Chasing down leads lead Team Arrow to an old building owned by Oliver’s father, literally named after Oliver, where Prometheus laid a trap for them. But crucially they found an old lawyer friend that connected Robert Queen with Justin Claybourne, Prometheus’s father, who when spoken to, revealed Prometheus had found him some time ago, proving once again that Adrian Chase really is 10 steps ahead. Specifically he had given the lawyer a memory stick with footage of Robert Queen knocking his victim into liquid concrete 15 years ago, proving that even if it were an accident as Oliver tried to tell himself, Robert Queen was responsible for the death of this man and was guilty of covering it up after.
Thea made a brief return this week, visiting from wherever she went to get her head right. Frankly her return felt forced, as she was obviously only there because Queen family history was being dragged up with the writers feeling it necessary she be present. The fact that I can’t even remember how long she’s been gone for and that I’ve felt almost no impact from her absence goes to show just how important, or not, some characters are to ARROW. Even legacy characters related to the main hero.
Feeling that he finally needed to get out from his father’s shadow ultimately ended up being Oliver’s secret weapon, as he finally re-donned the Green Arrow costume this week after weeks of running around in a generic black outfit and mask. It seemed rising above what his father thought of or wanted for him gave Oliver the strength he needed against Prometheus as the meeting with the old lawyer gave Oliver the one last boon he needed to defeat Chase. Turns out before he died, or more accurately, was killed by the Hood, Justin Claybourne planned to disown and disinherit his illegitimate son Simon Morrison. Not because he was a bastard, but because he had doubts about the state of his mental health. Upon hearing this, Prometheus was undone, somewhat anticlimactically, as it seemed everything he had planned was in aid of winning the favour of a father who couldn’t possibly ever return anything, mostly due to his being dead and all.
As a sort of villain of the week, Cody Rhodes/Runnels returned as Derek Sampson, fresh on the streets after his case, which had been prosecuted by Chase, was overturned. Straight back into his old ways, the super strong and unfeeling Sampson got his old gang together in the business of stealing and dealing in illegal chemicals, though this time, with a purpose. Not just content with ruining the memory of Olive’s father, Prometheus had planned to finish what his father had started, creating a weaponised version of Tuberculosis in aerosol form to unleash across the city, with Sampson doing the heavy lifting with regard to putting it all together. Thankfully Team Arrow were on hand to stop Sampson and his goons and the whole thing was shut down, with Prometheus being thrown in an ARGUS cell, leaving me very curious as to what ARROW has planned for its last 2 episodes. Perhaps this is all part of his plan?
In the flashbacks, Oliver finally made his way back to Lian Yu, instructing Anatoly in what he needed to do to ensure Oliver’s “rescue” looked as legitimate as possible. Giving himself 48 hours on the island to make preparations before returning to what was back then called Starling City, Oliver instead found himself ambushed by the not completely dead and slightly Frankensteinian Kovar, and some of his men. It’s going to be fun watching this one come down to the wire as Oliver rescue window draws close, ticking clock and all.
But in my favourite ongoing side plot, we were left somewhat broken hearted as Rene, convinced he needed to go to court to get his daughter back, no-showed the hearing out of fear, cowardice, or maybe shame. Quentin was left looking into the eyes of a little girl who just had her heart broken, believing that her daddy didn’t want her. And after Quentin, a man who has lost his daughters more time than he actually has daughters, such is the history of this show, tried to convince Rene how important it was he be there for his little girl, Rene had better have a decent excuse for bailing on her.
Written by Nick Whitney, ARROW Beat Writer -- Click to read Nick's posts
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