Arrow Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 5 - Human Target

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 




Plot

When Wild Dog gives up Green Arrow's secret identity to Tobias Church, Oliver will seek the help of an old friend of John Diggle. Meanwhile, Felicity finds her secret life and her personal life intersecting when her new boyfriend joins the SCPD's special Anti-Crime Unit as Wild Dog and Digg work through their issues together.


Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Judd Winick, Kevin Smith's Quiver (Oliver's line about Tobias Church looking like he's seen a ghost) and Peter Milligan's The Human Target comics. 


Goofs

Team Arrow is once again all over the place on using lethal force. Yet Oliver doesn't kill Tobias Church, who knows his secret identity, when he killed one of Church's underlings earlier in the season when escaping Church's clutches.


Performances

The high point of the episode is the interactions between David Ramsey and Rick Gonzalez as John Diggle and Rene Ramirez - two former soldiers whose moral codes took them outside of the structure they swore to serve - bond over their mutual need for redemption.


Artistry

Good fight choreography throughout the fifth segment.


Trivia

Christopher Chance is the second hero to take the name The Human Target, though he is the better known of the two. He first appeared in Action Comics #419 (December 1972). A body-guard, detective, method-actor and master of disguise, Chance filled a unique niche, impersonating his clients to keep them out of harm's way. Chance appeared sporadically in various books, eventually earning a Vertigo mini-series in 1999 and a monthly comic which lasted for 21 issues. The final issue was published in 2005.

Despite his relative obscurity in the comics, this is the third time Christopher Chance has been depicted in a live-action TV series. The first came in 1992, when singer/actor Rick Springfield played him in a short-lived Human Target TV series on ABC. The second came in 2010, when Mark Valley played him a new Human Target TV series. This series lasted two seasons on Fox.

The original Human Target was a man named Fred Venable who appeared in Detective Comics #201 (November 1953). Vernable had a gift for impersonation and offered himself out as a body double to help people in need. Batman came to his aid after Venable's daughter was kidnapped to force him to aid a criminal gang. Ironically, Venable had to come to Batman's aid in the end by using his talents to impersonate Batman!

When confronting Tobias Church, Green Arrow says that he looks like he's seen a ghost. These were the first words Oliver Queen said in the classic Green Arrow story Quiver.

The four cities making up Tobias Church's criminal empire are Bludhaven, Hub City, Keystone City and Whiteholland.  In the DC Comics Universe, Bludhaven is the home turf of Nightwing. Hub City is the home turf of The Question. Keystone City is the sister city of Central City and home of the Jay Garrick Flash and the Wally West Flash. All of these cities have been mentioned in previous episodes of Arrow and The Flash.


Dialogue Triumphs

(A thug is caught by a snare arrow. He finds himself hanging from a fire escape, facing Artemis.)
Thug: Hey, you're a lot cuter than the green guy!
Artemis: Awww.  You're kinda cute too, in a "I feel sorry for you" kind of way. Where's Church?
Thug: Yeah? Who wants to know?
Green Arrow: (from behind Thug) The Green Guy!

(After Diggle walks into The Bunker.)
Ragman: Do people just walk into your secret base of operations?
Felicity and Curtis: Yes.

Diggle: You guys must be the new kids on the block?
Curtis: More like The Backstreet Boys.
(Nobody except Felicity laughs.)
Curtis: It was funny in my head.

Oliver: I'll be fine.
Felicity: Have you ever - (turns to John) Has he ever actually said that and it turn out to be true?

Anatoly: To survivors of Amazo. May we experience as much sorrow as drops of wine about to be left in glass.

(Team Arrow is watching Quentin's press conference on Oliver's death.)
Felicity: He never did say anything that nice about you when you were alive.
Oliver: Probably didn't deserve it.
(The elevator to the bunker opens. Out steps Oliver Queen in a suit full of bullet holes.)
"Oliver": Sorry about the suit.
("Oliver" pulls off his face to reveal that he is Christopher Chance.)
Chance: Ah. We haven't been properly introduced. Heads up.
(Chance throws his mask at Felicity, who fumbles with it, grossed out. Chance shakes hands with Oliver.)
Chance: Christopher Chance.
Oliver: John referred to you "The Human Target". 
Chance: Well, that works better as a job description than it does as a nickname.

(Anatoly notices an attractive blonde woman making eyes at Oliver.)
Anatoly: There is old saying in Russian. Okay - maybe not Russian, but it still works. "There's no problem beautiful woman cannot fix." Now go talk to her before I do.

Oliver: So thanks for doing this.
Chance: Being killed is basically my job.
Oliver:  But, uh - not just for taking the bullets. I heard that you got Kullens to cave.
Chance: Yeah. And scored you a very pretty girl's phone number.
Oliver: I - I heard that too.
Chance: No, but the truth is you did that.
Oliver: I was under the impression that I had been down here all day.
Chance: I don't just put on faces, Oliver. I become my target. And to do that, I've got to learn everything there is to know about them. More than they know about themselves. I've got to become them.
Oliver: (laughs) My apologies.
Chance: What for? Man, you've got a great life.You're the mayor.
(Oliver makes a face.)
Chance: But you'd still rather be The Hood than Oliver Queen.
Oliver: Oliver Queen... has - has never really been my better half.
Chance: Nobody moves forward in life when they're hiding behind a mask. Trust me. You know, it's why you're struggling as mayor? And it's probably why you won't call that girl.
Oliver: That's not the reason.
Chance: Listen, I'm the last person to give dating advice, but...Felicity moved on. You should too.
(Ollie shifts a little. Chance reads the gesture perfectly.)
Chance: You didn't know? Sorry....

(Oliver just climbed onto the balcony of Felicity's loft.)
Felicity: You do remember that this apartment has a front door, right?
Oliver: Well, front doors are more for people who haven't just faked their own death.

Diggle: When it comes to guilt and recrimination, the line forms behind me. I didn't think I was ready to face what I had done but I'm wearing this suit again because I think it's a path to redemption.
(Diggle holds up Wild Dog's mask.)
Diggle: And it could be for you too.


Continuity

The first scene of this episode occurs some 20 hours after Tobias Church started torturing Wild Dog.

Tobias Church is trying to take over Star City because of its harbors. He plans to start the largest drug-smuggling operation ever by consolidating the criminal underworlds of five cities.

Wild Dog breaks under torture and tells Tobias Church that Oliver Queen is The Green Arrow.

Prometheus tries to kill Tobias Church again. He lets him off with a second warning, saying there will not be a third.

Christopher Chance is an old colleague of John Diggle.

Tobias Church hires a "freak" (i.e. costumed mercenary) who is fast enough to catch arrows as a bodyguard. We never find out his name or backstory.

Oliver Queen (really Christopher Chance) gets Susan Williams to agree to hold off on hit-pieces for one month and gets her personal phone number. He also discovers the secret past of Councilman Kullens as a crony capitalist and his current connections to a real estate developer that would lose money on a rezoning deal he's helping to kill.

John Diggle makes reference to being tortured by his brother during the conflict with HIVE.

Wild Dog was dishonorably discharged from the Navy for beating a prisoner of war.

Christopher Chance tells Oliver that Felicity is dating Billy Malone and that Malone seemed to think Oliver already knew this.

The Brace is the local nickname for Halpin-Brace Airfield - a private airstrip outside of Pennytown.

Bludhaven, Hub City, Keystone and Whiteholland were the four other cities under Tobias Church's control.

Oliver tells Felicity that he is fine with her dating again.

Susan Williams has a source named Ian who gives her a picture of Oliver Queen in Russia, with the Bratva, five years earlier when he was supposed to be stranded on a deserted island. He also tells her of Christopher Chance's involvement in helping fake Oliver Queen's death. She apparently knows who Christopher Chance is.

Prometheus kills Tobias Church, just after Church tells him Oliver Queen is Green Arrow.

We find out in this episode that Oliver did not visit Taiana's family before he joined The Bratva.

Though Oliver didn't know it, he had an encounter with Christopher Chance five years earlier in Russia. Anatoly hired him to kill the underlings of another Bratva named Viktor before they could kill Oliver.


The Winick Factor

Artemis and Mr. Terrific get their asses kicked by Church's hired "freak". The only thing that saves them is Christopher Chance's arrival in disguise as a gang member.


The Bottom Line

Like many episodes of Season One and Two which seemed to be simple filler episodes meant to throw out throw-away references to an established DC Comics character, this one suddenly becomes significant in the final five minutes. The writing is strictly standard but the established ensemble manage to sell the material on pure charisma rooted in the audience's love of the characters. Not a great episode but an enjoyable one.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 4 - Penance

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

When Lyla asks Oliver for help in breaking John out of a military prison, Oliver goes off despite Felicity's objections. While Oliver's gone, Tobias Church launches a serious of vicious attacks on the police, requiring the rest of the new Team Arrow to move against him.


Influences

The TV show Prison Break and the Judd Winick run on Green Arrow.


Goofs

Team Arrow moves to confront Oliver in costume but without their masks?

The circle Oliver makes in the hole of Diggle's cell looks far too neatly cut for something created by an aerosol compound.


Artistry

The script does a fine job of drawing parallels between various sequences. For instance, the flashback plot mirrors the current events, with both stories involving Oliver breaking into a prison. There's also some brilliant interplay between Oliver and Diggle's escape from a military prison and Team Arrow and the Police escaping the police building being attacked by Tobias Church's men.


Trivia

The briefcase Team Arrow recovers in the opening sequence was stolen from Kord Industries. This is a nod to the business run by Ted Kord who - in the DC Comics Universe - was a scientist superhero and the second hero to use the name The Blue Beetle.

This episode marks the first time that Evelyn Sharpe is seen using a bow and is addressed by the codename Artemis.

The original Artemis came from the Young Justice animated series. Artemis Crock was the daughter of two super-villains - The Sportsmaster and The Tigress. She and her sister Jade were trained from a young age to take over their parents roles. After Jade ran away from home and her parents divorced, Artemis began looking for a better life. She met Green Arrow and became his protege, with Green Arrow coming up with a story about her being his niece to hide her connection to a criminal family.

In the original comics, Rory Regan's father was a pawn-shop owner named Gerry Regan and a Veteran. The DCTVU version of Rory Regan's father is also a pawn-shop owner and a Veteran, but his name is also Rory Regan. This is taken from the origin of the post-Crisis Ragman from the comics, who was the latest in a long-line of Ragmen.

John Diggle's cell number is 1138. The number 1138 has been used in a number of media - mostly as a reference to George Lucas' first film THX-1138.

The IP address Oliver is given for communicating with Kovar is 108.166.7.161. This is the IP address for The CW Network's website.


Technobabble

Oliver steals an anti-molecular compound capable of dissolving any material from PalmerTech. This is used to break the floor of John's cell.

The item stolen from Kord Industries by Tobias Church's man was a 6800 computer processor available for purchase in any computer store. Curtis notes that it makes no sense for this to have been stolen given the more valuable cutting-edge technology Kord Industries makes that could have been taken.

The man Oliver talks to communicates with Kovar through a digital dead-drop on the Dark Web. The IP address is 108.166.7.161.

Felicity is able to predict where Tobias Church and his men are heading by cross-plotting his prior locations into a projection algorithm.


Dialogue Triumphs

Adrian Chase: Public service isn't easy. Sometimes you get a little dirty clearing out the filth.

(A black-clad figure moves into a secure area at Palmer Tech. Suddenly, their phone begins to vibrate. The figure stops and pulls up their mask. It is Oliver Queen.)
Ollie: What's up?
Felicity: Hey. There's been a break-in at PalmerTech. Are you still in the area?
Ollie: Uh, yeah. I can look into that.

(Ollie enters into The Bunker, still wearing his burglar blacks. Felicity is waiting for him.)
Felicity: How was PalmerTech? Before you answer, you should consider that your phone has GPS. And if you were thinking about lying, I do admire your consistency.
Ollie: I wasn't thinking of lying to you. I was't looping you in after you made it clear you didn't approve of the decision
Felicity: John's the one who doesn't approve of the plan.
Ollie: John's not thinking clearly.
Felicity: Well, I'll bet Roy is. And if he were here, I think he would tell you that life on the run is no life at all. And I seem to remember you not being on-board with that plan.
Ollie: Roy was making a bad choice. Just like John is making a bad choice. He is currently locked up in a military prison for a crime he didn't commit!
Felicity: To atone for a crime that he did commit! And what does it matter? John doesn't want to leave! It is not your choice! Why do you always have to make decisions for him?!
Ollie: He already abandoned the team. I am not going to let him abandon his family.
Felicity: Is that what this is about?  John leaving the team?
Ollie: This is simple. I am going to stop John from making a decision that he will come to regret. You should consider doing the exact same thing with Rory.
Felicity: You do realize that me having a chat with Rory is completely different than you committing half-a-dozen felonies, right?

Adrian Chase: Did you ever think you'd be doing this again? Handling evidence?
Quentin Lance: No. Didn't think I'd be Deputy Mayor either, but here we are.
Adrian Chase: I was surprised you took the job, to be honest. From what I hear, you and Queen have a, uh... complicated history. Got a lot of hatchets to be buried there.
Quentin Lance: Yeah. Well, at least I know where they're buried. That's something you can't buy or steal.

(Oliver easily took down the rest of Team Arrow when they tried to stop him from leaving town.)
Curtis: You know, Felicity? Could you please explain to me again how you thought this was all gonna go down?
Felicity: I thought that if he saw you all united against his crazy plan, he'd reconsider.
Curtis: Right. Because Oliver Queen is known for thinking things through and taking input from others.

Ollie: Tell me where I can find Kovar.
Pytor: You think you scare me more than him?
Ollie: No, but he's not locked up in here with you. I am.

Sergio: I'm not rolling on Church. You think you scare me more than him?
Adrian Chase: No. But he's not here with you. I am.
(Chase stands up and begins to roll-up his shirt sleeves.)
Sergio: Hmm. You're not going to a beating on me. You're a D.A.
Adrian Chase: Yeah. Haven't you heard?  All of the justice in this town comes from vigilantes.

Evelyn: Things have really fallen apart without Oliver, haven't they?
Oliver: (entering the room) A good thing I'm back then.
(Everyone turns to look at him.)
Rory: Was he waiting for an entrance line?
Curtis: Nope. He's just that cool.

(Tobias Church walks into the room where his men are torturing Wild Dog.)
Tobias Church: Man. (gestures to a bruise on his face) Been a long time since someone tagged me like this. Respect.
Wild Dog: Oh, my pleasure. But I promise you if you untie me, I'll show you a hell of a lot more than respect.
Tobias Church: Oooh, man, you've got spirit. And I am duly impressed. But I'm gonna break that spirit. I'm gonna break your soul. And when we're finished, assuming that you're still alive - now, I wouldn't bet no money on that, though - there's gonna be very little of you left for The Green Arrow to work with.


Continuity

Curtis Holt was a bronze-medalist in the Decathlon.

Evelyn Sharpe is identified by the codename Artemis and seen using a bow for the first time.

Curtis Holt is identified by the codename Mr. Terrific for the first time.

Wild Dog served in the US Navy, but was dishonorably discharged.

As of this episode, Quentin Lance hasn't had a drink in a week.

Rory Regan is a sculptor who welds scrap metal together.

Rory Regan's father was a pawn-shop owner.

Rory Regan's father was a Gulf War Veteran - 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines. He was also named Rory Regan and he too wore The Ragman costume before passing it on to his son.

John's cell number is 1138.

18 Mill Road is where the Anti-Crime Unite of the SCPD is bunkered.

The Ragman costume is capable of deflecting a bomb blast and repelling bullets.

Oliver sets up John in an old HIVE hideout until they can find a more permanent solution.

Wild Dog is captured by Tobias Church and is being tortured by him and his men as the episode ends.

In the flashbacks, Oliver passes his third and final test to join The Bratva. This requires him to kill a person on orders from Anatoly with no questions asked.


Location

U.S. Disciplinary Barracks - Langham Penitentiary

In the flashbacks, Oliver goes into an unnamed Russian jail in an unnamed Russian city.


The Bottom Line

Not bad but a far cry from the quality of everything we've seen so far this season. It's telling that the most interesting interaction is between Adrian Chase and Quentin Lance and the hints at Adrian Chase becoming a Vigilante himself. Everything else in the episode is competently executed, but is awfully repetitive up until Wild Dog sacrifices himself to complete the objective. 

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 2 - The Recruits

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

Oliver seeks out Wild Dog and Evelyn Sharpe with the intent of recruiting them for Team Arrow. Along with Curtis Holt, who seeks Oliver's tutelage of dealing with his own feelings of helplessness following a mugging, the three will start training to become a better class of vigilante. But will they be able to cope with Oliver's strenuous regiment? And how will Oliver balance training his new team with allegations of corruption in a company partnering with the city and the new

In the flashbacks, Oliver continues his initiation into The Bratva.


Influences

The Judd Winick run of Green Arrow (Oliver Queen tries to balance being mayor and a superhero.), Keith Giffen's Ragman miniseries (origin and powers of Ragman) and Grant Morrison's JLA (character of Prometheus).


Goofs

It's a little unbelievable that Curtis or Evelyn - who are supposed to be super-geniuses - wouldn't figure out the purpose of Ollie's "ring the bell" test was to encourage teamwork or at least hit on the idea of working together to overcome Green Arrow themselves. This is particularly damning in Curtis' case since he knows Ollie is trying to build a team!

The subplot with Diggle seems rushed and is a distraction from the main storyline and seems to be occurring only to railroad Diggle back to Star City as soon as possible. There's no logical reason why the corrupt CO should leave Diggle alive and try to frame him for the theft after Diggle refuses to sign a confession for the crime since he already has six soldiers willing to finger Diggle for his crime.

While it seems likely Tobias Church could have walked based on the evidence on hand - particularly with the corruption in the SCPD at present time - it still seems like we could have seen him being arrested after being knocked out by Ragman just as the police were arriving.


Performances

It's good to see Emily Bett Rickards bringing Felicity back to her previous levels of snarkiness. While I don't have the mad-on for Olicity shipping that some elements of the fandom seem to have (Personally, I'm still holding out for a Sara/Oliver romance in the end),  I do think Felicity was softened a bit too much during Season Four as she had tragedy after tragedy thrown at her. Her portrayal in this episode is much more in line with how the character was in the first three seasons. Yet there's more of an edge to her here where she is willing to call Ollie on his bullshit but also ready to drag him out of the doldrums when self-doubt starts weighing on his soul.

On that note, Stephen Amell perfectly captures an aspect of Ollie's character from the comics I can't recall seeing on the show before. Or at least, not handled so well - his tendency to lash out at others when he's doubting himself. We see that here as he plays Drill Sargent to the new recruits, being hard upon them because he blames himself for letting things get to this point in Star City and for driving away everyone else on Team Arrow.


Artistry

Excellent parkour and stunt work on the opening sequence with Wild Dog.

The transition between Green Arrow training the new recruits and the flashback of Ollie doing the same test as part of his Bratva initiation proves well directed.

On that note, the show's writing has done a great job this season of making the flashbacks more directly relevant to the story in the modern day.

The special effects for the Ragman costume are some of the best in the show's history.

It's a nice touch cutting to Felicity as she overhears The Ragman telling his story to Janet Carroll, showing her horror at what happened to this man because of the one missile she couldn't disarm. It adds another human element to an already horrific story.


Trivia

Green Arrow asks Rene Ramirez if he "wants to be a man in a hockey mask" or "something else". This is a bit of a riff on actor Stephen Amell, who also played vigilante Casey Jones - whose beats people up using sporting gear while wearing a hockey mask - in the second Michael Bay Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.

Another nod to the number 52 - the address Ollie has Wild Dog, Evelyn Sharpe and Curtis Holt meet him at for training is 52 Matthews Blvd.

Anther mention of Hub City - home of the vigilante The Question in the DC Comics Universe.

AmerTek is a military-industrial firm in the DC Comics Universe. They were original enemies of John Henry Irons (a.k.a. Steel) and first appeared in Steel #1 (February 1994). The company stole Irons' weapons and armor designs and attempted to use them against him and his family when Irons thwarted their efforts to sell military gear to criminal interests. They fill a similar role in this episode, as an amoral weapons manufacturer willing to sell military ordnance to Tobias Church.

Rory Regan a.k.a. The Ragman first appeared in Ragman #1 (August/September 1976). The series only lasted five issues, but is considered by many to be a classic of The Bronze Age of Comics.

A Vietnam Veteran, Rory worked for his father in a pawn shop he ran in Gotham City. Rory's father, Gerry, was a kind man, who frequently overpaid people in need for what they sold him or held on to items with no intent of selling them so people could buy them back later. His father wished to build a better life for his son and seemed to have had his wish granted when he discovered that a mattress he'd bought contained a small fortune. The money turned out to have been stolen during a bank heist and the mattress was meant to hide the money until the heat was off.

Gerry Regan and some of his friends were tortured by the thieves using electrical wiring in the shop and Rory himself was nearly shocked trying to free the elderly men.  The shock passed the abilities of the old men into Rory, giving him the agility of a circus acrobat, the strength of a weight-lifter and the fighting skills of a prize-fighter. Donning a raggedy costume his father had bought recently, Rory Regan became the Ragman and went on to help Batman with fighting crime in Gotham on several occasions.

This background would be modified by writer/artist Keith Giffen in a 1991 mini-series. The background would remain largely intact, with Rory Regan still a dutiful son to pawn-shop owner Gerry Reagan. The biggest change is that unlike the previous series, which identified the Regans as Irish, they were now Jewish and Rory was the latest in a long-line of Ragmen.

Rory became the newest Ragman shortly after he and his father were beaten and left for dead following their refusal to let their shop be used as a front by a local gang. Rory was released for the hospital and returned home, only to find it had been taken over by gang members posing as his aunt and uncle. He discovered the suit by accident, at which point it latched onto him and then attacked the drug-dealers, absorbing the soul of the woman posing as his aunt into it.

A rabbi later told Rory the origin of the suit and of his father's heroic life before journeying to America. The suit was created in the 16th century as a counterpoint to the infamous Golem of Prague. Knowing that some people feared The Golem as a creature that had no capacity for independent thought, The Rabbis crafted a suit that would give a single good man the power to fight great evil. Rory's father, he found out, had been The Ragman during World War II, and used its power to fight the Nazis by defending Jewish communities in Germany.

The Ragman suit allows its wearer to access the physical abilities, mental skills and memories of every evil soul trapped within the suit. This is not done easily, however, and attempting to draw on too many souls at once can leave The Ragman dazed. The suit can absorb the souls of truly evil people who The Ragman fights, but doing so leaves the wearer sick and weak for a time. The suit grants some degree of invulnerability and increases the strength, speed and stamina of the wearer. The suit allows the wearer to sense the presence of evil, albeit by trying to attack the evil in question. The suit can teleport The Ragman to wear he is needed and can remain hidden under other clothing, manifesting once it is needed. Finally, the suit can be reshaped at-will into other forms and weapons.

Comics historians note that Ragman undoubtedly had an influence on both Venom and Spawn, despite never being as popular as the later anti-heroes.

Though his name is not given in this episode, IMDB identifies the DCTVU Ragman as Rory Regan. We do not know the extent of his powers yet, but the Ragman costume is apparently protective enough to allow the wearer to survive a nuclear missile strike at ground zero. Based on how easily he throws people around, he also has some degree of super-strength and super-agility. The suit appears to have some shape-shifting properties, allowing the costume to elongated and entangle a target. Both versions are definitely Jewish and are devoted sons following in their father's footsteps.

Ragman says that his costume comes "from the time of Devarim." Devarim is part of the Torah, corresponding to the first book of Deuteronomy in the Christian Bible. This would place the rags as dating back to the time of Moses - a bit further back than the 2000 years Felicity cites earlier in the episode as Moses was believed to have died in 1200 BC.

The new masked villain who killed Lieutenant Conahan in the last episode identifies himself to Tobias Church as Prometheus. Prometheus is a super-villain who first appeared in the Prometheus: New Year's Evil one-shot (February 1998). 

Created by writer Grant Morrison and artist Arnie Jorgenson for Morrison's JLA, Morrison intended for Prometheus to be an anti-Batman.  The son of career criminals (who were loving parents, regardless of their other crimes), this unnamed boy witnessed his parents being gunned down the police following a tense stand-off. After growing up, he used the fortune they had hidden to finance his training as he swore revenge upon the ideals of justice, law and order. This led to him formulating a series of plans that would allow him to take on the Justice League single-handed in an effort to prove himself the greatest criminal of all time. He returned several times to plague The JLA before finally being hunted down and killed by Green Arrow in the Justice League: Cry For Justice mini-series.

Thus far, there seems little in common between the comics's version of Prometheus and his DCTVU counterpart aside from a costume that conceals most of his features, advanced training with a variety of weapons and a desire to attack and kill lawmen and superheros.


Technobabble

Diggle's team is sent to retrieve a trigger to a nuclear missile before Chechen rebels find it.

Felicity uses a KH-10 Spy Satellite to find footage of The Ragman's attack the AmerTek VP.

Green Arrow uses a grappling arrow to save Wild Dog's life and tries to use a net arrow to catch Ragman.

Analyzing the rag Wild Dog took off of the Ragman costume requires a gas chromatograph.

The rag Wild Dog recovered is found to be 2000 years old and radioactive.

The radioactive chemical on the rag came from a nuclear missile manufactured by Atomic Defensive Systems - a subsidiary of AmerTek - and launched on Genesis Day.


Dialogue Triumphs

Oliver (voice-over): My name is Oliver Queen. After five years in Hell. I returned home with only one goal - to save my city. Today I fight that war on two fronts. By day, I lead Star City as its mayor. But by night, I am someone else. I am... something else. I am The Green Arrow.

(Curtis and Felicity watch Oliver climb the salmon ladder with ease.)
Curtis: Impossible.
Felicity: It's really hot - I mean NOT!  It's not.
Ollie: (jumping down from the top of the ladder) Curtis, if you think this is hard, wait until I actually start training you.
Curtis: What happens then?
Ollie: The last guy got an arrow in the leg before he even started.
Curtis: That was Roy, right?
Ollie: ... also Roy, but I'm talking about Wild Dog.
Felicity: And you did put two arrows in Barry Allen's back.
Curtis: I'm starting to sense a pattern...

Diggle: Fear is part of war - the part that keeps us alive.

Felicity: (refering to the Wender attack) What's your interest in this, anyway?
Ollie: AmerTek is helping us with a charity event and all of a sudden one of their vice-presidents is attacked? It cannot be a coincidence.
Felicity: Not in this city.

Wild Dog: I'm hear to learn something, man. Not just get beat up.
Green Arrow: I told you. I am teaching you.
Evelyn: Teaching us what, exactly? Because actually I find myself agreeing with the scary weird guy.
Green Arrow: (sighing) The goal of this exercise... is to figure out the goal of this exercise. Now get on the line!

Ollie: It took me five years in Hell to turn into someone capable of going out there. You know who didn't have five years? Laurel Lance. And now she's dead.

Ollie: Curtis, do you know what the purpose of this exercise is?
Curtis: To figure out the purpose of this exercise?
Ollie: No! It's to work together because that is the only way that you win. That is what I've been trying to teach you!
Curtis: Well maybe there's a reason why you couldn't. We. Don't. Trust. You.
Ollie: That's on you.
Curtis: No, man. That's on you! Because you don't trust us. Because you don't want us!
Felicity: Okay. This is a set-back. We can salvage this. (To Curtis) They'll listen to you. Can't you just tell them how Oliver usually approaches things, and-
Curtis: I tried that. I told them all about how you and Speedy and Spartan were a family. And even though you were tough and scary and even a little abusive, they clearly trusted you because they stood by you. But then it hit me - no, they didn't. They left. And now I know why. You don't respect people. You don't know how to have partners. You don't build people up. You tear them down. I thought I could trust you. That we could trust you. But I was wrong. And that's why I'm out too.

Ollie: I failed these recruits as a leader.
Felicity: Well, that's because you're not a leader. But in your defense you never set out to be. You never planned on doing this with partners. Though I don't think you ever had any way around that one.
Ollie: How so?
Felcity: When I got to know you - the real you - I was in awe. I had never met anyone so passionate. So focused and determined to make a real difference. The recruits didn't get to see the real you, because all you showed them was this angry guy in a mask. Like, scary angry!
Ollie: I just thought that if they didn't know who I was it would make things easier.
Felicity: How is that supposed to make it easier for them?!
Ollie: For me. Easier for me.

Ragman: They all died in fire. Your fire. Your weapon. All for your money!
Janet Carroll: What are you talking about?
Ragman: I'm talking about the KN-08. Your pride and joy. Over 15,000 missiles launched on Genesis Day. Only one found its mark - yours.
Janet Carroll: (stammering) No! No, we definitely built those missiles to keep people safe! But it was Damien!  It was Damien Darhk, who...
Ragman: - couldn't have done anything if you hadn't given him the tools!  Your missile killed everyone in my home. I am the very last living soul of Havenrock. And I carry with me a message from all those souls you killed.
(Ragman steps in closer as tendrils emerge from his coat and wrap around Janet Carroll's neck. Close by, Tobias Church is trying to drive an arrow into the face of a prone Green Arrow.)
Green Arrow: Ragman!
(Ragman turns to regard Green Arrow, releases Janet Carrol, grabs Church and throws him to the ground, knocking him out. Green Arrow stands as Janet Carrol tries to run away behind him.)
Green Arrow: Thank you.
Ragman: Thank me by not standing in my way!
Green Arrow: Let her go!
(He nods in the direction Janet Carrol is fleeing, where red and blue police lights can be seen reflecting down the garage walls.)
Green Arrow: It's over.

(Green Arrow stands on the rooftop of the BAM2 Muay Thai Training Center. Ragman emerges from the shadows behind him.)
Green Arrow: Thank you for coming.
Ragman: Your offer sounded... intriguing. Why did you make it?
Green Arrow: Why did you give up your vengeance to save my life?
Ragman: I don't know.
(Ragman pulls down his cowl and mask. The face he makes as he does so suggests great pain.)
Ragman: I think it's what my father would have wanted me to do. He saved my life. On Genesis Day. Wrapped me in these rags. Said they were ancient. From the time of Devarim. That they would... protect me from the fire
Green Arrow: And they did.
Ragman: So you see why I have to avenge him?
Green Arrow: Your father didn't give up his life so you could become a killer.
Ragman: You don't know that!
Green Arrow: My father gave up his life to save mine. He made me promise to be better than him. To save this city in a way he never could. It's been nearly ten years since that day. So far I've failed.
Ragman: Why are you telling me this?
Green Arrow: Because I don't want to fail anymore. I can't do it alone. I need a team. Let's honor the legacies of our fathers. Together.
(Green Arrow offers his hand. Ragman takes it and shakes.)


Continuity

Lt. Conahan is confirmed to have been killed by an arrow and a sword.

Curtis confirms that Tobias Church killed all the gang leaders in Hub City to unite them under his leadership.

Reference was made to Oliver shooting Roy Harper in the leg before he officially started training him (208) and shooting Barry Allen in the back as part of his training (F108)

Three hospitals have closed within the past 18 months in Star City.

The "get past me and ring the bell" exercise was part of Ollie's first test in joining the Bratva.

Wild Dog was protecting the streets solo for five months.

Diggle is stationed at Camp Braidwood in Latvia.

The VP at AmerTek that Ragman attacks is Evan Wender. He was suffocated according to the ICU doctors.

Janet Carroll is the CEO of AmerTek.

The gas chromatograph.in The Bunker was destroyed by HIVE Ghosts.  Felicity has her new boyfriend run the tests for her in the CCPD lab.

Oliver never talks about his time in the Bratva.

According to Oliver, nobody in the Bratva knows one another's names or who they were before they joined The Bratva. This eliminated attachment

We find out the name of Felicity's new cop boyfriend - Billy Malone.

The men whom Oliver worked with to ring the bell in his Bratva test were killed. Oliver was chosen to move on because teaming up to ring the bell was his idea and the Bratva values intelligence. It was also meant to teach Oliver the lesson to not trust anyone.

The day the nukes destroyed Monument Point is now known as Genesis Day.

Janet Carroll made a bargain with Tobias Church - all the material he needs to take over Star City for 100 million dollars.

John Diggle is framed for attempting to steal WMDs and shooting a private under his command. He refuses to sign a confession.

Thea offers Quentin Lance the job of Deputy Mayor of Star City. He accepts it.

Oliver reveals his secret identity to Evelyn Shapre and Wild Dog.

In the final scene, Prometheus threatens Tobias Church and tells him not to try killing Green Arrow again.


Locations

Camp Braidwood, Latvia


The Fridge Factor

While Oliver is quick to point his recruits to look to the Laurel Lance statue as a source of inspiration, he also realistically reminds Felicity that Laurel was nowhere near as well trained as she should have been to take on the role of a vigilante.


The Winick Factor

Again, the writers are taking the base idea Judd Winick proposed in his run on Green Arrow following One Year Later but are doing it right.


The Bottom Line

Generally an excellent episode, but it suffers for tying to do too much. Between the training of the new recruits, introducing Ragman, the war with Tobias Church, Felicity making cute with the new boyfriend, Thea helping Quentin cope with his drinking and the flashbacks to Ollie's time in Russia, there's no room for the genuinely awful subplot involving Diggle. The whole is less than the sum of its parts, but some of those individual parts - particularly the Ragman sequences and the scenes of Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards playing off of one another - make it worth coping with the dodgier bits.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 1 - Legacy

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

In the wake of Speedy and Spartan quitting Team Arrow, Oliver Queen is finding it hard to balance both his lives as Green Arrow and Mayor of Star City. With a new crime lord named Tobias Church in town and corrupt police officers limiting the effectiveness of the few honest cops, Oliver may have to change his methods to save his city. But will that change require a return to killing? Or will he try and recruit some of the new vigilantes who have begun to patrol Star City in his absence?

Five years earlier, Oliver travels to Russia to keep his promise to Taiana and kill Kovar. He winds up running afoul of The Bratva - the Russian Mafia - but is saved by the timely arrival of an old friend.


Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Judd Winick (Oliver Queen tries to balance being a superhero and Mayor of Star City while fighting a corrupt police department, crime bosses and super-villains.)


Goofs

Unfortunately, there's little sense of drama to the Russia sequences since we know that both Ollie and Anatoly will survive. Thankfully, Anatoly at least makes the flashbacks amusing.

The "Oliver debates about killing or not killing" subplot is becoming increasingly repetitive. Hopefully it will be resolved (again!) very soon.

Ollie's unwillingness to risk more innocent lives seems fairly reasonable in the wake of Laurel's death. Lest we forget, Laurel's training was limited to some one-on-one training with a boxer/vigilante and some self-defense classes - to say nothing of the fact that she became Black Canary over Oliver's objections. And Ollie's only other attempt at trying to train an inexperienced vigilante - i.e. The Huntress - ended badly.

Some of the CGI is a little dodgy at times and the "Matrix slo-mo" scenes that appear in some of the fight scenes are random are a little distracting given the show's previous reliance on practical effects. On the other hand - Parachute Arrow.


Performances

Willa Holland's screen-time is limited in this episode, but her scene with Quentin is the emotional high-point of the episode. More than any other character on the show, she has suffered the most drastic upheavals over the past few years, having discovered the man who raised her wasn't her real father, her birth father was a murderous assassin, her mother was involved with a conspiracy to commit mass murder, her brother was a vigilante and she lost the only man she ever really loved, died, had to cope with murderous magically-driven impulses and the guilt of having been brainwashed into killing one of her friends and seeing her roommate/mentor die. Given that, her desire to live a normal, stable life in the wake of the insanity that surrounds Oliver is understandable and she doesn't seem the least bit selfish for it, given how she finally does get back into action when she thinks Oliver is honestly in danger and no one else can save him.

Once again, Paul Blackthorne is a marvel. Freed from the burden of propping up various Laurel Lance scenes, we are reminded just what he can do with quality material and a script that gives him a chance to do things besides sit in the background and be snarky.

Chad L. Coleman cuts a fine figure in his first appearance as Tobias Church. His performance here reminds me somewhat of Sidney Greenstreet and his various roles as larger-than-life gangsters whose friendly manner hides a sinister mind and a devious heart.


Artistry

The fight scenes throughout the episode are uniformly great and remain a strong point of the show.

That being said, the scene in which Green Arrow tries to fight his way inside Tobias Church's helicopter is something special.


Trivia

In the comics, Wild Dog is a vigilante hero who first appeared in Wild Dog #1 (September 1987).  Based out of the Quad Cities, Wild Dog was a man named Jack Wheeler. A football superstar in college, Jack joined The Marines after his athletic career was ended by an injury. He returned home after most of his squad was killed by a terrorist bombing. He fell in love with a young woman named Claire, who it turned out was the daughter of a mob boss who had fled her family to start a life on her own. She left Jack all of the small fortune she had taken for herself in her will and Jack used the money to buy the equipment he needed to become a vigilante. He was given the name Wild Dog by a reporter after a SWAT captain ordered his men to shoot the hero "like a wild dog in the street." He was willing to kill and fought crime using a Jatimatic GG-95 PDW and a pair of electrified shock-gloves.

The DCTVU version of Wild Dog is a man named Rene Ramirez. We do not see him using a gun or shock-gloves during his brief appearance in this episode but he attempts to disarm a bomb before Green Arrow stops him. His costume mirrors that of the comic-book version of Wild Dog, with a hockey mask and hockey jersey with a smirking cartoon dog on the chest.

"Mr. Ski Goggles", as  Felicity calls him, is modeled on the Adrian Chase version of Vigilante. Chase was the second hero to take the name of Vigilante, first appearing in 1983's New Teen Titans Annual #2. A district attorney in New York City who lost his family to mob violence, Chase became The Vigilante to strike against the criminals he could not bring to justice in his day job. Originally taking pains to not take lives and utilizing non-lethal weaponry, he became more jaded and violent as he became more and more conflicted regarding the damage he did as a costumed "hero", eventually committing suicide.

The police sketch of Vigilante we see in Felicity's profile was drawn by legendary comic creator George Perez, who co-created the Adrian Chase version of Vigilante with writer Marv Wolfman.

The hero profiles Felicity compiles include Wild Dog, Vigilante, Evelyn Sharpe, two unidentified people in costume and someone dubbed "Silver Girl" who wears a ski-mask and wields a baseball bat.

Tobias Church is a new villain, created specifically for Arrow. In terms of personality and role, he seems a lot like the comics version of the villain Brick, who also took over the various gangs of Star City in the wake of a disaster that did much to disrupt the police and local government. He also shares Brick's jovial personality and eloquent manner of speaking.

Tobias "Charon" Church is said to have torn up Hub City and Bludhaven perviously with his gangs. In the comics, Hub City is the home town of The Question and Bludhaven is the territory of Nightwing. Both cities are known for their corrupt police forces. Both cities have been referred to as criminal havens in previous episodes of Arrow.

Tobias Church's nickname is a reference to his calling card - leaving gold coins on the eyes of the people he kills. In Ancient Greece, it was traditional for a deceased person's loved ones to put coins on their eyes so that they would have something to pay Charon - the ferryman who traveled between Hades and the world of the living.

According to the credits for the show, the new boss of The Bertinelli Crime Family is a man named Pino Bertinelli. While no relationship is confirmed in the episode, Pino Bertinelli was the name of Helena Bertinelli's brother who died along with her mother and father in the original Huntress comics.

Rumor has it that the villain in the final scene is the DCTVU version of Prometheus. A full entry of his history will be added once this is confirmed. Suffice it to say, Prometheus was created by Grant Morrison during his run on JLA as "the anti-Batman" - a genius with no powers who devoted himself to the destruction of law and order after his criminal parents were killed by the police.


Technobabble

Curtis says he was called in to fix Felicity's computer in the bunker because the secondary processor kept overclocking the GPU cache.

Church sets up a kill cordon around his hostages - a collection of laser trip-wires set up to explosives that will be triggered if anyone approaches the hostages and breaks the beams.

Ollie makes use of the hacking arrow (used to give Felicity an in to disarm Anarky's bomb), an explosive arrow, the grappling hook arrow and - after being knocked out of Tobias Church's helicopter - the parachute arrow.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Thea is reassuring a police captain that Oliver will be arriving shortly to a police gala.)
Thea: He will be here. He's just taking care of a little business first.
Captain: Blonde or redhead?
Thea: Brunette, actually.
(Cut to Oliver, as Green Arrow, fighting Anarky and his men.)

Green Arrow: I thought I told you to stay off the streets?
Wild Dog: It's my city too!
Green Arrow: You want to help?
Wild Dog: Yeah!
Green Arrow: Then make a donation to the police department. And keep that elevated.
Wild Dog: Keep what elevated?
(Green Arrow spins around and shoots Wild Dog in the calf. Wild Dog falls to the ground screaming.)
Green Arrow: I don't want to see you out here again!

(As a team of corrupt cops gun down a drug dealer and get ready to take his money.)
Tobias Church: (emerging from the shadows, clapping) Bravo! Cleverness and efficiency. Very Robin Hood! But.. I doubt that you'll be providing the poor with any of these ill-gotten gains. Enlighten me?  I'm new in town.
Head Cop: Kill this prig.
Tobias Church: No! Any attempt to kill this prig will result in your swift demise.

Ollie: Sometimes saving the city takes priority over running it.

Felicity: Church runs with a crew and yours is not coming back.
Ollie: You don't know that...
Felicity: Yes, I do! It's called not being in denial. You really ought to give it a try!

(Church has Oliver and several other city council members tied up and hooded as hostages.)
Tobias Church: Gentleman and lady! This is not personal. (chuckling softly) I know it feels personal, but it is not. You are here as a means to an end. I finally figured out a way to make politicians useful-
Ollie: You want the Green Arrow?!
(Church walks over and pulls the hood off of Ollie.)
Tobias Church: Oooooooh. Yeah.
Ollie: Listen - Green Arrow is not coming. You're wasting your time.
Tobias Church: Just for the fun of it, how is it you know so much about Mr. Arrow?
Ollie: I have it on pretty good authority that he's tied up at right now.

Tobias Church: You think I'd go through all this trouble without a plan?
Ollie: Yeah.
(Church raises his eyebrows at that and nods for Ollie to continue.)
Ollie: (looking up to face Church head on) But that's because I think you're stupid.

Anatoly: Oliver Queen. My brother.
Ollie: (chuckling) Anatoly. It is very good to see you!
(Anatoly chuckles and moves behind the tied-up Oliver.)
Ollie: What are you doing?
(We don't see what he does but Oliver suddenly screams in pain as Anatoly moves around in front of him.)
Anatoly: I just dislocated thumbs. Useful if getting tied to chair is to become habit.
(Anatoly slips Oliver's hands out of the bonds and around to his front.)
Anatoly: This is going to hurt a little.
(Anatoly snaps Oliver's thumbs back into place.)
Ollie: (pained) You son of a bitch!
Anatoly: With a bit of practice you can do yourself, any time.
Ollie: Anatoly, can't you use a knife next time?!
Anatoly: What is fun of that? (laughs)

Thea: For the first time in a long time I'm really starting to feel like myself again. I'm not a killer. I'm not a vigilante. I am... I am a normal version of me. And I think just after everything that happened with Laurel I - I really needed to know that a life like this was even possible. And now that I do, I - I don't want to give it up.
Quentin: Yeah. Yeah. I-I get where you're coming from. I lost my job. I lost my daughter. I lost my girl. And you know I just wanted to hit pause on the world, yeah?
Thea: Yeah.
Quentin: But then I, uh...you know what, I listened to Oliver's speech, you know? And then I realized I can't do that. I can't hit pause on the world. I've got to get on with my life, you know? (pauses) Even if that life isn't what I want it to be.

Ollie: If you hit me again, I'm going to kill you.
Dirty Cop: You're delusional. You're zip-cuffed to that chair.
(Ollie holds up his hands to reveal that he slipped out of his bonds.)

Ollie: "Akula, kotorya Ne plavayet, Ne tonet." The shark that does not swim, drowns.

Church: I thank you all for coming out. I want to thank you all for deciding to hear my vision. The Green Arrow cannot be stopped unless - unless we all work together, under a singular command.
Gang Leader: And I suppose that leader would be you?
Tobias Church: You need someone from the outside. I know this because it took me less than twelve hours to get inside your organizations. All of them.
Pino Bertinelli: What's that mean? Get inside?
(Pino Bertinelli is shot in the back by one of his own men. He falls to the ground dead.)
Tobias Church: It means - that - Mr. Bertinelli.

Ollie: So. First you say that this is going to kill me. And now it looks like you want to initiate me.
Anataoly: Unless you are careful, it will be one and same. 
Ollie: Okay, Anatoly. So I survive this...and I'm Bratva?
Anatoly: You survive this? You can begin process of becoming Bratva.


Continuity

Anarky is seen for the first time since 422.

In the flashbacks, Ollie is trying to find Konstantin Kovar - the government strongman Taiana told him about in 422.

Felicity makes reference to Evelyn Sharpe - the teenager who impersonated Black Canary in 419 - as one of the vigilantes working in Star City without Green Arrow's sanction.

Quentin Lance returned to Star City several weeks earlier. We find out he broke up with Donna Smoak and started drinking again shortly afterward.

"The List" is seen again in the flashback. We hear some of the names in it - some of which will be familiar to long-time Arrow-heads. These include Adam Hunt (corrupt CEO Oliver went after in the first episode), Daniel Brickwell (the gangster Brick from 310 & 311), Pino Bertinelli (new mob boss of The Bertinelli family, first seen in 107.) Jason Brodeur (responsible for framing an innocent man of murder in 104.) and Leo Meuller (German arms dealer from 105.)

Oliver makes reference to ditching John Diggle in explaining how he's able to easily ditch his security detail as mayor - a frequent occurrence during the first three episodes of Arrow.

Oliver is surprisingly knowledgeable about Greek mythology, knowing who Charon is without Felicity having to explain it.

Anatoly Knyazev - the Bratva Captain who was a prisoner with Oliver and Sara on The Amazo -  was last seen in 223. Here, he saves Oliver's life from the Bratva and agrees to help him with Kovar... if Oliver can survive being inducted into the Bratva.

Oliver repeats back to Thea her words about the dead not wanting anything from 102, when she tries to remind him of his promise to Laurel and justify her quitting being a vigilante because of what Laurel would want. Ollie also references Merlyn's words in 422 about Green Arrow's biggest weakness being his unwillingness to do what is necessary because of his moral code.

Quentin puts together a list of honest cops to help Green Arrow and agrees to rejoin Team Arrow as a commander from The Bunker.

We find out the promise Oliver made to Laurel before she died in 418 - that she would not be the last Canary.

The Russian proverb that Oliver quotes to Quentin was taught to him by Anatoly, five years earlier.

Oliver creates a special Anti-Crime-Unit of the SCPD that will report directly to him, made up of four cops recommended personally by Quentin Lance.

After being mugged while looking for Wild Dog, Curtis Holt asks Oliver to train him to become a crime-fighter.

Diggle is stationed overseas - somewhere in Eastern Europe based on the map on the wall of the communications tent where he calls Oliver. He approves of Oliver's plan to start training the city's new vigilantes.

Felicity has a new boyfriend, who is waiting for her when she gets back to her loft.

Lieutenant Conahan - the highest ranking honest cop that Quentin trained - is killed by an arrow fired by an unidentified costumed character.


Location

The flashbacks take place in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.


Untelevised Adventures

We don't see how Oliver got to Russia or how he spent the five months before we find him fighting a battle to the death in an underground club.

We also don't see the last five months of Ollie trying to keep the peace alone in Star City, while dealing with other vigilantes getting in his way.

We also don't get confirmation of where Diggle is stationed or what he's been doing since reenlisting in the US Army.


The Fridge Factor

Again, Laurel's behavior on her deathbed is codependent, whiny and unworthy of the character of Dinah Lance from the comics. Hopefully this is the last we'll see of her for a while now that they've told us what her promise is and put up a statue.


The Winick Factor

The bad news is that it appears this season will be heavily based on Judd Winick's run on the comics. The good news is that - based on this first episode - the storytelling will be far better and more respectful of the Green Arrow legacy.


The Bottom Line

A solid start for the new season that evokes the memory of Arrow's first two seasons in both its direction and its script. Tobias Church is an immediately impressive villain and the episode takes care to focus on two characters - Quentin and Thea - who didn't get as much attention as they should have in Season Four. Granted, this does leave Diggle and Felicity without much to do, but we get enough mystery about the other two prongs of "The Original Trio" to drive the subplots of future episodes. All in all, this is a promising star.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 23 - Schism

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.


Plot

With HIVE's master-plan foiled, Damien Darhk risks a direct assault on Team Arrow, stealing the laptop holding Rubicon in check and assaulting The Bunker. As Felicity and Curtis work to redirect the nuclear missile heading straight for Star City, Oliver Queen will have to draw upon a new-found power of his own to counter Darhk's death magic and save the world!


Influences

Green Arrow: Year One (the Lian Yu segments), Green Arrow: City Walls (Green Arrow fighting a magically-empowered villain by rallying the people of a city behind him), the film Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (centered around a doomsday device similar to Rubicon that could launch multiple nuclear missiles at once), the Spider-Man movies of Sam Raimi (the scene where a group of ordinary people show up to save the hero from the super-villain or support him after he nearly dies saving them.), Raiders Of The Lost Ark (ARGUS taking custody of the idol and disappearing it into storage) and Green Arrow: One Year Later (Oliver Queen becoming Mayor of Star City following a super-villain attack).


Goofs

Felicity says that Warren Air Force Base is in Colorado. That may be the case in the DCTVU, but in our world it is located in Wyoming, though it is close to the Colorado/Wyoming border.

Where does Curtis go to in the final part of the show after Darhk is defeated?

All of the talk about Laurel being merciful and not wanting her murderer to die directly contradicts everything we've seen about Laurel's character throughout the show's history. In Season Two, she was ready to see The Arrow shot dead by a SWAT team when she was blaming him for Tommy's death. In Season Three, the only reason she didn't kill the assassin she thought killed her sister was because she never checked to see if the gun she stole from the Arrow Cave was loaded. And for all of the talk about how she believed in law and order, she routinely abused the authority of her office and subverted rules and promises when it suited her to do so. Hopefully we'll get less of this white-washing in Season Five.


Performances

This may be Stephen Amell's finest hour yet as Oliver Queen.  When he is speaking to the people of his town begging them to stop writing and when he later confronts Darhk before an angry mob ready to take back their city from the man wanted to destroy it, he IS the fat-cat bashing champion of the people from the comics.

Honestly, the entire cast bring their A-game to this episode and everyone has at least one amazing moment.


Artistry

The special effects during the sequence in which Darhk contains one of Oliver's exploding arrows are of cinematic quality.

The fight scene in The Bunker between Team Arrow and the ghosts is one of the best in the show's already impressive history.

The fight scene between the HIVE ghosts and the mob of Star City citizens is probably the largest one in the show's history and is well-shot and choreographed.

The final scene as Ollie is sworn into office and we see all of the team parting ways is a wonderful bit of direction and editing, with a powerful music score.


Trivia

Instead of the usual "My name is Oliver Queen." introduction, the episode opens with a recap of the major events of Season Four.

Sara is briefly mentioned as being at an ARGUS safe house in Coast City. Coast City, in the DC Comics Universe, is a city in California and home town to the Green Lantern Hal Jordan.

After Baron Reiter's idol is claimed by ARGUS, Amanda Waller commands it to be transported to The Slab. In the DC Comics Universe, The Slab is a maximum security prison for metahumans. Originally located in New Jersey, it was relocated to Antarctica following the events of the story Joker's Last Laugh.



Technobabble

Darhk's attack on Curtis leaves him with possible internal bleeding, cracked ribs and a hemothorax. This has to be treated by an immediate release of pressure.

The runes on Baron Reiter's arm prevent the power of the idol from overwhelming his mind.

Rubicon launches 15,434 nuclear missiles.

It takes 45 minutes for a Minuteman ICBM to travel from Warren Air Force Base to Star City.

Curtis suggests, when Felicity is unable to remotely hack the ICBM aimed at Star City, to use a line-of-sight attack on the missile to disarm it once it is close enough.

Nukes are designed to detonate 100 feet above their actual target.

Felicity uploads a GPS spoof to disable the missile as Curtis points an IR receiver at it.

The odds of disabling all the nukes launched by Rubicon with the line-of-sight hack is 1 in 375 million.

When Felicity hacked the nuke aimed at Star City, she gained access to its on-board computer and cloned its hard drive remotely before running a back-trace to determine the source of the initial launch signal.

By inverting the horizons of the remaining 15,433 missiles, Felicity and Curtis are able to cause the missiles to explode in space.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Green Arrow jumps through a window, tuck and rolls and comes up his bow drawn and an arrow ready.)
Darkh: Okay, I know you don't live here anymore but those were nice windows.

Taiana: You are a murderer! You killed my brother! You are darkness.
Oliver: Yes I am!  But you don't have to be!

Oliver: We can't just lose all hope here.
Felicity: You have. I can see it in your eyes.
Oliver: (sighs) I just can't believe that I thought... that I'd be the one to unite this city while Damien Darhk was trying to kill it. That was arrogant. The same arrogance that made me feel like I could be The Green Arrow without descending into darkness. Bottom Line: it was foolish.
Felicity: You don't believe that-
Oliver: I didn't believe that. Until Laurel died.
Felicity: I thought you weren't blaming yourself for her death anymore?
Oliver: We made a decision to come back here. I tried to do things differently and for a time I did. And now I am left here to wonder... if I hadn't, would Laurel still be alive?
(Curtis limps into the room, clutching his side.)
Oliver: Curtis! You shouldn't be up.
Curtis: Tell me about it. Someone's got to provide a little optimism. Doesn't seem like anyone around here is in the head space to do it.
Oliver: You know we've lost the city?
Curtis: No. I know you're running out of time to get it back. Look, living in Star City requires a special kind of tenacity. A sane person wouldn't live here. It's a fact that Paul likes to remind me of weekly. We were this close to leaving Star City last October. After three terrorist attacks, we were done. But then - the night before we were going to start packing - The Green Arrow popped up on our TV. And he reminded me that this city is worth saving. And my home... that my home was worth fighting for. That guy gave me inspiration. He gave me hope. And if he could give me hope then, why can't he give it to others now?

(Oliver Queen addresses a crowd of rioting citizens.)
Oliver; Please! I know what you're feeling right now! I'm feeling it too! The sense of helplessness?! Of Hopelessness?! I don't know how we even begin to process what might happen to us right now! But there are a few things that I do know! I know that this city has been through tough times before and we have pulled through! We survived The Undertaking! We survived The Siege! We survived The Outbreak! And somehow, someway, we will survive this! A friend of mine told me that living in Star City takes a special kind of tenacity. But we do live here! Because this is our home! This! Is! Our! Home! It is our friend, our family, our lives!  And we will not - we will not - throw those precious gifts away by descending into chaos! We will look to each other for hope! We will cling to each other for strength! And if we do that, no matter what happens, we can all stand here united!

John: Oliver, you yourself said going after Darhk was a suicide mission.
Oliver: Well, John, I'm not gonna die tonight!

(Green Arrow enters the nexus room under Star City's city hall.)
Green Arrow: Darhk!
Darhk: (rolling his eyes) What does a guy have to do to end the world in peace?!

(Thea shoots the two HIVE Ghosts that were sneaking up on Merlyn)
Merlyn: Thanks. Unless you were aiming at me.
Thea: At this point, I honestly can't tell.

(Darhk has just brought an entire crowd to their knees with one magical growl.)
Darhk: Humanity is feckless! And I wanted to cleanse it of a millennium worth of rot it has been infected by and I will do it!
Green Arrow: (from behind Darhk, coming to his feet) No you won't!
(Darhk turns and smirks at Green Arrow.)
Darhk: Okay. Just for fun. How are you going to stop me?
Green Arrow: Because it won't just be me who's going to stop you!
(Darhk freezes as he hears the mob behind him starting to come to their feet, enraged and inspired by one man standing up to Darhk's power. Without a word, Green Arrow draws a shaft and lets it fly. It cuts Darhk's face.  He touches the blood with one finger and looks at it astonished.  He reaches out toward Green Arrow and nothing happens... save that Green Arrow's eyes glow gold as they did when Green Arrow last tapped into his sense of hope to repel Darhk's magic.)
Green Arrow: Not so easy without the magic, is it?!
Darhk: Oh, I don't need magic. I'm a former member of the League of Assassins. Or have you forggoten that?
Green Arrow: Remind me.
(The mob cheer as Green Arrow closes in on Darhk and the two begin to fight.)

(Quentin Lance helps Green Arrow up after he's shot in the chest with an arrow Darhk fired.)
Quentin: Now you know how it feels.
Green Arrow: Wait, I thought you and Donna-?
Quentin: Don't worry. She's safe. But I had to come back to stand with my city because this Oliver Queen guy gives a hell of a speech.
Green Arrow: (looking to Spartan and Lyla, who just walked up) You two were supposed to stay as back-up!
Spartan: I already lost one brother!

(Green Arrow grabs Darhk by the shirt-collar with one hand and holds an arrow in the other.)
Darhk: What are you going to do now, Oliver? Stop the posturing We both know you can't do it. You spared the life of the man who killed your own mother.
Green Arrow: You killed a friend of mine. You killed tens of thousands of innocent people. With Slade Wilson I had a choice. This time, I don't.
(Green Arrow stabs the arrow into Darhk's chest and lets him fall to the ground.)

Oliver: You okay?
John: Not really. I told Lyla the truth about Andy.
Oliver: What did she say?
John: She's a soldier. She understood. But I don't and I don't think I ever will.
Oliver: What are you going to do?
John: Take some time away from this team. Away from the city. Figure out where I went off track and how to get back on.
Oliver: John, I have never done this without you. You're the one who keeps me in line.
John: Oliver, I don't know if you've been watching lately, but.. it's been the other way around, man.

Amanda Waller: You saved a lot of lives.
Oliver: I took some, too.
Amanda Waller: Do you remember what I told you? That the only way out is through?
Oliver: Well, I'm not out, Amanda. I'm still filled with darkness.
Amanda Waller: This was never about expunging your darkness, Mr. Queen. That darkness will always be a part of you.
Oliver: Then what was the point?!
Amanda Waller: To show you that sometimes killing is the only path to justice.

Felicity: You okay?
Oliver: No. (sighs) It's Thea amd John.
Felicity: Them leaving has to be a blow.
Oliver: They're leaving because of their own personal darkness. I just can't help but think that maybe they were infected by mine.
Felicity: Maybe. Like you said, maybe you can't become a hero without succumbing to the darkness even a little bit? But you were able to defeat Darhk by giving the city its hope back.
Oliver: You're saying it's not black and white?
Felicity: I'm saying that there's a man who killed Darhk in cold blood. And that same man stood on top of a car and gave a city its hope back. What you're feeling isn't darkness. It's a schism. You're at war with two sides of yourself.


Continuity

Baron Reiter has magical power enough to destroy a small airplane with a gesture.

Oliver and Taiana kill Baron Reiter together, with Taiana tapping his life force and Oliver throwing a knife into his back.

Diggle freezes up in the middle of the fight with The HIVE Ghosts, seeing his brother's face.

Lyla notices this, prompting him to confess that he didn't kill Andy Diggle in self defense.

Lyla doesn't care but Diggle does.

Oliver snaps Taiana's neck after she asks him to kill her before she becomes more of a monster than Reiter.

Taiana reminds Oliver of his promise in 418 to tell her parents what happened if she died.

Felicity reminds Cooper Seldon of how they wanted to save the world, seven years earlier, as seen in the flashbacks in 305.

Cooper Seldon is killed by Darhk after he refuses to continue working to keep Rubicon running.

Darhk refers to the events of 223 and Oliver's refusal to kill Slade Wilson.

Quentin Lance is officially let go from the CCPD and decides to leave Star City for a while with Donna Smoak.

Thea also decides to quit being Speedy for fear of losing too much of herself and being Malcolm Merlyn's daughter, based on her threatening to kill Darhk's daughter to save Ollie's life.

John also says he's going to go away for a while and figure out where he went off-track.

Oliver buries Taiana.next to Yao Fei, Robert Queen and Shado on Lian Yu.

Oliver uses the comm gear Amanda Waller gave him to radio ARGUS in order to rescue the rest of the prisoners on the island.

Oliver refuses Amanda Waller's offer of employment as an ARGUS agent or a ride back to the USA so that he can keep the promise he made to Taiana and go to Russia.

Thomas Kemp - the chair of the Star City council - informs Oliver Queen that they want to appoint him as an interim mayor until the next election in August 2016, based on his speech to the people of Star City during the rioting.  Oliver agrees to take the job.

As the episode closes, Quentin is seen leaving Star City by car with Donna Smoak, Thea is seen sitting on a couch in the apartment she shared with Laurel and John is seen packing a bag while wearing a dress military uniform, apparently having reenlisted.


The Fridge Factor

Felicity is dumbed-down to give Curtis Holt a chance to contribute - first by his having the idea to use a line-of-sight attack to disable the nuke approaching Star City and then by suggesting they invert the horizons of the missiles so they will explode in space.


The Bottom Line

Taken on its own, this is a solid episode with some great performances, wonderful action sequences and great writing. Taken in the context of the whole season, however, it's something of a disappointment. The whole point of Season Four was to make Arrow lighten up. and its hard to see how having everyone except Felicity leave the team in order to cope with their own personal issues fits into that theme... particularly since Oliver ultimately has to abandon his new-found optimism and promise not to kill in order to defeat Darhk once and for all. Still, the idea of Oliver falling to leave up to his ideals is par for the course in the comics, too. Unfortunately, having Oliver win in this fashion does make much of his conflict for this season seem completely pointless.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 22 - Lost In The Flood

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

Rubicon has been delayed for a day. But Felicity's old flame, Cooper Seldon, is now working for HIVE and all too eager to prove himself the better hacker once and for all. Now, as Noah and Curtis join forces with Felicity to protect the world's nuclear arsenal, Oliver and John must race to rescue Thea from HIVE's underground city before Anarky can destroy it. Unfortunately, Ruve Adams has turned the whole city against them. And Merlyn has turned Thea against Oliver!

In the flashback sequences, the dark power of the Idol begins to change Tiana for the worse. And Baron Reiter is not quite as dead as Oliver thought...


Influences

Green Arrow: Year One (the Lian Yu segments), Green Arrow: City Walls (Green Arrow fighting a magically-empowered villain inside a sealed city), the film Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (centered around a doomsday device similar to Rubicon that could launch multiple nuclear missiles at once, name-dropped by Darkh), the film War Games (centered around hackers averting World War III, name-dropped by Curtis) the Fallout game series (Tevat Noah resembles the more idealistic visions of the underground vaults and serves the same purpose), the works of William Shakespeare (Cooper Seldon quotes Richard the Third and Hamlet), Brave New World (Spartan name-drops the book, there's some resemblance between the society HIVE is creating and The World State of this book), the James Bond novels of Ian Fleming (the destruction of Tevat Noah is pretty much every James Bond villain base going up in smoke, Darhk lets Green Arrow and Spartan live only so they can die a worse death while watching hiim win) and pretty much every Dennis O'Neil or Elliot S! Maggin story where Oliver Queen doubted his role as a vigilante doing real good for society at large.


Goofs

There's a lot of weird lens flares and other oddities in the lighting that distract from the action.

Noah and Donna's argument is remarkably quiet until Felicity has sufficient time to ask Curtis what is going on and notice that he's drinking.

Granting that it's in a backyard, you'd think SOMEONE would have done something to clean up Alex's dead body!

Also, what genius decided that powering Tevat Noah with a power source so unstable that one arrow going into the machinery in its control room could cause the whole complex to explode was a good idea? Was HIVE contracting out to the lowest bidder?

Cool as the fight looks, it's impossible to beleive that Anarky is capable of fighting both Green Arrow, Speedy and Spartan to a stand-still, even in the middle of a collapsing room!

How does Merlyn know Ruve Adams was killed? He was busy evacuating people when she died. (Possibly he's working with Anarky planning a double cross of Darhk and the escaped Anarky told him? Or he just knows because he is/was Ra's Al Ghul.)


Artistry

The sequence in which Spartan, Speedy and Green Arrow fight Anarky in the midst of a collapsing control room looks amazing, between the practical effects and the fight choreography.


Trivia

As is tradition with previous seasons' penultimate episodes (i.e. Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Streets On Fire, This Is Your Sword), the title of this episode comes from a Bruce Springsteen song.

Taiana says her home village is ruled over by a "strongman" named Kovar, who works for the Russian Government. This could be a reference to Leonid Konstantinovitch Kovar a.k.a. Starfire a.k.a. Red Star. Kovar was DC Comics first Russian superhero, created in 1968 and first appearing in Teen Titans #18. The son of an archeologist, Leonid and his father investigated a spaceship crash that bathed the teenager with a strange energy when the ship exploded. Afterward, Leonid found that he had enhanced strength, speed and psychokinesis, A devout Communist, Leonid offered his services to his country and became Russia's first state-sanctioned superhero.


Technobabble

The nuclear missile which destroyed Havenrock was a long-range KN-08 ballistic missile.

Felicity's back-trace of Thea's phone signal has an accuracy rate of 99.9999%..

Diggle says that Tevat Noah is just like Mount Weather - a Continuity Of Government facility built by FEMA during The Cold War in case of a nuclear attack.

Oliver is either able to pick locks with an arrowhead or has a special arrowhead that is shaped like a lock-pick. He uses it to break into one of the houses in Tevat Noah while seeking cover from the guards.

Smartphones are protected by encryption. If you fail to enter the proper passcode or fingerprint after so many tries, the phone "bricks" itself (i.e. locks so no one can access it). Curtis suggests that rather than trying to break the encryption on Rubicon, they make it stop working in the first place by overwhelming it with too many access requests.

Cooper shuts down Felicity's system with an X-Axis Bi-numeric Algorithm virus. It's one she created back in college.

Cooper then sends electrical surges to all their previous IPs. Unfortunately, this allows Felicity to ping back to his location. This let's Noah hitch their own code onto the back trace. The code they use is an executable Curtis designs to overload Rubicon with access requests.

Tevat Noah is powered by a dwarf star alloy. Powerful, but touchy, as Anarky describes it. This means that a stray shot in the control center could blow up the whole complex.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Oliver shoots two arrows at Dark. They vaporize before they come close to touching him.)
Darhk: Cool. You know, I didn't even mean to do that?!

Darhk: Today was supposed to be Christmas and I woke up to a lump of coal. Is it because I've been naughty this year?

Darkh: (To Cooper) Not that it's not scintillating to watch you type, but when exactly will I have Rubicon back?

Man: You can't win! You can't stop Genesis!
Spartan: Well, what are you going to do when you're not here to enjoy your Brave New World?
Green Arrow: Spartan! Easy...
Spartan: He almost got us killed.
Green Arrow: They're like Thea. They're not in their right minds.
Man: You mean the pills? We haven't taken any. Not even one. None of us have. We're here because we believe. Because we know the world is evil and darkness. It's beyond saving.
Green Arrow: How can you believe that?
Man: Because we lived it. Every day. So many promises were made to save the city. But it all just fell apart. And we were the ones left in the rubble. Damien Darhk has given us hope. Can you, with your masks and your guns, actually say the same?

Green Arrow: Do you ever think that maybe Darhk has a point?
Spartan: No. Darhk is psychotic. Everyone down here is.
Green Arrow: Are they? He's not wrong. The world is coming apart just like Star City. I mean, it is worse than it has ever been...
Spartan: That's because Darhk's been spending the past year trying to kill it.
Green Arrow: Then why is he giving these people more hope than we ever could?

Thea: (to Merlyn) Drug me again and I will kill you, you son of a bitch!

Spartan: So Machin is down here?
Merlyn: An ongoing pest we've yet to exterminate.
Thea: He killed Alex, who brought me down here because Ruve drugged him. Just like you did to me.
Merlyn: We can discuss my parenting philosophy later. Mr. Machin is the immediate threat!
Spartan: To Darhk and his wife and I still don't understand why we should care.
Merlyn: Because he has already tried once to kill everyone down here!
Green Arrow: Malcolm's right. We're not letting anyone else die. (turning the family whose house they took over) This place isn't safe. I need you to get them out of here in order to protect them. Please...
(Green Arrow turns back to Merlyn.)
Green Arrow: Now you know the way out. So if we can't stop Machin, then you are going to lead the evacuation.
Merlyn: I don't recall volunteering.
(Spartan draws his gun and puts it to Merlyn's head. Merlyn doesn't blink.)
Merlyn: And even if I did, where exactly where would I evacuate them to? Everything above our heads is going to be under a mushroom cloud!
Green Arrow: I refuse to believe that.
Merlyn: Because you're a fool.
Green Arrow: Because I have hope.

Green Arrow: The city's safe...
Felicity: You sound like there's a "but" to that sentence.
Green Arrow: People still need saving. They still need hope.

Darkh: Tell me.
Merlyn: It was Machin. He's-
Darkh: Ruve?!
Merlyn: I'm sorry.
Darkh: My daughter?
Merlyn: We're still getting reports of survivors.
Darkh: We're locked out of Rubicon. Momentarily. I know someone who can get us back online.
Merlyn: Damien... Tevat Noah is gone! It's buried under miles of ash! Even if you could regain control of Rubicon, they would be no place on Earth that is safe!
Darkh: If there's no place left on Earth that is safe... let it all burn.

Felicity: Go to hell!
Darhk: Why bother? I'm going to bring it to us.


Continuity

Curtis makes reference to the city-threatening events that have occurred in Starling City over the past three years including earthquakes (Season 1), viral attacks (Season 3) and armies of super-soldiers (Season 2).

Curtis is apparently on the Dark Web and knows Noah Kuttler by reputation.

Cooper Seldon is seen for the first time since 305. He broke out of Iron Heights during Damien Darhk's escape.

We learn the name of HIVE's underground city is Tevat Noah.

Thea's phone signal comes from the corner of Berkeley and Childress, right in the heart of The Glades.

Taiana becomes more blood-thirsty and willing to kill as people die near her as she is holding the idol.

Merlyn drugs Thea to make her compliant.

Felicity tells Donna that she's been working with The Green Arrow for three years.

Taiana is from a village, Krasnoyarsk, which is ruled over by a "government strong man" named Kovar. She wants to use the power of the idol to free her people.

Noah claims he wasn't given any choice regarding abandoning his family.

Noah recognizes the virus Cooper uses as one Felicity designed, saying that he did keep tabs on his daughter and her work.

When Donna Smoak gets stressed, she folds clothes.

Donna Smoak confesses to Felicity that Noah didn't abandon them - she took Felicity and left him when Felicity was 7.

Felicity notes, however, that Noah never once tried to correct Felicity's belief that he was a deadbeat dad.

Thea is now a good enough shot with a bow and arrow that she can shoot the sword out of someone's hand.

Anarky refers to the events of 410 - the last time he took Darhk's wife and daughter hostage.

Tevat Noah is powered by a dwarf star alloy, much like Ray Palmer's technology.

Anarky stabs Ruve Adams to death with one of Speedy's arrows.

Anarky seems to escape the collapse of Tevat Noah.

Green Arrow saves Damien Darhk's daughter.

The destruction of Tevat Noah does damage to The Glades above it.

Donna asks Noah to leave and never contact Felicity again. As the episode closes, he seems to.

Curtis points out that Donna's refusal to believe Noah could change his lying ways mirrors Felicity's dumping Oliver over his lying.


The Winick Factor

Everyone - HIVE and Team Arrow alike - is nerfed so that Anarky can be built up as a threat. Ditto the return of Cooper Seldon, who is now suddenly a competent enough hacker to handle Felicity AND her dad at the same time.


The Bottom Line

Everything about this episode feels like so much padding. When everything should be racing to a conclusion after last week's exciting episode, this episode slams on the breaks so we can focus on Felicity's family issues (which still aren't really resolved) and Thea's fight with Anarky last week proves to be completely pointless so that we can have all of Team Arrow have a far harder time fighting him than they should.

The cast gives it their all but that doesn't change the fact that the first half of the episode revolves around people typing while spouting technobabble and - as Damien Darhk himself notes - that's not exactly scintillating. The second half is somewhat better, but Thea's being brainwashed is a waste of time as is Oliver's momentary consideration that he's failed the city as a beacon of hope.

And yet, I have hope that next week's finale will prove to have been worth this diversion. It's a dim hope, but it is there.