Sensei Starman Plays Gotham Knights - Part 60

Didn't we beat the game last time? Well, yes. But I completely forgot that we still have the Knighthood quests for all the other Gotham Knights to complete. Which leads us to start playing the game as Nightwing in this chapter.

Sensei Starman Plays Gotham Knights - Part 59

The double-size action-packed finale of story mode, in which we descend into the bowels of Gotham City to seek out the Lazarus Pit and a final confrontation with what remains of the League of Assassins and Court of Owls!

Sensei Starman Plays Gotham Knights - Part 58

In which Batgirl fights Man-Bats. Yes, Man-Bats. Plural. More than one!

Sensei Starman Plays Gotham Knights - Part 57

In which we continue exploring the ruins of Arkham Asylum and figure out just what the League of Assassins are doing with Kirk Langtrom's research - something that isn't at all shocking to the comic readers in the audience, but which is majorly annoying to deal with regardless.

Sensei Starman Plays Gotham Knights - Part 56

In which, having closed out Night 30, we start trying to figure out just what Talia and the League of Assassins are up to.

Sensei Starman Plays Gotham Knights - Part 41

In which we continue exploring the 13th Floor of the Orchard Hotel and one of the many secret lairs employed by the Court of Owls. This leads to a meeting with Talia Al Ghul and the discovery that our problems are only just beginning.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 3 - Leap of Faith

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




Plot

Reunited with his sister, Thea, Oliver finds himself in a race against Talia Al Ghul and the Thanatos Guild in the catacombs of the League of Assassins' headquarters. Meanwhile, Diggle and Lyla embark on a special ops mission together, to save Bronze Tiger's family. And in the far future of Star City 2040, the new Team Arrow take the fight to the Deathstrokes.


Influences

Indiana Jones movies (name-dropped, general theme of exploring a booby-trapped tomb, the Phoenix tile puzzle is lifted directly from the "name of God" challenge in The Last Crusade) and the present-day storyline of Arrow Season 3 (focus on League of Assassins drama, Diggle and Lyla spywork)


Goofs

Many of the fights are shot too close. This would make it hard to see the action, if the poor lighting throughout the episode didn't make it impossible to see anything in general.

The Star City future storyline seems to suggest that the membership of the Star City Reunification movement is a big secret. Weren't they all present and trying to recruit new members at an incredibly open gala in the season 8 premiere?

The Thantos Guild die stupidly trying to get past Oliver (fully armed with a bow) and the booby trapped tomb of Al-Faith, by charging him one-at-a-time, while climbing down a rope.

Mia's throat-wound seems to heal up awfully quick when it's time for her to cradle Zoe and look anguished.


Performances

As always, Lexa Doig is a delight as Talia.


Trivia

This episode marks Katie Cassidy's directorial debut.

This episode introduces the Arrowverse version of Sandra Hawke - the girlfriend of Ben Turner and mother of Connor Hawke.

In the original Green Arrow comics, Sandra "Moonday" Hawke was one of Oliver Queen's many short-term girlfriends during his free-loving college days. She became pregnant as a result of one of their dates, but refused to seek support, being determined to prove she could make it on her own as a single mother. Her son, Connor, would go on to meet his father nearly two decades later and eventually take up his mantle, becoming the second Green Arrow.

This episode sees Lyla and John return to Kasnia - a fictional nation first introduced into the DC Comics lexicon by Superman: The Animated Series. It has been repeatedly used on Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow whenever they needed a setting in Eastern Europe. On Earth-38, Kasnia was the nation which discovered the Supergirl clone that become known as The Red Daughter.


Technobabble

Felicity hard-wired the power grid of The Bunker through the floor. This can be used to electrocute anyone standing in the main room through a control hidden in a safe room.

Zoe makes use of a device that creates a stunning sonic attack similar to the Canary Cry. Sara Lance originally used this same device as The Canary in Season 2.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Oliver explains his bargain with The Monitor)
Oliver: He asked me to help him, but he's not very good at sharing information with the people he's working with.
Thea: (dryly) Sounds like somebody else I know.
Oliver: I need to be 100% sure that I can trust him. I know it's a long shot, but I was hoping that Nyssa could tell me what, if anything, the League knows about him.
Thea: Okay. What are you not telling me?
Oliver: He's seen the future. He's seen me die. It's soon, Speedy.
(There is a pause as Thea looks at Oliver expectantly.) 
Thea: And?
Oliver: (deadpan) Take as much time as you need to be upset.
Thea: Ollie, come on. You've cheated death more than any of us have by this point.
Oliver: This is fundamentally different than anything that we've ever dealt with before.
Thea: Okay. Well, let's try to figure out what we're dealing with, but like I said, Nyssa's not here.
Oliver: Sara hasn't been able to help either.
Thea: We've kind of killed off every League member, haven't we?

Oliver: So now you're back to your old exploits?
Talia: With the League gone, the region has become quite unstable.
Thea: And you think training a bunch of assassins in a place like this is gonna stabilize it?
Talia: I think it a wiser course of action than declaring a one-woman war on the Thanatos Guild.

Thea: What is going on with you, Ollie? You were never this overprotective when I left Star City.
Oliver: Things have changed. I left my family behind, Speedy. And I miss them. And every day, I wrestle with whether or not I made the right decision because maybe I didn't. And I saw an entire world wiped out of existence. A world that you weren't in, by the way, because I wasn't around to protect you. I'm sorry, Thea, but the only way that I can bear this is if I become 100% certain that my sacrifice, that my death... will protect the people I love. I need my family to be safe.
Thea: You know, I've been thinking a lot about Mom and Dad lately, wondering what they would think about the lives we've chosen. All the mistakes they made, all the lies they told...In their own very, very messed up way, they thought they were protecting us.
Oliver: Well, they weren't. They didn't.
Thea: No, but it did help us become the people we are today. They turned us into heroes. We can't change the future, Ollie. The past teaches us you might as well not bother trying to.
Oliver: (chuckles) When you'd stop being my baby sister?
Thea: I never did. I just grew up a little bit. (sighs) Now can we please get off this mountain?
Oliver: Yeah.

Talia: It is your destiny.
Thea: Yeah, but, see, about that. I don't really believe in the whole fate, destiny thing. We can all make our own choices.
Talia: Meaning?
Thea: Meaning I don't think the world needs another League of Assassins. It could use League of Heroes. It wouldn't be a one-woman job.
Talia: You'd extend me that honor despite my betrayals?
Thea: You made a mistake. We've all made mistakes.
Talia: Not one but two women to wield my father's sword? He would be aghast. (Talia smiles and chuckles wickedly) I accept.

Oliver: I can't believe I'm saying good-bye to you again.
Thea: Well, you're not. Think of it as a "See you later, and please don't die."


Dialogue Disasters


The reactions to Zoe's death are pure hammy Narm.


Continuity

Oliver runs into Thea in the area around Nanda Parbat.

Oliver catches Thea up on recent events, including her new niece.

Thea makes reference to 303 and her time in Corto Maltese, where she used Mia as an alias.

Thea now has a scar on her right cheek - the result of a battle with Athena of the Thanatos Guild.

Nyssa Al Ghul is off dealing with some League business. Thea thinks she is in Thailand.

Thea saw Roy Harper, sometime after the events of 720, and he told her about the fight with The Ninth Circle. He is currently off "dealing with his demons/"

Oliver contacted Sara Lance regarding the League's history and any connection the Monitor might have to it. She didn't know anything.

Lyla has been keeping an eye on Sandra and Connor Hawke since Ben Turner was recruited to ARGUS. He's currently on a deep-cover mission and Sandra missed a check-in for the first time.

Lyla has pictures of Sandra and Connor at an airfield in Kasnia - far from where Ben is now and any mission he's ever run for any organization.

The plane in the photo of Sandra and Connor belongs to Abdul Nardoc - a Kasnia philanthropist who is believed to have terrorism ties.

Lyla needs John to work with her on this mission, because she's still ferreting out all the corruption within ARGUS and can't trust anyone else with this mission.

Oliver refers to the events of 705 and how Talia owes him a debt for helping her escape from prison. He agrees to consider the debt paid if she helps him find the answers he seeks regarding The Monitor among the League's records.

The Karan Shah is the formal name of the League of Assassin's fortress and central base of operations. It has been destroyed, but the catacombs underneath it remain intact.

Talia's father had the League's historical records moved into the catacombs to keep them safe.

One of Abdul Nardoc's associates is Farzad Qadir - the son of Gholem Qadir - the man Ben Turner killed to save Lyla Michaels' life while serving in the Suicide Squad in 216.

The Chronicles of Al-Fatih are the journal of the founder of the League of Assassins and the first man to hold the title Ra's Al Ghul. Legend has it that he was given advanced knowledge by one of the sky gods. Talia thinks this could be The Monitor. When the book is located, it contains a drawing of the Monitor and a note that the end times would come if the League ever abandoned their mission charge from "the sky god" to maintain the balance between good and evil.

Thea can read Arabic.

The Sword of Al-Fatih is a relic of equal power to the Ring of Ra's Al Ghul. Before the Ring of Ra's Al Ghul, whoever wielded the Sword of Al-Fatih was considered leader of the League of Assassins. It is believed to be interred in Al-Faith's secret tomb.

Burning the false Chronicles of Al-Fatih reveals a stone sphere, marked with constellations, which somehow reveal the true location of Al-Fatih's tomb. It turns out to be on top of the mountain where Oliver dueled Talia's father in 309.

Talia poisons Oliver to keep him from getting to the tomb ahead of her. He is found by Thea, who he previously ordered to go back to their camp.

Talia is captured by Athena, who then captures Oliver and Thea and intends to use them to test for traps in the tomb of Al-Fatih.

Talia and Thea enter the tomb while Oliver holds off the Thanatos Guild.

Diggle and Lyla save Sandra and Connor Hawke.

All of the Thanatos Guild die.

Thea beats Talia in a duel for the Sword of Al-Fatih.

Talia passes command of her students over to Thea, but Thea refuses to restart the League of Assassins. She suggests, instead, that she and Talia start a League of Heroes.

Ollie makes reference to the Queen Family Hozen and how Felicity gave it to William.

William was able to protect himself from the Deathstrokes swarming The Bunker, having remembered that Felicity hard-wired the electricity for the complex through the floor. This enabled him to use it to shock them as they entered the main room.

William determines that John Diggle Jr. and the Deathstrokes are killing everyone involved in the Star City Unification movement. 10 have been killed so far.

Mia pushes the team to make a direct assault on the Deathstroke's hideout.

Zoe is killed by John Diggle Jr. while saving Mia.

Mia, William and Connor are sent back in time to 2019 and the original Team Arrow bunker.

Oliver is seemingly teleported to the Team Arrow bunker by the same flash of white light.


Location

Nanda Parbat
Kasnia


Untelevised Adventures

Roy, Nyssa and Thea apparently destroyed the last of the Lazarus Pits some time between this episode and 616. They have been working since then to stop the Thanatos Guild from reforming the League of Assassins.

Ben Turner officially became an ARGUS agent sometime following the events of 722.


The Fridge Factor

Zoe Ramirez is unceremoniously killed off to give everyone else on Team Arrow 2.0 some angst. (Also, apparently, to not further confuse viewers with the presence of another Black Canary in the upcoming Green Arrow and the Canaries spin-off.)


The Bottom Line

A mixed bag, overall. The bits with Thea and Talia are good, but that owes more to Willa Holland and Lexa Doig nailing these characters out of the park with every appearance after so many years. The stuff with Diggle and Lyla is competently acted, but seems very repetitive. And the future storyline is as lackluster as everything else done with the flash-fowards since Season 7. Ultimately, it succeeds only because of some strong speeches and strong performances, which seem wholly separated from the overall direction and staging of the episode, which are outright horrible at times.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 5 - The Demon

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




Plot

Having learned that Oliver is being hidden away, Felicity begins investigating Level 2 of The Slab, with a little help from Black Siren and Dinah Drake. Meanwhile, Digg asks Curtis to go undercover for an ARGUS mission, as Oliver finds The Demon on Level 2 of The Slab.


Influences

Supermax (David Goyer's unproduced "Green Arrow in prison" movie)


Goofs

How exactly is the PR nightmare at The Slab supposed to free Oliver? Oliver pled guilty to the charges against him and the corruption at the prison has no baring on his trial or sentence.


Performances

Lexa Doig and Stephen Amell both give power-house performances here and have tremendous chemistry together.


Artistry

Great action sequence in the hallway to the morgue as Talia and Ollie escape.


Trivia

Talia says that she was locked up in The Slab after a run in with an old foe in Gotham City. This is almost certainly a reference to Batman and proof that he exists on Earth One in the Arrowverse.


Technobabble

The RFID tracker that Felicity planted on The Silencer's belt is linked to her facial recognition program, which is run through every CCTV and traffic camera within five miles of The Silencer's location.

The case Curtis takes to the meeting with Byrd has a scanner

The shock bracelets Level 2 inmates are required to wear have anti-tampering alarms.


Dialogue Triumphs

Ollie: You expect me to help you? After all the pain and suffering that you inflicted on my family?!
Talia: What does it tell you that I would even ask for your help after what you've done to mine?

Talia: These people are criminals. The likes of which you've spent the last six years putting away. I'm surprised you want to help them.
Oliver: But you were the one who pushed me towards helping others. Towards fighting for justice! You had honor then! 
Talia: That was a long time ago.

Felicity: I thought that the worst thing that could happen was me losing my husband to prison. Well, what if I lose him permanently?

Dr. Parker: I suggest you hold very still 4587.
(Dr. Parker turns to his nurses, totally caught off-guard as Oliver grabs him by the throat and starts squeezing.)
Ollie: My name... is Oliver Queen!

(Oliver tells Talia his intent to stay behind in The Slab.)
Talia: If you stay, you will die.
Ollie: If I leave, I'm a fugitive forever. I won't do that to my family. (pauses) All those years ago, you were wrong. Giving the monster an identity didn't contain the darkness. It just gave it power. Separating into two selves? Hiding in the shadows? That was never the answer.
(The sounds of the guards banging on the doors gets louder. Talia takes the flash-drive.)
Talia: I will make sure your wife gets this. And that she knows that her husband is as stubborn as ever.


Continuity

Oliver is now ready for Phase 2 of being a Level 2 inmate. This involves being fitted with an electronic bracelet that administers electric shocks and being placed in the charge of a specific guard.

Oliver identifies the inmate who previously attacked him and told him his wife and son were dead as one of the inmates on Level 2.

Inmates on Level 2 are not allowed visitation.

ARGUS Deputy Director Bell is diabetic.

Malcolm Byrd is a black market arms dealer who specializes in chemical weapons.

Dr. Nyambi Somto is a biochemist who disappeared with a number of nerve agents banned by The Geneva Condition.

Curtis has 14 PhDs, including one in biochemical engineering.

Curtis can speak six languages. Two of them are English and French.

After the inmate who threatened him before shoves Oliver, he is taken away behind the blue door that most of the inmates seem afraid of.

Oliver is attacked in his cell at night. His attacker is Talia Al Ghul, last seen in 523.

Talia says that she was locked up in The Slab after an encounter with an old foe in Gotham.

Talia says she only survived Lian Yu thanks to a drug that Diaz developed and that she planned the attack on Oliver in exchange for his help.

Talia says there is a way to escape from Slabside but she needs Oliver's help. He refuses to give it.

Curtis is terrified of doing field work in the wake of Oliver going to jail.

Stanley tells Felicity that Oliver has been sent to Level 2 of The Slab.

Felicity determines that Level 2 is completely off the books.

The inmate who attacked Oliver is wheeled out of the other room with the blue door, apparently dead.

Talia says that the ones Dr. Parker kills are the lucky ones.

Felicity asks Dinah to go through the hard copies of the SCPD files to see if there were any complaints filed against Dr. Parker.

Felicity determined that Slabside does not have a psychiatric treatment program.

Curtis is able to bring down Byrd and his men with the help of his special brief-case and the hidden targeting drone inside of it.

Talia and Ollie stage a fight, resulting in them both being sent behind the blue door.

Dr. Parker was a defendant in three malpractices cases that were all settled out of court.

One of Dr. Parker's patients was a violent teenager named Robert Goodman. Dr. Parker promised his parents he could make their son docile. Instead, his treatment left Robert with sporadic bouts of amnesia. Eventually, he lost all sense of self completely.

Robert Goodman was one of nine similar cases leveled against Dr. Parker.

The Slab disposes of dead bodies on Level 2 through a dumbwaiter that leads to the water under the island. Talia uses this to escape.

Oliver refuses to escape from The Slab, saying that he won't live as a fugitive.

Talia delivers the flash drive of Dr. Parker's files to Felicity anonymously.

Oliver is sent back to Level 1 of The Slab, with Dr. Parker's program and Level 2 having been shut down after being exposed to the public.

Black Siren says they can use The Slab's current PR nightmare to overturn Oliver's conviction.

Talia kills Dr. Parker.

Curtis finds an encrypted image among Byrds files.  He determines that it is a painting by a 19th century French artist named Jean-Leon Gerome, titled Dante He Has Seen Hell.

Stanley tells Oliver that Felicity said she had a lead on Diaz and was close to getting him.

Felicity's tracker locates The Silencer in Moscow.

The episode ends as The Silencer arrives to find Diaz beating up Anatoly.


Location
Slabside Maximum Security Prison.
Moscow, Russia


The Bottom Line

Decent enough as a filler episode, if you ignore that it makes Oliver's trip to Level 2 largely pointless in the grand sceheme and that Dinah, Felicity and Black Siren really don't accomplish anything. The Curtis/Diggle storyline is amusing enough and its nice to see Curtis not being treated purely as comic relief for a change. Still, none of these stories are as engaging as the future flash-forwards or the mystery of the new Green Arrow.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 22 - Missing

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




Plot

It's Oliver's birthday and Team Arrow is in the mood to celebrate in the wake of Prometheus' capture. Unfortuantely, Black Siren has been sprung from ARGUS custody and - with the aid of Prometheus' other allies - has begun taking down Star City's heroes, one at a time.

In the flashbacks, having been ambushed by a not-quite-dead Kovar, Oliver must endure the greatest torture drug known to the KGB if he is to survive to see his homecoming.


Influences

The film version of The Princess Bride (Kovar's torture of Oliver, with his request for honest answers at the start and his philosophical talk about pain mirrors the torture scenes with The Machine) and the comic Justice League: Cry for Justice (a villain named Prometheus holds Green Arrow's loved ones and city hostage in order to escape capture.).


Goofs

Given the destruction of John's car, it seems unlikely that he and Felicity could walk away from it as they do here.

If Black Siren is meant to seem honestly sorrowful that she's chaining up her own father, Katie Cassidy is doing a piss-poor job of portraying it.

The hallucination of Laurel that convinces Oliver not to kill himself is wearing an obvious wig that is the wrong color for Laurel at that time.


Performances

It's good to see John Barrowman back as Merlyn.

It's even better to see Manu Bennett back as Slade, even for just five seconds.


Artistry

The fight as Malcolm and Oliver move to free Chase is amazingly shot and directed.


Trivia

As is traditional for the penultimate episode of each season of Arrow, the title is a reference to a Bruce Springsteen song.

The song Missing comes from the 1995 album The Ghost of Tom Joad. In it, a man sings about how the woman he loves has walked out of his life and how he sometimes thinks she's come back to him.

It is revealed in this episode that Oliver Queen's birthday is sometime in the month of May.

Depending on the exact day, this would make Oliver either a Taurus (The Bull) or Gemini (The Twins) using Western astrology. Either one might be a good fit for Oliver, as Taurus' have a reputation for stubbornness and Geminis are said to be charming but prone to keeping secrets and living two lives.

According to a 1976 DC Comics calendar, Oliver Queen's birthday is December 9th. Fittingly, this would make Oliver Queen a Sagittarius - The Archer - using Western astrology.

The "Happy Birthday Oliver" signs at Oliver's party are in the same font as the Arrow logo.

Felicity says that Oliver's birthday cake came from Lord Mesa Bakery. This is a nod to artist Lord Mesa, who has become famous among DCTVU fandom circles (to say nothing of beloved by the show stars and creators) for his portraits of various superheroes and his one-panel comics based upon them. The cartoon Green Arrow on Oliver's cake is one of Lord Mesa's designs.

Felicity, being teased by Curtis, compares him to a shipper on a soap opera. It's worth mentioning tat the Arrow fandom has an incredibly active shipping community, with fans of the Oliver/Felicity pairing (or Olicity) being the most numerous.


Technobabble

Curtis builds a pair of sound modulators for Dinah. He claims that they will not only allow her to better focus her Canary Cry but will also allow her to overcome any kind of sonic-dampening technology.

The Red Death is the name given a drug devised by the KGB for use in interrogations. It is meant to break men's wills by enduing psychological anguish.

Purgatory - according to Catholic dogma - is the immediate state following physical death.in which some souls who are destined for Heaven must first undergo purification.

Felicity has access to a keyhole satellite that can track the heat signature of any plane in the world.


Dialogue Triumphs

Oliver: Being happy doesn't mean you don't have issues. It just means that you're working on them.

(Oliver has just said he has plans when Thea invites him out to dinner to celebrate his birthday.)
Thea: With who? Please say 'not Susan Williams' ?
Oliver: Um, it... No... ah.... with Felicity.
Thea: Ah. As in a date?
Oliver: As in... I, I don't know if it's a date.
Thea: (teasingly) But you're hoping that it is?
Oliver: It's dinner! People go to dinner.
Thea: See, I don't believe you. But I find it incredibly cute.
(Oliver sighs in exasperation as he exits the room.)

(Quentin arrives at Oliver's birthday party.)
Quentin: I'm late, aren't I?
Thea: Its all good. You didn't miss much. Just Oliver flipping Curtis over his shoulder.
Quentin: (sighs) I told you a surprise party wasn't a good idea.

(The rest of the team have left Oliver and Felicity alone.)
Felicity: I guess since the dinner at Chez Marta was a ruse, they think we deserve some alone time.
Oliver: Well, I mean... I didn't know if it was a...
Felicity: We can take it one step at a time.
Oliver: I would like that very much.
Felicity: This is hard for you, huh?
Oliver: Hypothetically dating my ex-fiancee?  (sarcastically) No, it's fi-
Felicity: Wow. No. I meant "summer vacation" as they are now calling it.
Oliver: It's incredibly hard. It's borderline impossible.
Felicity: We won. (pauses, before whispering) Oliver, we won. Take a step back. You know? You could put your feet up, no matter the state of your socks. You could just - God forbid - relax.
(Felicity laughs and reaches up to Oliver's tie, loosening the knot.)
Oliver: (softly, without much conviction) Yeah.

(Curtis is teasing Felicity about her and Oliver dressing up for each other.)
Felicity: Can you please stop? You're worse than a shipper on a soap opera.

Oliver: Chase doesn't think I can game out what he;s planning, but it;s obvious.
Felicity: (sarcastically) Yeah. Obvious to a murdering psychopath.
(Oliver just looks at her.)
Felicity: And present company excluded.
Oliver: He's trying to leverage our friends to make me set him free.
Felicity: That's crazy...
(Oliver just looks at her again.)
Felicity: ... which would be consistent with Chase.

(Kovar slides a gun to a shaky-handed Oliver.)
Kovar: That gun only has one bullet. You can waste it on me. But I think we both know who is responsible for your pain. (pauses) I've seen the strongest man resist for up to 12 minutes before... ending his suffering Such is my respect for you, that I... I think you last for uh... 14 minutes.

(Oliver senses someone behind him in The Bunker and throws a dart. Malcolm Merlyn catches it.)
Malcolm: I see your sense of hospitality remains intact.
Oliver: You are not welcome here, Malcolm!
Malcolm: You aim to cut off my other hand, Oliver?
Oliver: Maybe. Are you going to tell another person about my son?
Malcolm: Last time I was down here I saved your life.
Oliver: Do you really think that gives you a pass for serving up William to Damien Darhk?!
Malcolm: I'm sorry about that. I wasn't thinking clearly. (raises his prosthetic hand) I let my emotions get out of hand. That's all in the past. The only thing I'm concerned about now is saving my daughter!

(Talia Al Ghul is standing in the road in front of John's car.)
Felicity: Angry woman with two swords. Are you getting major Isabel Rochev flashbacks right now?
John: Yep.
Felicity: You remember how we handled her, right?
John: Yep.
(John speeds up.)

Malcolm: Friends are one thing but family is family. And a child? You would do anything - absolutely anything - to keep them safe.
Oliver: A little while ago I worried to John... that the personal connections I had were making me vulnerable. Because as long as there are people in my life that I care for, I have to be something else to protect them. That's something I can't leave in the past.
Malcolm: I admire you, Oliver. It takes a special kind of idiot to actually get dumber with time.
Oliver: I am not in the mood, Malcolm.
(Oliver turns from Malcolm and moves back towards their bikes.)
Malcolm: Human connections are what keep us human. And it's sad that it's a sociopath who's gonna have to point this out to you!  You can't live on an island! You've already tried! But you are always going to have people in your life, Oliver. And they will always need you, for better or worse, baggage and all. And if you can't accept that, your past is going to stay your anchor!

(The proximity alarm in The Bunker goes off.)
Malcolm: Are you expecting someone?
Oliver: Yes, I am. Because Chase is working with at least Black Siren, Evelyn Sharp, Talia Al Ghul and whatever army she's currently controlling.
Malcolm: (smirking) So you called in reinforcements? If I wasn't such a confident individual, my ego might be bruised.
Oliver: Malcolm, your ego is what I'm going to need you keep in check.
Malcolm: (suddenly tense) Why? Who did you reach out to?
(Nyssa Al Ghul exits the elevator.)
Nyssa: Husband. (she nods to Oliver before looking to Malcolm.) Mr. Merlyn. I assume you still have no title?
Malcolm: (spinning to Oliver) No.
Oliver: (warningly) Malcolm...
Malcolm: I will not work with her.
Nyssa: I told you.
Malcolm: I'd sooner slice her throat.
Nyssa: Try to, you mean.
Oliver: Malcolm, you said you'd do whatever it takes to get Thea back. So... (suddenly shouting) here we are!
Malcolm: Fine. But does she know?
(Oliver blinks, clearly not having planned on this happening. Nyssa sense this and steps closer to them both.)
Nyssa: Know what, Mr. Merlyn?
Malcolm: One of the people we're up against is your sister.
(Nyssa inhales slowly -the closest thing to a gasp she will allow herself as she stares at Oliver pointedly.)

(Oliver pushes his way past a security door with the ARGUS log on it into a prison block. He drops a bag by the door and sighs before moving deeper into the room toward a row of bars. He sighs deeply before finally speaking.)
Oliver: I need your help.
(We switch to a POV shot from Oliver's perspective as he looks into the cell... and sees Slade Wilson.)
Slade: Hey kid. (chuckles softly) I'm glad you came back.


Continuity

Following the capture of Adrian Chase, Oliver Queen's approval rating as Mayor is 70%, according to a Star City Sentinel poll. This is the highest his approval rating had ever been, according to Quentin

Though no exact date is given, Oliver Queen's birthday is sometime in May.

Oliver refers to the events of 111 and Thea Queen's disastrous 18th birthday party.

At the time of this episode, Lyla and John Jr. are in Chicago visiting family.

According to John, he and Lyla are patching things up after their fight in the last episode.

Based on the number of newspapers outside his apartment, Rene hasn't been home in several days. Also,shockingly, Rene subscribes to a newspaper.

The team discuss vacation plans. Curtis would like to go to Florence, Italy. John wants to take his son fishing. Felicity wants to walk the Pacific Crest Trail before taking a spa day. Oliver just wants to have a day to go shopping and buy some new socks. (Apparently he's almost out.)

Oliver determines that Talia Al Ghul is responsible for abducting Curtis, Dinah and Rene based on one of the darts he finds at Dinah's apartment.

The Red Death causes Oliver to hallucinate the pain from his old wounds whenever the scars are touched.

While hallucinating while suffering from the effects of The Red Death, Oliver has past visions relating to his sins (i.e. killing Taiana in 423), failures (i.e. Shado's death in 209), guilt (i.e. Oliver killing one of Ivo's men in front of Shado in 201) and bloodlust (i.e. Oliver torturing General Matthew Shrieve to death in 323). He hallucinates both his fist teacher, Yao Fei, encouraging him to commit suicide and then a vision of Laurel Lance telling him to live.

Black Siren was broken out of ARGUS at some point after Curtis' abduction. It is later revealed that she was released by an ARGUS agent, who was being blackmailed by Eveyln Sharpe.

As of this episode, Quentin had still not been told about the existence of Black Siren.

Thea apparently had been informed of Black Siren's existence.

Malcolm Merlyn refers to the events of 423 - the last time he was in The Bunker, when he arrived just in time to help defend it from a team of Damien Darhk's Ghosts.

Felicity refers to 222 and how she hit Isabel Rochev with a van when she and John are confronted by Talia.

Oliver recalls that Curtis did put tracking nanites in Felicity in 518, but that they were rendered useless by the EMP from 520.

Oliver figures out that Chase is escaping to Lian Yu.

Nyssa says that her father once told her to visit Lian Yu and that it was where she discovered Sara Lance. This is because Sara, during her time in the past with a younger Ra's ah Ghul and Talia (as seen L109), instructed Ra's to send his next daughter to the island in October 2008. This establishes Sara's recruitment into the League of Assassins as a closed time loop.

Oliver deduces that Talia must have told Chase about Lian Yu.

Oliver uses his one bullet to break the lock on the door of his cell.

In the final scene of the episode, Oliver enters Slade Wilson's cell on Lian Yu and tells him he needs his help.


Location

A freeway 10 miles outside of Star City.


Untelevised Adventures

We do not see how Reme or Dinah were captured.  We don't see how Black Siren escaped from ARGUS.


The Bottom Line

A fantastic episode, curiously, because of how little it has to do with Season Five's on-going plot. It's all because of the other little bits of character business that harken back to the show's glory days. The interactions between Oliver and Malcolm. The chemistry between Oliver and Felicity. The brief scenes of Thea and Quentin together. The flashback sequences that actually tie into the current storyline.

It would have been nice to see Roy Harper show up to offer some back-up too but I can't complain. Apparently they won back Manu Bennett despite his promise never to do the show again after Slade's treatment in Season Three.  That's as much a symbol of how far this show has turned around this year as anything.

Injustice 2 #6 - A Review

The attack on the special prison to hold Superman and the rest of his Regime continues. Naturally, Bruce Wayne had planned several counter measures to contain The Man of Steel. He and his allies will learn too late, however, that the new Batman and his Suicide Squad have a different target in mind...


I should have stopped being surprised by Tom Taylor's writing a while ago. Yet I can't help it. I'm used to his perfect command of the various characters making up the cast of the Injustice world. But how to you prepare for things like Harley Quinn's awesome trolling of the Green Arrow of another universe or the reveal at the end of this issue?  You can't do it!


The artwork is as amazing as the story. Daniel Sampere, Juan Albarran and Rex Lokus are all individually masters of their crafts. Together, they build miracles. This is one of the best looking books on the stands and a must-read even for those who haven't eagerly been anticipating the video game's release.

Final Analysis: 10 out of 10. The only downside to this comic is that it's so short. And that today it's distracting me from playing Injustice 2 - The Game! :)

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 16 - Checkmate

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




Plot

Oliver learns the truth of who is behind Prometheus's mask but will that help him to save Susan Williams? Meanwhile, Felicity finds that the hacker group Helix won't help her anymore until she starts doing some favors for them.

In the flashback, Oliver reveals his new identity to Anatoly as they plot how to take down Gregor and his captains with an army of three men.


Influences

The comics of Dennis O'Neil (presence of Talia Al Ghul, the opening sequence in the dojo) and the I Am The Night episode of Batman: The Animated Series (Oliver has a similar tantrum to one Batman has where he destroys part of his lair in the wake of a police officer ally being shot.)


Performances

The chemistry between Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards is as strong as ever.


Artistry

The opening fight scene where Oliver fights all of Talia's students is brilliantly choreographed and well filmed.


Trivia

It is confirmed that the Talia who trained Oliver in Russia is Talia Al Ghul. In the comics, Talia Al Ghul is Ra's Al Ghul's most recent child - one he sought to marry off to a worthy male heir. She first appeared in Detective Comics #411 (May 1971). 

Talia confirms that she had a disagreement with her father and broke away to form her own clan of assassins. This occurred in the comics as well, following the events of the story Batman: Legacy. There, Talia abandoned her father after he attempted to force her to marry the villain Bane and took up a position managing Lex Corp after Lex Luthor was elected President of the USA. She would later take control of the League of Assassins, following a war for control of the organization after her father's death. She also established another group - Leviathan - purely for the purpose of fighting Batman.


Technobabble

Helix has 3-D nano-electrics designed to interface with a neural network. They stole the prototype from Palmer Tech.

Helix has a giant monitor showing multiple real-time feeds from every cell phone camera in the world, running through a pattern-recognition algorithm. According to Felicity, this is more complex than anything the NSA has in the DCTVU.

The T-spheres are capable of detecting resonance frequencies.

Oliver keeps a hand-held flash-bang in his quiver for emergency escapes.

Felicity hacks a DPS drone, feeds the receiver false information and then spoofs the GPS system.

Curtis has also programmed the T-Sphers to act as independent search drones.

Oliver has a camera capable of being snaked under a sealed door that broadcasts to a small monitor on his wrist. This allows him to spy the C-4 trap that is rigged to go off if the door is opened.

The T-spheres are capable of generating sufficient force to break through a solid wall.


Dialogue Triumphs

Oliver: One of your former students is trying to kill me.
Talia: Oh, he doesn't want to kill you, Oliver. He means to destroy you utterly.
Oliver: (in realization) You knew!  If you knew, then why would you train him? Why wouldn't you warn me?!
Talia: Two years ago he sought me out. He'd already learned much about you. He's a man of remarkable capacity-
Oliver: Talia, enough! If you knew what he wanted, then why would you train him?!
Talia: You killed his father. And I helped him in his pursuit of vengeance because by then you'd killed mine!
(Oliver just stares at her, stunned.)
Talia: I never told you my full name, did I?
Oliver: No, you didn't.
Talia: It is Talia Al Ghul.
(Oliver exhales slowly.)Oliver: Ra's Al Ghul was your father.
Talia: Yes. My father and I came to be at odds, so I forged by own path. (pauses) But he was still my father when you put a sword through his chest!
Oliver: So that's why you're not going to help me? That's why you won't tell me who this Prometheus is?
Talia: Of course I will, Oliver. Because I want you to suffer. He calls himself... Adrian Chase.

(Adrian Chase is walking to his car. An arrow suddenly passes him and shatters the driver's side window. He stops dead as Green Arrow emerges from behind him, drawing another arrow.)
Chase: Gonna try it this way now? (turns to face Green Arrow) I gotta tell you, I don't know how that mask is going to play here. Especially since the city's not too fond of your alter ego these days.
Green Arrow: I'll give them The Throwing Star Killer. See how they feel.
Chase: Wait, that's your big plan?  Arresting me?  Oh, man - that's a bit of a letdown, I have to say.
Green Arrow: (lowering his bow) Well, I'm not gonna kill you. If only because that's what you want me to do.
Chase: But you've done everything I've wanted so far. Did you really think I'd let all this end in a parking garage?
Green Arrow: What did you do?!
Chase: I gave your girlfriend an exclusive. (pauses) Wait - are you still dating Susan Williams? I gotta tell you, buddy, it's been a little hard to keep track.
Green Arrow: What did you to do her?!
Chase: She's fine. Don't worry. As long as I'm around to make sure she gets some food and water. Starvation and dehydration? Terrible way to go. Bottom line - I die, she dies. I don't make it back to her in time? She dies. Now, you could try torturing me for her location. We both know what you're capable of in that department. But... I think that we both know what I'm capable of. So Ollie?  Who do you think will last longer? Susan or me? (sighs happily) Ohhhhhh, I'm ten steps ahead and you don't even know what game we're playing yet!
(Chase laughs as he gets in his car.)

Felicity: I'm... sorry.
Oliver: I'm not angry. You don't... you don't work for me. I'm worried.
Felicity: Right. Of course! For all you know, Prometheus could have...
Oliver: Not... I'm worried about you.
Felicity: ...Oh.
Oliver: Because you're into something. And you don't want to tell anyone about it. Or maybe you just don't want to tell me? I think we can both agree that keeping secrets doesn't end well. So..
Felicity: Yeah. You're right. It's just... right now's not really a good time with everything going on. You just have to trust me on this one, ok?
Oliver: Okay.

(Anatoly enters the room to find Oliver changing into his Hood costume.)
Abatoly: There you are. Viktor has confirmed Gregor's location. But tell me, why did you want him gone? And... why are you playing Robin Hood?
Oliver: I met a woman. She taught me how to give my darkness an identity so that it doesn't consume me.
Anatoly: And you believed her? (mutters in Russian) Oliver... whatever you think is inside you ... is inside you. You cannot name it like that and keep it apart from you.
Oliver: This woman's taught me differently.
Anatoly: This woman does not know what she is talking about. And if you are not careful, Oliver, one day she will be the source of your greatest pain.

Ollie: Me and my team are gonna find her. And when we do - the second that we do - I'm going to put an arrow right through your heart.
Chase: You do realize how impotent you sound right now, right?
Ollie: You think this is a game? (grabs Chase by the lapels) I don't feel like playing anymore.
Chase: But you don't have a choice, Oliver. If you kill me, you kill Susan. And she will be as dead as your mother. As Tommy. As Shado. As Laurel. As your friend Pike here, probably. All dead because of you. So go ahead. Kill me. Let's find out how much more loss you can take. Because I don't think it's much. I think you're one loss away from being destroooooyed...
(Ollie slowly lets go of Chase.)
Chase: I guess we'll have to find another way to handle this then. You see, that's the beautiful thing about all of this, Oliver. If you kill me, you'll only really going to be killing yourself.

(The Hood shoots one of the Bratva guards. As his partner turns to see what happened, Anatoly comes up behind him and snaps his neck. The Hood nods.)
The Hood: (in the deep voice Oliver uses as The Hood) Thanks for the assist.
Anatoly: What is thing you are doing with your voice?

(Prometheus removes his mask.)
Prometheus: I'm glad Talia told you. I prefer it this way. Face to face. There's an honesty to it.
Green Arrow: Well, honestly? I'm going to keep both of us here until this building comes down on us.
Prometheus: Then you'd be dead
Green Arrow: So would you.
Prometheus: Really? You really think I'd let that happen, Oliver?
(Prometheus flips a switch on his detonator. The bombs are all deactivated.)
Prometheus: Remember - I'm always ten steps ahead of you.
Green Arrow: You know...if that were true...you probably would have seen this coming.
(Spartan walks around the corner with a horrified Doris Chase.)

Prometheus: I told you Oliver - I'm not going to kill you... and you can't kill me!
Green Arrow: Yes, Adrian! Yes I can!
(Green Arrow is about to move in when an arrow strikes him in the back of the leg. He falls down and turns to see Talia Al Ghul, glaring at him, bow in hand, as he falls unconscious.)


Continuity

Talia confirms that she is the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul and that she trained Prometheus, in part, as revenge for Oliver Queen killing her father.

Talia says that Prometheus came to her about two years earlier, shortly after Oliver killed Ra's Al Ghul.

Talia tells Oliver Prometheus' identity, saying that she wants him to suffer.

Oliver finds out that Adrian Chase is Prometheus.

Thea, Lyla and John Junior are confirmed to be safe.

Curtis and Dinah travel to Opal City to check out Prometheus' mother. They discover her house abandoned, save for a monitor showing a 30-second clip of Prometheus menacing Susan Williams.

Felicity discovers that Adrian Chase's real name is Simon Morrison and that his mother's name - Amanda Westfield - was an alias.

Oliver gives the evidence of Adrian Chase being an alias to Captain Pike. He is later stabbed by some random mugger outside of police headquarters.

Adrian Chase stabs his wife after she finds out he is Prometheus.

Talia ambushes Green Arrow, shooting him when his back is turned as he fights Prometheus.

Susan Williams is able to escape Prometheus' base.

Doris Chase dies en route to the hospital.



Location

An unnamed monastery in an unnamed mountain range.
Prometheus' mother's house in Opal City.


The Fridge Factor

Susan Williams - a secondary villain for most of the season - is reduced to the role of girl hostage.

Doris Chase is killed with very little sense of ceremony.


The Bottom Line

A solid episode, despite it giving the ensemble little to do for most of its run-time. For all the talk of Oliver's teammates being his strength, this episode is heavily focused on the one hero vs. the one villain and everything else is surplus to requirements.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 11 - Second Chances

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



Plot

Team Arrow seeks out Tina Boland - a metahuman vigilante with a sonic scream who Oliver believes may be a worthy heir to the Black Canary legacy. Meanwhile, in order to retrieve evidence of John's innocence, Felicity must hack the computers of the NSA.

Five years earlier, Talia Al Ghul agrees to help Oliver in his efforts to kill Kovar but the price for her aid may be more than he can afford.


Influences

Mike Grell's The Longbow Hunters (sequence of Tina being tortured parallels similar scene of Dinah Lance being tortured), the Green Arrow/Black Canary comics of Andrew Kreisberg (character of Sean Sonus) and the Green Arrow comics of Mike W. Barr (Green Arrow fighting a vertigo-inducing metahuman).


Goofs

Again, Oliver seems to have backslided on his promise to stop killing. He also doesn't seem to have any objection to either Tina or Wild Dog making what appear to be some fairly lethal shots with their guns. The crowning moment of hypocrisy, however, comes when Ollie tries to plead with Tina to not seek revenge just about a minute after Ollie blew up a helicopter with an explosive arrow.


Performances

Lexa Doig gives a damn fine performance as Talia Al Ghul, giving the role appropriate gravitas.

Juliana Harkavy is everything we could hope for in a Black Canary - tough, a great fighter and sassy as all get out in dealing with Oliver. She's also got great chemistry with Amell, though the script doesn't do much with her until the final scene beyond give her generic tough chick dialogue. Still, she manages to sell that dialogue, cliched as it may be at times.


Artistry

Good effects work and direction on the opening sequence in which Tina gains her powers.

The special effects when Sean Sonus uses his powers are phenomenal.

The flashback fight-sequence of Oliver fighting all of the human-trafficker's bodyguards shows just how far Amell has come in being able to command a solo fight scene in the last five years.


Trivia

Tina Boland is revealed to be a former police officer.  In her original origin story in the comics, Dinah Drake was an aspiring police officer who was kept off the force due to sexism.

Mad Dog recommends an Air Force Pilot named Jesse Murray as a potential recruit to replace Black Canary.  Jessie Murray is the name of one of the Arrow's assistant editors.

Captain Singh - Barry Allen and Joe West's superior at the CCPD - has a quick cameo.

Barry Allen has an even quicker cameo, leaving a note on Singh's desk confirming Green Arrow's identity when Ollie calls Singh for information.

The Federal Prison at Lompoc does not house female inmates. Felicity speculates a female hacker caught working on the NSA computers would probably be sent to Hazleton in West Virginia.

The hotel room Curtis tracks Tina Boland to is #511.  This may be another reference to the number 52.

The drug kingpin who killed Tina Boland's partner is a man named Sean Sonus.  In the original comics, Sean Sonus was a Black Canary villain known as Discord. A concert violinist who was permanently deafened after accidental exposure to one of Dinah Lance's Canary Cries, Discord devoted himself to destroying Black Canary and Green Arrow, empowering himself with a variety of sonic-based gadgets.

Much as Tina Boland's sonic scream is based on Black Canary's "Canary Cry" from the comics, Sean Sonus's power on the show is reminiscent of Count Vertigo's ability to change the perceptions of people around him and inspire nausea. Count Vertigo, in the comics, is one of Green Arrow and Black Canary's more famous and powerful enemies.

The hacker group that gives Felicity the NSA file she needs calls themselves Helix.  Helix was also the name of DC Comics short-lived science-fiction and fantasy imprint. Helix folded after two years, despite some major writers and artists being involved.  The only Helix title widely remembered today is Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan, which was picked up by Vertigo Comics.

At the end of the episode, Tina Boland reveals that her real name is Dinah Drake. In the original Golden Age comics, Dinah Drake was Black Canary's secret identity.


Technobabble

Bashert is a Yiddish word meaning "destiny" or "fate". Depending on the context, when used to refer to a person, it can also mean "soulmate".

Team Arrow now has a sonic-dampener, "new and improved", which can repress the damage caused by a sonic scream attack. It is a hand-held unit about the size of a large cel-phone. It can also negate Sean Sonus' powers.

Curtis theorizes that Sean Sonues' power is based on the control of sonic waves. He can manipulate them to negate Tina Boland's sonic scream and to disorient both Green Arrow and Wild Dog.

It's worth noting that ultrasonic and sonic weapons that could non-violently disorient or inspire nausea as a means of crowd control are already in use in some police departments.

The hacklivist group Helix give Felicity a data cache they call Pandora - eight petabytes of information stolen from Echelon, the NSA computer. Among the information within it is the file that clears John Diggle of any wrongdoing.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Team Arrow is suggesting possible new recruits. Ollie keeps shooting them all down.)
Rory: What about this one? This woman got her engineering PhD at age 20, won Gold in karate at the Olympics, turned down offers from the NSA -and- ARGUS to join NASA as an astronaut by day while at night she secretly protects the citizens of Houston as, get this, a ninja vigilante.
(Oliver just glares at Rory.)
Rory: Oh, and she works soup kitchens on Saturdays and rescues puppies on Sunday.
Rene: Astronaut ninja? You're making that up!
Curtis: He did. Karate won't be an Olympic sport until 2020.
Rory: Fine. You got me. This is just some woman who teaches preschool in The Glades. But my point still stands!
Ollie: That point being?
Rory: That no matter how amazing they are, no one's is going to be good enough for you.

(Oliver has returned to The Bunker to find that Felicity is already at work hacking the NSA.)
Ollie: How did you even know where to start? All that I told you was that Chase might have something.
Felicity: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I hacked his laptop.
(Ollie sighs in exasperation.) 
Felicity: Saving Dig is going to break at least 12 federal laws. Hacking your D.A. is just small ball. Plus, you're the mayor. You can pardon me.
Ollie: Actually, I can't.
Felicity: It doesn't matter because I am having fun!

(Tina is about to kick in a skylight.)
Green Arrow: Stop.
(Tina turns as Green Arrow, Mister Terrific and Wild Dog step out of the shadows.)
Tina: (laughing) Wow... costume warehouse having a fire sale I didn't know about?

Tina: I can take care of myself. Oh, and uh - if you get in my way? I'll send the three of you back to Star City with your nuts in a sling.

(Captain Singh of the Central City Police Department answers his cel phne.) 
Singh: Captain Singh.
Ollie: I need information.
Singh: Who is this?
Ollie: It's the Green Arrow.
Singh: Or some nut job with a voice modulator. You want help, I'm gonna need proof.
(Ollie begins to text something on his phone. Seconds later, a red-clad figures dashes in and out of Singh's office, causing a slight rush of wind that knocks the papers off his desk. Singh looks at his computer monitor, where there is now a red Post-It note which reads HE'S LEGIT.)
Singh: Very clever. Fine. What do you want to know?

Ollie: You trained Yao Fei? How's that possible? You're half his age!
Talia: (smirking) Don't you know it's improper to talk about a woman's age? Let's just say it's a family secret.

Tina: You know, from what I hear there are plenty of nut cases running around Star City looking to make it a better place. What makes me so special?
Green Arrow: Maybe stay in the same spot for more than a minute and I'll get a chance to tell you.
Tina: (shrugs) Well, if you're going to make a sales pitch, make it good.
Green Arrow: You went through something traumatic. For the past three years, you've been trying to understand it. Because you're afraid. Of what happened to you. And of what you've become. So you're running from it.
Tina: How would you know?
Green Arrow: Because I've been there. And I can help you find your way back.
(Tina pauses, seeming to take this in before she steels her expression and smiles.) 
Tina: Ok. What's the range on that uh - what did you call it? Sonic Dampener?
(Green Arrow quietly takes a slow step backward.)
Tina: That's what I thought.
(Tina lets loose a sonic scream and knocks Green Arrow down before running for it.)

Oliver: We're walking into a fortress and you're going to use just a bow?!
Talia: To use a bow and arrow requires patience and discipline.
(Ollie cocks his gun loudly.)

(Rory enters the Arrow Cave to find Felicity where he left her, at her computer.)
Rory: Please tell me you didn't sleep down here!
Felicity: I didn't... sleep.

(Tina Boland is riding her motorcycle through a parking garage. She finds Oliver Queen, in the Green Arrow costume sans mask with the hood down, facing her.)
Tina: Let me guess - you're trusting me with your mask off, so now I'm supposed to trust you?
Ollie: No. I just... thought that if you weren't going to listen to The Green Arrow that you might listen to Oliver Queen. Nice to meet you. (pauses) I spent five years in Hell. Not unlike what happened to you when you were in Sonus' organization. Or what he put you through when he discovered you were a cop.
Tina: And what? You think you see a little bit of yourself in me?
Ollie: It's more than that. There is a man in Star City who is trying to convince me that I destroy the lives of everyone that I touch because I am beyond redemption.
Tina: Yeah, yeah. And you think if you can save me that you'll prove him wrong. Don't put your issues on me...
Ollie: Absolutely right. But if you think that you can take on Sonus and his men, then you are wrong. Let us help. Let us help and then... we're gone.
(Ollie offers Tina his hand. She reluctantly takes it.)

(Tina has Sonus at her mercy. Her gun is drawn. He's totally defenseless.)
Green Arrow: Tina! Don't do it! You're better than this.
Tina: You know I'm not. If we're as alike as you say, we both know you'd kill him.
Green Arrow: You're right. Maybe it's too late for me. And maybe I don't get a second chance. But you don't have to go down that road. Tina, what would Vince want you to do?
(Tina shoots Sonus three times before dropping the gun.)
Tina: He'd want me to do that.

Talia: You are afraid of what's happened to you. Of what you've become. And you're running from it.
Ollie: How do you know all this?
Talia: Because I've been there. And I can help you find your way back. You think yourself a monster.
Ollie: No. I am a monster.
(Talia reaches under the table and pulls out a green trunk which she places on the table.)
Talia: There is a monster inside you, yes, but it is not you.
Ollie: I don't see the difference.
Talia: No. You need to create one.
(Talia opens the trunk and removes a green bundle of clothing, which she passes to Ollie.)
Talia: You need to give the monster an identity. It's only when the monster becomes someone else... something else... that you're free to be Oliver Queen.
(Oliver changes into the clothes. They are the costume he first wore as The Hood when he returned to Starling City.)
Ollie: I don't know if I'm ready.
Talia: I will help you become ready.
(Talia hands Ollie her bow.)

Tina: So about that name? Tina Boland was my official cover for undercover work. It was to protect my family. My real name is Dinah. Dinah Drake.
Ollie: Dinah?
Tina: Does that name mean something to you?
Ollie: I had a friend named Dinah. She's the reason I sought you out.
Tina: What do you think she'd think about all of this?
Ollie: I think she'd be proud of both of us.


Continuity

In 2013, Tina Boland was an undercover cop in Central City. Her cover was blown and she was tortured for two weeks before her partner -Vincent "Vinny" Sobel - was similarly compromised.

Vinny and Tina were dating and Vinny was killed just before Tina was empowered by the STAR Labs Particle Accelerator explosion.

Tina quit the force the day after Vinny's funeral and disappeared, traveling around the country and trying to track down Sean Sonus - the crime boss responsible for her torture and Vinny's death.

Felicity visited John in prison and told him about her work to find a replacement Black Canary.

Yao Fei Gulong - the man who first trained Ollie on Lian Yu - was one of Talia Al Ghul's students. She recognized the hood Oliver wore as one that belonged to Yao Fei.

Oliver notes that Tina Boland is better able to focus her sonic screams than Black Siren and is a much better hand-to-hand combatant.

Tina apparently keeps up on the news regarding other vigilantes well enough to recognize Green Arrow, Mister Terrific and Wild Dog.

Rene has a fondness for multiple-patty cheese burgers. The Five-Stack at Big Belly Burger is his favorite.

Oliver has the phone number for Captain Singh of the CCPD saved on his phone.

Captain Singh notes that Tina Boland was a good cop and he was sorry to see her quit.

Sean Sonus moved to Hub City to fill the power vacuum left by the death of Tobias Church. He is a drug dealer who specializes in a new designer drug called "Slide" or "Sly-dee.

According to Rene, Slide got its name because it hooks kids young and lets them move to the big stuff faster.

Ghost Fox Goddess was Felicity's hacker handle in college.

Felicity tells Rory about her past as a hacktivist and goth, as seen in the flashbacks of 305.

Rory does not know what a goth is or what "IRL" stands for.

The hacker who contacts Felicity about hacking the NSA is called Kojo Sledgehammer. She is part of a hacktivist group called Helix.

Curtis once hacked all the traffic cams in his hometown on a dare.

Sean Sonus was also empowered by The Particle Accelerator Explosion, being given sonic powers that enabled him to distort other people's perceptions and induce nausea. Despite this, Oliver is still able to tag him in the shoulder with an arrow.

Tina Boland kills Sean Sonus.

The information Felicity got from Helix is able to free John Diggle.

The chest in which Oliver originally kept his gear as The Hood and his first costume came from Talia Al Ghul.

Tina Boland reveals to Oliver that Tina Boland was her undercover alias and that her real name is Dinah Drake.


Location

Central City - December 11, 2013
Hub City
Central City - CCPD HQ


The Fridge Factor

Logical as it may be given how people were empowered by The Particle Accelerator Explosion, it's still troublesome that Tina developed her power because she was screaming at the time she was hit with a dark matter blast.

Thankfully, despite a torture scene reminiscent of The Longbow Hunters (ironically, with a woman gaining powers this time instead of losing them), Tina is not made to look at all weak and only shows signs of distress when her partner/boyfriend  is placed in danger.


The Bottom Line

One of the strongest episodes of Arrow in recent memory. The two subplots fit together perfectly and all of the ensemble cast get at least one moment to shine. The effects work and fighting are great. The Flash cameo is hysterical. And both of the two female leads - Lexa Doig and Juliana Harkavy - prove great additions to the cast in their first full outings. As far as second changes to, this episode proves that Arrow, as a series, is worthy of a second chance from those who wrote it off.