Arrow Recap: Embracing Your Destiny

Oliver’s absences continued to get noticed in this week’s Arrow as he embarked on his mission to clean up the streets of Starling City.

Only One Queen Family Miracle.  Oliver headed to the courthouse with his mother, Walter and Tommy to get his death-in-abstentia status revoked. That went successfully, but while his family may have been thrilled to see Oliver return last week, they’re singing a different tune right now.  At least Thea is.  She’s upset that Oliver is so disassociated from the family, avoiding her and their mother, as well as refusing to answer her questions about what the island was like.  So she continued to rebel, despite Oliver’s insistence that this type of life is not what their father would have wanted for her.  Meanwhile, Oliver’s solitary excursions were starting to grab notice.  After he ditched Diggle yet another time, his mother was desperate to know where he’s going. When he lied and said he’s been seeing women, she insisted that he stick with his bodyguard.  Later, Oliver apologized to his sister, explaining that he simply wasn’t ready to talk about the island yet.  She led him to the headstones the family laid out for Robert and Oliver, again tried to convince him that she suffered as well, and then told him that he needed to let someone in.

Laurel’s New Case.  Laurel’s newest case involved prosecuting Martin Somers, who just so happened to be on Oliver’s list and had strong ties to drug smugglers and an Asian triad.  When Laurel’s case wasn’t going well, the Arrow decided to step in.  Unfortunately, Somers wasn’t intimidated that easily, leading Detective Lance to force police protection on his daughter.  Which was a good idea because Somers called on the assistance of China White, his triad contact.  Her plan?  To kill Laurel.

A Grudging Reunion.  After Thea insisted that Oliver let someone in, he reached out to Laurel and tried to apologize for pushing her away.  He explained that Moira wanted him to take over the company, but he didn’t want to do it because he had other plans.  Laurel also explained that her father blamed himself more than Oliver for Sara’s death, disappointed that he didn’t get along well enough with his daughter to find out about the boat trip before she went.  But the heart-to-heart was interrupted by the arrival of China White and some of her triad goons.  Fortunately, Diggle arrived on the scene and dispatched two of the men while China escaped.  But the attack convinced the detective that Oliver was bad luck and he ordered him to stay away from Laurel.

Running Scared.  After China’s botched hit on Laurel, Somers decided to flee town, but the Arrow targeted him again for coming after Laurel.  A showdown ensued on the docks, with the Arrow systematically taking down all of Somers’ goons…all except China White.  The police soon arrived and Detective Lance nearly caught the Arrow, but Oliver was able to escape in time, leaving behind a recorded confession from Somers.  Later, at the dedication of a new Queen Consolidated building, Oliver showed up pretending to be drunk and bonce again publicly tarnished his reputation, convincing Walter and Moira that he wasn’t fit to run the company and giving himself only one task right now: continue cleaning up the streets.

Flashing Back.  This week’s flashbacks showed us Oliver’s arrival to the island, as well as his initial time there. But, curiously, after Oliver buried his father he was attacked by…another Arrow?!

The Plot Thickens.  While it seemed like Moira was an evil mastermind at the end of last week’s pilot, she actually met someone at the end of this episode to insist that Oliver knows noting about the yacht being sabotaged or anything that could hurt her and her mysterious co-conspirator.  This mystery man also had a symbol that was showed up earlier in Robert’s book.

Other Thoughts

-Did I miss the part in the pilot where Oliver’s father said that their family’s wealth was built on the suffering of other people like Oliver said at the beginning of the episode?  Because all I remember from last week was his dad saying he failed the city.

-I just can’t deal with Oliver saying “Mr. X, you failed this city”.  Please tell me he’s not going to say it every single time he takes down a bad guy on the list.

-Oliver’s first few hours on the island were sad to watch, particularly when he kept trying to get the seagulls away from his father’s body.

-Laurel literally running into Oliver’s arms after the initial China attack was ten kinds of ridiculous.

-We know that someone is going to learn Oliver’s secret pretty soon and I’m thinking it might be Diggle.  He was suspicious after Oliver helped him out with the China attack and while Oliver tried to brush it off, I don’t think Diggle is dissuaded that easily.  Diggle knowing makes the most sense in terms of Oliver being allowed to continue his plan unencumbered, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the first one to find out.