Arrow 522 Review: Missing

 These Olicity moments are what the viewers have been "missing" on Arrow. This season has been the best season of Arrow in many ways from the story to the best villain that has ever appeared on Arrow.  Even with all the angst of not having Felicity and Oliver on the same page has made for a good story.  We've seen so much character growth from our hero and of those around him.  So now for my reveiw:

Oliver and Felicity:  The show begins with Oliver and Thea talking, and how we have missed these two. They are moving on with their lives, and Thea wants to go out to dinner with Oliver, but he says he has someplace to go.  Who didn't love Thea's, "Well, I hope it's not with Susan Williams."  When he said it was with Felicity, he looked so shy and cute.  Who didn't love the flirting these two did revealed the sexual tension between the two. When they agreed to take it one step at a time, we all know that these two will be reunited. Viewers' hearts melted when Oliver mentioned he was dating his ex-fiance. The humor Felicity has brought a lightness to Oliver when she had the birthday cake for a six year old.

             Later when Curtis  talks to Felicity on the phone, he addresses what all the viewers saw at the birthday party scene, and Felicity's response was, "You're worse than a shipper on a soap opera."  The writers are priceless they give us lines we would actually speak.

When Oliver realizes that Chase is behind Curtis and Dinah being missing, he tells Felicity that he wants her there with him in he bunker.  Felicity has a look of "Oh, no, you're not trusting again," and she confronts him.  He questioned, "truth?" and Yes, Felicity wants the truth, so he tells her, When the woman I love is in danger I want keep her close, but I also need your skills.  Felicity and Oliver have no secrets between them any more, nor will they.

Oliver has to let Felicity go with Diggle in order to keep her safe.He wants to hold her close, but sometimes we just can't hold the ones we love closely. Sometimes, for their own good, we have to let them go, and that's what Oliver realizes.  He will have to find another way.

Diggle and Felicity:  Felicity has this fear that she shouldn't have left Oliver, alone.  This gut wrenching feeling comes from love.  The friendship and humor that these two have for each other, draws the viewer in, and makes us care for the team.  The scene with Oliver and Diggle reminded me of Season Two of Arrow when Felicity had run down Isobel Rochev.  As I have stated before there are so many parallels between season 2 and season 5.

Chase uses leverages William in order to get Oliver to let him go.  When Oliver said, "He's my boy," we felt his pain.  Oliver will do anything for his son, and Chase knows this.   So now at this point, Chase has the team on Lian Yu, and looks at Felicity and says, "Miss Smoak".  I think he is saving the brunt of his torment for Felicity and William.  The two most important people in Oliver's life.  Not that Thea isn't or Diggle for that matter, but the love he has for these two runs deepest. I love my siblings, but the love for my husband and children is a deeper kind of love that's hard to describe. Which makes me really nervous for the next episode. There's nothing scarier than a psychopath .

The Flashbacks with Kovar and Oliver connects the past with the present.  Kovar did to Oliver what Chase has done.  He made Oliver think of himself as a killer who enjoyed killing.  This is why Oliver went back home not letting people in because he didn't trust himself.  He kept this hidden within himself until Chase.         When Oliver sees Yao Fei, we know that Yao Fei is a representation of Oliver's guilt. Guilt destroys, and Oliver's guilt has cost him so much. It took Felicity to remove that and make him see that he is indeed a hero.  These flashbacks put into perspective why Oliver ended up back home wanting to go it alone. My only problem with his scene was could a gunshot really open the cell door?  I couldn't buy that one, minor flaw in an otherwise flawless flashback.

Oliver's Solution:  Oliver has to find a way out of this, but as Diggle tells Felicity, he can't do this alone, so Oliver brings in help.  The writers have done an interesting thing by using the very villains from the past to be the ones help Oliver now.  Oliver has a family now with his team and Felicity, and all the villains who tried in the past to keep him from having this family are helping him try to save them. Malcom of course wants to save Thea, his only living child. What is interesting with Malcom is that Malcom  sent Oliver to the Island. Now he's showing Oliver how to get off that island for good.  Then he brings in Malcom's enemy, Nyssa, who greets Oliver as, "husband," to the groans of the viewers I am sure.  Last he goes to his one time friend, a much more robust Slade Wilson, and he brings Slade his mask.  The enemy of my enemy is my friend, might apply here.  All these people have the fighting skills to defeat Chase, but one wonders at what price, right?

Quentin Lance and Black Siren  More Lance takes one look at Earth 2 Laurel and he can't stop thinking of her as his daughter.  Thea tries to get him to understand that this woman isn't Laurel.  My heart broke for him. Now he is with the rest of people on Lian Yu.

It all ends at Lian Yu, where it all began.  What an interesting season this has been.