[SPOILER ALERT! Careful for spoilers from the episode!]
Disclaimer: I'm writig this review with a bad bout of fever, so in case there are much more typos and the storytelling is less enthralling or complete than usual, please bear wth me.
Talk about a thriller! After the last debacle of an episode, I went into this very sceptical. In fact, when it began, I was less than impressed. Team Arrow against Dinah and the SCPD again? We've hashed that arc a little too many times, don't you think? However, as the story progressed, the question 'What is the Truth?!' took over so completely one could barely look away. At first, I believed wholeheartedly that no member of Team Arrow could have killed the two guards whose bodies were found at the metro station. However, as the story progressed, it seemed more likely than ever that one of them was being less than honest. Why else make a big production out of it?
The return of Roy harper was also executed successfully. It didn't feel as though he was thrown in as a fan service, but as an essential part of the story, being called back in from his still ongoing mission with Thea and Nyssa to find and destroy Lazarus pits. The team needed someone with the vigilante level of skill, and since their mark had archer and would be watching for their DNA at the company, they called someone from the outside. Not Thea because enough family drama, right? Smoothly done.
Anyways, the whole team was being questioned in the precinct by Dinah and her deputy. A little too harshly, if you ask me. I mean, Dinah has been on good terms with and a full part of Team Arrow all this season. What gives? Then we get a reason: apparently, she wasn't informed about the op and the involvement of Roy Harper, who hasn't really been deputized like all the rest. Also, the security feed from that night had been deleted from that room--a very Felicity-like thing to have happened. But did that mean that Dinah would believe any of them capable of cold-blooded murder? As we walk through the events through the questions, answers and memories of each member of the team though, something seems off. Every one was alone at a certain point in time. Which means any of them could have killed the guards. I started wondering--was Vertigo or some other hallucinogen involved? Wouldn't put it past Emiko.
The team were successful in stopping the widespread dissemination of the super bacteria the Knight Circle had procured. This feat was not enough for the duputy though. And who can blame him? THose were his men who were killed. Besides, Mayor Pollard is involved and she can be a real b*tch. To answer why the whole knight circle threat wasn't brought to them in the first place, Oliver reveals that the new green arrow was his half sister and she was at the scene. They don't reveal she is leader of the Knight Circle though, something René discovered during the episode. He didn't even tell the rest of the team, the lovesick idiot! Could he have killed the guards to help her out? Doesn't seem like René but...? Or were teh cops dirty? Unlikely. Team Arrow would have revealed that immediately.
But then, After rounds and rounds of questioning, it turns out that Felicity was in the switch room, Roy had been knocked unconscious which was quite fishy considering the Knight Circle usually finished their work, Diggle came in after the act, where he found René standing over the bodies with the weapons in his hands and no gloves, but René had also come in after the act, where he found Oliver standing over the bodies with the weapons, but with gloves. And finally, Oliver reveals the truth: he ahd walked in on Emiko bludgeoning them to death. Turns out he had been protecting his sister all the while. Oh, Oliver! Mayor Pollard buys it, and the new Green Arrow, Emiko Queen, is declared wanted for cop killing.
But... that doesn't ring true either, considering the current relationship the two half siblings have. So what gives?
Then, while they meet in the bunker alongside Dinah, the truth is revealed. Yes, most of what they had revealed was correct, but they had left out some key details. First, Dinah had been in on the op and had even been on scene as Black Canary. Gasp! Could it have been her? Did she lose control? BUt... that doesn't sound like Dinah either. She was paired with Oliver when the murders took place, so she's out. Also, René had informed the team about Emiko's position with the Knight Circle so he wasn't duplicitous. The key fact therefore, lay in Roy. He had been knocked unconscious, yes, but had gotten up a second later with a very familiar bloodlust in his eyes. As he went on, the guards accousted him, and not knowing him as part of the new Vigilante taskforce, tried to arrest him. And that was where everything turned ugly. Oliver came in to see the murderer in the act... but it was a Roy lost beyond reason. But, if one member of the team goes down, they all go down, leaving Emiko to complete her mission unhindered. They have to protect him. Besides, Oliver already knows what had happened: Roy had died and been brought back with one of the Lazarus pits. Unfortunately, what had worked to remove it form Thea hadn't worked on him, though so far he had been able to control it. This was the first time it had overtaken him so completely.
Anyway, the mission isn't eneded yet. Emiko and the Knight Circle are still at large and they have to stop them. Felicity manages to track Emiko's DNA to an abandoned building which they assume must be her headquaters. They hurry there, but it's a trap. Emiko had rigged the place with bombs. Worse still, it had been her who had taken the footage, which was now on its way to the deputy. What does she want? To smash Olivers legacy and take away all he held dear. This is another over-hashed villian reason, but before I could be done rolling my eyes, the bombs went off... and Oliver is crushed between two boulders, unconscious... or dead.
Now I'm looking forward to the next episode! Only three left until the season finale... hope they are good!
Coming up next: My review of The 100 season 6 premiere! Hint: it was GREAT!
