ARROW Season 3×07, “Draw Back Your Bow” recap

20 Nov

Welcome back, Arrowheads! Well, the good news from last time is Roy didn’t kill Sara, but does remember killing a cop under a Mirakuru OD, so little joy there for Ollie’s sidekick. Also, Ollie stopped a former sidekick of Ted Grant who went on a gangland killing spree, who was being transferred to prison when…hey, who’s that redhead with the bow and arrow killing him? And why has she been popping up in crime scenes where the Arrow has been?

Doing Your Own Laundry. In the flashback this episode, Maseo is taking care of a mission for Waller while Ollie is left behind to learn how to work a washing machine (seriously, he has a lot to learn being a rich kid) by Maseo’s wife, Tatsu. When Maseo doesn’t check in after being overdue, both Ollie and Tatsu head to the docks where Maseo went. After realizing that Tatsu is Japanese, and as much a “gaijin” as he is, Ollie goes to get answers from some nasty looking thugs. He gets a beating instead, which is stopped by Tatsu slashing up the thugs with a sword! When asking about where Maseo is, she hears about several ARGUS agents who got murdered by Triads a few hours ago. Uh-oh. Well actually, Maseo is quite alive, being in lockdown by Waller’s orders after hearing about those three dead ARGUS agents. Well, good news, right? Except Ollie has to finish his laundry.

Six Months Ago. During that siege by Slade’s Mirakuru army, Team Arrow had the opportunity to stop by the road to grab that Mirakuru cure to save a woman from being killed. A red head, actually the same red head we saw last episode. And she really seems interested in the Arrow.

Ray Palmer is taking Ollie’s company, his girl, and now his salmon ladder? This well-chiseled madman must be stopped!

A Dead Hood. Quentin has something really interesting to show the Arrow: a dead Isaac Stanzler, dressed up as the Arrow! Well, that and an arrow that has a red spade tip. While Roy is trying to get past that “killing a cop under the influence of Mirakuru” thing, Felicity is getting offered a chance to join Ray Palmer at a job-related dinner, and dressed in an expensive dress. Let that sit for a moment, as Ollie figures out there’s a message inside the arrow: an apartment address. Ollie and Diggle arrive there and find a really creepy shrine to the Arrow (and oh yeah, that spade tipped arrow is a heart-tipped arrow, point of fact) and a ringing cell phone. Creepy redhead Cupid is calling, and wants to join Arrow in killing bad guys. In fact, she has a potential new victim in waiting: a tied up mobster with explosives on him!

A Big-Hearted Fan. Felicity is back at the HQ long enough to identify Cupid as former SWAT officer Carrie Cutter, who we all see has been making visits to all the crime scenes the Arrow’s been near for months. And oh yeah, based on info from her former shrink later, she’s possessive to the point of lunacy. Now that we got that obvious piece of info dropped, Felicity needs to remind Ollie she’ll be busy tomorrow night with that dinner with Palmer. He’s okay with it in that way you hear your ex-girlfriend is dating again. You know, badly. Arrow and Arsenal (Roy has a new hero name!) follow a lead to a greenhouse, where Arsenal gets knocked out and Arrow meets face-to-face with Cupid and tied up mobster with bomb. When its obvious her offer of “teaming up” is declined, she leaves using bomb-strapped mobster as a diversion. Bomb gets blown up without mobster in it, and mobster gets knocked out, because, he’s still a criminal, you know.

Awww, a woman after my own heart. A tied up mobster and red velvet cupcakes? Marry me.

Obsessions. While Ollie is getting info about Carrie’s attachment issues from her shrink, Diggle senses some trouble from Ollie regarding that dinner w/ Palmer, so he visits Felicity at her office in the Queen Consolid–ahem, Palmer Technologies building. She suggests if Ollie has a problem, Ollie can tell her about it. This is after both make perfectly clear Ollie is NOT that kind of guy, so fat chance there. Meanwhile, Cupid has her own Felicity (well, a male tech-savy criminal informant) find out Arrow’s hanging out around the Verdant nightclub, which Thea is going to re-open tonight! Then Cupid rewards his Felicity by stabbing him in the neck. I really hope this isn’t grim foreshadowing.

Crashing A Dinner and a Grand Opening. Felicity gets to be useful for Palmer in this work-related dinner by helping him secure rights to a mine with rare minerals, so things are going well for her there. Across town, Verdant is re-opening, but the party seems to be not there until a new DJ pops up to play “Turn Down For What” song for the gazillionith time (thanks BTW, Arrow producers, for lodging that in my skull on a constant loop again). And look, Cupid is stalking the dance floor, looking for her special Arrow. Well Diggle hears about that CI’s death and finds out Cupid is around, so he calls Arrow about this. He calls Cupid, and she wants to meet him in “their special place”, or she’ll kill everyone in Verdant. I’m trying to figure out the downside here.

Are we sure this isn’t a filmed visit to a hardcore Stephen Amell fan’s apartment?

It’s A Date…Or Else! Ollie heads to that “special place”, meaning the place he saved her six months ago. She’s there, wanting to be not just his partner but his lover, and Ollie’s all “I must travel alone”, which is great except Felicity overhears this (hey, it was probably a short dinner). And Cupid, well she’s dealing with this heartbreaking news by trying to kill him, and then chaining him to a subway tunnel. She figures the subway car coming will bring her and Arrow together in death, but he escapes and saves her too. And oh no, she’s back in love with him. Sheesh, the women in Arrow’s life.

Food For Thought. After Cupid is dumped off to Waller to be a new Suicide Squad recruit, Ollie is offered some dinner with Diggle and Lyla, but when he declines, he suggests seeing Felicity about how he feels because that whole speech about being alone probably needs to be explained. At her office, Palmer is thanking her for helping secure that mine for him and kisses her. Ollie drops by to see this and walks away, but does miss Palmer relenting and feeling he’s overstepped their platonic relationship. So, Ollie throws around a few things at HQ, before suggesting he and Roy head over to Diggle’s for a late dinner.

While most of Team Arrow is getting a dinner, a mobster is walking the streets until a guy in an overcoat stops him, saying he needs something from him. The overcoat guy whips out a boomerang looking blade which he throws and, surprise, comes back around to impale the mobster in the back! I’m starting to think it might be easier to find vigilantes in Starling City by staking out coat shops than anything else.

Ashur brought a knife boomerang to this party.

–Comic book connections: Cupid is a recent addition to Green Arrow’s line of villains (actually created by one of the now producers of the show), and yes, we saw the introduction of Captain Boomerang, who as you can see, likes boomerangs that kill people.

–So that’s where the salmon ladder has been all season! That bastard Ray Palmer stole it! What was that? There’s more than one of those things? Hurumph!

–Speaking of Mr. Palmer, he’s creating an exo suit under the moniker ATOM.

“My cosplay Power Ranger armor is going to be the hit of San Diego Comic-Con next year! Bet on that!”

–I know what you’re thinking: “Hey, didn’t you just skip that subplot with Thea and that cocky DJ that might be making moves on her?” Well see, I just talked about it. Didn’t skip a thing.

–The shrink thinks Arrow might need some therapy of his own? Let’s put that in the “no s**t” box along with a few other things in the show, huh?

–Time to welcome another Spartacus cast member with Ashur himself, Nick Tarabay, as Captain Boomerang!

–“You know the nature of our business…it always comes back to haunt you.”

–“It’s couture, which I believe is French for ‘expensive’.”

–“Oh god. I have a type.”

–Quick note, readers: next episode (two weeks from now!) is part of a crossover with The Flash, and if you want to read the recap of the first part of that two-parter, I’ll be covering it like the rest of the Flash recaps I do on my own A&V Stimuli blog that Tuesday. Think of this as a blog crossover.

Well that’s it for now, but be back in two weeks for “The Brave and The Bold”…