The Demon Arrow 705

This  episode of Arrow had  some very enlightening moments that might have been easy to  miss. It offered some surprises as well.  I  enjoyed  this episode, but I  still feel there needs to be some  connection to the  ARGUS story-line, but I can't quite  figure that out yet. 

              The Demon:  Frankly, I feel rather stupid for not figuring  this  out, but the  Demon we  learn  is  Talia.  She is the daughter of the Demon, and  so it made sense to have her be the  Demon.  I had thought it was Dr. Parker or even  Stanley, so it was a surprise to find it was Talia, but not such a huge surprise, since I  had forgotten totally about this character. I had to stop and think, "Who is Talia?"  She survived Lian Yu because of the drug of  Diaz.   Apparently Talia arranged  the whole  prison thing as  payback to Oliver for killing her  father.So, how will  Talia fit into  future episodes. We know  it won't the last we see of her.
 
         Oliver:  So much good with Oliver happened  in this episode. After six years of trying to discover just who Oliver Queen really is, we learn from this episode that his identity  is fixed.  He's not a monster, he's "something else, he's  someone else".  He  finally has peace  within himself.  He tells  Dr. Parker, "My  father pushed people away.  He kept secrets. I did the same thing, but if I'm going to break the cycle of violence, I'm going to do it  my way."  He won't be manipulated by anyone any more.  He had been used by Talia, when  she  taught him to put on the mask to right his father's  wrongs, and  he had started to be manipulated by Dr. Parker,  or at least Dr. Parker thought his manipulations worked on Oliver.  There has always been  a part of Oliver that cared for people. We saw that on Lian Yu when  he wanted to go back for Yao Fei. When  he first put on  the hood, he did't think about the consequences of his actions until John and  Felicity reminded  him of  his  humanity.  It began I think when Felicity locked the doors to Oliver, because the  man  he  had planned  to check off his list had a child.  Felicity thought of the child.  When Oliver told  her that he  could still go out the door,  she  left.  Oliver went to her office the next morning saying the man had been  able to  put his child to bed. He didn't kill.  She  opened the door to a new side  of himself.  Now he knows who he is.  He  wants  justice, but he also sees  people.  How will what happened to him on Level  Two affect his time outside of prison.

Oliver also learned to make  better choices.  Talia  wants Oliver to leave with  her, but that would  mean he would  be a fugitive.  He  tells Talia, "I'm not going to be a fugitive,  I won't do that to my family."  The viewer cheers him on.  They have been through enough, because of a choice he  made without talking it  over with  them.  Oliver goes back to level one in the cell  next to Stanley.  When Stanley tell him that he talked to his wife, he  seemed surprised, but this viewer  also noticed a sense of relief on his face. Then Stanley tells  him that Felicity had a message for him that she has a lead on Diaz and is going to get him.  His look changes to one of concern.  I for  one,  hope  that we see  Felicity visiting Oliver in the  next episode.

      Felicity:  It was good to see Felicity determined, yet back to  her positive self.  I  didn't care for  the darker side  of Felicity, because I don't want the  writers to  write  her so dark that she looses the person that Oliver fell in love with.  I may shock you, and I  can't quite believe I'm saying this, but the scenes with Felicity and BS worked.  Their  banter back and forth worked, and  it was BS and  Rene that kept Felicity from doing something we all know she would regret. Felicity has one focus right now, and that's  Oliver and keeping him safe.  When  she finds out from Stanley that Oliver is  in level two, she discovers  that Slabside has no level two, so  something is wrong.  Then she discover that Dr.  Parker has his own agenda and that he actually was responsible  for the  death of another person by wiping out his memory.  It's while Dinah, BS, and Felicity are looking through the boxes that we learn that Felicity feels guilt over not seeing Oliver.  She could have seen him but she didn't because  as she said, "I was pissed off." She was angry with him for not telling  her  what he had planned to do, and she didn't go visit him. She said, "I thought it was bad  enough to lose my husband to prison, but what if I lose him permanently?"  She can't bear that thought. As they watch the news feed about Dr. Parker and Slabside prison, Felicity happy that they found a way  to save Oliver, and she says, "Team Felicity".  Now who does't love that!   BS as Lawyer  Laurel Lance  wants to try and use  the information that Talia delivers to get Oliver released from prison. Let's hope that Felicity  won't risk her future with Oliver to satisfy her revenge  with Diaz.

The ARGUS story with John and Curtis:  Okay, we learned new information about Curtis;  he has  14 PhD's and he speaks  a  multitude of languages.  He's funny and a bit like Felicity, but is he needed?  I still find Curtis  annoying.  John goes  out of his way  to  help Curtis, but he can't help Felicity?  That really annoyed  me, and frankly seems  out  of character.  I  don't know where the  writers are  going with this one.  Something  shady is happening at ARGUS and John and Curtis are going to discover it.   What is Lyla's involvement?  We know she suspects something.  If this doesn't all go back to Diaz in some way, then I will find this part of the story confusing and useless, so I suspect that what's taking place there is  all going to fall back on Diaz somehow. 

      Stanley:  It was cute when Stanley told Felicity that he was Oliver's Sidekick.  He  helped Felicity by telling her about level two, so that was a good think.  Did you see how Felicity's hand touched the glass and  her  hand shook the phone when Stanley had to leave. She was desperate to know more. I hope Stanley is good, and Oliver can find out who committed the murders Stanley was accused of. What do you think of Stanley?

Final Thoughts:

• Dinah  really annoyed me when she  told  Felicity to go back into witness protection and BS to  go back  to  Earth Two before you forget you hate  each other.  Oliver had told these people to carry on the work.  At the same time that it annoyed me, it also was a bit funny.
• Did Talia  give the drive to Felicity and she gave to Dinah without telling Dinah who gave it?  It didn't seem that way  in the story to me.  It  was as if  it somehow appeared anonymously to SCPD.  That part wasn't clear to  me was it to you?
• Does anyone else find the ARGUS  story confusing?
• Diggle's shirts need to be ironed, or ARGUS  should come up with a better  uniform.
• Will Talia return?
• I didn't find  BS annoying. (I know. I'm shocked  myself)  I hope they  keep her character in such a way as the audience is always  wondering if she's  good or not.  It certainly  makes her  more  interesting.  
• I loved the lighter Felicity.  She's  the one  I want Oliver to  find when he comes home. Diggle,  when  Felicity fought for her life, and Oliver was taking down every ghost he could find, said, "Don't lose the person that Felicity  fell in love with."  We certainly don't want Felicity  to  lose the person that Oliver fell in love with.  Writers, are you listening?  :) 
• This review may be shorter than usual.  I  have company coming  and floors have to be  mopped and bathrooms cleaned.  Please forgive me.
• Please write your comments below.