Darhk is a (funny) douche
In a darkened parking garage, Damien approaches Oliver and Felicity and, after taunting them both about the hail of bullets that lead to Felicity being wheelchair-bound, drops the bomb that he has William. He tells Oliver that he expects him to drop out of the mayoral race and William won’t be hurt. Then he saunters off like the hater he is, leaving Felicity confused.
Oliver explains that William is his son and the look on Felicity’s face is the feeling in my heart about this whole stupid mess.
But I have to give it up to Darhk, he is always quick with the quips. He banters all through the “meeting” with Mari as Vixen, delighting at her powers as he easily overpowers her. Damien’s overconfidence is on full display when he moves up the timetable on Oliver dropping out of the race. Of course, as a father, there is no choice and he does so right away. When Damien is slow to release William, the team starts looking for other means to get the kid back.
Vixen is a badass and don’t you forget it
When it becomes clear to Oliver that they need some magic help in getting to Darhk and finding where he’s keeping William, Oliver calls on Mari, otherwise known as Vixen. She’s happy help out an old friend. Her special talent is using a special totem to harness animal spirits, of whom she can borrow certain traits like speed and strength and flight.
She helps the team hunt down William and try to fight Darhk. Then, later, she realizes that Darhk may in fact be using a totem like she is using. If they can get to the totem and destroy it, maybe they can cut off his supply of magic, making him just an ordinary man.
The plan works pretty good and it’s unbelievably satisfying to watch Oliver deliver a deserved beatdown on Damien after Vixen smashes the totem using all her animal powers. The cops scoop up Darhk and redistribute William to his mother and Vixen saunters out of town, the satisfaction of a job well done resting on her shoulders. I hope we see her again.
Malcolm Merlyn is the wooooooooorst
This feels like a common theme with Malcolm these days. He lurks around Thea’s house, ostensibly to wait for her to come home. Thea confronts him right away about how easily he was willing to give her up in preference of running the League of Assassins. Malcolm, predictably, insists he did nothing wrong and that he was doing this for them.
She asks him if he had any hand in revealing William’s existence to Darhk. Malcolm neatly sidesteps the questions but essentially lies right to her face, leading her to believe that he would never do such a reprehensible thing.
Of course when it’s revealed that not only did he tell Darhk about William, he’s the one who snatched the kid in the first place, Thea lays into him. Malcolm rages at her, insisting that he’s saved her life, he’s protected, he’s made her a warrior. Thea isn’t willing to hear any more of the crap from him anymore, thankfully recognizing that it is crap.
William finally picks the right hero
Despite being the most gullible child ever in the history of children to just let a one handed dude walk off with him from his own bedroom, William finally shows some sense this episode. When he sees Team Arrow come to rescue him, he yells at Damien not to hurt the Green Arrow, which really seems to mean something to Oliver from behind his mask.
Then, later, William rejects his favorite Flash action figure, telling his mother he wants a Green Arrow action figure instead. Oliver overhears this is and is visibly pleased. As am I. Easily the cutest moment of the episode.
Oliver lets go
Despite urging from Diggle to keep his child close, that this is the best way to keep him safe, Oliver instead chooses to listen to the advice Mari gave him. She tells him about how her parents gave her up to foster care when she was little, to save her from the dark sort of life she would have had to lead in their care. They gave her the gift of a childhood and she’s grateful for that. She believes Oliver should do the same for William.
Which is what he does. Oliver sends William and Samantha off, to someplace he doesn’t even know where it is. He records a message to William, not to be seen until the boy turns 18, telling him that he is his father and the Green Arrow and why he chose to stay out of his life all this time. It’s a very tearful moment, clearly difficult for Oliver to step away from something he wants badly. Fatherhood.
Felicity takes back her agency
We open the episode on a sweet little scene of Oliver assisting Felicity at her first physical therapy appointment after having Curtis’ bio-stimulant implant inserted in her spine. He gives her all the right encouragement, even when her early attempts to take a step fail. And Curtis’ husband, who is her physical therapist, tells her that it’s okay to give it time and not rush the healing. That feels like foreshadowing.
The knowledge that Oliver has a child and has been keeping this information from her comes as a huge blow to Felicity. She puts aside her feelings, mostly, to help Oliver locate and bring his son home safely. But all through the episode, there is a cloud hanging over her. Despite Samantha trying to tell her to go easy on Oliver, that it wasn’t his fault he didn’t tell her about William, Felicity clearly believes Oliver could have and should have told her the truth. Especially when it becomes clear that Thea, Barry and Malcolm all knew about William before she did.
Just like in episode 4×08 of Arrow, Felicity makes it clear to Oliver that she doesn’t care that he has a kid, only that he kept it from her. At the end of the episode, she goes to him and removes her wedding ring, placing it on the table. She tells him that she can’t do this, that Oliver doesn’t know what it is to be a partner. He tries to assure her that he’s trying. Heartbroken, Felicity starts moving, getting slowly to her feet. Oliver watches in amazement. Then, he realizes: she’s walking out on him. The last shot of the episode is of the loft door, closing behind her, leaving Oliver alone.
Now what? We have a three week hiatus where there are no new Arrow episodes. When we return, Cupid will be back, Darhk will be in the courtroom and… there’s a wedding? What the actual heck??
