This created an interesting yet under utilised parallel with the flashbacks as both stories were, at least for this week's episode, set in Russia 5 years apart. With 2012 Oliver being so close to becoming The Hood of from season 1, I was hoping for a closer connection but instead we were treated to Ollie tracking down and executing a major drug dealer, crossing his name of “the list.”
In 2017 however, things were much more interesting. Upon arriving at the Russian airport, Oliver received a punch to the face and a warning to leave from his supposed friend and Bratva contact Anatoly (actor David Nykl once again being a hidden gem of this season). Ignoring the warning, Oliver and his team set up in an old ARGUS safe house and set about finding the rogue General.
Tracing a cell phone lead the team into a shootout with Walker's men, in a church no less, resulting in the capture of one of them. Oliver and Diggle argued over the best way to get the General's location out of the man, Diggle crossing the line out of frustration and beating the soldier into unconsciousness.
Felicity crossed her own line as well when, backed up by Curtis and Rory, she threatened a man she had leverage on thanks to the massive data cache the hacker group gave her last week, allowing him to believe his family's lives were on the line if the Kremlin ever found out about his connection with terrorist activity. Rory even called her on it, saying that blackmailing and threatening people was a line they as the good guys should never cross. Felicity fired back with how maybe this was how she could even the playing field and make a true difference. Whichever side of the argument you come down on though, the slow descent of Felicity into a possible direct conflict with her own team is the most interesting slow burn ARROW has ever produced. Could one half of the show's number one 'ship, to use a wrestling term, turn heel on her team? Could Felicity actually be the real villain of Season 5?
To avoid his friends crossing any more lines, Oliver carried out a favour for Anatoly, beating up and threatening some business rival to the Bratva's operations, breaking the poor guy's fingers, in exchange for Anatoly using his contacts to get a location for the sale of the stolen nuke.
All through this, it has to be noted, that new Canary Dinah executed herself brilliantly, especially since her first week in the job wasn't taking on street level thugs but international arms dealers, rogue military types and terrorists. Diggle dead panning her comments about the situation with reference to when the team took on actual aliens was a touch of sweet brilliance, a nod to how far ARROW has come since it started as a grounded and gritty crime fighting show.
Back in Star City, Rene of all people, was left behind to oversee Quentin in his position as Deputy Mayor, seeing as everyone was a little hesitant what with him just coming out of rehab and all. The thrust of their sub-plot was Rene prepping Quentin for his interview with Oliver's new squeeze Susan, where she would undoubtedly ask him hard-hitting and deeply personal questions. Taking them as a personal attack, Quentin threw Rene out before relenting and agreeing to sit down and try again. Once again Paul Blackthorne showed he's the MVP of ARROW, displaying the simultaneous vulnerability and strength in the man who's ashamed of and acknowledging his own weaknesses. Rene's quest to from yet another bromance has also convinced me Rick Gonzalez is the dark horse to be my favourite character this season.
Back in Mother Russia, with General Walker's location confirmed and backed up by a group of Bratva soldiers, Team Arrow attempted to stop the sale of the nuke and capture the man who tried to ruin Diggle's life. A note here - I love it when Team Arrow goes covert, eschewing their costumes for plain tactical gear. Not for any aesthetic reason, but for the implication that they cannot get caught or they, their work, their lives, legacy and even loved one could be comprised. Diggle got the drop on the General and unmasked himself, possibly out of ego, to let him know who had caught him. The General then goaded Diggle into shooting him, pointing out he still had powerful friends back home and quite frankly, Diggle's family would be made to pay. Thankfully Diggle didn't succumb to his darker impulses to put a bullet in the son of a bitch and instead took him in to hand over to ARGUS.
Locating the bomb, the team discovered it had a failsafe, designed to go off in mere minutes if tampered with. Felicity, having sworn to herself to never let another Havenrock happen again, sought to find a way to get the bomb away from as many people as possible, before Ragman Rory Regan pointed out they didn't have time. Instead, using the power of his magic rags, which saved him from the destruction of Havenrock, he would try to smother the bomb as it went off. The fact that surviving a bomb landing on your home town and containing a nuclear blast that's right in front of you are very different, it was kind of beautiful that the last son of Havenrock was the one to try and prevent the same fate happening to others. With the only thing he was sure of being his faith, Rory made the sacrifice play and succeeded in containing the blast inside a hangar whilst the others were outside. For the briefest of moments I thought ARROW had killed Rory off, turned him to ash as he saved the lives of countless others (Felicity said the bomb's yield would cover 50 miles). Instead Rory survived, but at a price. Back in US soil, Rory revealed that the blast had essentially neutralised his magic rags, leaving him powerless. Deciding without them he was just a liability, Rory made the choice to leave the team, at least for now. Will he be back? I hope so. I now feel that Rory, always a voice of simultaneous reason and faith, was under appreciated, especially by myself. And his powers even if silly and never fully explained, were pretty cool.
Once home, Oliver hit up Susan for a booty call, seemingly ready to take his relationship with her to the next level. There was just one problem. Susan's security specialist contact confirmed with his Russian sources that Oliver Queen was connected to the Bratva and around the same time as the emergence of a mysterious hooded archer vigilante to boot. What are the odds Oliver Queen and the Green Arrow were in Russia at the same time, he asked? Very good, Susan opined, If Oliver Queen IS the Green Arrow.
Written by Nick Whitney, ARROW Beat Writer -- Click to read Nick's posts
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