A traitor tests the resolve of Team Arrow while a greater threat emerges in the mid-season finale of ARROW!
Previously, on ARROW…
Coming off last week’s CRISIS ON EARTH X crossover, Team Arrow starts the episode off in a happy place, celebrating the last-minute wedding of Oliver and Felicity, but the joy doesn’t last very long. Quentin gets a phone call, getting word that FBI Special Agent Samanda Watson has a bombshell for the prosecution – a member of Team Arrow willing to testify against Oliver.
After some accusations against Black Canary – after her secret meetings with former boyfriend Vigilante come to light – Wild Dog admits to being the traitor. Watson threatened to make sure he never saw his daughter again if he didn’t flip. And despite having made his own sacrifices to secure his own son, Oliver kicks Wild Dog off the team.
While much of the episode is devoted to the kind of angst and distrust that played prominently into some of ARROW’s worst seasons, the traitor isn’t the only problem the team has to deal with. Cayden James and Black Siren, the Earth-2 Laurel Lance, are back, and they want the team to steal a weapon from ARGUS in exchange for the life of the kidnapped Quentin.
The team swipes the weapon and sabotages it, but the trade-off and the rescue goes a little south when James reveals he knows of the sabotage and orders Black Siren to kill Quentin. Siren, though, lets her doppel-daddy live and the team gets to escape to fight another day… if there was a team. Oliver expresses disappointment again in Wild Dog for not following orders and kicks him off the team… again. Canary and Mr. Terrific follow, leaving Oliver alone with Felicity and Diggle.
This was, of course, all part of Cayden James’ plan, as we see he and Siren are also working with the Vigilante, Anatoly and Dragon in a coordinated effort among the villains we’ve seen this season to bring Green Arrow down.
Bringing the team back to its origins was something the showrunners discussed coming into this season, but as we head into the break, it seems like a lot to juggle going forward. Oliver is under investigation from the FBI, and he has his son living with him and Thea newly out of a coma; Diggle is dealing with nerve deterioration; there’s a team of bad guys who are gunning for Green Arrow, all with ties to the heroes; and now the new heroes are off on their own. With about a dozen episodes left in the season, there’s going to be a lot to unpack going into the second half.
The Super Cinco
- Oliver Queen / Green Arrow – The boss had some tough decisions to make this week, kicking Wild Dog off the team and, in essence, cutting his supporting players in half. Despite knowing it was a bit hypocritical to be upset over others keeping secrets, he did what he thought was best. We’ll have to see what kind of ramifications those decisions have going forward.
- Rene Ramirez / Wild Dog – Speaking of doing what he thought was best, Rene may have betrayed Oliver – after giving an amazing toast at the wedding party to kick off the episode – but he did it to ensure he could have custody of his daughter. Not a lot of people can blame him for that decision.
- Laurel Lance / Black Siren – The evil Earth-2 Laurel Lance caused some emotional and physical damage this week, having a moment with her other self’s father as she held Quentin hostage. She also let him go without killing him, despite Cayden James’ orders, though that may have been part of the plan all along.
- Cayden James – The mastermind behind Oliver’s troubles this season stayed one step ahead – maybe three or four – of the heroes, and also revealed that he has his own little Legion of Doom to wreak havoc on Star City.
- Quentin Lance – He hasn’t been around much this season, but when he is, it’s pretty important. Lance cemented his role as Oliver’s substitute father figure by giving him a watch at the wedding. Then, he managed to (seemingly) talk his daughter’s double down from killing him.
That’s it for ARROW in 2017! The show comes back with new episodes beginning on Jan. 18.