So, in case you missed it, last week ended with Digg waking up to find out that the selfish party boy he is protecting is actually the Green Arrow. And it's okay if you did miss it, because they lead this episode with replaying that scene.
Digg doesn't dig the news. His initial reaction is to try and knock Oliver on his ass. When that doesn't work, he calls Oliver nasty names like "killer" and "criminal." Oliver was hoping for, I think, something like "heroic" or even "noble."
He brushes aside Digg's little jibes and offers him the job as official Green Arrow sidekick. Digg tells him he's nutso and bails.
Oliver makes a sad face and trudges home. But his verbal lashing isn't over yet because for no reason at all Laurel is waiting for him. She reads him the riot act over how irresponsible he is and how everyone was worried and how global warming will kill us all and I couldn't even figure out what she was bitching about.
Only Thea offers Oliver any comfort. He looks so sad and mopey after being rejected by Digg (and maybe Laurel, but I doubt it since who cares what she thinks). He needs a hug. Or maybe a homicide target.
Oh, Magical Ninja Island flashback happens and we learn that Oliver had to kill a bird to keep himself from starving. I guess it's a good thing he wasn't a vegetarian!
Anyway, back to the actual story. There's a guy on death row named Peter Declan who says he's innocent. His wife, who he allegedly killed, worked for Jason Brodeur and Mr. Brodeur is on the List of Doom.
Oliver enlists Laurel's help in this, which is good. Her best friend was worried Laurel wasn't getting out enough. She actually suggested that Laurel hook up with a cute, single mugger.
Oliver goes to see Digg, who broke up with him over the whole Green Arrow thing. He just couldn't accept that sometimes, you really just need to dress up in leather and go out and kill people.
Oliver wants to get back together — that is, he wants Diggs to team up with him. Digg rejects him yet again, hurting poor Ollie's feelings all over again. You're mean, Digg. I bet you kick puppies when you think no one is looking.
Laurel has a little chat with her bestie, Joanna, and tells her that she has met an old soul, a real down to earth guy who just happens to run around in a leather costume, killing and generally being whacky. Joanna is all, "Uh, you know when I said you should date a mugger I was kidding, right?"
The plot to save Declan from execution proceeds, resulting in the recovery of a file that proves someone else had motive to kill Declan's wife. The judge's reaction to this new evidence is along the lines of, "bitch, please."
Inept Inspector Lance discovers that Laurel is working with the Green Arrow and he is not really happy, to put it mildly. He rants about how dangerous and rotten and downright unsportsmanlike the Green Arrow is. Laurel shoots back with a comment about how maybe Starling City wouldn't need a vigilante if the police did their job.
Score one for Laurel.
Since nothing else is working, Oliver decides to squeeze Bodeur for a confession. And Bodeur, who had been crying like a toddler who'd had his Halloween candy taken from him just moments before when Laurel threatened him, got all in the Green Arrow's face about how he wouldn't dare kill him.
It didn't seem to occur to him that Oliver could do something besides kill him. Oliver helpfully reminds him.
All this is a set up so Oliver can find out that a hit has been put out on Laurel, Declan and her little dog Toto. A prison riot has been set into motion. And I find myself hoping that Laurel dies to become the new inspiration for more Green Arrow badass-ness. Does that make me a bad person?
Now, I know bringing up believability in a show about a guy running around the city in a costume, shooting people with arrows, is a questionable path to take. However, I just can't let Oliver's breaching a maximum security prison like he was walking into a shopping mall go by without comment. I mean, really show? And no one notices or cares that there's a guard running around with a ski mask?
Okay, I'm back. As the prison riot gets underway, Laurel abandons any hope of looking like she has a brain in her head by leaving the semi-secure room she is in with Declan and heading off into the chaotic hallways.
Unsurprisingly, she is caught and nearly killed. And I really hope this damsel in distress routine doesn't become a staple. I want to see the daughter of a cop show she has some game, like she did in the last episode.
Well, Oliver saves the day, naturally. But he goes feral on the guy who tried to kill Laurel and Laurel sees that maybe there are some screws loose in that head of his. Pretty sure she should have gotten that from the fancy costume, the bow, the dramatic rooftop meetings and the trail of bodies behind him, but whatevs.
None of that matters because Digg takes him back! Yes, Digger is on, my friends! Oliver looks so happy and Digg tells him he's there to watch out for him, not to be a sidekick. Oliver says he doesn't need to be saved and Digg disagrees and it's all so wonderfully romantic.
As all this was going on, we got some more cool development with Mama Queen and her new hubby Walter. I was quite happily surprised to see that he's A) Not stupid and B) Possibly not evil. He's definitely turning into a very interesting character.
The show ends with two huge developments. One, John Barrowman finally debuts as the Well Dressed Man. He knows about the List of Doom. But other than that, we can only guess at what his role is in all this.
The other thing is Oliver gets arrested for being the sexiest vigilante in Starling City. The really stupid scene I caught last week where Oliver took his costume out of its hiding place and opened it up in a very open space has come back to bite him. There was no sense in that scene other than to give Inept Inspector Lance a chance to catch him.
My scientific Excitement-o-Meter had some trouble with this episode. It really moved the plot along and I liked the scenes with Digg and the Walter sublot was cool. And, well, John Barrowman. But there were many negative elements too. So I have to say my excitement has dropped.
