In many ways this episode went exactly how it needed to as a penultimate episode for an already memorable season. It set up a big finale while also bringing a lot of past elements and creating friction with them. Things from season one and things that have been lightly touched upon earlier on this season finally came to fruition. Some things were revealed to characters that were interesting little tidbits for the audience to chew on. There wasn't too much that we had to guess on but the ending was very left open-ended, with the fate of two pivotal men left unknown. And Amanda Waller was just...Amanda Waller. No shocks there.
I'll discuss the flashbacks because...heh...didn't do that last week...
So after the torpedo got the sub moving, we find out that Sara has been sucked out and captured by Slade. Oliver and Anatoli decide that the only way to free her is by either taking down the Amazo or by Oliver sneaking aboard and rescuing her. They opt for both. Anatoli prepares the final torpedo, and Oliver gives himself one hour and if he and Sara are not back, then Anatoli is to blow the Amazo to high heaven. When he arrives he manages to rescue Sara but they are cornered by Slade, who has the Mirakuru cure in his possession and seems eager to get to fight Oliver.
This ending, sadly, is a bit predictable as it has been both shown and told in the present time. Obviously the Amazo crashes, obviously Anatoli is gonna get away, and obviously Slade is going to get his eye taken out by Oliver in some form of a fray. I'm interested to see how it all goes down and just how Sara is supposed to "die" like Oliver says she does. Perhaps the final flashback scene will also show us the next island foe for Oliver while he is on his third year, perhaps introduce Amanda Waller even. The flashbacks, while a little predictable, are still a nice touch. Next week should serve great synergy between the present and past as Oliver will be fighting Slade in both settings.
But back in the present time, our heroes are in peril. Diggle is faced with fighting a Mirakuru-ed Isabel Rochev while Oliver and Laurel have been separated by debris. Felicity manages to rescue Diggle just before Isabel can take him out and Laurel manages to use an explosive arrow to get them out of there. Meanwhile, Lance takes out his Mirakuru guy while none other than Malcolm Merlyn manages to save Thea in the airport, only for Thea to run away.
Idiot.
Anyway, the police force puts Lance in charge since he is their connection to the Arrow, who is the best shot the city has and knows how to defeat the Mirakuru army. He's also a detective again. Yay!
Oliver and his gang learn that S.T.A.R. Labs has indeed manufactured a cure for the Mirakuru but their courier has been taken out by one of the Mirakurus. Laurel decides to go back to her father while the original Team Arrow heads out for the cure. They get a bit side-tracked as two Mirakurus attack them and injure Felicity, but Oliver is able to put them down.
Back at City Hall, all but Brother Blood are killed as the Mirakurus have stopped listening to Brother Blood and are now taking rogue orders from Slade. When Blood confronts him, Slade puts him in his place. Isabel Rochev is dispatched to pick up the cure, but not before an interesting little thought nugget where Slade mentions Shado, how he wished she were there, and Isabel seems a bit put-off. Jealous? Perhaps.
Team Arrow is too late to salvage the cure before Isabel gets to it and Laurel is apprehended by none other than the Canary, who Laurel easily deducts is Sara. So thankfully that cat is out of the obvious bag. Laurel and Sara have a nice little conversation about Sara being a hero and not some big international killer who had an affair with the daughter of a literal demon. You know, typical Tuesday. The two Lance daughters meet up with their father at a burning building where Sara manages to save a little girl and is later awarded for it.
Back at the clock-tower, Diggle has managed to salvage Roy from the original Arrow-cave and Oliver gets a call from Sebastian about him having the cure. Felicity gives him a nice little pep-talk and Oliver has a nice little throwback line about him failing the city, even mentioning Yao Fei. Season 1 is still relevant, people!
In the subway system, Malcolm tries to talk to Thea, telling her that regardless of her feelings toward him she is in real danger and he is capable of saving her. Thea says she wants nothing to do with him, and the conversation is stalled as Malcolm takes on a Mirakuru only for it to look like he was defeated as well.
Blood hands over the cure, saying that Slade is indeed a madman and is willing to let the city burn all in the name of destroying Oliver. We are again reminded that Slade is to kill one more person, but this time we get confirmation that it is to be the one he loves most. To me, that screams either Sara or Laurel. Slade knows about both, since he saw Oliver with the photo back on the island. Or, says he means "most" that means "more than" which means "the woman you love more than Shado" which would indeed be Sara. One of the Lance sisters, basically, is gonna get the ax.
Isabel kills Blood for handing over the cure while Team Arrow debates using it on Roy to test it out on someone. Oliver is at first adamant about it but then realizes that nobody knows how it can work and decides not to. However, a fun little second invasion begins as our heroes, minus Thea, turn on their TVs and see a new brigade blocking off anyone from entering or exiting the city. Who?
A.R.G.U.S. of course! Oliver calls up Amanda Waller who gives Oliver until dawn for the Mirakuru as well as Deathstroke to be eliminated for good before she blows up the city with a drone headed straight for them. This sets off Oliver who then gives Roy the cure without a second's thought, as he will need him with or without the Mirakuru in his system.
Back with Malcolm and Thea, Thea gets a hold of the Mirakuru's gun and shoots Malcolm as he tries to once again coax Thea into believing him. However we are not shown a body so I'm not entirely sure that he is dead.
Alright so like I said, this episode really just served as set-up for the next episode, the big showdown finale, but also showed us what was at stake, and that even after this, there would be very bad things ahead for the city. With Blood dead, who would become mayor? With Isabel dead, how could Queen Consolidated ever recover? The only person who seems to be getting some kind of a bonus out of this is Lance since he is gonna be promoted again to detective.
But regarding the near future, we are going to get one heck of a showdown. The promo for next week shows Oliver, Diggle, Sara, Roy, and Nyssa al Ghul (yesss) leading a squad of League of Assassin members against what is assumedly Slade's last stand. It also shows Slade in his full-on Deathstroke outfit, which means we are more than likely going to get to see Green Arrow versus Deathstroke. Hopefully Oliver injects him with the cure, then fights him on a level playing field, because if not it'll just be a bunch of getting thrown around. What's also interesting is that Roy seems to have a quiver and bow. Red Arrow...you are most welcome.
Next week should serve to be a powerful finale that will obvious leave major, major reprecussions for the characters of this show. How will the League handle Oliver's actions? Might they take up a war against Amanda Waller? Will Sara have to rejoin them? How can Starling City possibly recover? I know that these are all Season 3 questions, but, it's all questions that will be formed based on the definitely monumental events of the finale. Stephen Amell even said that this was the best episode of television 2014 would grant us, and you know what, I'm not even doubting that.
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