Laurel gets an offer she can’t refuse
At her victory rally, the new mayor Lady MacDarhk greets Laurel with a suitable amount of ice and shade given she’s prosecuting her husband. She also… offers her a job? Ruvè wants Laurel to be the new District Attorney for Star City (let’s ignore that these positions are usually won by election). And Laurel is tempted.
She’s wanted to be a District Attorney for years. But can she be both the Black Canary and a DA? Quentin advises her to turn the job down. She does good work as the Black Canary and he’s proud of her for what she’s doing. Oliver, on the other hand, urges her to take the job. The city needs her more as a DA than it does as the Black Canary. Laurel seems ready to hang up the mask but decides to join the team on one last mission.
He’s not invited to Christmas
Thea’s fractured relationship with Malcolm only grew more fractured this episode, with Thea locked in mortal combat with her father not once but twice. Each time, he bests her though Thea does get in some good shots. He taunts her that she will never be able to beat him which kind of sounds like famous last words to me. Methinks we’ll see some Thea kicking some Merlyn ass before the end of this season. The question remains: can she kill her own father?
Laurel’s final mission
This was the meat of the episode. Besides struggling over the decision whether or not to take the DA job or not, the foreshadowing regarding her imminent death was heavy all throughout the episode. Darhk reminded Laurel (and us) that he had promised Quentin he would kill his daughter if he fell out of line. The moment itself was telegraphed out so far that when it finally happened it felt more like “there it is” and less like “I can’t believe it!”.
We got some good fight scenes in the lair when Merlyn showed up to take the idol. Thea and Laurel weren’t about to let the idol go without a fight but it was two ex-League assassins and one Malcolm Merlyn against two and they ended up just slightly outmatched. But the fight choreography was tight, so shoutout to James Bamford, the show’s stunt director. He’s a magic worker.
Darhk worked his charming mojo in prison, with the help of his new buddy Murmur, to stage a prison riot. Guards were shanked and taken hostage and the only ones willing to breach the prison to try to take care of business and get Darhk back in custody. Unfortunately, this was the plan all along and Darhk gets the upper hand quickly and in devastating fashion. He’s figured out all their secret identities which is bad news all around but especially for Laurel. He actually takes one of Oliver’s arrows and uses that to impale Laurel, after reminding her of the promise he made her father.
Oliver races her to the hospital and she goes into surgery. The team gathers around nervously and is relieved when the doctor tells them that she will be okay and wants to see her friends. But was that a lie?
Her last talk with Oliver was very touching and needed to finally bring closure to their tumultuous relationship. She told Oliver that she was glad he had Felicity in his life and that she hopes that things will work out for them. She knows that she’s not the love of Oliver’s life, that is certainly Felicity, but that he’s the love of hers.
After asking Oliver to promise her something (which we do not get to hear what it is and my mind is racing with possibilities), she begins to seize. The doctors try to save her but she is pronounced dead at 11:59. The team is grief stricken and Quentin arrives a moment too late, taking one look at Oliver’s face and realizing what has happened. He collapses to the floor in grief.
Diggle vs. Diggle
One of the big stories this episode had to do with the relationship between John and Andy Diggle. It’s been a roller coaster ride this season, with Dig going from mourning the loss of his brother for the last seven years to outrage that his brother was alive and working for Darhk, to reconciliation and welcome back into his family to… what we saw tonight.
The big question was: is Andy a double agent for HIVE? Or for Team Arrow? Dig has all the faith in the world in his brother, always seeing things in black and white and having a strict sense of morality. Oliver, on the other hand, who lives in shades of grey, was instantly suspicious. Andy’s information about the missile shipment seemed perfectly timed so Merlyn could steal the idol from the lair while they were gone. The raid on Merlyn’s warehouse? A trap. When Oliver catches Andy searching Diggle’s apartment, he believes his suspicions confirmed.
Andy insists he’s looking for bugs planted by HIVE but Oliver believes he’s looking for the missing piece of the idol that Dig told him had hidden himself. Dig interrupts this tense moment as Oliver is about to torture information on Darhk’s plan out of Andy and is furious with Oliver. Back at the lair, the two have a falling out where Oliver says that he doesn’t believe Andy can change because he hasn’t been able to change. Diggle throws Felicity leaving Oliver in his face, claiming that his self-pity and self-righteousness were part of what made her break up with him.
Diggle believed in his brother, clear up until the moment that Andy’s true betrayal was revealed. During the confrontation at Iron Heights, Andy gives over the missing piece of the idol. Diggle is distraught. His guilt is even heavier once Darhk stabs Laurel. It hurts me to see Diggle hurting like this but… maybe he should have trusted Oliver’s judgement on this one. It’s clear to see that Dig’s grief and guilt are going to drive him for vengeance going forward.
Was there Olicity in this ep??
Yes. Yes, there was. Listen folks, I can sniff out Olicity in the most dire of situations and this was no different. Despite a scene involving a heart-to-heart between Felicity and Curtis being cut (what was it about? was it about Oliver??), we still mention of Felicity and she even showed up at the hospital at the very end. It was far too little Felicity in an episode for my tastes, but I’ll take what I got.
It was clear that Oliver was still feeling the absence of Felicity, not just from his domestic life but from Team Life. And Diggle brought up the reason why Felicity left Oliver during his argument with Oliver, telling him that he was stuck and unwilling to evolve for her. I happen to agree.
When Felicity arrived at the hospital, not a word was spoken, she just walked right into Oliver’s arms, engulfing him in a tight hug that conveyed her sympathy and upset with what was happening. The way Oliver’s eyes slid shut as he held her close told me that he needed this hug probably more than he’d ever needed a hug before in his life. It’s nice that even while they’re still on the outs with each other that they still have this connection.
And that’s it for Arrow, until April 27th when the show returns with episode 4×19, “Canary Cry”. The team will lay their friend to rest and pay their last respects. Maybe it’s good that we have three weeks to gear up for more sadness, huh? In the meantime… how do you feel about the events in this episode? How do you feel about the death of Laurel Lance? Let me know in the comments below.
