On this final episode of Arrow before the season finale, Oliver and the gang try to track down the Unidac device. Violet recaps the episode, while Josh gives his commentary in blue font. You may want to watch the episode before you read the recap, because it is filled with spoilers! Following the recap, we each give our predictions as to what will happen in the season finale. Feel free to leave your own predictions in the comments section!
The episode starts off with a lab geek guy trying to ask a fellow lab geek girl out for drinks. As they return to the lab, they see dead bodies on the floor, and a masked, hooded man pointing a bow and arrow at Dr. Markov, who pleads with the archer, saying he did everything Mr. Merlyn wanted. But he gets shot anyway. A couple of security guards try to shoot their guns at him, but they get shot with arrows. Then the man goes after the two lab geeks, who have been locked in the room. Guess they won’t be going for those drinks after all. A black car hurriedly drives away from the building, which turns out was Unidac Industries, and when the driver takes off his mask we see that the archer was none other than Malcolm Merlyn.
This was an exciting scene. Although, I am sure it was intended to fool me, I thought for a split second the archer we saw was Oliver. I caught on pretty quick, but the episode did a good job at fooling me. Again, to sound like a broken record, I am pleasantly surprised by how much I am enjoying this show.
Back at the Arrow Cave, we find out that Digg has been watching Oliver’s mom, and Felicity has been monitoring her phone calls, but there’s been no contact with Malcolm Merlyn. Oliver knows that his mother and Tommy’s father are involved in something that threatens the city, and he’s pretty sure they murdered his father. Oliver decides to get to the bottom of it by asking him mom about it, but this time as himself, not the Vigilante.
I am glad to finally have Oliver being suspicious of his mother. It is an interesting dynamic for the show. I wonder where this will end up for his mother though, as we know what Oliver does to people who fail his city. We have seen him be a little more forgiving in recent episodes though.
As Oliver leaves the Arrow Cave, Laurel is there, even though it’s not even 7 am yet. She brings up the fact that Oliver told her he had feelings for her after she had asked him to go talk to Tommy for her. He apologizes and says that he didn’t want to make things more difficult for her and Tommy. Laurel pretty much admits that it did make things more difficult, that she’s starting to see him for who he really is, and finally admits that she has feelings for Oliver too. (As if we didn’t already know all that.) But Oliver tells her that nothing has changed, his life hasn’t changed, and he hasn’t changed. Then he leaves to go welcome Walter home.
Tommy is kind of getting screwed over in the show. I can see why he is a bitter man honestly. It is pretty quick for Laurel to already be turning to Oliver so soon.
At the Queen mansion, Oliver and Thea meet Moira and Walter as they return home. Although Walter warmly hugs Thea, he is very cold and distant towards Moira, giving her his cheek when he tries to give him a kiss on the lips, and opts to go lie down rather than have lunch with everyone. Thea gets a text from Roy saying to meet him tonight. She comments to Oliver that Walter doesn’t seem like himself, but Oliver just says that he’s been through a lot, to which Thea replies that she’s really sick of them all having to go through a lot.
I think it is safe to assume that Walter is highly suspicious of Moira. Considering how close Walter was to finding out the conspiracy before he was taken, and Moira’s insistence that he back off, followed by his subsequent kidnapping, I think it’s safe to assume he knows she at least had a hand in what happened.
Moira sees a breaking news report about the attack on Unidac Industries, which left six scientists and three security guards dead, including respected seismologist Dr. Markov. Oliver has picked this moment to try to talk to his mom, but she blows him off and leaves.
Meanwhile, Detective Lance and his partner, Detective Hilton, are investigating the crime scene at Unidac, where they have determined that the culprit was the Copycat Archer, because the arrows were black, not green. Lance doesn’t want anything to get out about the other archer. Hilton comments that anyone who knows about the project is dead, and that all the research was destroyed. Roy and Thea are sitting in a car (which Roy apparently “borrowed”) outside Unidac Industries, as Roy takes pictures. Thea tries to talk Roy out of looking for the Hood, commenting that it’s not look Roy’s going to meet him anytime soon, considering the cops don’t even have a clue. Roy gets an idea, saying they don’t know what the cops know, and asks Thea if she still works for CNRI (Laurel’s law firm).
I am glad they have put a little bit of brains in Lance, that he is able to figure out the difference between the two archers. What I have a hard time believing though, is that all traces of the project at Unidac are impossible to find. I would think there would be some sort of records somewhere.
Back at the Queen mansion, Oliver asks Moira who took Walter. She says that they don’t know yet, and starts to give a canned response that she used on reporters, but Oliver calls her out on it. He demands to know the truth, and asks about the notebook, which she seemed to know about when he showed it to her awhile ago. She gets offended that Oliver is accusing her of knowing something about her husband’s kidnapping, and Oliver tries to give her the benefit of the doubt, suggesting that she got in over her head, and offers to help her before she drowns. But she tells him to stop asking questions. Just then, the power goes out, and they both get shot with something that makes them pass out. When they wake up, each of them are tied to a chair. A man steps forth dressed as the Hood and says, “Moira Queen, you have failed this city.”
I thought that perhaps the dark archer had come for Moira, and took Oliver as collateral. Before they were taken I was wondering how far Oliver would go to get the answers, as he can only be so insistent without revealing too much of what he knows. This kind of gets answered in the next scene with Oliver and Moira however…
Thea shows up at the police station, enacting Roy’s plan, as she pretends to have a court order to pull a bunch of files on behalf of a CNRI investigation. While there, she overhears Lance and Hilton talking, and discovers that the Copycat Archer is somehow connected to Merlyn Global, and reports this to Roy.
Kind of curious how Thea is able to basically wander through the police station without suspicion. I know she had a cover story, but still I didn’t think it would be so easy.
We find out that it is Digg who is dressed up as the Hood. Moira begs Digg not to hurt Oliver, and Digg says if she tells him what the Undertaking is, he won’t have to. He hits Oliver a couple of times, and Moira confesses everything — that Malcolm Merlyn is planning to level the glades with a device that can cause an earthquake, and that Malcolm used her company’s applied science division to turn it into a weapon. She says that her husband had gotten involved without her knowing, and that she had no choice, she had to protect her family. She tells him that she doesn’t know where the device is, and that he can’t stop Malcolm, it’s too late. Digg cuts them free and leaves. Moira run over to Oliver and tells him, “You know I wouldn’t never willingly be a part of anything like this,” to which Oliver replies that he doesn’t know anything anymore, then hobbles off.
Another really good scene. At the very beginning I thought the Dark Archer had captured them, but it was all a clever ruse to get Moira to talk! It shows how far Oliver is willing to go for his city, as he takes a beating from Diggle. It also helps throw off any suspicion Moira may have of Oliver being the vigilante. I am a little curious, did Diggle use a heavy hand to get a little revenge for what Oliver did in the past few episodes to him?
At the Arrow Cave, Oliver tells Felicity to pull up everything she can on Unidac Industries, which Queen Consolidated acquired 7 months ago. The company specializes in seismic infringement. They come across a website that says that the Copycat Archer is suspected in the Unidac massacre, and realize that the timing of the massacre is no coincidence. Digg quickly concludes that the other archer works for Merlyn, who is trying to cover his tracks. Oliver says the only way they can stop him is to find the device. But Felicity says there’s another way to get Merlyn to tell them — she can hack into the Merlyn Global mainframe.
Moira returns home and finds Malcolm talking to Walter. As Moira walks Malcolm out, they discuss the Unidac massacre, which Moira criticizes as not being very subtle, but Malcolm points out that it’s taken the focus off of the Undertaking and put it on the Copycat Archer. Moira is suspicious of Malcolm’s visit to Walter, and comments how they must have questioned him in the 6 months that they held him, and if he knew anything she would be a widow right now. She asks, “Am I wrong?” to which he replies, “Rarely,” and leaves.
At the police station, Tommy has arrived to answer questions that the police have regarding phone calls between Unidac victims and Merlyn Global. However, being that Tommy hasn’t worked there very long, he doesn’t know anything (or so he claims), and tells Lance to give him something more to go on than a couple of phone calls and he’ll help in any way he can. Lance tells his computer guy to snoop around the Merlyn Global computer system. Laurel arrives and talks to her dad, confessing that Oliver is the reason that she and Tommy broke up. As much as Lance hates to admit it, he tells Laurel that since Oliver has been back, he’s been different.
What I would like to know, is what involvement does Tommy have in his father’s plans? We haven’t seen him very much lately, but he has been working with his father we know. I am curious how Lance is so willing of Laurel to get with Oliver considering what happened to his daughter. Lance seems like an unforgiving type of guy, so it seems a little out of character to me, and I am not sure what both Laurel and Detective Lance are seeing in Oliver to think he is a better man, as he seems to be trying to keep up the “playboy” angle for appearances.
Meanwhile, at the Arrow Cave, Felicity isn’t having any luck hacking into Merlyn Global. She needs direct access to the mainframe, which is located on the 25th floor at Merlyn Global headquarters, and can only be reached through restricted access elevators. They’re going to have to break in. Cue really awesome, suspenseful “heist” scene.
Mission Impossible-esce scene incoming!
Oliver walks in the front door of Merlyn Global carrying a briefcase, and checks in with the front desk, saying he has an 11:30 appointment with Tommy. Just then, Felicity also checks in at the front desk, dressed as a delivery girl, delivering burgers. She drops off the burgers at the security room where they monitor the cameras, and it turns out Digg is somehow part of the two man team in there. Oliver and Felicity get on the same elevator, and hilariously make sure they’re the only ones on it when another man tries to get on it with them. We get a shot of the security room, where the other security guard is passed out due to something that was in the burger, so Digg is now the only person monitoring the cameras. Digg makes sure the elevator gets stopped at 24, and Oliver and Felicity crawl out the top of it. Oliver pulls a grappling hook gun out of his briefcase and uses it to swing across the empty elevator shaft to get to the restricted access 25th floor, while Felicity holds on to him. Oliver goes to his meeting with Tommy, while Felicity heads over to hack into the mainframe.
This is a fun scene. I don’t really understand how Diggle is able to be a security guard though. I wish the episode gave us some explanation for this. Even so, it is a fun scene, which plays on the group dynamic of Diggle, Felicity, and Oliver.
At Oliver’s meeting with Tommy, they talk about Laurel, and the fact that both of them are in love with her. Oliver reminds Tommy that Oliver can’t be with Laurel, and that Tommy knows why. But Tommy says he doesn’t want to be a consolation prize. Oliver tells him it was Tommy’s own fault, not his, about what happened between Tommy and Laurel. When Oliver asks Tommy what exactly he does at Merlyn Global, he replies that he works closely with his father. Oliver just gives a knowing nod and leaves. But Tommy doesn’t know that Oliver knows that his father is up to no good, and this has just put Tommy under a lot of suspicion. I wonder just how closely Tommy has been working with his father, and if he actually knows anything about the Undertaking, or any of his other criminal activity?
This was a great scene between Tommy and Oliver. He is also beginning to wonder how much Tommy knows about his father’s operation. Tommy seems like a good guy though (up to this point at least), and considering he hates what Oliver is doing, I can’t imagine him backing the extermination of an entire portion of a town.
Digg alerts Oliver that he sees “ahead of schedule” company on the monitor heading toward Felicity. But before Oliver is able to react, he runs into Malcolm Merlyn, who is also headed out, and who insists on riding the elevator down to the lobby with him. Meanwhile, he keeps hearing pleas from Digg in his earpiece that Felicity needs help.
Felicity finishes her hack job, but as she is leaving, she runs into a security guard. Oliver gets to the lobby, and as soon as Malcolm is gone he turns around to go back up the elevator, but runs into Thea. Oliver just can’t catch a break trying to get to Felicity to save her! Luckily, Digg intervenes, claiming that Felicity is one of Merlyn Jr.’s “bimbos” that snuck past him. Oliver notices that Roy is with Thea, and gives him a hard time about messing around with the Hood, telling him he should stop.
These scenes with Felicity were nail biting! What is kind of unintentionally funny is that when Oliver bumps into Thea, he seems to almost forget about Felicity, and lays into her about her and Roy’s hunt for the vigilante. Priorities Oliver! Luckily Diggle comes to the rescue, and all seems to be well.
Of course, Roy doesn’t listen to Oliver, and decides he wants to stake out a Vertigo dealer to see if the Hood shows up. Thea protests, reminding him what Oliver said, but Roy calls Oliver a wimp. Thea gets emotional and defends her brother, saying he spent 5 years on an island, and she was afraid she had lost him. Roy gets emotional too, saying that he lost someone too and that they’re not coming back. When Thea asks who, he says it doesn’t matter, and explains that the reason he wants to find the Hood is so that he can teach him to be like him, so that he doesn’t have to lose anyone else ever again. Thea says if he keeps this up, he’s gonna lose her, to which Roy replies, “Better now than later.” Ouch. Guess they’re broken up now?
I am ready to see Roy’s role as Oliver’s sidekick take shape! I wonder if this will be addressed at all in the season finale. I think it will definitely be addressed in season 2, but where does that leave Diggle? I kind of worry, but hopefully there is room for both in the Arrow cave.
At the Queen mansion, Walter gives Moira divorce papers. He blames her for his kidnapping, saying that it wasn’t just a coincidence that he was kidnapped on the same night she told him he was getting too close to her “conspiracy.” She tries to explain that he was in danger, and that this “arrangement” saved his life, but that just confirms his resolve to leave her. He hugs Thea on his way out, as she looks questioningly at her mother.
I had a feeling divorce was coming for Walter and Moira. I wonder if this is the final exit for Walter, or will we see him again? I feel sorry for Thea, who seemed to accept him as her new father.
At the police station, Lance’s computer guy reports that he was unable to hack the Merlyn Global mainframe, but that he was able to detect that someone else also tried to hack it — someone by the name of Felicity Smoak. Detective Lance wonders who Felicity Smoak is.
I am surprised that Felicity didn’t have a way to cover her tracks. Wouldn’t a “Superhacker” have some way to do this? I was a bit annoyed by her being so easily discovered.
Back at the Arrow Cave, Felicity has a lot of data to go through after the successful hack job. Oliver remembers how his father had asked him to right his wrongs, and now realizes that his father was talking about the Undertaking. He comments how he had promised himself when he crossed all the names off the list he’d but done, but that those people were just symptoms, and if he stops the Undertaking, he wipes out the disease. When Digg asks if Oliver would hang up the hood, he replies that Merlyn’s Undertaking is what he came back from the island to stop.
Oliver here says that he might be willing to hang up the hood for good if he stops the Undertaking. Makes you wonder where this leaves him and Laurel since that is what was primarily stopping him from being with her…Oh wait, keep reading.
Oliver shows up at Laurel’s to talk. He tells her that all this time he’s been back, there was something that kept pulling him away from her, but that the “something” may be over now. He tells her that she knows him better than anyone, and that she is more important to him than anyone, and that he hopes he didn’t wait too long to say it. Cue romantic love scene — part of which takes place right in front of Laurel’s window where the curtains are open, so that Tommy can walk up and see them getting it on. Well, if Tommy hadn’t already gone to the dark side, this will definitely push him over the edge, seeing Oliver and Laurel together like that. Ugh, it’s a huge pet peeve of mine how people on movies and TV shows always leave their curtains open so passersby can see things going on inside that they wouldn’t want people to see! Close your curtains, people!
Yeah… Close your curtains! Or hey, maybe don’t tell your best friend that you’re not the problem between him and Laurel, then end up at her house, and get seen through the second story window by that very person! Oliver sure isn’t a boy scout superhero.
Anyway, so later on, Oliver and Laurel are in Laurel’s bed sleeping, when Oliver gets a phone call from Digg — Felicity found the device. Digg arrives at the warehouse in the Glades and finds the device box. Merlyn is on the phone, when the Hood shows up and tells him that he has failed this city, and that the Undertaking ends now. Just then, Digg reports to Oliver that the device is gone, causing Oliver to pull an arrow on Malcolm and ask where the device is. Malcolm says that he knew about the trojan on his system, which prompted him to take extra precautions. Malcolm tries to defend his actions, saying he’s trying to erase the people that are destroying it from the inside, to which Oliver replies, “Let’s start with you,” and shoots an arrow at him. But Malcolm is too quick, and effortlessly catches the arrow before it hits him. He then tells the Hood to make up his mind about whether he wants him dead or alive, and they fight. Eventually, Malcolm breaks Oliver’s bow, and soon knocks Oliver unconscious. He then pulls back the hood and discovers that the Vigilante is Oliver, to which he seems genuinely distraught and says, “Oh no.” The end.
It looks like Malcolm is the better fighter, especially because he was unarmed and took down Oliver with little effort. I am curious what Malcolm’s plan for Oliver is, but you would think he would have to die, considering he knows the plan.
As always, we got a nice series of island flashbacks sprinkled throughout the episode. Remember, last week the flashbacks left off with Yao Fei and the soldiers finding Oliver, Slade, and Shado. This week we pick up with the trio in custody, being transported to the soldiers’ headquarters. They are brought into a communications tent, where Oliver recognizes that the soldier sitting at the comm station is the guy that Oliver had found beaten inside a cavern and had asked Oliver to untie him and let him go, a decision which Oliver struggled with, but ultimately refused. Apparently he made the right choice that day. Slade upbraids Yao Fei for leading Fyres right to them, but Yao Fei says he was actually protecting them, because Fyres was about to fire on the entire fort. Fyres comes in, as the guy sitting at the comm station pretends to be Air Traffic Control directing a commercial airliner to make a course change — heading right toward the island. We learn that Fyres plans to destroy the plane with his missiles. Fyres explains that the purpose is to trigger the same reaction in China as what happened after 9/11, with all flights out of China being grounded indefinitely, leading to the destabilization of China’s economy. It’s not what Fyres wants, it’s what his “employer” wants. Fyres plans to use Yao Fei as the scapegoat leader of a rogue element that will claim responsibility for the destruction of the plane. Yao Fei refuses, but Fyres punches Oliver, shoots Slade in the leg, and shoots Shado in the shoulder. Yao Fei says he’ll do it. Before he is dragged out of the tent to change into uniform, he secretly places a knife into Oliver’s hands, which are tied behind his back. Fyres makes a call to some guy wearing glasses and says, “It’s happening.” The guy then reports to a lady sitting in a chair that everything is proceeding to her plan. We can only see the woman’s legs, however. Fyres records Yao Fei dressed in uniform, claiming responsibility for shooting down the aircraft. As soon as Yao Fei is done, Fyres shoots him in the head.
I was surprised to see Yao Fei die actually. I thought he was going to be a part of the show until at least season two. Oliver now has a knife, but both Shado and Slade have been shot, so escaping will be difficult…
What an exciting episode! Loved the “heist” scene and all the trouble that they ran into trying to get through it. Several funny moments, and it was very fun to watch. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a “Laurel and Oliver” fan, so I did NOT love the love scene between Laurel and Oliver, especially the fact that they were getting it on in front of an open curtain. But it’s obvious that the show’s been building up to this romantic reunion all season and it was inevitable, so I suppose I have to accept it. However, the fact that this was all displayed right in front of Tommy’s face was pretty horrible. Pretty sure Oliver’s not going to “hang up his hood” even if he does succeed in stopping the Undertaking, so his whole reason for allowing himself to be with Laurel is going to be undermined anyway, so we’ll see how that goes. In the meantime, where IS the device anyway? What’s going to happen to Oliver now that he’s in the clutches of Malcolm Merlyn? With Oliver’s absence, will Digg and Felicity be able to discover the whereabouts of the device and stop it in time? Or will Felicity’s efforts be sidetracked by Detective Lance investigating her? And why was Malcolm so concerned about the fact that the Hood is Oliver? So many questions! Very much looking forward to the season finale!
My predictions: With Oliver gone, Roy will somehow get brought into the mix to help out, and maybe even Thea too. Felicity will try to track down the device, but her efforts will be thwarted by Detective Lance investigating her. Tommy will officially join the dark side and really start helping out his dad. Digg, and possibly Roy, will rescue Oliver, and they’ll have a showdown with Malcolm, who narrowly escapes. (That, or they take Malcolm out so that Tommy can take over for him. But I refuse to believe they’re going to get rid of John Barrowman so soon! We still need a scene with him and Alex Kingston!) It’ll come down to the very end, but I think that they will be unable to stop the device, which will in fact level the Glades, including Oliver’s club, and therefore, the Arrow Cave. Oliver will realize that he jumped the gun, and can’t be with Laurel after all, since he failed his mission to stop the device, and thus must continue being the Hood.
I have to agree this was a very exciting episode. The “Mission Impossible” part was good, as well as Oliver’s and Moira’s “kidnapping”. I can’t wait for the season finale this Wednesday! As for my theories, Diggle or Roy will have to save Oliver, I think. I am not sure how they will find him, but I think it will be a good time to bring Roy into the fold. I don’t think Thea will be involved, as I don’t think Oliver will want her involved yet (Someone has to not know who the vigilante is right?). I think that Oliver will be able to stop the leveling of the Glades, but we will have a “Spiderman 3” moment, where Tommy witnesses Oliver killing Malcolm, effectively completing Tommy’s transformation to the dark side, which I think will lead into season two. I think this will leave Laurel out in the cold as Tommy goes to war against Oliver and Oliver has to keep going as the Vigilante. I also worry for Moira and Diggle’s safety, as I think Moira’s character may be outliving her usefulness and Diggle may be killed to make room for Roy. I sincerely hope not though, as Diggle is a great character to the show! I can’t wait to watch Arrow’s season finale!
