"It means foreigner. Outsider."
hehehehehe OUTSIDER'S WAR!!
But not really.
This week's Arrow featured another archer coming to Starling City and killing some dudes. Far fewer than before, and leaving not as much of a long-term impact, but at least the villain was somewhat relevant to the overall plot of the episode. This one was a return to the previous story-line of Olicity and seeing if that ship could float.
Long story short: no.
But hey, the love-triangle is somewhat dead at this point. Seeing as how I was never much of a shipper for Olicity, I don't mind the possible cataclysmic events that transpired tonight. In fact, I like Ray-Felicity better than Oliver-Felicity considering how Felicity has been kidnapped far fewer times with Ray so far than she did with Oliver. Remember: her first day on Team Arrow she got kidnapped by Dodger. Her first day with Ray? She became Vice President of a multi-billion dollar company.
I like those odds a little more.
Sadly, the episode departs from the struggles Roy was facing by killing the man but I'm also pretty glad it got over that rather quickly, seeing as how it would have been painfully annoying to deal with someone brooding all episode not named Oliver Queen.
The episode starts, funnily enough, during the battles against Slade, in a moment we didn't see in which Oliver rescues a woman from one of Slade's Mirakurus. Six months later, as comic book logic would have it, she's now a well-trained killer going after goons Oliver wouldn't finish off, and gets the job done on Isaac of last week's fame.
Oliver looks to Felicity for help but she's busy with Ray so it's back to Daddy Diggle to help them all out. They go to her place and find out this chick's obsessed with the Arrow and will continue to kill the people Oliver won't as a way for her to help his crusade.
Yeah, Cupid--the villain of the week--it kind of nuts. But, I was thinking about this: she's only the third female villain we've seen on the show not counting Amanda Waller, who I can't count as a villain and count more as authoritative. Which, by some people's definition, is villainous. But that's not a discussion for right now.
Anyway, when Felicity does manage to get around to helping Oliver--after having been swindled into going to dinner with Ray for business purposes by a fancy dress--they manage to figure out that Cupid is a former cop and has had stalking issues in the past, tracking her partner previously until that issue had to be resolved.
Roy and Oliver go after her, Roy sort of out of his game and Oliver showing shakiness as well. They split up and Roy finds Cupid, but gets beaten.
How? This isn't as ridiculous as last night's The Flash but still, I find this almost as hard to believe as Barry not shattering Girder to pieces. How did Roy not beat this woman? Obviously she attacked him but he has superior abilities to her having been trained by one of the best fighters in the freaking world. Even if she is a cop, Roy should be able to handle her given that he's had a history of fighting cops in the past. Of course he doesn't have Oliver's trick arrows, but their fight should have lasted much longer than a couple of seconds.
Look: Roy was able to take on several trained killers in Episode 3, "Corto Maltese." He's trained with Oliver for six straight months. Prior to that, he was an adept fighter. Not amazing, but good enough to handle himself in the field and fight Slade's army without being killed, or even scratched from what we saw. The fact that a single person, one who is also out of her mind and shouldn't be as focused as Roy, as able to incapacitate him, was unbelievable.
Heck, Roy himself says it in the next scene, having to storm off the scene to get it together. It's never even addressed after that! If I were Oliver, I'd be on top of him. I don't care if he is unfocused, you gotta tell him to get focused. Every episode he's telling Roy to get rest, but what he needs is to get focused. I don't know why Oliver hasn't told Roy that prior to the Quake he was a murderer and he was able to overcome that, so Roy should be able to overcome this crucible as well. It'd be a good way to strengthen their bond as master-apprentice and help Roy understand Oliver more so that the two can actually help each other out despite the gap in experience.
Instead, nah, Roy go home and come back at the end of the episode. Dang it, man, he's Arsenal, he's awesome!
But whatever. Diggle senses there's something up and goes to both Felicity and Oliver about this. He tells Felicity that Oliver still has feelings and that seeing Felicity with Ray (oh by the way Ray changed "Queen Consolidated" to "Palmer Technologies") is breaking him apart. Felicity, somewhat like a high school girl, proclaims that Oliver should man up and tell her that himself. This isn't gossip, woman, this is about a man whose been mentally broken for seven years and runs around in a mask and green hood shooting people with arrows. He's unstable. Go to him.
Speaking of Oliver's mild craziness, he goes to Cupid's former shrink who basically tells him to let Cupid get what she wants or she'll never stop. She also tells Oliver that she's crazy. But, the most important thing that Oliver takes from it is that the attachment Cupid developed became dangerous to her and has driven her this far, and Oliver realizes his time as the Arrow might be doing that to him.
Diggle tries to tell Oliver that he is not okay and transforms into Daddy Diggle, telling Oliver to man up and tell Felicity that they need to be together or Oliver is going to lose it. Oliver just pouts and runs off while Cupid finds Verdant and threatens him with killing everyone unless they meet up. Smooth, threaten your lover. That always works....?
Felicity and Ray go to dinner with "Mr. Gardner" (GUY GARDNER?!) where Ray is trying to strike a deal with him, but nothing is getting through. Felicity then gives a small, heartfelt speech about how awesome Ray is and that if Gardner sells to Ray, his company will flourish and everything will be sunshine and rainbows. Aw.
I can't confirm if this is Guy Gardner or not, mostly because nobody was making fun of him. But it was an old guy named Gardner. Plus, he wasn't wearing a green ring. So, yeah, probably just a nice little Easter Egg to get us all excited. Darn you, writers.
Felicity heads back to the Foundry where she and Diggle listen in on Oliver and Cupid talking, Oliver basically telling her what he told Felicity back in the premiere; that he can't be with her and he's forced to be alone even though he feels so strongly for someone. Cupid doesn't take it nearly as good as Felicity as she forces them underground and handcuffs Oliver to a train track while a train is coming and says they'll die in love together. That's romance right there, folks.
If I may speak on the fight: Cupid was getting her butt handed to her throughout the entire fight. Oliver was hardly even trying. He broke her bow and nearly broke her wrist all without trying, yet this was the same woman that took down Roy? It wasn't impressive that Oliver could win, it was depressive of Roy's abilities. He finally got his name and this is how the writers treat him? Not cool, man!
Oliver breaks his thumb and escapes the handcuffs, saving the two from the train and then has her arrested. The age old trick of breaking a thumb, classic. Also: apparently icing a broken thumb is the way to heal it, as the next scene shows Oliver doing just that. Another also: Oliver handed Cupid over to Diggle who gave her to Lyla who handed her over to Waller for the Suicide Squad.
Neat.
I'm glad they mentioned this, because Diggle was able to say Cupid is, "nuttier than the last girl they had on the squad." HARLEY QUINN YEAH!
Where's Batman?
Oh, I should probably mention the Thea subplot: she needs a DJ for Verdant. She finds one, he's a jerk, so they kiss at the end and he becomes the DJ. Next.
More kissing! Felicity and Ray head on back to the office where Felicity gives back the necklace but the two start kissing right as Oliver is about to head in to tell Felicity how he really feels. Super-heroes have the worst timing, don't you think? But, Ray tells her it was probably a bad move and did I hear Felicity mutter, "You're married"?
But, it can't be. Jean Loring was already on Arrow as the lawyer from last season...which I totally did not just look up...um...
I probably just mis-heard it, though. Still, Felicity and Ray is a green light. Back to the brooding brothers, Oliver throws a temper tantrum and Roy is surprised (probably because he isn't the one throwing it this time). The two go over to Diggle's, where he and Lyla are having a nice dinner, to begin reconciling and clearing their minds of anything bad and just want to relax. Good, Daddy Diggle is always there for Team Arrow.
The episode ends with Captain Boomerang killing some dude in an alleyway. Cool beans.
In flashbacks, Maseo leaves to go on a mission and Tatsu gets all up on Oliver for not being able to do laundry. The two get worried that Maseo isn't home after nine hours of being gone and go to look for him. Oliver busts in on a meeting with some Chinese goons and is about to get pulverized by then before Tatsu shows up with a KATANA and takes them down. One of the men reveals that three A.R.G.U.S. agents are dead and the two assume that means Maseo is, too. When they return home, Maseo is right there! Yeah, of course he is. The flashbacks mostly served to strength their relationship, possibly tease the Outsider's War, show-off future-Katana, and promise that if/ when Maseo does die, it's gonna be a lot more emotionally impactful.
Overall, another strong addition to Arrow. It didn't advance the Sara-murderer subplot but at least seems to be leading to a road in which Oliver and Roy are more clear-minded moving into the next part of the season. But of course, in order to get through that, we have to address the elephant in the room: next episode of Arrow, The Flash is coming to town. For a brawl!
If you want to stay up-to-date on when I post, be sure to follow me on Twitter @seanovan13 and on Instagram @seanovan10. Thanks for reading!
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