Plot
Oliver is freed from prison, but there's a growing friction between him and Felicity as he discovers how she's changed while he was behind bars. The murder of a philanthropist by a green arrow almost proves a welcome distraction, but the mayor is ill-pleased by Dinah's efforts to bring Oliver in as a consultant on the case and her refusal to assume that the new Green Arrow is involved. Meanwhile, John and Lyla continue to investigate the mystery of the Dante painting Curtis discovered and seek the aid of an unlikely ally.
Influences
The Green Arrow comics of Jeff Lemire (character of Emikio Queen) and Benjamin Percy (references to Ninth Circle and Dante.)
Goofs
The episode acts as if Sam Hutchinson's murder was an accident at first, before it is revealed that he and Clayton Ford were both targets.
Artistry
The action sequence of Oliver fighting through the club hallway is a great one.
Trivia
Though she is not named in the episode, the woman revealed as the new Green Arrow seems to be the Arrowerse version of Emikio Queen. First appearing in Green Arrow #18 (May 2013), Emikio was the illegitimate daughter of Robert Queen and the assassin Shado. Kidnapped as an infant, she was raised by the assassin Kodomo, who taught her how to wield a bow and taught her to hate the Queen family as much as he did. Eventually Emiko learned the truth of her heritage, but still attempted to replace her brother as Green Arrow, eventually convincing him to take her on as an apprentice crime-fighter. In the comics, she currently uses the name of Red Arrow and is a member of the Teen Titans.
All we know about the new Green Arrow at this point is that she is highly skilled and that Robert Queen is her father. She is also surprised to see that Oliver Queen is far better in battle than she thought after seeing him up-close.
There are several characters who use the alias Blackstar in DC Comics, but none of them seem to be a direct parallel to the character introduced in this episode. One was a Supergirl villain, Blackstarr, who was a matter-manipulator and a Nazi. One was a spy who crossed paths with the Blackhawk Squadron. Blackstar was also the name of a crime boss who once fought The Seven Soldiers of Victory.It was also the name of a Firestorm villain who claimed to be a living black hole.
The Arrowverse version of Blackstar is a club owner and information broker in Star City 2038. She is a master martial artist, capable of defeating larger and stronger opponents in a cage fight.
Lyla lists several terrorist groups as being among those using the Dante painting as an identifier. Among them are Kobra, Basilisk and The Third World Liberation Army. All of these are actual terrorist groups from the DC Comics Universe.
Kobra is a religious, snake-themed terrorist cell, created by Jack Kirby, which first appeared in Kobra #1 (February 1976)
Basilisk was a terrorist group that made use of advanced technology and metahuman soldiers. They first appeared in Suicide Squad #8 (June 2012)
The Third World Liberation Army was a terrorist group in The Flash #1 (June 1987) who had the misfortune to hijack a plane on which Wally West was a passenger.
Lyla's pursuit of a financial organization run by someone called Dante who gives money to terrorist groups seems to be a reference to The Ninth Circle. First appearing in Green Arrow Rebirth #1 (August 2016), The Ninth Circle is a cabal of bankers, corporate executives and politicians dedicated to unfettered capitalism. The organization runs various illegal enterprises including money laundering for white collar criminals, funneling money to assassins and mercenaries and human trafficking.
Technobabble
Blackstar says Felicity asked her to find an electrical firing circuit and a couple of transmitters - components for a bomb.
Max Fuller's club has a sound system that he claims is the best outside of Europe. It is run by an AI that adjusts the acoustic environment based on capacity. He claims he paid for the whole thing with crypto currency he mined himself and all it cost him was the USB drive he stores it on.
Dialogue Triumphs
Oliver: A lot of people are mad at me, Felicity. I lied to them. They have a right to be mad.
Felicity: Which is exactly why this event is so important. They want to publicly recognize you as a hero. And after all the lives you saved at Slabside, let them see you for who you really are. Without a mask.
Oliver: I mean, you're probably right-
Felicity: (smirking) Oh, I'm always right.
(Oliver just squeezes her hand and stands up, pulling her up with him.Oliver: You will always be the best part of me, for the rest of my life.
Felicity: (smiling) You remember!
Oliver: Of course I remember. Happy Anniversary.
Felicity: Happy Anniversary.
(The two kiss and quickly find themselves falling back onto their bed as we pan away.)
Rene: This event is messed up. Rich folk and politicians fronting like they actually care about prison reform. If everybody in here actually gave a crap, they'd use that money to help people in hard-up neighborhoods, who end up in the system because they don't have anything else.
(Dinah gives Rene the side-eye and smiles a bit.)
Rene: What?
Dinah: You ever think about running for office?
(Rene looks horrified at the thought.)
Oliver: I used to believe that justice was as simple as putting criminals behind bars. But then I spent some time in prison and I realized that the truth is nowhere near that black and white. The truth is that our institutions have a long way to go before we achieve true justice.
(Oliver is going through Dinah's notes on the new Green Arrow.)
Oliver: It says here the SCPD almost arrested him last month, but he had an accomplice?
Rene: Uh... yeah. That... that was me.
(Oliver gives Rene "the look".)
Rene: I, um... I didn't want Dinah to lock him up.
Oliver: (sarcastically) Well, I bet she really appreciated that.
Rene: She threw my ass in jail!
Oliver: I'm really sorry I missed that.
Max Fuller: You mind if I ask you a question? They sent you to prison for helping this city. Why the hell should you care about any of this?
Oliver: Old habits. I guess some people don't change that much after all.
Oliver: I've barely been gone 7 months, and you've aligned yourself with two of the most immoral people that we know?!
Felicity: Oliver, you don't get to judge me.
Oliver: You just shot a man in our living room.
Felicity: Something you've done a million times!
Oliver: Hey, this isn't you. You don't obsess over security. You certainly don't carry a gun.
Felicity: This is me, Oliver! Not because I was influenced by Laurel or Anatoly. This is me because of you! You were the one that decided all on your own that you were going to sacrifice yourself, leaving your son and your wife alone at home as sitting ducks for Diaz! And the best part about the whole thing is that you didn't even ask us about how we felt about it!
Oliver: I've already apologized for this. I don't know how many times you need me to apologize.
Felicity: What am I supposed to do with an apology, Oliver? I'm just supposed to move on? While you were gone, I had to figure out how to survive. And I am glad that I did because the old me? She was weak.
Oliver: How could you possibly think that? The old you was the person I fell in love with.
Felicity: Well... (pauses, speaking more firmly) she's gone. And she's not coming back.
(Rene suggests Ollie become Green Arrow again to bring in Max Fuller.)
Oliver: I can't risk being separated from my family, Rene. I can't do it.
Dinah: (thoughtful) I might know a way you can.
Oliver: Even if you did, Pollard would never stand for it.
Dinah: Pollard wanted me to restore the city's faith in this department, and that is never gonna happen if we keep treating our heroes like criminals. It's time the mayor realizes that.
Oliver: Dinah, I trust you. But you have to be sure.
Dinah: Half this city believes in the vigilante because they were hoping it was you. Now they don't have to hope anymore.
(There is a long pause as Oliver consider this.)
Oliver: Okay.
Oliver: If Star City wants to hate the Green Arrow... that's fine. They'll have to hate me too.
Felicity: I love you more than a human being should love another human being. I just don't know if what's best for me right now is the same thing as what's best for us.
(We see the woman from the opening scene who is the new Green Arrow by a tombstone.)
Woman: Hey, Dad. Turns out Oliver is more like you than I thought. More like me, too. But I'm not giving up. Not ever.
(We pull around to see that the tombstone the woman is speaking at belongs to Robert Queen.)
(A Caption Box reads Earth-90 as we see the aftermath of a war and numerous people in costumes lying on the ground, dead. Eventually we come to a figure in a somewhat familiar red suit crawling on the ground toward a large book that is glowing purple. A figure walks over and picks the book up before he can reach it.)
The Monitor: You failed.
(The figure in red pulls himself up to his knees. It is The Flash. Not the Flash we know, but definitely The Flash.)
The Flash: (gasping) Why are you doing this?
The Monitor: You did this to yourselves. And now... all of you will perish.
(The Monitor opens the book and light pours from it. As he does so, The Flash stands and runs toward the camera, as a familiar theme to older comic book TV show fans plays, as we zoom in on his chest symbol....)
Continuity
The new Green Arrow is a woman.
Oliver has a PTSD flashback to being attacked in the shower in 701 when Felicity walks in on him showering.
Oliver's first public appearance since being released is a fundraiser for prison reform, where he is being honored for what he did to expose the corruption in Slabside.
Max Fuller is the owner of what most consider the nicest club in Star City. He appeared in 103, when he had his security beat up Oliver Queen and Tommy Merlyn because Oliver had slept with his wife.
Oliver's first meal after getting out of prison was a Double Double Big Belly Burger
Clayton Ford, a philanthropist who tries to help The Glades and financed a clinic there, was apparently the intended target of the assassination attempt at the prison reform fundraiser. Another man named Sam Hutchison was killed instead.
Mayor Pollard is quick to blame the killings on the new Green Arrow and orders Dinah to bring him in ASAP.
Rene says he thinks the new Green Arrow is innocent and not a killer.
Oliver asks if there is any law against him being brought in to help the police track the new Green Arrow as an official consultant.
Rene says the new Green Arrow is no rookie, being efficient, disciplined, precise and nearly as good with a bow as Oliver.
Rene tells Oliver about how he helped the new Green Arrow to evade capture in both 701 and 704.
Oliver notes that the arrows used by the new Green Arrow and the assassin were both hand-made and that the materials in the arrowheads seem to match. He says that someone copying the fletching and composition so precisely would be difficult, but not impossible.
Rene has a way to contact the new Green Arrow.
Lyla determined a link between the Dante painting from 705. It is used as an identifier among terrorist groups, who appear to be channeling funds through and receiving funds from a figure called Dante.
Lyla tracks five payments from Dante to a consulting firm named Rubrum, Silentium and Ursa. These are the Latin words for Red, Silence and Bear. She determines that this firm is tied to The Longbow Hunters.
Oliver, Dinah and Rene attempt to meet with the new Green Arrow, who uses a voice modulator to disguise her voice. She refuses to talk to them and runs for it when Oliver asks if they are a killer.
Ironically, this helps to prove the new Green Arrow is innocent, as there is another murder at the same time Ollie, Dinah and Rene are chasing the new Green Arrow. This fact does not convince Mayor Pollard of the new Green Arrow's innocence, however.
The second victim of the copycat Green Arrow is Clayton Ford, who was apparently in the middle of leaving town when he was shot in the chest with a green arrow.
Oliver determines that Hutchinson and Ford were both part of the Scroll and Key Society at Yale. Playing a hunch, he decides to talk to Max Fuller (who was also part of the group) to ask if he might know who might be trying to kill them.
Fuller says he knew "Clay and Hutch" well enough to mourn them, but he hadn't been in touch with them recently. He claims to have heard rumors they both had business dealings with the Triads.
Felicity and Oliver are attacked in their apartment by a man in using a bow and arrows.
It is revealed that Felicity still has the gun that Anatoly gave her in 706.
The assassin who tried to kill Oliver and Felicity is identified as Frank Cassady aka The Mirror - a hired killer who specializes in mimicking the fighting styles and M.O. of other killers.
Oliver deduces that Fuller hired Cassady after finding out Cassady had a flash-drive full of crypto-currency on him.
Felicity had already determined that Fuller had lied about his dealings with Ford and Hutchinson, and that both men had cut ties with Fuller because of his own shady dealings.
The Bunker is still in disrepair.
The FBI still has Oliver's last Green Arrow costume.
Diggle gives Ollie the Green Arrow costume that Ollie gave him in 623.
Oliver leaves the mask behind in The Bunker.
Dinah is able to work around the anti-vigilante law by officially employing Oliver as a consultant. Technically, Oliver isn't operating as a vigilante if he is working with the police officially. She also says the D.A. has already sided with them.
Mayor Pollard tells Oliver that this isn't over.
The only lead Diggle and Lyla have on tracking down Dante is Ricardo Diaz.
The new Green Arrow visits Robert Queen's grave and talks to him, addressing him as "Dad."
Max Fuller's club in Star City in 2018 is an underground fight club frequented by Darkstar in 2038.
Dinah makes reference to something called The Canary Network that gets her information.
Blackstar is revealed to be a blonde woman who runs the fight club and fights in it herself. She also acts as a broker who procures things for other people.
Blackstar knows Dinah is Black Canary and calls her out for pretending to be some kind of hero. She uses the word vigilante as a slur.
Blackstar says Dinah is part of the reason why Star City is a mess.
Blackstar claims to have only dealt with Felicity to sell her bomb parts.
William doesn't normally drink.
Ollie designed a symbol called The Mark of Four, which resembles an archery target struck by four arrows, two of which are crossed. Dinah has it as a tattoo on the inside of her upper right arm.
Oliver designed The Mark of Four to represent what he called the Four Pillars of Heroism- Courage, Compassion, Selflessness and Loyalty.
According to Dinah, the people Oliver trusted most got The Mark of Four as a tattoo as a reminder that if one of them was in trouble, the others would be there to help.
She tells William that the only reason Roy agreed to help him was because someone left The Mark Of Four on a message inside the hidden compartment of Ollie's bow.
Dinah says that William has Ollie's gift for looking beyond the evidence to see the bigger truth.
William thinks that Blackstar isn't telling them the whole story. This leads to him, Zoe and Dinah trying to break into her office later.
William, Dinah and Zoe find plans for the bomb designs and bombing of Star City in Blackstar's office that match those they found on Felicity's computer. They conclude that Blackstar is part of the plot, though they still don't know if she killed Felicity or if Felicity honestly was part of the conspiracy.
Dinah suggests the only place they can go to stop the bombing is The Glades and the only person who might have the power to stop it is Rene Ramirez.
Zoe and her father had some kind of falling out.
The final scene on Earth-90 was also shown at the end of .S408.
Location
Star City - 2038.
Earth-90
The Bottom Line
A definite step-up from last week, which sets up a new status quo for the second half of season 7. We have some idea of what to expect involving the new Green Arrow. Sadly, it looks like we've got more Longbow Hunters and Ricardo Diaz nonsense in the future. Thankfully, it looks like Team Arrow may be back in business in some capacity soon enough.
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