It’s not Arrow without bad guys
Shadowspire totally sounds like an evil organization, doesn’t it? Diggle and Lyla are out on a date when they get interrupted by an ARGUS agent. Lyla reminds him that she’s not with ARGUS anymore and the guy says that’s why he can trust her. Before he can get out much more exposition though, he’s shot and kidnapped by some dudes in a van. Oh, and Dig is shot. Great date night, guys!
Andy offers to help, since he knows how Shadowspire operates. Dig doesn’t have much choice but to take him up on it. However, the mission to retrieve more ARGUS agents that were nabbed goes bad and Dig and Oliver are nearly captured when Felicity makes a flub on her end.
The organization infiltrates ARGUS eventually, taking Lyla and Amanda hostage while Andy and Dig watch on helplessly from the cellroom. The calvary shows up in the form of Oliver, Thea and Laurel and they work as a team to save their friends; but not before Joiner shoots Amanda Waller in the head.
Coming to grips
Felicity’s brave face is breaking down as the reality of being paralyzed sinks in weeks after her surgery. She doubts herself and her skills and tells Oliver as much, who brushes off her concerns. He’s confident her superpower is her brain and that she still has full use of it. However, Felicity calls that into question when she starts hallucinating her goth self from her college days.
The hallucination goads her throughout the episode, playing into her doubts and fears. She makes a slip up while helping the team remotely from her laptop that throws her doubts into even harsher contrast. The hallucination even causes Felicity to yell at Oliver at one point when she’s pulled in too many directions. She realizes that she needs to get a grip.
Deciding to embrace her choices and who she is now, Felicity ditches the psychotropic medication and the hallucination and embraces her identity. She arrives at the Arrow lair (courtesy of Curtis, her chauffeur), hair in a ponytail and ready to get to work. Oliver is thrilled to see her stepping back into her domain and embracing her life again. During their operation to help Diggle and Lyla over at Argus, Oliver gives her a codename: Overwatch. It fits her.
Bro Feels
We get a really good glimpse of John and Andy Diggle’s relationship, something that Arrow fans have been clamoring for all season long. Between the flashbacks to their time serving together in Afghanistan and working together to stop Shadowspire from taking over ARGUS, their brotherly bond is evident. While there’s definitely issues between them, namely that Diggle wants to fix the world and Andy accepts that it’s broken and is out to save himself, there’s also a bond there.
The end of the episode gives us a sweet scene where Andy is invited back to Dig’s apartment and there, he meets baby Sara for the first time. It’s an almost unbearably sweet scene.
Did you say… Olicity?
I did, didn’t I? They were sweet as ever this episode. Oliver is the epitome of a supportive boyfriend. When Felicity is freaking out, he gives her the space she needs and ends up venting to Laurel about his troubles. She gives him some good advice about not taking on too much guilt for things he didn’t cause and basically gives Olicity her blessing. Why is the show tying up all of Laurel’s loose ends?
Later, during a quiet moment in the loft bedroom, Felicity has Oliver bring her a box with some of her old things in it. She shows him the picture of herself in full goth regalia. This is a moment I’ve waited for since we first saw Felicity’s goth self last season so I might have squealed loud enough to wake my dogs.
They both admit they’ve grown from who they used to be. And Oliver vows to help Felicity find a way for her to walk again. Because they’ve seen amazing and miraculous things happen all around them and he’s not ready to give up. His love and assurance is a palpable thing. It’s a lovely scene, showing Arrow’s most iconic couple reconnecting at the end of a long day. I love scenes like this. They remind me why I love this show.
