This week’s episode of Arrow had Diggle take center stage as the hero when Lyla, the ARGUS agent that Diggle had been working with to track down Deadshot, disappeared off the map. The show starts with Diggle being captured by unknown assailants who end up being ARGUS and guess who shows up for her first appearance, Amanda Waller (Cynthia Addai-Robinson). I am excited to see what her appearance on the show will bring down the road, perhaps a little Secret Six? Anyways Lyla has gone missing and ARGUS can’t go in themselves without causing an international incident, so Waller reveals she knows exactly what Diggle and Oliver are doing on a nightly basis, good ‘ol big brother. Lyla, who we find out was actually Diggle’s wife at one point, broke into a Russian prison called the gulag to extract Deadshot on behalf of Diggle. The problem is she got captured herself and now is being held there. So the mission is straight forward, go in and save Lyla. Luckily Oliver and company can make the excuse that they will be visiting the Moscow branch of Queen Consolidated, but of course Oliver’s business partner Isabel Rochev finds out and decides that she is going to tag along.

CW Arrow Amanda Waller

The episode is a lot of fun and we get to see the return of Deadshot, who Diggle actually has to team up with and trust to help him find Lyla and get out of the prison. We do find out that Diggle’s brother was actually Deadshot’s target and that H.I.V.E. was responsible for the contract. What a tangled web we weave. H.I.V.E. has a deep history in DC Comics and I am really looking forward to seeing how they are interpreted in the Arrow world. Another crazy thing that happened this week is Oliver and Isabel getting drunk and hooking up! Something that I would not have expect so soon, but definitely came about in an interesting, emotion sharing way, but unfortunately really hurt Felicity who ends up truly revealing how she feels about Oliver to him. Oliver gives her the old “in my line of work it’s not good to get involved with someone I could truly care about line” to which Felicity tells him he could still do better. While i agree with the whole protect the ones you love superhero thing, I love Felicity’s character and I wonder how long it will take for them to hook up. Gotta love the CW side of these shows, and speaking of that Thea and Roy almost breakup thanks to Moira’s lawyer but Moira puts an end to that telling her daughter to do what she wants to do and that Thea dating a “criminal” will not affect her case. Whatever, I really don’t like this side of the story, but I am willing to deal with it because this show is so solid.

Keep Your Enemies Closer

The flashbacks are really messed up this week, we realize that Sarah has been on the ship with Ivo for a good year now and they trust her. What they don’t know is that Oliver and her know each other. The crew of the AMAZO are lead to believe that Oliver’s friends are dead, but Sarah tricks Oliver into contacting them and we realize that something is really wrong with this situation. At least we know Shado and Slade are alive still, though Slade is in really rough shape. At least Sarah saves Ollie’s life by convincing Ivo that he is still worth keeping alive, and Ivo agrees as he tells Ollie that he will lead them to the graves. I can’t wait to get back on the island.

Arrow-Season-2-Episode-6-Video-Preview-Keep-Your-Enemies-Closer

Great pacing this week, I thought maybe the show would slow down a little after Black Canary left but the best thing about this show is the support cast and the fact that they can carry their own episodes. I am really looking forward to the next few weeks leading up to the introduction of Barry Allen. Did you notice the news coverage during the show about the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator? Looks like they are doing a little foreshadowing in anticipation of The Flash!  I also really like how this show connects its story lines and characters together and doesn’t leave anything open or the fans asking too many questions. For example the Russian prisoner that Ollie meets on the AMAZO ends up helping him when team Ollie has to go rescue Lyla. What I live is that this show builds upon itself in a really intelligent way and I am really hoping that it stays strong for years and that WB, as rumored, decides to tie it into the overall DC Cinematic Universe. Get ready for the return of Count Vertigo next week and from the promo it looks like Brother Blood will be showing up again! Hey did anyone else hear Ivo talking about “Miracle”? I believe he did and I wonder how that will tie into what’s currently happening in Starling City?!

Arrow S2E7 “State V Queen”

Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8pmEST on the CW!

Stay tooned 😛

~CynicNerd

Arrow Season 2 Poster CW