Full spoilers ahead!
We learned a ton this episode, but the main thing that needs to be noted is Felicity is by far the most adorable character currently prominently featured on any TV show. I could delve deeper into that, but if you are reading this, you already know why that needed to be the first thing said here. The introduction of Felicity’s mother was a fun. Ms. Smoak is the polar opposite of her daughter, which leads to pretty funny back in forth between the two.
Felicity has some demons, and the worst part is until the end of the episode there was no way she could ever exorcise them. More on that later.
Oliver spends a lot of this episode upset with Thea for using Malcolm Merlyn’s estate. Thea is his only living relative so obviously she is entitled to whatever money/property Merlyn had in his possession. The only issue here is you would think after destroying part of the city the government would have held Merlyn’s estate and used it to rebuild what he destroyed. This writer has no way of knowing if that’s how it would work in real life, but it sounds logical. As Oliver is arguing with Thea all of the lights in the city is cut off. A terrorist group called “Brother Eye” has taken over the city controls and in a show of power, shutdown the power grid. Isn’t that always the first thing cyber terrorist do? In like every movie ever?
In flashback we see Felicity and her then boyfriend Cooper committing light-cyber terrorism. Felicity only wanted to prove that she could breach the government firewall but Cooper had other plans. After Cooper tries to wipe out student loan debt, he is arrested by the FBI.
Arrow (the show) has always been enduring, but this was lazy story telling. This is the same story retreaded from a litany of old TV shows and movies. To further the cliché, after Felicity reveals Cooper couldn’t be behind Brother Eye because he killed himself while in jail. We later find out once Felicity and her mother are kidnapped that Cooper didn’t die and was behind all of this. His goal? He wants to rob an armored car. Adding to the list of cliché’s is the fact that it is always about money. Would it have been too hard for Cooper to just want to get revenge on Felicity? Does there always have to be a money related subplot?
As always Oliver saves the day, but in a moment of rare bad assery, while being held at gun point Felicity knocks Cooper out with a right hand.
The A and B story in this episode was fine, but the major reveal comes at the end of the episode. Roy is having a flashback/dream. He pictured himself killing Sara on the rooftop. Roy literally through arrows at Sara and she falls to her death. Has the mystery been solved? Was it really Roy? Or is there more to this story than we know?
| Pros: | Cons: |
| Felicity in her college Goth getup | Tired story telling |
| The fleshing out of Felicity’s Character | Weak villain |
| The swerve of Roy potentially being Sara’s killer | Not enough cowbell |