Malcolm forfeits Father of the Year
Honestly, a decent father would, upon hearing that the only way to save his daughter’s life is to give up control of the League of Assassins, do whatever he had to do. You get the sense that Malcolm would like to be able to make that sort of sacrifice. Unfortunately, the very thing that made Malcolm a megalomaniac in season 1, bent on destroying the Glades to purify the city, is still very much in play. The leopard has not changed his spots very much.
Or at all.
He forces it to a duel between him and Nyssa, and Oliver takes Nyssa’s place as her “husband”. Oliver doesn’t go for the kill, sadly enough, choosing instead to cut off Malcolm’s hand. It works out for Thea in the end; Oliver takes the ring off the disembodied hand and hands it to Nyssa.
The deal upheld, more or less, Oliver gets the Lotus elixir to cure Thea. Good thing she has a loving older brother because her dad sucks.
In more “Malcolm Sucks” news, he tells Oliver that he knows about his son. Then, at the end of the episode when he’s good and pissed off at Oliver, he tells Damien about the kid. God, Malcolm. Can’t you keep a secret??
Nyssa has an identity crisis
Didn’t anyone tell Nyssa that identity crises are so last season? This whole scheme of hers, to coerce Oliver into helping her dispose of Malcolm Merlyn, was not like the Nyssa we saw last season that had grown and matured. This was not the Nyssa who knew she had to let her great love go and who poisoned the Lazarus Pits. This was a woman who was bent on her ambition, much the same way Malcolm was. It was incredibly frustrating, especially when you saw innocent Star City citizens become casualties in this silly war.
Laurel was able to get through to Nyssa, eventually. Whatever she said must have made an impression somehow, even though I thought the whole scene was rather forgettable. I think it had something to do with not letting her father control her any longer, since Nyssa gave a rather compelling speech about not being a prisoner to her father any longer. Either way, once Nyssa has the ring of Ra’s al Ghul in her possession, she uses her status to disband the League of Assassins and she chucks the ring into the fire, melting it. Well that’s good, I guess? What now for Nyssa?
Felicity’s dad is a creep
I was suspicious of Noah Kuttler the entire episode. Why was he reaching out to Felicity now, after eighteen years? Was it just because she matched wits with him? I couldn’t shake the feeling that he wanted something off of her. What was most heartbreaking to me was that Felicity wanted so badly to believe that her dad was a good man, that he had changed. Her mother was insistent that people do not change, and this man was rotten to the core.
Felicity set up a test for him, to see what he would do. She invited him to Palmer Technologies to tour the Research and Development lab. Noah failed the test spectacularly when he left behind some nasty tech that would, in essence, steal from R&D. Her faith was shattered and she adopted her mother’s belief that people never change. Her bitterness lead her to have her father arrested, right there in the CEO’s office at Palmer Tech. She questioned whether she did the right thing later, but we saw a side of Felicity that I am sure we’ll see again later on this season… one who is hurting, disappointed and betrayed.
It’s not Arrow without a little Olicity
Let’s be honest, there wasn’t a lot of lovin’ this episode. And what lovin’ there was felt tainted by the existence of this lie of Oliver’s about the existence of his son. There were little moments here and there, concern for each other, loving looks at one another, the quiet support they always give one another that caused so many fans to fall in love with this romance years ago before there really was a romance.
But the biggest moment took place at the end of the episode when both Oliver and Felicity expressed their doubts over their actions (him: betraying Malcolm, her: having her father arrested). Oliver asks Felicity to marry him… again. Things are going well right now (tip: that’s usually when things go to shit), it’s a good chance for them to just… get married already. To his credit he seems giddy at the prospect of becoming Mr. Oliver Smoak. Felicity agrees to it and they have a very sweet kiss, involving Felicity’s hands on his face which I just found out tonight is a particular weakness of mine.
Who knew??
Of course, then I thought about how instead of proposing again, Oliver could have taken this moment to tell Felicity about his son. You know, before marrying her, it might be a good idea to clue her in that she’s going to be someone’s step-mother. This aggravates me to no end, you guys. I want to flip multiple tables.
Next weeks episode of Arrow? Things heat up and I might, just might, have a heart attack. Tune in!
