.
Meanwhile, Felicity brings Cisco back to the Arrow Cave with her and introduces him to Curtis, Rory, and Rene. Cisco announces that he needs to vibe something so that he can find Oliver and the others who were taken by the aliens. Felicity lets Cisco touch Oliver’s bow, which then allows him to see that they are in stasis in an alien spaceship. Cisco reveals that he took a piece of the alien ship that crashed in Central City, and Curtis becomes excited that they are going to hack into alien tech.
Back in the illusion that Oliver and the others are having, Oliver and Thea have a little chat with their parents. Outside, Laurel greets Sara, who has just arrived for the wedding festivities.
Oliver and his father go for a walk, when suddenly, they are accosted by a mugger who pulls a gun on them. Oliver begins to stand up to the man, but then the Green Arrow swoops in out of nowhere and saves them. Back at the mansion, Oliver, his father, and Thea agree not to tell their mother. Laurel comes in and gives Oliver a hug. While this is happening, Oliver is getting flashes of his real life.
Curtis gives Cisco a device to use that may help translate the Dominators’ language. However, when they try it, it overloads. Felicity figures out that they need a regulator. The device that they need has already been stolen though. Felicity decides to call in “reinforcements.”
Oliver goes down to the police station to talk to Captain Lance about “the Hood” but Lance thinks Oliver should be more concerned about his wedding and the rehearsal dinner. Captain Lance also expresses how proud he is to have Oliver as his son-in-law.
At the rehearsal dinner, Laurel is worried about the fact that Oliver is late. Ray shows up and introduces himself to Laurel, who then introduces Sara to him. This causes Ray to have a flash of reality.
Meanwhile, Oliver goes down to the Arrow Cave — where he finds Felicity, who gets worked up about him being an intruder, and Diggle, who is dressed as the Green Arrow, and knocks Oliver out. When he comes to, they question him. Diggle is surprised that Oliver knows who he is. Oliver also gets flashes of recognition about Felicity. Diggle gets angry when Oliver mentions his brother, and shoves him into the elevator, telling him to go back to his family.
In the real world, The Flash and Supergirl meet up with Wild Dog and Ragman to steal back the regulator. Wild Dog doesn’t want anything to do with The Flash and Supergirl, though, and goes off on his own, where he runs into the woman who stole the regulator, who uses her powers on him to knock him down.
Thea shares a moment with her mother while she gets ready for Oliver’s wedding. But she, too, has a flash about reality. Oliver goes to see Laurel, who is already in her wedding dress. He apologizes about missing the rehearsal dinner, and asks her to elope. He doesn’t want to give up what he has with her. Diggle stops by to talk privately with Oliver. On their walk, Diggle says that he is also getting weird memory flashes. Together, they realize that this is not real.
Suddenly, Deathstroke shows up and begins attacking Diggle and Oliver. They fight back. Then Sara shows up and fights back as well, and stabs Deathstroke, killing him. She is surprised at what she has just done. Oliver and Diggle explain to her that they are in a shared hallucination. Sara remembers the fight they were in, and that there are two others: Thea and Ray.
Wild Dog demands that the woman hand over the item she stole, and she fires at him — but The Flash and Supergirl come in just in time and save him. Curtis and Ragman come in, and Curtis removes the regulator from the woman, who is now knocked out.
Sara finds Ray at the pre-wedding reception, and gets him to remember. Oliver has a heartfelt moment with his parents, tearfully hugging them. Sara gets Thea to remember, but Thea doesn’t want to leave. Oliver tries to talk her out of staying, but to no avail. She doesn’t want to lose her parents again. Oliver tearfully hugs her and wishes her well.
Oliver meets up with Sara, Diggle, and Ray outside. They have figured out that they need to get to the Smoak Technologies building to get out of the hallucination. However, several of their enemies show up to stop them, including Malcolm Merlyn, Damien Darhk, and Deathstroke, plus some Ghosts. Thea has changed her mind after all, and helps the others fight.
After they have defeated everyone, Laurel comes out in her wedding dress, wondering what is going on. Sara explains that they have to go, and gives her sister a hug goodbye. Oliver says his goodbyes to Laurel as well. The five go to Smoak Technologies and find a portal to pass through to get back to reality. Oliver, Thea, Sara, Diggle, and Ray wake up in the alien spaceship.
Over at the Arrow Cave, Curtis reports that the regulator worked, but his translator didn’t. Rory reports that the Dominators’ language shares commonalities with the Old Testament. Felicity is able to figure out the coordinates of where Oliver and the others are located — in outer space.
Ray tries to lead the others to find a way off of the spaceship. However, they run into a bunch of the aliens. Luckily, Oliver is able to grab a weapon off the wall, and shoot it at the aliens, keeping them at bay. The five of them find an escape pod and somehow figure out how to operate it, then fly it away from the mother ship. Unfortunately, several other alien ships chase after them and shoot at them. But then the Waverider flies in and saves them.
On board the Waverider, Sara takes Diggle to the med bay to have Gideon tend to him. Ray figures out that the reason the aliens took the five of them was so that they could probe their minds for intel, since they don’t have any powers to fight back. He also gets Gideon to translate a phrase he heard the aliens say: “We are nearing completion of the weapon.” Gideon also reports that the Dominators’ mother ship appears to be on a direct course for Earth.
To be continued in the final episode of the crossover event…
Her Thoughts on Arrow, Season 5 Episode 8: Invasion!
I liked the episode a lot, but at the same time, there were some things that I didn’t like about it. I liked how emotional and nostalgic the episode was, getting us to see this “what if” scenario of could things could have been. It was probably almost as much of a treat to the audience as it was for the characters to see and spend time with the friends and family that they had lost. Because this is Arrow, which is more grounded in reality than its sister shows The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, which often contemplate alternate realities and timelines, we don’t usually get to see this type of thing on this show. However, thanks to the crossover event, we did get the chance to see it, and it was an interesting journey to watch.
At first, I was a little upset about the show trying to make it seem like Oliver and Laurel were supposed to be together. As many of you know, I’ve never liked them together. But even more than that, because so much has happened to Oliver since he and Laurel were initially together, it doesn’t seem like they’re right for each other anymore. Or that they ever were, for that matter, considering that he was never committed to their relationship. So I was glad at the end of the episode when Oliver pointed out that he is not the person that she fell in love with. The person that she fell in love with was a bad boy, a playboy, who cheated on her with her sister. He has changed since then.
I also don’t like how the show, as well as Legends of Tomorrow, is trying to make it seem like Sara is only into girls. She and Oliver have history, not only before the island, but after he returned from the island as well, and things actually got pretty serious. So, she’s not just a lesbian, she is bi. I’m not sure why it has to be one or the other gender, it can be both.
Oh, and it felt like a big cop out to only see Deathstroke wearing the mask, and not get to see Slade Wilson.
Anyway, overall I really enjoyed this episode, because it’s probably the most sci-fi episode of Arrow we’ll get for awhile, at least until the next crossover event!
His Thoughts on Arrow, Season 5 Episode 8: Invasion!
COMING SOON
Scenes from Arrow, Season 5 Episode 9: What We Leave Behind
Preview of Season 5 Episode 9 of Arrow
