On the island, things are heating up for the crew who has escaped from the freighter. In their bargaining for Oliver’s life, they’ve managed to subdue Henrik, which causes tension among the remaining few. Ultimately, they decide to go through with it in an effort to use Henrik to kill Slade and regain control of the freighter. Taking apart several of the landmines hidden around the island, they make a bomb and strap it to an unconscious Henrik. Though the trade goes off seemingly smoothly, Slade manages to find the bomb and threatens to kill Sara before Oliver stands in front of her again. Shado appears behind Slade, a vindictive side to her shown that wasn’t there before. She tells him that the island should be their punishment and Slade repeats her threat to them.
In the present day, Thea, still upset over Roy’s betrayal, is confiding in Slade during their ride. Though he tries to relate to her, their camaraderie is cut short when she realizes they’re not stopping at the Queen mansion. When she tries to run, however, she’s stopped short by Brother Blood.
Down in the foundry, Oliver and Roy are training but Roy is distracted by what happened with Thea. While Roy believes that it would be better if Thea learned Oliver’s secret, Oliver shoots down his idea because it’s more dangerous for her if she knows. Felicity jokes that when Barry found out about The Arrow, he got struck by lightening but it does little to lighten the mood. She further dampens Oliver’s spirits when she insists that he has to go in and perform his CEO duties at Queen Consolidated.
When he finally arrives at the offices, he runs into Isabel who informs him that she usually pushes their meetings back a half hour in anticipation of his lateness. The two share a sweet moment about their partnership but it’s interrupted by Moira. She pulls Oliver aside and asks if he’s heard from Thea then tells him that it’d be nice if he would start acting like they’re part of a family again when he shows up at the debate.
At said debate, Oliver is frantically searching for Thea when he bumps into Sebastian who drops a hint that it’s his fault Thea is being detained...because of a police gridlock they insisted he use. Oliver buys the excuse and wishes Blood luck. Business continues as usual, with Moira and Sebastian debating about their respective policies. When they stop for questions, they’re confused when the next one is from Thea. A video of Thea begging for help is shown on screen while the words “How much is Thea Queen’s life worth to you?” flash on screen.
The team makes their headquarters at QC. Roy, Diggle, and Felicity start working to track down any information for a potential lead while a clearly restless Oliver tries to prevent himself from doing something reckless. Though Moira can think of no one who would want to hurt their family other than Malcolm, Oliver gets pulled away by Isabel who informs him that an upcoming vote by the board could vote in a new CEO...permanently. Oliver temporarily signs over the position of CEO to her.
Oliver’s (small) concern for QC is pushed, once again, to the back of his mind as he, Roy, and Sara follow up on a lead that Felicity has found. The trio finds Slade just sitting there and waiting for them, barely flinching as Roy channels his rage and attacks him. Oliver neutralizes him with a specialized arrow and calls it in to Lance, getting Slade arrested.
The arrest doesn’t last, however, as the police verify that Slade was in Costa Rica for the past few days. Before he’s released, Oliver manages to sneak in to speak with Slade. He begs him to punish him instead of Thea but their conversation is cut short when Slade is released by a police officer. The rest of Team Arrow isn’t so easy to let Slade slide, though. When he leaves, they’re on his trail but he manages to quickly evade them.
Back at the foundry, Roy is losing his precarious hold on his self-control and and the rest of them are trying to calm him down. When he attacks Diggle, Sara threatens to stop him with an arrow but he only stop when Oliver finally shows up. As he storms out, Felicity and Oliver quickly have to leave as well. As he storms into QC, Isabel quickly clears the room for the two of them to talk. It turns out that not only did she swindle the position of CEO from Oliver permanently, she’s also clearly aware of his “evening activities” as well as the fact that she’s working with Slade due to a grudge she has with Oliver’s late father. The two spar for a minute until she tells Oliver where Thea’s being held - but she needs to go alone. Though the rest of him doesn’t agree, he goes at Felicity’s encouragement.
Arriving at the warehouse, Oliver quickly takes out the teams of henchmen waiting for him. When he doesn’t find Thea right away, Felicity informs him that it’s because Thea walked into the precinct five minutes ago, completely unscathed. It turns out, the whole situation was a distraction so Slade could intercept the bus of criminals being transferred to Iron Height’s new wing to be a part of his army.
The Queen family finally makes it to see Thea at the precinct but she’s cold and angry with her family. She tells them that Slade told them about Oliver’s secret...about Malcolm being her father. She leaves the precinct angrily while Roy watches her. He drives off as well and is last seen exiting the city limits of Starling City. Inside the precinct, Lance is arrested after he admits that he doesn’t know who the vigilante is under the hood.
At QC, Slade, Isabel, and Sebastian are discussing their plan. Though Blood is upset about the election turning in Moira’s favor, Slade tells him he will still deliver what he promised. Isabel informs the two that the QC Applied Sciences division is fully dedicated to creating a serum based on Slade’s blood while Slade, with Shado’s ghost in tow, walks off to create another diversion for Oliver.
At the foundry, Oliver walks in to find Felicity and Diggle waiting for him. The two reassure him that they’re going to be standing behind him no matter what and it’s a nice moment of solidarity between the original Team Arrow. In the meantime, Slade forces his way into Laurel’s apartment and reveals his next distraction for Oliver: telling Laurel about The Arrow’s secret identity.
Arrow airs on Wednesdays on The CW at 8/7c. New episodes return April 16th.
Image courtesy of The CW