After that shocking winter finale, ARROW returned last night with the aftermath of the tragedy that ripped our hearts out in December. We picked up right where we left off and saw a badly injured Felicity being taken into the emergency room. Now, I know this is a drama and all, but couldn’t you have just let them live happily and enjoy their engagement for a little while longer, TPTB? You had just made us watch Oliver lying to her face about his son and now you had to go and put Felicity in a wheelchair? Really? I’ll be honest and say that it didn’t come as a surprise – after all, I had seen the promos – but what really shocked me was how badly Oliver reacted to this whole thing. And not in a “he is so shocked that he can’t function” way either.
The very first note I made while I was watching last night’s “Blood Debts” was that Oliver was being an idiot. I know and understand that this is the way he processes things and his only reaction to Felicity being attacked was just that – to react. It was like there was a switch in his brain and, when it was switched on, he went into killer mode immediately with a one-track mind. The way he reverted to season 1 Oliver was impressive, though. For half of the episode I just wanted to shake him really hard and tell him to snap out of it already. Going after Dahrk was not what he needed to be doing at that moment. What he needed to do was to stay with Felicity and support her and Donna at this difficult time. The only good thing that actually came out of this whole mess was that it prompted John to try harder to get through to Andy and it seems like these two are finally moving forward in repairing their strained relationship. Also, can we please have more Lyla? I love her and their chemistry is amazing. Her scenes with Dig are always one of the highlights of the episode for me.
Oliver, on the other hand, only snapped out of killer mode when they got bad news after Felicity’s surgery, which prompted him to get his ass to the hospital and see his fiancée. And, okay, I understand his reasoning that he didn’t want to show up there empty-handed, but it doesn’t justify his actions. He is still an idiot. Felicity – bless her heart – was super understanding. Emily Bett Rickards was absolutely phenomenal in her scenes, especially when she tried to tell him that she would never walk again and that she wouldn’t hold him to their engagement vows in any way. My heart broke for them at that moment, despite his reassurance that they were in this together. Because we know what he is still keeping from her and that it will blow up in their faces at some point and it’s going to be so ugly and painful. Sigh.
This episode also dealt with Thea and how she is struggling to manage her blood lust, especially when they had to face Anarky again. Speaking of which, that guy is completely deranged – like a thousand different shades of crazy – and he seems to be very proud of that fact. Oliver, being a complete idiot, breaks him out of police custody just so he can follow him to where Dahrk might possibly be. When team Arrow gets to the villain’s house, they find Anarky holding Dahrk’s wife and daughter hostage and manage to save them just in time. Everything worked out in the end, but mostly because Andy gave them good info on Dahrk’s whereabouts. Oliver fought against him and very nearly got himself killed, but when Damien found out that the Green Arrow had saved his family, he let him go as a sign of appreciation for his actions.
That said, Dahrk’s wife seems to be in on the whole plan and tells him he should have killed the Green Arrow when he had the chance – even after Oliver had just saved her and her daughter. The fact that she seems to be an ungrateful piece of crap is the understatement of the year.
Also, it is now 100% confirmed that it’s not Felicity in that grave, but it is someone that she cares about very much, if her reaction is anything to go by. As you all know, my money was on Captain Lance. But after last night’s episode, I think it might be Laurel or maybe even Thea. I mean, I know she cares about Captain Lance and all, but to elicit such a strong reaction from her, it has to be someone she really, really cares about.
What do you think? Any theories?
An all new episode of ARROW will air on January 27 at 8/7c on The CW.