Arrow Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 4 - Present Tense

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




Plot

Faced with a mysterious new Deathstroke, the original Team Arrow and their time-displaced proteges from the future must join forces.


Influences

The Shawshank Redemption (Curtis makes reference to it, as the team crawl through the sewers to stop Grant Wilson's bombs) and the Rebirth Deathstroke comic. (Mention of Buredunia.)


Goofs

The usual rules regarding paradox and changing your own past are handily ignored by Team Arrow 2040. (Presumably whoever brought them back in time is also preventing paradox from affecting them?)


Performances

Ben Lewis and Stephen Amell have great interplay as the older William and Oliver.


Trivia

While trying to determine the identity of the new Deathstroke, it is said that Slade Wilson is currently in Buredunia.  This is a fictional nation on the eastern side of the African continent in the DC Comics universe, which featured in the Deathstroke Rebirth comic series.

The new Deathstroke is eventually revealed to be Grant Wilson - Slade Wilson's eldest son. In a potential future shown on Legends of Tomorrow, Grant Wilson was responsible for exposing Oliver Queen's secret identity to the world and took over the Star City of 2046.

In the original comics, Grant Wilson was the first Ravager - an assassin who tried to follow in Deathstroke's footsteps. When his body was destroyed by the experimental treatments that HIVE developed in an effort to mimic the formula that made Slade Wilson into a super soldier, Wilson swore revenge on the Titans and promised to fulfill his son's contract on the superhero team.

At the end of the episode, Grant Wilson is sent to Blackgate in Gotham City. In the DC Comics Universe, Blackgate Penitentiary is the prison reserved for non-super-powered criminals in Gotham City.


Technobabble

The Deathstrokes send secret messages in an ink that only shows up on wet paper under a black light.

Grant Wilson sets up his bombs on a relay device that can be detonated remotely by a phone.

The relay device is revealed to be an intervalometer, pulsating in a consistently synchronized pattern. It has a transfer switch embedded into the mainframe. Disconnecting the red wire deactivates it.


Dialogue Triumphs

William: Dad, we all have the chance to get to know each other now.
Oliver: If your sister will let me.
William: Mia will come around. You know, she can be a little bit a little bit stubborn and hard to reach sometimes.
Oliver: (dryly) Shocker. Where'd she get that from?
William: (dryly) Mom, I guess.
(The two laugh.)

Mia: You know, I survived my whole life without you. I don't need you to play Dad now.
Oliver: Hey! I'm not playing Dad. I am simply telling you that it is not tactically wise to go out there by yourself...
Mia: Fine. I'll take Laurel.
Oliver: (clearing throat) ...when you are letting your decisions be driven by your emotions. Trust me! I've been there!
Mia: You don't get a say. You gave up that right when you left me and Mom alone in that cabin! How could you just abandon us?!
Oliver: Because I chose to keep you safe, and I chose right.
Mia: You just wanted to be a hero, so you put your mission above your family! Don't worry! You'll learn to live without me pretty easy. Just like I learned to live without you

Oliver: She's right. I chose to go with the Monitor. I abandoned her. I haven't earned a say.
William: Yeah, but that doesn't mean she doesn't want you to have one or or that you shouldn't, and I'm saying that from experience.
Oliver: You have kids in the future?
William: Oh, God, no. I mean, don't get me wrong. Kids are a miracle or whatever, but I was actually referring to when I left you to go live with grandma and grandpa.
Oliver: Yeah. That one's still pretty fresh for me.
William: Right. I mean I... I thought you hated my guts. I hated you for abandoning me.
Oliver: I tried.
William: True, but I wanted you to try harder, push a little more. I think that's all any child wants from their parents.
Oliver: I'm sorry.
William: It's okay. Dad, I am glad that you're in my life. Then and now. And Mia will be, too.


Continuity

It is revealed that John was teleported to Star City, along with Oliver and Team Arrow 2040.

Dinah and Rene learn that Felicity was pregnant and had a daughter named Mia. In the original 2040 timeline, they didn't meet Mia until she was an adult and didn't find out she was Felicity and Oliver's daughter until later.

Connor accidentally lets it slip that John Diggle adopts him, not knowing they had traveled back in time to before that happened.

William tells Oliver that he never saw him again after he left him to live with his grandparents and nobody is sure what happened to Ollie in the future. He just vanished and was presumed dead. He also says that he never saw Felicity again until recently in his time.

William tells Oliver that he became a tech magnate in the future.

William also tells Oliver that he's gay. Oliver says he already knew that.

Archroyal Capital CEO MacMillan Fairfield is the first victim of the new Deathstroke, who sews a bomb into his stomach, timing it to go off inside Starling General Hospital.

Dr. Eliza Schwartz, who frequently treated Team Arrow on the down-low, is killed in the bomb explosion.

Team Arrow determines the new Deathstroke is not Slade Wilson or Kane Wolfman.

Curtis Holt, last seen in 722, comes out of retirement to help fight the new Deathstroke.

Rene is currently running for a City Councilman position in Star City.

Oliver has a sample of cloth clipped by the antimatter wave that destroyed Earth-2. He asks for Curtis to analyze it and find a way to replicate the effect.

Connor accidentally mentions the Canaries to Dinah, describing them as an organization comparable to Knightwatch in his time. High praise indeed, considering he compared ARGUS to a kindergarten glass, relative to the power Knightwatch held in 2040.

According to Connor, "Star City's cancer is the rich" is JJ's favorite catch-phrase.

Team Arrow 2040 find the new Deathstroke in the building that becomes Galaxy One's corporate headquarters in 2040. They are shocked, however, to find the new Deathstroke is not John Diggle Jr., but Grant Wilson - Slade Wilson's older son.

Connor recalls that Grant Wilson founded the Deathstrokes and trained John Diggle Jr., who eventually took over the gang from him.

After Connor reveals to Diggle that his son becomes the leader of the Deathstrokes in the future, William comes clean about the rest of the bad news about the future they tried to keep hidden. Namely, that Zoe Ramirez is dead at John Diggle Jr's hand, that Star City 2040 is a terrible place run by crooked cops and politicians and that Rene Ramirez getting elected to City Council was the start of things going wrong.

The team figures out one big thing has already changed - in the original timeline, Grant Wilson's base was never blown up in 2019. Since that has changed his plans, that may mean the future can be changed and the Deathstrokes can be arrested before they become the cult heroes that inspired John Diggle Jr.

Zoe hates mint chocolate chip ice cream, saying it tastes like toothpaste.

Mia goes to investigate the hopsital bomb site with Black Siren.

Black Siren admits that she doesn't like Oliver and thinks he's a dick.

Black Siren makes reference to the events of 706 and how she talked Felicity out of killing Ricardo Diaz.

Connor and William are able to disarm the bomb.

Mia and Oliver are able to capture Grant Wilson.

Grant Wilson is sent to Blackgate Prison in Gotham City and it is said he'll be there for at least 20 years.

Connor and Diggle make peace.

Rene decides to continue his run for office, but focus on not letting the bad future he heard about happen.

Dinah and Black Siren discuss forming the Canaries a few years early.

Dinah resolves to keep training Zoe.

Curtis tells Oliver he figured out how to replicate the energy wave, but it will require tools he doesn't have, plutonium and be highly illegal. He does, however have a lead on a General who may have the tools they need. He currently lives in Russia.

Black Siren is approached by The Monitor, who says he can restore Earth-2 if she betrays Oliver Queen.


Untelevised Adventures

It is never revealed what Oliver and John were doing when they were teleported to Star City.


The Bottom Line

Better than it has any right to be, given that most of its drama is based around various characters being mad about things that haven't happened yet but which might happen, unless they decide to try and stop it from happening. The effects of this on the timeline are largely ignored and it's still unclear at the end if John Diggle Jr. might be redeemed and Zoe Ramirez might still be alive in the future. Still, there's a lot of good character moments (especially Oliver and William interacting) and the performances help salvage a very strange script.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 22 - You Have Saved This City

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



Plot

The battle between Team Arrow and the Ninth Circle comes to a head, as old friends return to Star City to help with the coming fight. Meanwhile, over two decades later, the next generation of Star City's heroes must save their city - and the world - from a corporation intent on empowering a new police state.


Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Benjamin Percy (battle with Ninth Circle) and Judd Winick (destroying a wall that separates the rich and poor parts of Star City.)


Goofs

The Ninth Circle leadership expels Emiko from their ranks and kills her because of her vendetta against the Queen family exposing the group to the public. Yet they are perfectly willing to keep that vendetta going once Emiko is dead, because... reasons?

For that matter, even if the Ninth Circle were going after Oliver and Felicity for being thorns in their side, why not go after the whole of Team Arrow? All of whom have public identities now!


Performances

Emily Bett Rickards gives it her all one last time and steals the show in both the modern day and future segments. Somehow, Stephen Amell seems all the stronger playing against her and he's hardly a slouch. Their final moments together are Emmy-worthy.


Artistry

The fight scenes are fantastic, even for this show.

The episode's ending is absolutely perfect - both as a send-off for Felicity Smoak and as the series in general, as it seems that all of Season 8 will be devoted to Crisis on Infinite Earths.


Trivia

The female Ninth Circle member who seemingly takes over after Emiko is kicked out of the group is identified as Beatrice. In The Divine Comedy, Beatrice was the name of the poet Dante's ideal woman, who acted as his guide to the nine spheres of Heaven, just as Virgil had been his guide to the circles of Hell.

While the original Green Arrow comics introducing the Ninth Circle didn't include a member named Beatrice among the Ninth Circle's ranks, the name fits their convention of their leaders taking the names of important figures from The Divine Comedy.


Technobabble

Emiko somehow finds a way to block Felicity from tracking the Cygnus X-1 bacteria by its chemical signature.

Someone using a signal-bounced untraceable number calls in a fake bomb scare to a local shopping mall, to force people out into the open where they can be attacked by a Ninth Circle drone.

The Ninth Circle use a scrambler to make it impossible to track the detonation signal for their Cygnus X-1 bombs.

Curtis builds a number of optimized cryogenic chambers to that can be used to freeze the Cygnus X-1 bacteria.

Felicity determines all the Cygnus X-1 bombs and droves are hooked up to the same detonator. This means they only have to neutralize one target rather than over a dozen.

In Star City 2040, Penal Code Statute 10101971 governs vigilante justice.

Smoak Tech invented a line of flexible restraints, easier to store than traditional handcuffs.

The Archer program is revealed not to have a server room - its server is built into the wall that separates The Glades and Star City.

Felicity built a backdoor into the original Archer system so that anyone who had both her DNA and that of Oliver Queen would be invisible to the system. This is why Mia was able to fight the Zeta soldiers so effectively - Archer could literally not predict her next move, like all the other vigilantes.

When the wall between The Glades and Star City was built, explosives were planted in each control tower in case it ever had to be destroyed. The signal can only be activated from inside the tower.


Dialogue Triumphs

William: What are they gonna do with us?
Rene: You mean before they torture us to find out what you stole off Keven Dale's computer or after?
William: I'm gonna stop asking questions now.

Felicity: (sadly) This is not the life that Oliver and I wanted for them. They're supposed to be living happy, normal lives right now. That was the only thing that Oliver asked me to do. It was the only thing that I promised him I would do. And I failed. Some mother I turned out to be.

Oliver: You have every right to be angry. I was angry, too, because you let our father die. And that led to a ripple effect in my life of loss. I lost Tommy, my mother, Laurel, Quentin. And I wanted to kill you for all of it!

(The two struggle as Emiko tries to stab Oliver. He flips her and takes away her knife, holding it on her.)

Oliver: I know his death affected you, too. 

(Oliver releases the pin and stands up, allowing Emiko to stand.)

Oliver: Instead of finding the hero that I really believe is inside of you, you went down a dark path. And it killed your mother.

Emiko: Dante killed my mother!

Oliver: No, he didn't, Emiko. Your allegiance to the Ninth Circle killed your mother. Your hatred of our father killed your mother. His worst impulses drove you away, and it led to every terrible moment in both of our lives. I think that together, we can be better.

(Oliver holds the knife out to Emiko.)

Oliver: So if you're gonna kill me, do it.

(Emiko hesitates, as Virgil enters the room with a squad of Ninth Circle soldiers)

Virgil: Well, if you're not gonna kill him, we'll gladly oblige.

Oliver: I've spent a long time thinking about my legacy as the Green Arrow. I always hoped it would be saving the city. But now I know that my greatest legacy is this team. I started this mission alone. I was certain that I would end it alone, but the truth of the matter is that every bit of success that I've had along the way is because of all of you.

Diggle: You know, the spirit of this place will live on long after we're gone. You've inspired so many people, Oliver. They will carry on your legacy.

Oliver: Sounds like a cycle for good.

Diggle: Far better than that. A cycle of heroes. Who will fight to defend this city with every fiber of their being.

Felicity: Anyone ever told you you always know exactly what to say? 

Digg: (stone-faced) I have been told.

(Oliver and Felicity laugh ad Diggle cracks a stoic smile.)

Oliver: So what bargain have I made? What does the multiverse require? 

The Monitor: That you assist me as we seek to prevent the inevitable.

Oliver: But that sounds impossible.

The Monitor: The multiverse is more complex than you could fathom.

Oliver: What are you not telling me? 

The Monitor: I've seen your future, Oliver, inexorable and unavoidable. I have watched you die.

(Oliver just stares at The Monitor.)

Oliver: During this crisis?

The Monitor: (nods) I am truly sorry.

Felicity:No. You are not taking him!

Oliver: Felicity....

Felicity: Oliver...

The Monitor: I am not here to bring harm to you or your daughter. Trust me, the world needs her.

Felicity: You think that I'm just going to let you leave here with my husband's life? 

Oliver: This is bigger than us... Than all of us.

Felicity: Why does it always have to be you?

The Monitor: I cannot prevent his passing, but he can prevent the deaths of countless more, including you and your daughter. But he needs to come with me tonight.

(Oliver exits Mia's room to find Felicity sitting in their dining room.)

Felicity: (softly)This is why we can't have a normal life. This is why our children will never have normal lives.

Oliver: I had to make the deal.

Felicity: (holding back the tears) Oh, there's always gonna be some danger or some threat. The league of Assassins or HIVE or the Ninth Circle or the end of the friggin' universe.

Oliver: I need you to make me a promise.

Felicity: (drying her tears) Yeah, okay.

Oliver: No matter what happens to me... No matter what... You need to do everything in your power... You...You need to keep William and Mia safe.

Felicity: (standing, moving to feel Oliver's face) I will keep them safe. But wherever you go? Whatever happens to you? You'll never leave me. On our wedding day, you told me that I was the best part of you, but the truth is... we are the best parts of each other. And that is so much bigger than the friggin' universe.

Oliver: When I came back to Star City to start my mission, I didn't think that I was... capable or deserving of love.(sobbing)  But you opened up my heart in ways that I never thought were possible. My only regret is not telling you I loved you sooner.

Felicity: (hugging him tighter) No regrets.

Oliver: Would you tell Mia that I love her every day? And I know that she will grow up to be as smart and as beautiful as her mom.

Felicity:  I will find you... again. I promise.

Oliver: I love you.

Felicity: I love you so much.

(The two kiss passionately and hug each other for several seconds. Reluctantly, Oliver lets go of Felicity as she feels his face one more time before he lets go and walks back to the living room.)

(Felicity walks through the woods near Queen Manor. She stops and The Monitor approaches her.)

Felicity: I'm ready.

The Monitor: Where I'm taking you, there is no return.

Felicity: I have waited a very long time to see him. I'm ready.

(Felicity twists her wedding ring as The Monitor opens a breach. The two step forward into it as it seals behind them, with no indication they were ever there.)

Continuity

Sergeant Bingsley passes out and is in the back of am ambulance. As such, he can't confirm that Team Arrow didn't attack the police.

Team Arrow escapes from the SCPD thanks to Oliver's timely use of a smoke arrow.

The whole of Team Arrow have arrest warrants put out for their real names.

Curtis Holt and Black Siren return to help fight The Ninth Circle.

Ben "Bronze Tiger" Turner, last seen in 715, is revealed to have been paroled. He helps calm the crowds during the drone attacks.

Ben Turner agrees to help stop the Ninth Circle.

Lyla picks up John Jr., Zoe and Connor and takes them to an ARGUS safehouse.

Felicity tracks the signal to trigger the Cygnus X-1 release to the top floor of Palmer Technologies - what was Robert Queen's office when the building was still owned by Queen Consolidated.

Virgil tells Emiko that the rest of The Ninth Circle's leadership is concerned that her vendetta is bringing too much heat down upon them. He asks her to detonate the bombs now but she refuses.

Sergeant Bingsley tells Mayor Pollard that Team Arrow is innocent. He and several other cops join the team to swarm Palmer Industries.

 Oliver offers Emiko another chance for them to work beyond their father's life and be better people together. When she refuses to take it, he offers her a dagger and tells her to kill him.

Before Emiko can make a decision, Virgial arrives with a group of Ninth Circle soldiers and a woman named Beatrice, who informs Emiko she has been cast out of the Ninth Circle.

Beatrice throws the knives that fatally wound Emiko.

With her dying breath, Emiko warns Oliver that the Ninth Circle know that Felicity is pregnant an they will stop at nothing to kill him, her and their child.

Oliver escapes from Palmer Industries just before a fire bomb destroys the upper floors.

Black Siren returns to Earth 2.

Bronze Tiger is offered a place on Team Arrow by Diggle. He turns it down, saying that he wants to focus on being with his son now that he's free of prison. Diggle understands but says ARGUS may approach him about a job anyway.

Curtis announces his intention to propose to his longtime boyfriend, Officer Nick Anastas and go back to his new job in Washington D.C.

Roy says he's going to take some time to be alone and figure out a way to atone for the two guards that he killed before he joins back up with Thea Queen and Nyssa Al Ghul.

Oliver says he and Felicity are going to leave town for a while, leaving Diggle in charge of the team while they are away.

Before everyone parts ways, Oliver says he is going to design a Mark of Four based around The Four Pillars of Heroism he thought up ad that the six of them (Oliver, Felicity, Diggle, Rene, Dinah and Roy) will be able to use it as a signal if they ever need help. This symbol was first mentioned and seen in the flash-forwards of 708 when Dinah revealed she had a tattoo of the symbol to William Clayton.

Diggle helps Felicity and Oliver find a home in a rural community called Bloomfield, which is a sort of retirement community for ex CIA, ARGUS and DIA personnel who need to go into witness protection. The entire city is basically one gigantic safe-house.

Several moinths pass during which Oliver and Felicity enjoy their time together, Mia is born and Oliver and Felicity both enjoy being the parents of a young baby.

The Monitor appears in Oliver and Felicity's living room and confirms the time has come for Oliver to fufill the bargain he made in S409.

Oliver explains that he agreed to give the Monitor "whatever the Multiverse requires" to save it during the coming Crisis, in exchange for the means to save Barry and Kara during the battle with Dr. Destiny. The Monitor reveals that this means that Oliver must come with him and help him to "prevent the inevitable."

The Monitor reveals that he has seen Oliver die and that there is nothing that can be done to avert his fate. He does say, however, that it is possible to make Oliver's death mean something and that he can use it to save the uncountable lives, including those of his wife and daughter.

The Monitor also says that it is important that Mia Smoak's life be saved, but does not explain why.

Oliver is allowed a chance to hold Mia one last time and to kiss Felicity before he leaves with the Monitor.

Mia is somehow able to fight several of the Zeta droids before they focus on her and overpower her.

The rest of the Zetas are finished up by a disguised Connor Hawke.

William and Rene are saved from Galaxy One by Zoe.

Felicity reveals that Mia is able to fight the Zetas because a backdoor in Archer stops her DNA from being analyzed and her movements predicted.

This prompts William to come up with a plan to destroy Archer by using the delay caused by Mia's presence at a gate scanner to upload a virus into the system.

The virus doesn't destroy Archer but triggers a system-wide reboot which shuts it down for four minutes.

Mia volunteers to activate the self-destruct on the wall during that four minute window.

William is able to code a 60 second delay into the self-destruct so Mia can escape in time.

Rene, Dinah, Roy and Felicity agree to take the rap for the destruction of the wall.

Dinah officially makes Zoe the new head of The Canaries.

Roy thank William for getting him off of Lian Yu.

Roy says how he got on Lian Yu in the first place and a long story when William asks him how he got there.

Felicity meets with Mia and William in the woods behind what was Queen Manor at Robert Queen's gravestone.

It is revealed that there are two new gravestones there. One for Emiko Queen, who is buried on Robert's right.  The other is on Robert's left and is for Oliver Queen.

Oliver Queen's tombstone identifies him as The Green Arrow and says he died in 2019.

Felicity says that this is the last time she'll see Mia and William, as she is going on a journey of her own - one that she can take now that she is satisfied that Mia and William can take care of themselves.

The episode ends with Felicity meeting with The Monitor, who asks if she is prepared because she cannot return from where they are going. Felicity replies that she has been waiting a very long time to see him as she twists her wedding ring. The implication is that The Monitor is taking her to see Oliver, but with no indication of where or when.


The Bottom Line

The first two-thirds is a bit of a rushed mess, which has no purpose but to finish up Emiko's storyline and everything involving the Zeta soldiers. The final third, however, contains some of the best moments in Arrow history and a fantastic farewell to the character of Felicity Smoak. For once, the episode is more than the sum of its parts and the perfect finale more than makes up for the weak start.  It will be interesting to see how the show goes on in Season 8 without Emily Bett Rickards but it will be an interesting train-wreck if nothing else.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 13 - Star City Slayer

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




Plot

Disappointed that William lied to him and Felicity, Oliver takes some time off from his Green Arrow duties to focus on his family. Luckily, the rest of Team Arrow is now sworn in as deputies and ready to deal with the new serial killer that is plaguing Star City... until it becomes apparent that the Star City Slayer is targeting them!



Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Kevin Smith (concept of Star City Slayer, Mia)


Goofs

Any drama to the Star City Slayer targeting Dinah is nullified by the fact that we know Dinah is alive 20 years in the future.

The Claytons say they should have filed for custody of William years ago. One wonders, in retrospect, why they didn't. As they say, Oliver is a convicted felon and that he is a professional superhero who was absent for most of William's life. Even though Samantha's dying wish was that Oliver take care of their son, there's no way to prove that in court and everything Samantha had done before then was aimed at limiting Oliver's influence on William. Throw in the multiple kidnappings and yeah - there's no way any judge in Star City would think twice about getting William out of Oliver's home.

Curtis' T-Sphere is much less conspicuous and likely to attract attention than the giant Maglite that Diggle is carrying when he tells Curtis not to use his T-Sphere.

Granting that Stanley Dover is insane, why hang onto his old prison jumpsuit?

Stanley Dover's miraculous drug completely paralyzes a person's muscles... except for the ones needed to talk.

Felicity says that it gets really cold in Central City in the winter. Given that Star City is based in the Arrowverse where Seattle should be, it should be pretty cold there in the winter too.


Performances

Juliana Harkavy steals the show in both timelines.


Artistry

The production team did a good job establishing a creepy mood with the Star City Slayer house. The lighting, music and set decoration are all fantastic, though the creepy stuffed monkey and music box were a bit much.



Trivia

The concept of The Star City Slayer was first utilized in Kevin Smith's story Green Arrow: Quiver. The name was given to a serial killer who was kidnapping children and murdering them. He was eventually unmasked as Oliver Queen's friend, Stanley Dover.

Curtis says that the phone number Diaz called trying to reach Dante was traced to a line in Egypt belonging to one of Dante's contacts who is named Virgil. In the Green Arrow comics, Virgil was a member of the Ninth Circle and one of Dante's chief lieutenants. In the Divine Comedy, the Roman poet Virgil acts as Dante's guide to Hell.

When talking on the phone with Dinah about her difficulties in coping with her job now that her status as a metahuman has been outed, Captain Singh refers to a case Dinah handled as an undercover cop where she brought down the Bludhaven-based organization of a gangster called Blockbuster single-handed. Blockbuster was the codename of Roland Desmond - a gangster who ran the criminal underworld of the city of Bludhaven and was the arch-enemy of Nightwing.

Felicity makes reference to Oliver making his famous chili. In the comics, Oliver Queen is indeed renowned for his chill cooking skills,. Ollie's preferred recipe is said to be so spicy it can break Hal Jordan's concentration, burn Superman's tongue, dehydrate Aquaman instantly and allow The Flash to resist the effects of Leonard Snart's cold gun. The only people who can safely eat it besides Oliver himself are Black Canary and Batman. His recipe can be found here.


Technobabble

The Star City Slayer is tied to eight murders in Central City through the angle of entry in all of the victim's wounds.

Curtis says that all of the Star City Slayer's victims had elevated levels of magnesium in their blood. This wouldn't be a red-flag on its own, but high levels of magnesium in the blood coupled with a decreased red-blood cell count indicates the presence of a drug called Mivacurium - a neuromusclar blocking agent that could be used to paralyze someone, which wouldn't show up on a standard toxicology scan due to its rarity.

Curtis has been working on a new mini-infrared laser that proves capable of cauterizing Dinah's throat wound.



Dialogue Triumphs

Dinah: It was one thing when all the people in our inner circle knew about my secret identity, but now everybody knows. The cops at SCPD. Everybody. I dunno - maybe I'm just worried people are gonna treat me differently now that the secret's out?

Curtis: Look at us. Working together again. Being targeted by a homicidal maniac. Feels like a Monday.

(Blackstar claims Felicity is still alive.)
Zoe: Don't listen to her! She's a liar! She'll say anything-
(Blackstar slaps Zoe.)
William: You didn't need to do that.
Blackstar: No, but I enjoyed it.

William: Come on! Don't give me a reason to pull this trigger.
(Blackstar shoves Dinah away.)
Blackstar: You're not gonna shoot me.
(Blackstar drops her knife.)
William: You sure about that?
Blackstar: Yeah. Because my name is Mia Smoak. I'm Felicity's daughter. And your sister.


Continuity

The Star City Slayer develops film the old-fashioned way and uses a type-writer to make his threatening notes.

Dinah finds a letter on her desk at work which says "I SAID I'D KILL YOU ALL. NOW YOUR TIME HAS COME."

Diggle finds a note in his mailbox which says "YOU WILL SUFFER."

Rene Ramirez finds a note taped to his door which says "I CAN FIND YOU ANYWHERE."

A newspaper headline on the Star City Slayer's murder-board confirms that Dinah's secret identity as Black Canary has been revealed to the public.

William was expelled for fighting with another student. He says he won and went for the nose, like Ollie taught him over a year ago. He refuses to discuss the matter further.

Diggle had a DNA rest run n the note that was left in his mailbox.

Curtis says that the phone number Diaz called trying to reach Dante was traced to a line in Egypt belonging to one of Dante's contacts who is named Virgil.

Curtis tells John he was offered a job with the Kohler Humanitarian Institute in Washington DC, creating technology that could help people on a global scale and that he intends to take it.

Dinah has begun teaching Zoe martial arts. She's thrilled to be learning how to "kick ass" from the Black Canary.

Rene shows Dinah the threat he got. She tells him about her threats and the one Black Siren got in 711.

The Star City Slayer kills former Star City Councilman Kullens after injecting him with a paralyzing drug. Kullens was last seen in 618. Apparently Kullens was forced from office and imprisoned after being revealed to be taking bribes from Ricardo Diaz, but his lawyer was able to get him released.

Kullens received a note which read "DO YOU THINK YOU"RE SAFE NOW? YOU'RE NOT."

Oliver asks if the two victims from the murders referred to in 712 might be connected to Kullen's murder. Dinah says those victims also had their throats slit and, after further questioning, their families revealed that they had gotten threatening notes as well.

Black Siren is said to be at a conference in Washington D.C. this week.

Oliver says that nobody on Team Arrow knew the first two victims.

Dinah says she encountered a similar serial killer when she was working undercover in Central City.

John offers Curtis a job as the head of ARGUS' science and technology division. He would be in charge of shaping the future of ARGUS and making all the decisions, just like he wanted.

Captain Singh from The Flash makes reference to some new metahuman villain sending most of his officers to the hospital before The Flash and his friends saved the day. This could be a reference to a future episode of The Flash.

Felicity reveals her favorite Rubik's cube pattern - a cube within a cube - to William. This was referred to in the flash-fowards in 704.

Oliver tells William that he'd like for him to live with him and Felicity.

Mr. and Mrs. Clayton - William's grandparents - show up because he called them. They tell Oliver that they intend to file a suit for guardianship.

William says he wants to live with his grandparents because he has no chance at a normal life with Oliver and Felicity.

The Star City Slayer committed 8 similar  murders over the course of 2 months in Central City.

Curtis determines that the Star City Slayer is using a drug called Mivacurium to drug his victims. It is a rare neuromusclar blocking agent that doesn't show up in toxicology screenings.  It is so rare that only one shipment of it has been sent out within the past month in Star City. It was sent to a condemned house in The Glades to a man named John Doe.

Diggle finds bloody hand prints in one bathroom in the condemned house.

Curtis finds a Slabside Penitentiary jumpsuit hanging in the closet in the condemned house.

Dinah finds the murder board with her pictures on it, as well as the Star City Slayer's typewriter and two new notes. One says "DEATH IS COMING FOR YOU AND ALL THOSE YOU HOLD DEAR." The second one says "YOUR FUTURE IS IN THE HANDS OF A VENGEFUL PAST." She also finds a scrap book of recent news articles about Oliver.

The Star City Slayer is revealed to be Stanley Dover, last seen in 707.

Dinah's throat is cut by Stanley Dover.

Curtis is able to treat Dinah's wound with a laser built into his T-Sphere.

William thinks Oliver's chili is too spicy.

Stanley Dover pumps a paralytic gas into Oliver and Felicity's apartment while the power is out.

Stanley says that his father was a doctor and that he gave Stanley a lot of the same drug he now uses to paralyze people when he was bad.

Stanley says there are other people who are trying to hurt Oliver and that he did things to make sure they couldn't, like former Councilman Kullens.

Stanley Dover says his older brother tried to take his punishments to protect him but that only made things worse.

Stanley finally drugged his parents and "corrected them" when he couldn't take it anymore. When Stanely's brother found out what he did, he said he belonged in Arkham Asylum. Stanley "corrected" him too.

Before Oliver, Stanley fixated on at least three other older brother figures and began killing the people around them who he felt were getting in the way of their relationship.

Curtis decides to take the job in Washington DC rather than stay with ARGUS.

Curtis signs over his half of Helix to Felicity, making her the sole owner of their company.

Oliver agrees with William that he never really asked him what he wanted and asks what he wants now. William says he wants a normal life. Oliver says he is pretty sure he can't ever give that to William.

William moves to Central City to live with his grandparents.

Oliver says that he will come visit whenever it's cool with William and his grandparents and William will always have a home in Star City if he needs it.

Felicity gets a call from Dr. Schwarz with the news that she is pregnant.

Zoe is unable to find the bombs with The Archer Program.

Roy spent the last few days trying to find Blackstar, but he says she's very good at being a ghost.

William says the problem with finding the bombs isn't his algorithm - it's the fact that The Archer Program was designed to monitor The Glades. Star City is 10 times larger and has half the technological infrastructure of the Glades in 2038.

William guesses that the bombs haven't been planted yet and they must be somewhere off the grid. This leads Roy to guess that they are in the old Team Arrow Bunker.

Blackstar is able to take William, Zoe, Roy and Dinah down with knock-out darts.

Blackstar threatens to kill Zoe if William doesn't give her the codes to hack into Archer.

Blackstar once again denies having anything to do with the bombing plot or killing Felicity.

Dinah recognizes Connor Hawke as John Diggle's son.

Blackstar says that Felicity isn't dead. She claims to just know this and says she needs the Archer codes to find where Felicity is hiding. She says that she and Felicity owe each other.

William tells Blackstar that he's gay and that Felicity was his stepmother. She had no idea that William was Oliver Queen's son.

Blackstar and Connor Hawke are able to hold their own in one-on-one fights with Dinah and Roy respectively.

Blackstar reveals that her name is Mia Smoak and that she is Felicity's daughter by Oliver Queen.


Location

Central City
Star City - 2038


Untelevised Adventures

Captain Singh makes reference to Blockbuster and his gang in Bludhaven trying to muscle into Central City and starting a turf war with the crime families and how Dinah's work prevented a city-wide bloodbath.


The Bottom Line

A mediocre episode for so many big events. Curtis is shuffled out of the show with far less drama and violence than expected. William is likewise sent out of the picture. Yet most fans are likely to feel more relief than sadness because Curtis has felt like a fifth wheel for a while and William's presence on the show, when he has been around, felt equally unnecessary.

The whole Star City Slayer subplot feels just as haphazardly handled. After all the build-up for Stanely Dover, this was a disappointing and hasty conclusion to say the least. For all the effort to build up the horror elements of this episode, they fall flat because we know Dinah is going to survive another two decades and the audience can easily guess the killer's identity long before he shows up. Frankly, the best thing to come out of this is the revelation that Ollie and Felicity have a daughter and that she is awesome.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 12 - Emerald Archer

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




Plot

A documentary film crew begins following Oliver while making a short movie about the rise of vigilantism in Star City. As Oliver and the former Team Arrow members try to do their jobs as the camera crew get in their way, they have to contend with a new threat - a vigilante hunter - as Oliver also prepares for William's homecoming.


Influences

True Crime reality TV shows like COPS.


Goofs

It's unclear just how the immunity Team Arrow earned works in the face of the anti-vigilante law. Reference is made to the FBI making Rene's immunity from prosecution permanent. Is that just for him or is the FBI ignoring everything Team Arrow does from now on, leaving them to contend with the local laws?


Artistry

The use of shaky-cam during the action sequences where the camera crew is following Oliver is fantastic.

The five-way fight scene between Chimera and Ollie, Dinah, Curtis, John and Rene is fantastic.


Trivia

The episode title comes from the Green Arrow's alliterative nickname from the comics, much like how The Flash is known as The Scarlet Speedster.

This is the 150th episode of Arrow.

The episode opens with the WB Shield and the music that usually appears before a Warner Bros. film rather than a TV show.

Kelsey Grammar, perhaps best known for playing the role of Frasier Crane on Cheers and Frasier, is the narrator of the documentary sequences.

Sin's real name is revealed as Cindy Simone. This last name is doubtlessly a tribute to writer Gail Simone, who created the character of Sin for her run on Birds of Prey.

The clapper used by the documentary makers contains the names of M. Pedowitz and J.D. Davison. The former is a nod to Mark Pedowitz - the President of The CW. The later is a camera operator, who shot this episode as well as Arrow's pilot.

Chimera is revealed to be a man named Kevin Meltzer. This is likely a tribute to Green Arrow comics writers Kevin Smith and Brad Meltzer.

The name Chimera has been used by several DC Comics villains in the past, but none of them have any connection to the Arrowverse version of Chimera. One was a Batman villain who was a master of disguise. Eve "Nightshade" Eden used the name Chimera as an alias while going undercover in the terrorist supergroup called The Jihad in Suicide Squad. A later villain with teleporting powers later took on Eden's costume and alias to become a second Chimera. The name was also used by Sanjeet Bhatia - a reality-warping hero who was an ally of the Teen Titans. Checkmate Agent Adam Sharp used Chimera as a codename. King Chimera was the alias of a magic-wielding member of the Justice Society. Finally, in the reality of the New 52, Chimera was used as an alias by the Durlan Ra'ut L'lwer, who was another ally of the Teen Titans that possessed shape-shifting powers.

The final scene reveals that Darkstar's first name is Mia. This seems to suggest that her full name is Mia Dearden. In the comics, Mia Dearden was a teen prostitute, first appearing in Green Arrow #2,  after Green Arrow rescued her from being raped by a councilman. This inspired her to fight back against her pimp and led to her accepting Oliver Queen's offer of a job at the Star City Youth Center and a place to stay. She later became the second Speedy and the chief inspiration for the character of Thea Queen on Arrow.

Darkstar is accompanied in the final scene by a man she calls Connor. Connor is played by actor Joseph David-Jones, who played John Diggle Jr./Connor Hawke in the Legends of Tomorrow episode "Star City 2046". He seems to be recreating the role here. In the original Green Arrow comics, Connor Hawke was Oliver Queen's illegitimate son from an affair he had in college. His backstory largely inspired the character of William Clayton on Arrow.


Technobabble

Felicity created a virus that infects anything that tries to log in to the WiFi at her and Oliver's new apartment. William detects it after finding a firewall breech and a Bluetooth incursion.

Felicity is having trouble finding Emiko using surveillance and keyhole satellite technology.This leads Ollie to ask John if he can use ARGUS.

Felicity set up an encryption scheme so that Will could keep texting Zoe Ramirez while he was away.

Chimera's armor is military grade and Wayne Enterprise's design. It is powered by an exolithium power cell. Without that, whoever is wearing the armor can't even move. Unfortunately, the cell is electromagnetically shielded so it can't be hacked remotely.


Dialogue Triumphs

Quentin Lance: Well, I'm - I'm conflicted about this. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm a police officer. Duly sworn. I don't condone vigilantes of vigilantism. Once people start taking the law into their own hands, you're on the road to anarchy. But there's worse things out there than anarchy. And sometimes, as much as I hate to admit it... the police aren't enough to deal with it all.   

Sin: I knew them back in the day. Canary. The Arrow. The whole crew. Honestly, I don't know where I'd be right now without them. They helped me out of  a couple of pretty tight spots. I owe them a lot. But I- I saw the toll it took on them. Like, people like to debate about the legalities. But for the people wearing the masks - it's, it's not philosophical. It's real. And it takes everything from them.

(In a piece of video footage from seven years ago, John Diggle is asked about his boss being a superhero.)
John: No, look. You don't become successful in my line of work without becoming really good at sizing people up, Trust me. Oliver Queen is no one's hero.
(Cut To: John Diggle in the present day, in his ARGUS uniform. He is looking off-screen, having apparently just watched the same clip. For a moment, his stoic expression breaks and he looks embarrassed and has a nervous smile. He steels himself before speaking.)
John: Obviously this particular comment didn't age too well.

Oliver: What do you think you were doing out there?
Rene: Same thing you do. I'm doing good, by the way. Thank you for asking.
Oliver: I'm glad you're okay. I'm glad the FBI made your immunity permanent. But being a vigilante is illegal in Star City.
Rene: Well, that's easy for you to say. I mean, you have a cute, shiny new badge.
(Rene turns to Dinah.)
Rene: Thought about giving one to anyone else?
Dinah: First step would probably be not being so reckless.
Rene: You or me?
Dinah: Try to guess.

John: Oliver needs access to the Black Watch Satellites.
Curtis: Is he supposed to know about thiso? (To Oliver) You know about those?
(There is a long pause as if Oliver is debating saying the obvious. He finally does so.)
Oliver: (sarcastically) You've met my wife, right Curtis?
Curtis: Good point.

Wild Dog: Yeah, the mayor, the politicians - they might care about the city. But they don't seem to give a crap about the people in it. So are you really so surprised when people decide to do something about it?

(John is trying to convince Oliver to let him, Curtis and Rene help him in their costumed identities.)
John: We may not have been Team Arrow when you were in Slabside but we had each other's backs Just give us a chance, man, to have yours..
Oliver: You could go to prison. 
John: So? You did it for us. Which never really sat right with me. And the reason why is that it wasn't right, Oliver. We have fights, disagreements, recriminations, but it doesn't matter because we are a team. And nothing's going to change that.
Oliver: John, I made a lot of mistakes.
John: We all did. That's why they're called mistakes, Oliver. You learn from them. You move forward. We... we get better.
(John offers Oliver his hand. Oliver takes it and they shake.)

(Oliver is showing the film crew the ruins of The Bunker.)
Director: What happened here?
Oliver: Ricardo Diaz and his crew happened here. They couldn't stop us. We're coming back here. We'll rebuild. Gonna do it better this time.
(As Oliver says this, the view of the screen changes. Oliver near appears black and white and transluescent. We gradually pull back to see a hologram of Oliver being watched by Blackstar.)
Director: Sounds like you have regrets about how you did it before.
Oliver: Too many to name. A friend of mine recently told me that's why they're called mistakes. You learn from them. Move forward. Be better.
(Blackstar turns off the projector. A man walks up behind her. We see they are in Blackstar's office.)
Connor Hawke: Where did you get that?
Blackstar: I stole it.
Connor Hawke: Yeah, Mia. That much I figured. But wasn't this documentary banned? I thought every copy was destroyed years ago.
Blackstar: Not this one. It's total pro-vigilante garbage. But even garbage can be useful.
Connor Hawke: Useful for what? Break-ins? You know what? Actually, the less I know about that, the better.
Blackstar: Trust me, Connor. You are going to want to come with.


Continuity

The episode is presented as a real documentary in the world of Arrow, titled Emerald Archer: The Hood And The Rise of Vigilantism.

Quentin Lance's comments on vigilantes are presented from archival footage from 2014.

Thea Queen is interviewed about how her mother and brother, Tommy Merlyn, were killed by supervillains who were only brought to justice by vigilantes.

Ricardo Diaz, interviewed in prison, says that vigilantes are hypocrites and the only difference between them and him is that he's smart enough to only worry about himself.

Sara Lance is interviewed about her father's death and states her belief that people need to help people, whether they are wearing a mask or not.

The documentary recalls how Oliver was officially deputized and shows footage of his capturing Max in 708.

Sin, last seen in 312, is interviewed about how she knew all of Star City's vigilantes back in the day.

William has gotten taller since Ollie and Felicity last saw him. He says he has outgrown the nickname "kiddo."

M. Pedowitz has been making a documentary on vigilantes for years but couldn't get the funding to finish it until after Oliver Queen went public and became the world's first openly-operating superhero.

Oliver asks for William to be left out of the film.

The documentary shows footage of John Diggle being asked about Oliver being a vigilante from before he learned about Ollie's secret identity in 103. We then see the modern day John Diggle looking embarrassed about his past self saying there's no way Oliver Queen is a hero.

Dinah Drake is interviewed about Ollie's current job. She says she doesn't see him as being different than any other cop, even if he wears a different uniform and carries a different weapon.

Oliver freely admits that he never meant to wind up leading a team of heroes and he isn't sure he is a good leader.

Dinah brings Oliver in on two strange murders where the victims had their throats cut.

Dinah and Oliver respond to a report of shots being fired and possible vigilante activity. They find an unmasked Rene Ramirez in his Wild Dog costume. He tells them that the new Green Arrow was kidnapped.

The FBI apparently made Rene's immunity from being prosecuted on vigilante charges permanent. This does not, however, (as Oliver points out) protect him from local anti-vigilante laws.

Rene points out that crime went up after the vigilantes retired and Ollie went to prison but the crime in The Glades dropped after the new Green Arrow appeared.

Rene says the kidnapper was wearing an exo-suit that looked like it was of military design.

Mayor Pollard intends to hold a town hall meeting on vigilantism and force Oliver Queen to face the public and justify his job.

William is bitter about being sent to boarding school and not being allowed to come home for Christmas. He was the only kid at the school who had to stay there.

Oliver asks John to use ARGUS' Black Watch satellites to try and find Emiko.

Oliver tells John that the new Green Arrow is his sister.

Oliver has known about Emiko for a month. He apologizes for not telling John sooner but says they haven't exactly been running in the same circles for a while. Diggle says it has been almost a year but agrees. He is about to tell Oliver something (likely that he's recruited Diaz for the Suicide Squad) when Curtis enters.

ARGUS tracks the new Green Arrow to the abandoned Starling City Athletic Club.

Oliver keeps a digital lock-pick in a shoulder pouch in his costume.

The mask-hunter has the masks of Rory Regan (Ragman), Rene Ramirez (Wild Dog), Helena Bertinelli (Huntress) and Emiko Queen (Green Arrow II) in his lair.

Black Siren is interviewed. She says it's her opinion that vigilantes should not be allowed to operate because if they could do what they did lawfully, they wouldn't hide who they are.

Rory Regan's identity is publicly known. He says he stopped wearing a mask but didn't stop doing good. Rory was last seen in 512. Apparently Oliver has some means of contacting him, but he does not respond when Oliver tries to call him over the course of the episode.

Oliver also has some way of being able to contact The Huntress (last seen in 217) but he is not able to get a hold of her either.

Rene Ramirez's identity as Wild Dog is publicly known.

Curtis' identity as Mister Terrific is still secret.

Barry Allen is interviewed about Oliver. He says he had no idea Oliver was Green Arrow until he turned himself in.

Curtis gives the mask-hunter the name of Chimera.

Using security footage from the abandoned club, Curtis is able to track Chimera to an abandoned building at 101 Federal Street in Star City.

Oliver says that 101 Federal Street used to belong to Adam Hunt. Adam Hunt was the first person on his father's list whom Oliver went after in 101.

Dinah is able to rescue Emiko while Oliver fights Chimera.

Emiko says that Chimera is coming for Oliver.

Will goes to Rene and Zoe's apartment, nominally to help Zoe with her geography homework. 

Will says there's something wrong but he doesn't want to talk about it. Zoe says he can just hang out with her if he doesn't want to go home.

Zoe and Will promise never to fight when they can talk.

Zoe says that her father and Dinah only fight now.

Zoe calls Dinah Aunt Dinah.

Emiko escapes from her hospital room.

Emiko tells Rene that Oliver is her half-brother. She says she didn't tell Rene because she was afraid it would change their partnership. Rene asks why it would and confirms they are cool.

Oliver tells Dinah that Emiko is his half-sister.

Mayor Pollard thinks that Oliver and Dinah are making up Chimera to get him out of the town hall. Oliver refuses to appear as it will put people in jeopardy.

John tells Oliver he thinks they can safely use the town hall to lure Chimera out and that he has a plan to handle him safely.

Oliver says he can't risk John going to prison for breaking the anti-vigilante laws. John doesn't care, saying that Oliver risked prison for them and they need to return the favor.

Dinah uses her Canary Cry in front of Mayor Pollard to stop a wall from collapsing on a fleeing crowd.

Once Chimera is down, Mayor Pollard has Spartan, Wild Dog and Mr. Terrific arrested.

Chimera is revealed as a man named Kevin Meltzer. Recently released from Roth Psychiatric Hospital, he was apparently obsessed with superheroes ever since The Hood saved his life seven years earlier. He just collected their masks as a weird form of tribute.

Black Siren says she can decline to press charges against John, Curtis and Rene but the anti-vigilante laws will still stand.

Dinah tries to resign from her job.  Oliver also turns himself in, saying that if his team is going to jail, he should be with them.

Mayor Pollard refuses to do anything to try and strike down the anti-vigilante laws but does allow Black Siren not to press charges. She then arranges for Spartan, Mister Terrific and Wild Dog to be sworn in as special deputies in the same way Oliver Queen was.

William reveals that he was expelled from his private school. Felicity discovered he was lying about something after having made a fake mock-up of the school's website with fake mid-term results.

Oliver Queen takes the documentary crew to the remains of The Bunker. He declares his intent to rebuild it and make the team work better this time.

In the final scene of the episode, we see the documentary being watched by Blackstar from the flash-forwards in 708. She is addressed by the first name Mia.

A dark-skinned named Connor is working with Mia. This character seems to be Connor Hawke (aka John Diggle Jr.), who was seen acting as the new Green Arrow in Star City in the year 2046 in L106.

We are told the Emerald Archer documentary was banned as pro-vigilante propaganda years earlier and all the copies were thought to have been destroyed.

Mia and Connor find the rebuilt bunker, which seems to have been built into a literal cave.

Mia says that Star City's vigilantes got what was coming to them and that they were the death of Star City.


Untelevised Adventures

Apparently Ragman and Huntress fought Chimera at some point in the past and had their own masks taken as trophies.


The Bottom Line

A powerful anniversary episode that looks back at the past as it sets the stage for the show's future. While I wish we'd gotten more than a glimpse of certain things (i.e. what exactly happened to Sin, Ragman and Huntress) nearly everything here works perfectly. The one sour note is the reintroduction of William Clayton in the modern day, whose story is nowhere near as interesting as the show runners seem to think. Hopefully he'll be shipped off to another boarding school and never return to Star City in the future, as promised, in the near future.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 11 - Past Sins

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





Plot

A new villain threatens the city after Oliver is interviewed on television about his life as a hero and his father's sacrifice to save his life. Black Siren is confronted by a figure from her past who has seemingly somehow made his way into her life from Earth Two. And as John Diggle prepares to  reactivate The Ghost Initiative, Curtis tries to find a way to get to Dante that doesn't involve letting Ricardo Diaz out of prison.


Influences

Inception (the VR sequence when Curtis manipulates Diaz's dreams)


Goofs

While Black Siren may not be an alcoholic, her drinking in public when the woman she's impersonating was may not be a great idea. Particularly given that Laurel was fired from the DA's office once for drunk driving and trying to get the police to go easy on her because of her position/father.

You'd think Felicity would know better than to ask her out for drinks, come to that.

Black Siren being the most popular DA in the past decade sounds impressive until you remember that every DA in the show's history, save one, was a criminal or incompetent.

Why were there no police officers guarding the parking lot of the building where they rescued Nick Kannon? If there had been, Sam Hackett wouldn't have escaped.

It's unclear just how Felicity knows she has to stop Black Siren from killing Brett Collins. (Perhaps she had an alert set to her phone if Black Siren got within a certain distance of Brett Collins?)

How are the escaping Ghost Imitative recruits able to injure ARGUS agents in full body armor? (It's a clue that the scene we're watching isn't real.)

It doesn't make a lick of sense that the same people who rated "Laurel" as the best DA of the past decade are largely against Oliver Queen working as a Police Deputy. (Of course it doesn't make a lick of sense that Black Siren could become the DA in the current anti-vigilante city government either...)


Performances

There's something so gratifying about Echo Kellum's performance here and the barely restrained smugness as Curtis reveals how he owned Diaz with his plan.


Artistry

David Ramsey has a strong first outing as a director. The pacing of Diaz's escape is particularly well-handled and you honestly believe for a moment that they really did kill Curtis off.


Trivia

This episode was directed by David Ramsey - the actor who plays John Diggle.


Technobabble

All of the security cameras and overhead lights around Rich Kannon's car were shorted out before he was kidnapped. This suggests a planned power surge created by someone who knew how to manipulate the electrical grid.

Oliver uses a Net Arrow to catch Rich Kannon before he falls to his death.

Felicity has developed a program that can track genetic material. She uses this to find Black Siren before she kills Brett Collins.

There is a partial etching on the components found in Sam Hackett's apartment. They are reconstructed to determine that they belonged to Star City Electrical and were used to tag proprietary parts.

Sam Hackett's weapon, when plugged into the grid for SCPD HQ, makes everything in the building that can hold a current deadly thanks to the static generated by the electricity coursing through these walls right now.


Dialogue Triumphs

Oliver: My goal has always been to serve this city. I understand that there are people who... they disagreed with my methods before. So I would like to assure the people of Star City I will no longer be hiding in the shadows and I promise to always be on the side of the law. I believe that trust can be built through transparency. And I'm going to prove it.

Curtis: It's like the Ghosts of Villains Past in here!

(Curtis continues to object to reviving The Ghost Initiative.)
Curtis: How can you be okay with that?
John: I'm not.
(Curtis just stares at him.)
John: I'm not. We are fighting evil that most people don't even know exists. And sometimes that means making very difficult decisions, Curtis. The bombs are just a fail-safe. That's all.
(John walks past Curtis to leave the room. Curtis turns around.)
Curtis: There has to be a better way.
(John stops and turns back around to face Curtis.)
John: I wish there were.
(As John leaves, Curtis looks thoughtful and moves to his computer.)

(Suddenly, as Diaz is making his escape, his car and the road around him pixelate and vanish. He is suddenly strapped in a chair at ARGUS HQ, with a smiling Curtis looking at him.)
Diaz: What the hell just happened?!
Curtis: Well, first I overrode the explosive program that ARGUS put inside your head with a little virtual reality simulation that started running about 20 minutes before you remember getting your sedative. Then.. I owned your ass.
Diaz: You're dead!
Curtis: No. See, that all happened in your head, too. By the way - harsh.
Diaz: (pulling at his restraints) Get me out of here.
Curtis: See, I don't think you're going to want to be getting out of here. Because if you were to do that, Dante would be waiting for you. And I think he's going to be really pissed when he finds out you gave us everything we need to get him.
(Curtis exits the room, not looking back as he speaks one more time.)
Curtis: ARGUS thanks you for your cooperation.

Oliver: I wore that mask for a reason. Now that I've taken it off, maybe the consequences are finally catching up with me.
Dinah: Well, you can't take responsibility for every choice some lunatic makes, you know?
Oliver: No. I have to take responsibility for this. Me being on the force puts your reputation at risk, and it's putting lives in danger.
Dinah: Cops face risks every day. That is the job. And you are not putting anyone's life in danger, not unless you stop fighting for them. You think you're gonna do one interview, and all of a sudden, your problems go away overnight?
Oliver: I think I have been so obsessed with proving to people I'm not my father that I didn't stop and look at all the ways that I am exactly like him. I should have come clean with Sam years ago.
Dinah: But you didn't, and you can't stop the past from haunting you. The only thing you have control over is what you do going forward.

Oliver: My father killed Dave Hackett. The people of Star City deserve the truth.
Rich Kannon: Why come forward now? Hackett has been apprehended. The threat is over.
Oliver: Because transparency is about more than just not wearing a mask. I've made mistakes. I'm sure that I will make mistakes again. But what I will not do is lie. That is my promise to you, the people of Star City.


Dialogue Disasters

Black Siren's entire monologue about her father's death being her fault because she threw a tantrum like a toddler over a cake when she was 13 years old.


Continuity

Oliver appears on the Rich Kannon show with Black Siren to talk about his desire to protect Star City openly as a deputy of the SCPD. She talks about her desire to live up to Quentin's standard as the new DA of Star City.

It is revealed that Oliver approached Emiko and asked what he could do to make things right. She said she wanted nothing to do with him and that the Queen Family destroy everything they touch.

China White last appeared in 514.

Kane Wolfman last appeared in 709.

Carrie "Cupid" Cutter last appeared in 514.

Until now, Curtis was not informed of the meaning of the Dante painting he discovered and how it tied in to Diggle's reactivating The Ghost Initiative to go after a figure called Dante.

According to Diggle, they tracked one of the people who knew how to contact Dante directly to a compound in Egypt. This lead came from Ricardo Diaz.

Lyla refers to the events of 703 and why they need to use the Ghost Initiative to go around the chain of command that oversees ARGUS to investigate Dante.

Curtis is asked to make sure the bomb tech isn't rejected by the bodies of the various recruits.

Black Siren claims that she is not an alcoholic, unlike the Laurel Lance of Earth One.

Felicity says she thinks Quentin would be proud of the person Black Siren has become.

According to a news broadcast, Black Siren is the most popular DA in Star City in the past ten years.

Black Siren is confronted by a man named Brett Collins whom she thinks knows her from Earth Two.

On Earth Two, Brett Collins was the drunk driver who killed Earth Two's Quentin Lance. He is also the first person Black Siren killed after she developed her powers.

Rich Kannon is abducted shortly after leaving his studio, electrocuted by someone whose presence causes power boxes nearby to short out.

A video of a tortured Rich Kannon is sent to Channel 52 news, in which he reads a statement that Oliver Queen is no hero and that people will die if he does not quit the police force.

Black Siren finds a printed note in her office which reads "I FOUND YOU. I CAN GET TO YOU ANYWHERE."

Black Siren makes reference to the events of 704 and how she agreed to help Felicity with torturing The Silencer, no questions asked. She asks Felicity for the same right, when asking for her help in determining no one from Earth Two is on Earth One.

Oliver says the kidnapper is an amateur based on the quality of the video and the execution of how he tortured Rich Kannon. He also uploaded his video to the news from the Wi-Fi of a public coffee shop in the southeastern part of The Glades, apparently unaware that could be traced.

Using satellite imaging, Oliver is able to find the windows seen in the video of Rich Kannon on an abandoned building in the Glades. It is here that he finds Rich Kannon and the kidnapper, who says that people who aren't named Queen have a right to live too.

Oliver recognizes the phrase "people without the last name Queen are human too" from the transcript of his conversations with Dr. Parker from 704. Felicity says those transcripts were censored when she sent them to the press but the DA's office had the full transcripts. This leads to the conclusion that someone hacked the DA's office computers.

When pondering who would be interested in those transcripts, Oliver suggests Felicity look up the name David Hackett - the full name of Robert Queen's personal bodyguard, whom he killed before killing himself in the flashbacks in the series pilot. This leads Oliver to conclude that the kidnapper might be Sam Hackett, David's son, who he met a few times when he was younger.

Sam Hackett has a lengthy rap-sheet, including multiple charges of drunk and disorderly conduct, drug possession and assault.

Black Siren finds another threat in her car. This one says "I'M COMING FOR YOU."

Black Siren confronts a drunken Brett Collins. The only thing that stops her from killing him is the intervention of Felicity Smoak. He pleads ignorance and asks what Earth Two is when Black Siren tells him he should have stayed on Earth Two.

Sam Hackett has a degree in electrical engineering.

Oliver tells Dinah about how his father killed David Hackett. 

When they search Sam Hackett's apartment, Oliver and Dinah find plans for a search trip to the North China Sea. It's then that Oliver realizes that Sam was still holding out hope his father was alive, like him, and that he should have told David the truth to give him closure years ago.

Dinah and Oliver also find plans for some kind of electrical weapon.

Curtis is able to trick Diaz into revealing how to contract Dante thanks to a virtual reality simulation that makes Diaz think he's escaping ARGUS HQ. He kills Curtis during the simulation.

Apparently 77% of Star City wants Oliver Queen fired from his job with the SCPD.

Oliver suggests firing him to stop Hackett from enacting his Plan B. Dinah refuses to consider this.

As a teenager, Black Siren pitched a fit when her father didn't bring her favorite cake for her birthday dinner. He was killed by Brett Collins after he went out to get it for her. Her last words to him were "I hate you."

Oliver guesses that Sam Hackett is using his father's name to find work as an electrician because of his record. His dad's social security number is traced to Star City Electrical - the company whose parts were being used to build some kind of electrical weapon.

Sam Hackett's weapon electrifies the SCPD building to that anything running on electricity and the walls will fatally shock anyone who touches them.

Dinah is able to escape by using a rubber mat as a shield while charging one of the doors and shooting the power box Hackett manipulated.

Oliver goes back on the Rich Kannon show. He tells about how his father killed Dave Hackett before committing suicide. He says he did this in the name of transparency and promises to never lie to the people of Star City again.

Diggle intends to keep the Ghost Initiative program going, saying they may need known criminals as boots on the ground to go after Dante. Curtis, in turn, says that he won't blindly follow orders anymore.

Felicity tells Black Siren that Cisco Ramon checked the records on Earth Two and that their version of Brett Collins died on his porch sometime after Black Siren tried to kill him.

Dinah says the Earth One version of Brett Collins is in lock-up on public intoxication charges. He has a history of stalking and anti-vigilante violence. With that, she thinks she can get him locked up for good given what Black Siren said about the threatening letters she got.

Emiko approaches Oliver after his second interview with Rick Kannon. She says she believes Oliver is different than their father and she is ready to think about talking to him.

When Dinah goes into her car, she finds a note like the ones Black Siren found in her office and car. This one reads


The Winick Factor

The grand reveal of Black Siren's reasons for becoming a villain are just plain idiotic, with a 13 year old girl acting like a 3 year old in regards to getting a cake at her birthday. Worst of all, Black Siren - a character nominally based on one of the strongest women in comic books - has her entire motivation distilled down to Daddy Issues, with nothing being said about her mother or her influence upon her daughter in all of this. Where was Dinah Lance on Earth Two?

To make matters worse, all of this is dismissed in the episode's ending. It turns out Black Siren didn't really kill the Brett Collins of Earth Two. It turns out the Brett Collins of Earth One is a drunken creep and an anti-vigilante activist with a history of stalking and drunken stupidity who had just been arrested, so Dinah can make sure the book is thrown at him, so it all ends happily and there's no reason for Black Siren to feel bad... except for the fact that she's still an unrepentant killer who tried murdering millions less than a year ago.


The Bottom Line

Largely hampered by the latest attempts to try and make Black Siren into a good guy, this episode is an otherwise inoffensive piece of filler. The villain of the week is forgettable. The highlight is Curtis' battle of wits with Diaz and that's largely successful due to Echo Kellum's performance and Ramsey's direction selling the possibility that they really did kill Curtis off. The Oliver/Dinah interaction is also good, but the whole is strictly average.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 10 - My Name Is Emiko Queen

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




Plot

With Oliver now officially hired on with the SCPD, he's ready to focus on helping the police to save the city and start repairing his troubled relationship with Felicity. But when Dinah puts him in charge of tracking down the new Green Arrow, things take a surprising turn. Meanwhile, Lyla and John are brought to task by the Deputy Director of ARGUS for their approaching Ricardo Diaz with a plea bargain.


Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Jeff Lemire (character of Emiko Queen) and Benjamin Percy (criminal financiers run by man called Dante a reference to The Ninth Circle)


Goofs

Why is Curtis willing to help Rene and Emiko?  Everything we've seen in previous episodes suggests he was glad to get vigilantism behind him and was scared of being arrested.


Performances

Sea Shimooka has an impressive first turn as Emiko Queen, immediately making her into a sympathetic protagonist.


Trivia

Two names on Emiko's list of people who were involved in her mother's death are shout-outs to characters from the Green Arrow comics. The first, Nicholas Kotero, was a serial killer who was the first villain Green Arrow fought in the post-Zero Hour timeline in Green Arrow Annual #7 in January 1995.  The second, Scott Notting, was a corrupt Seattle police officer, who led the villainous gang known as The Vice Squad in Green Arrow #12 in February 2017.

The name William Glenmorgan may ring a bell with some comic fans. It is the full name of Congo Bill - a DC comics Great White Hunter jungle comics hero in the Golden Age, who was revamped into the superhero Congorilla after William Glenmorgan was given a ring that allowed him to swap minds with The Great Golden Gorilla.

When Emiko confronts Glenmorgan about why she hunted him, he says he couldn't have killed her mother because he spent the last two years on an undercover mission in Santa Prisca. In the DC Universe, Santa Prisca is an island nation, home to an infamous prison where the Batman villain Bane was born.


Technobabble

William writes a targeted search algorithm that can use the Archer Program to search Star City for bombs.


Dialogue Triumphs

Emiko Queen: The world is not a fair place. Innocent people die while the guilty go free. The system is broken, filled with corruption, greed and apathy. The people who are supposed to protect us are failing us. Criminals continue to walk the streets because no one is willing to stop them. The world may not be fair, but everyone deserves justice and someone looking out for them.

(Dinah and Oliver enter the crime scene.)
Dinah: Game time, rookie! You ready?
Oliver: This isn't my first crime scene, Dinah.
Dinah: (beaming) No, but it's your first one as an SCPD Deputy, so try not to screw it up, huh?

Rene: Look, you're doing a lot of good out there. And you obviously care about The Glades. Let me help you.
Emiko: You have no idea what I care about.
Rene: If Oliver Queen knew anything, it's that you can't save the city alone.
Emiko: I'm not Oliver Queen.

Felicity: Some husbands bring their wives home flowers and mine brings me blood from a crime scene. And they say romance is dead.
(Felicity leans in and kisses Oliver.)

Emiko: People say that revenge corrupts the soul. That if you go down that path, you'll never come back. But sometimes embracing the darkness is the only way to get justice. My name is Emiko Queen. I will get justice for my mother. And no one will stand in my way.


Continuity

Emiko Queen has a list of evildoers, much like the one Oliver Queen had as The Hood.

Oliver is now officially a Deputy with the SCPD.

Emiko Queen has a contact named Marco with one of Star City's gangs, who gives her information on William Glenmorgan.

William Glenmorgan has been hired for a few sensitive jobs, along with the Bratva and Irish mobs. He's currently in Star City contracting with Talis Global Security.

According to Rene, Talis Global Security is a disreputable firm that recruits Navy SEALS, mercenaries and assassins for various covert jobs.

Emikio goes to Rene Ramirez after she is shot in the shoulder while escaping Talis Global Security.

According to Dinah, the new Green Arrow has been leaving felons on her doorstep almost every night for a while.

The trace of blood on the broken glass which Oliver finds is the first solid lead they've had as to the new Green Arrow's identity.

Rene is capable of stitching up a bullet wound on his own.

Lyla has spent three days trying to get Diaz to talk about Dante and his organization.

Lyla says that Dante paid off Ricardo Diaz's debt to The Longbow Hunters.

Felicity rigs up a DNA scanner on the door of her and Oliver's new apartment that tells her if who is entering the apartment matches her list of approved people.

Oliver says that Roy Harper is on another continent when Felicity asks if Roy might be the new Green Arrow.

Felicity runs a DNA test and determines that the new Green Arrow is a woman who shares some of Oliver Queen's DNA on his father's side and that it isn't Thea Queen.

Felicity determines theirs no records of Robert Queen having another daughter anywhere in the USA.

Felicity refers to the events of Elseworlds and Oliver fighting alongside Batwoman.

Robert Queen used an off-shore account to handle some of his more sensitive financial transactions. Felicity tracks a series of transactions to M&H Storage in Orchid Bay. The account is still active but, curiously, the account is registered in Moira Queen's name.

John Diggle offers to let Diaz go free if he can deliver Dante to ARGUS.

John proposes reactivating The Ghost Initiative - an ARGUS program employed expendable criminals for covert operations. It was originally shut down after the death of Amanda Waller in 411.

Emiko sends Rene Ramirez a message on an arrow, asking him to meet her at 23 Cedarhurst Avenue.

Oliver discovers a letter from his father to Walter Steele, in which he confesses loving a woman besides Moira and having a daughter with her. He asks Walter to take care of the daughter and do right by her.

Kazumi Adachi was the name of Emiko Queen's mother.

Oliver concludes that his mother found the letter and hid it from Walter after discovering Robert's second secret family.

Emiko lived with her mother in The Glades all her life. She says she and her mother were given a box by Robert Queen containing a quilt. They used the quilt to make a fort to play in when she was a girl.

Kazumi Adachi was killed by William Glenmorgan. Emiko determined this by tracking the specific make of bullets Glemnorgan used.

Rene recognizes the other names on Emiko's crime-board.  They include Jon Cortez from 704 and Jason Stent from 701. Respectively, they were the arsonist who tried to cover up Kazumi Adachi's murder by burning her apartment complex and Jason Stent was the arms dealer who sold the rifle that killed her.

Glenmorgan has a compound outside of Star City.

Rene asks Curtis to help him and Emiko with taking out the security system on Glemorgan' compound.

Glemorgan glaims to not be a gunman.

Glenmorgan claims he was set-up, having been in Santa Prisca for the last two years on a covert mission and that he just got back into the USA one month earlier.

Rene offers to help Emiko keep looking for her mother's killer.

Felicity encourages Oliver to reach out to Emiko and welcome her into his life.

Ricardo Diaz has a bomb and tracker implanted in the back of his head.

The episode ends with Oliver approaching Emiko at their father's grave.

In the future of 2038. Rene Ramirez is the mayor of The Glades (which is now a separate city from Star City) and credited as the man who single-handedly cleaned up that part of town.

Zoe Ramirez is her father's chief of staff and has been out sick for three days.

The Archer Program is a city-wide security system that keeps The Glades safe.

Rene says that The Archer Program fell into the wrong hands once and the city barely recovered.

Rene refuses to let The Archer Program be used to help stop the bombings in Star City.

Dinah is easily able to sneak up on Rene.

Dinah shows Rene the bombing plan they found in Felicity's lair.

Rene says that Felicity became a criminal, but is stunned by the news she is dead.

Rene, Dinah, Roy, Diggle, Oliver and Felicity were the six heroes who got The Mark of Four tattoo and reminds him of their promise to each other.

Rene threatens to have Dinah arrested if he sees her again. She in turn threatens him, saying that the last time they saw each other it didn't end well for him.

Dinah says she still believes Rene to be a good man, even if he has lost his way.

Rene is revealed to be working with a man who is a part of the bombing plot. Rene informs the man that The Canaries know about plot but says there might be another way to achieve their goal. The man dismisses this saying Star City is a cancer and the only way to deal with a cancer is to destroy it.

The man admits to knowing Felicity Smoak was killed and describes her as a liability to be dealt with.


Location

The Glades - 2038.


The Bottom Line

A surprisingly solid episode despite nothing about it standing out. The script is pretty basic and more concerned with introduction and information than sparkling dialogue or stunning twists. Then again, given how badly Arrow has flubbed its grand gestures in Season 7, this is a welcome change. It may not be the most memorable episode ever but it does a fine job of establishing the new status quo.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 8 - Unmasked

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




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.