If you’re anything like me, you probably needed a good twenty minutes to process this week’s episode of Arrow. I’ll admit that I still haven’t watched the last five minutes of the winter finale, refusing to accept that anything bad could’ve happened to Felicity. Apparently, Oliver and I were on the same page here, with the continuing theme of this episode being the fact that Oliver kept refusing to face Felicity without any solution to the Darhk issue.
Not giving us any chance to calm down after the winter finale, Arrow opens up with the still mysterious sight of Oliver at a grave. After the release of the trailer for season 4B, it’s pretty obvious that one of the main members of Team Arrow falls prey to Darhk -- and all bets were on Felicity after the cliffhanger of 4A. Though Barry tries to console Oliver, he’s not having it. “I know it’s not my fault but it’s my responsibility to end it. I’m gonna kill him,” he announces.
Present day, we flash back and forth between Oliver in a state of shock as Felicity is admitted to the ER and the Green Arrow going after multiple ghosts, trying to get information on Darhk’s whereabouts. As all the ghosts sacrifice themselves to not give up Darhk, Oliver’s frustration over a lack of leads causes him to start avoiding the hospital, much to the annoyance of his fellow teammates.
However, Felicity is alive and as well as one can be, post-shooting. The entire team and Mama Smoak are at her bedside, minus Oliver. Though she makes an excuse for him, they’re not happy. Seeing the fragile state Felicity is still in, Diggle loses his resolve and goes to talk to Andy, determined to get an answer about Darhk’s location out him, whatever it takes. Oliver also goes to talk to his own lead, offering Detective Lance protection in exchange for Darhk’s location.
Though both end up dead ends, Oliver does end up following a trail to Anarchy, the man Thea ended up disfiguring with fire earlier in the season. After distracting Team Arrow when they try to ambush him, Anarchy tries to escape before being thwarted by Thea. Though he seems to take a perverse pleasure in their version of torture, he does promise Thea not to hurt her.
Oliver doesn’t plan on being that nice, though. Laurel and Thea plead for Oliver to turn Anarchy over to the proper authorities but Oliver, still frustrated over a lack of answers, wants to beat an answer out of him. However, his interrogation is cut short as Thea announces Felicity’s surgery didn’t go as planned and he needs to go to the hospital.
Once there, he’s confronted by an understandably upset Mama Smoak. Though he tries to offer an excuse for why he’s been absent, she’s not here for it. Instead, she breaks the news to him that the doctors discovered Felicity is not likely to walk ever again.
Diggle, encouraged by Lyla and spurred by Felicity, decides to take a different approach to finding Darhk. Instead of beating the information out of him, he decides to approach Andy and treat him like a brother, instead of a stranger. After Andy admits that he’s resentful at always having been in Diggle’s shadow and never having measured up, Diggle takes the blame for putting too much pressure on him to be someone he’s not. Andy gives him a hint on Darhk’s possible location but doesn’t seem quite ready to settle on a truce.
After leaving the hospital, Oliver releases Anarchy from police custody after Laurel intervened to get him arrested. The only catch? That Anarchy helps him find Darhk.
Team Arrow is less trusting but tries to keep Oliver’s humanity in perspective by reminding him of Felicity and why she fell in love with him. When the tracker on Anarchy goes dead, Oliver finally makes his way to actually see Felicity. Instead of seeing her angry, she understands why he’s been absent but he wonders if the reason he’s been losing to Damien Darhk this whole time is because he hasn’t been willing to go far enough. Felicity then questions if the reason he’s been avoiding her is because she’s no longer able to walk. Oliver’s response is to give her back the ring and remind her he’s sticking around, “for better or for worse.”
As she’s sleeping off the meds, Laurel comes to tell Oliver that they finally have a lead. They managed to trace Anarchy to a residential location -- Darhk’s home, actually. Anarchy is holding Darhk’s wife and daughter hostage and threatening to hurt them the way he himself was hurt. However, he’s distracted by the Green Arrow and Speedy, allowing Black Canary and Spartan to save the hostages.
When Anarchy, once again, escapes, Oliver and Thea separate; while Thea chases down Anarchy, Oliver and Darhk meet face-to-face for the first time since Felicity’s accident. Though Oliver gets a few good punches in, Darhk once again manages to gain the upperhand. He’s thrown off his track when Oliver tells him that he saved his family and they’re safe; as a thank you, he offers Oliver “a few weeks” to spend with his own family before he goes to exact his revenge.
Though they’re disappointed in the turn of events with Darhk disappearing once again, things are starting to look up for Team Arrow. Dig and Andy are seen playing cards and getting along, Oliver and Felicity make plans to get away once more when Darhk is taken care of, and Thea and Alex are finally connecting in a real way.
Four months in the future, things seem less cheery. Oliver makes his way back to the waiting car, taking the seat next to Felicity in a parallel of last season’s own final scene. This time, instead of being close and cuddled up, they’re on complete opposite ends of the seat, not touching or making eye contact. Oliver admits that he’s not okay and Felicity tells him he knows what to do. “You need to kill the son of a b*tch,” may just be the defining line of this season.
Back on the island, Oliver’s fate seems just as dreary. After having been exposed as a traitor, his life (and Diana’s) are only spared after the tattoo given to him by Constantine early in the season starts to glow and the Commander realizes he needs Oliver alive. Bleeding profusely from several injuries, Diana attends to his injuries while Oliver continues to wallow in the guilt from killing her brother.
What were your thoughts on the spring premiere of Arrow? I’m actually liking Darhk as a villain; I think he brings a level of complexity we haven’t seen yet in this series. I’m also really curious about who’s in the grave. I’ve got a couple theories but I can’t quite decide who I think it is. Who do you think falls prey to Darhk this season?
Arrow airs Wednesday at 8/7c on The CW.