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Arrow returned last night with “Home Invasion.” The episode brought Deadshot back and it also served as a reminder that Oliver is still completely and totally in love with Laurel. Naturally, that causes some problems for Tommy and it also ended up being an issue for Dig.
Before we get into all of that, let’s talk about the episode’s minor plotline featuring Thea and Roy. He’s so determined to track down the vigilante that Roy thought it would be a good idea to steal a police radio. Detective Lance wasn’t amused by that and set up a sting operation to lure Roy out. Thea headed to the police station as soon as she got word that her new boyfriend had been arrested again.
Detective Lance took the opportunity to show both teenagers what the Hood was really about. He took them down to the morgue and made them look at the latest person he’d killed and pointed out that there had been 26 other victims since the vigilante had shown up. Lance let Thea and Roy go and Roy remained more determined than ever to find the Hood and join his team. Roy and Thea have a nice chemistry and hopefully the writers will find a way to work them into the main storylines sooner rather than later.
Dig got into some trouble with his FBI friend when she realized that he planned to kill Deadshot and she was not okay with that. But luckily Oliver was and he promised to help Dig cross his enemy off the list. Of course that turned out to be easier said than done since there was another criminal in Starling City this week as well. This guy (his name was Edward, I think) sent a hired gun (pun totally intended since J. August Richards played Gun on Angel) nicknamed Mr. Blank to kill two of Laurel’s clients and their son. However, the young boy managed to get away.
Laurel insisted on keeping the boy (Taylor) in her custody. Tommy was on hand to help and he was not amused when he found out that Laurel and Oliver had planned on having lunch together. Oliver suited up to watch over them. Mr. Blank showed up and claimed to be a police lieutenant, but Laurel knew his badge was a fake. He busted in anyway and started shooting up the place (RIP throw pillows) while Tommy protected Taylor and hid behind the table while Laurel grabbed a rifle and fired back (BAMF). The gun locked up on her, but luckily the Hood burst through the window to save the day.
While Tommy wasn’t thrilled to see Oliver, he pointed out to Detective Lance that they needed to go stay at the Queen mansion since they had tons of security, but really, he was trusting Oliver to protect them. This was an incredibly selfless thing to do, especially since Tommy can see that Oliver and Laurel are bonding again. But Tommy is a good guy and I’m still rooting for him. Of course, Tommy’s good will toward Oliver didn’t last long because Oliver had to leave, but he promised Tommy that they would be safe.
Dig and Felicity had a plan for Oliver to take out Deadshot before the FBI had a chance to. But before Oliver left the Arrow Cave, Felicity received an alert that Edward was making his way out of town. Oliver chose to go after him instead and he captured him, but things did not go well at the Deadshot Ambush Attempt. Deadshot took out several FBI agents and then he taunted Dig about how he killed his brother and he showed him the space on his chest he was saving for Dig’s name, but he wasn’t going to kill him then because no one was paying him.
Back at the mansion, Oliver and Laurel shared a moment and a hug after putting Taylor to bed. Poor Tommy witnessed it and realization continued to sink in that he was never going to be number one in Laurel’s heart. Downstairs, the super security thought it was okay to let in a delivery guy, who was literally shaking, and then Mr. Blank came in and started shooting everyone. Oliver quickly sent Laurel and Tommy into the bedroom with Taylor and then headed downstairs to take care of the intruder.
Was I the only one who thought it was weird that mid-fight, Mr. Blank asked Oliver what happened to him on the island? It just felt so out of place. Mr. Blank is a hired killer and sure, Oliver Queen is infamous in the city, but it still seemed way too over the top. Oliver eventually got the jump on Mr. Blank after tossing him over the railing and he killed him with a fireplace poker (ouch). Oliver gave the dead security guard all the credit when Detective Lance arrived and Tommy backed him up; pointing out that the security guard was the real hero.
Oliver and Tommy had a tense conversation after that and Oliver insisted that he was never going to tell Laurel his secret and they could never be together. But Tommy countered with the fact that he didn’t know how to be with Laurel anymore because he knew that if she ever found out who Oliver really was, she would choose him in a heartbeat (You guys, Tommy is so sad. I hate it). After that, he broke up with Laurel, giving her a line about how things were moving too fast and he wasn’t ready. Poor Laurel was stunned.
Back at the Arrow Cave, Felicity cleaned up Dig’s wounds after his fight with Deadshot. Oliver apologized for not being there and maintained that he’d had to stop Edward. Dig was not okay with Oliver’s priorities and he basically told them their bromance was over. He was so adamant about it that he told Oliver the only way he could stop him was with an arrow (Yikes, that was not pretty, but I’m Team Dig on this one. I get that Oliver was torn, but you don’t leave your friends hanging when you make promises).
Oh, I guess we should talk about the island scenes, even though I have no use for them. Shado continued to train with Oliver and the two shared a kiss, but he admitted that there was someone back home who he wanted to be with (Yeah, maybe that would be sweet if he hadn’t been having sex with her sister on a regular basis). Yao Fei showed up at the plane and Shado was happy to see her dad for about five seconds before Yao Fei revealed that he had led Fryers’ men straight to them.
Overall, I enjoyed this episode. It felt like it was setting up several different plotlines for the remaining three episodes of this season and possibly next season as well. Tommy distancing himself from his friends seems like it will make it even easier for him to side with his father or even take his place as the Dark Archer if something happens to him at Oliver’s hand (speculation, not spoiler). I like that the Oliver/Laurel relationship is being centralized again because I think Laurel deserves to be a bigger part of the show, whether she’s going to be Black Canary or not.
Next week, Felicity gets to help out in the field since Dig has walked away from the team. Anything that involves Felicity is all right with me. See you then…
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