Arrow - Recap: A Tale of a Fateful Trip

With “The Undertaking,” one thing was made crystal clear; Arrow is beginning to surge, folks. Tonight was, in my opinion, the best episode the show has ever put up for our viewing pleasure. This series has evolved from a simple superhero action drama to a complex telling of an iconic DC story. The Green Arrow has never been in finer form than in Stephen Amell’s delivery, especially as he’s evolved into the character over the course of twenty-one episodes. Remember, this is the show’s debut season, and there’s more to getting into character than packing on muscle and throwing on some green eye makeup. I started covering this show expecting to enjoy it, as a DC comics fan, but I rarely watch an episode of any show I’m reviewing without having the words of my future critique percolating in my brain. This week, I managed to simply enjoy this.

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The episode took place in two parts, mainly. Oliver and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) finally hit the pavement in the search for Walter (Colin Salmon). Meanwhile, a different kind of flashback sequence detailing the conception of “The Undertaking” and the days leading up to the shipwrecking clued us in to Ollie’s past relationship with Laurel (Katie Cassidy) and his father’s involvement in what would become his life’s greatest mistake, a mistake his son would need to rectify.

The show opened with Oliver nixing the transfer of an enormous amount of money that was to be used for extortion, effortlessly seizing the load of cash from the middleman and leaving the crook's superiors to dole out a fit punishment for his screw-up. With a little help from Felicity, Oliver managed to cue up a list of transactions tied to the company responsible. Interestingly enough, a two-million-dollar transaction appeared on the list, having gone down the same night Walter went missing. Someone had paid a great deal of cash to have Walter disappear, and a man named Dominic Alonso, an illegal casino owner, was most likely the culprit who’d been behind the vanishing act. Felicity is always eager to help in any way she can, but a fire was lit inside the adorable dork the moment Walter’s name came up. Remember, she’d only truly joined Ollie’s ragtag team to track down Walter, who’d always been kind to her. They would have to infiltrate the casino, and Oliver Queen was too famous of a face to pull it off. Felicity was willing to put herself in danger if it meant piecing together the puzzle of Walter’s disappearance and getting the chance to put her impeccable card counting skills to use. Of course Felicity counts cards! What can’t she do?

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Something else Felicity is impossibly good at; cleaning up nicely. Wowzers, it’s not that she isn’t always an attractive girl, it’s just that I get a kick out of seeing her glam up in the name of crime fighting. Wasn't it nice to see her looking so stunning in contrast to her introduction to the "gorgeous Laurel"? Oliver would follow Felicity’s every move inside the casino, password: snapdragon, via an in-ear radio. The plan was for Felicity to get caught counting cards in order to gain access to Alonso’s office. There, she could plant a bug. Unfortunately for her, there was a hiccup in the plan. Usually, those who count cards work with a partner, although, in all honesty, she didn’t. She’s merely a super-genius who just happened to have a partner for a very different reason, and I’m not sure the vigilante ever looked more pissed off during a fight scene! Glass in someone’s face, a broken pool stick in some thug’s leg, etc. After rescuing Felicity from the clutches of Alonso, Oliver managed to squeeze a tiny bit of information out of him; Walter had been taken underground and subsequently killed. Felicity, needless to say, was devastated.

News of Walter’s death from Ollie would send both Moira (Susanna Thompson) and Thea (Willa Holland) into hysterics, although Moira’s decision to “get some air” at ten o’clock at night tipped Oliver off to something going awry. Even Thea couldn’t understand her mother’s somewhat odd reaction. In the end, Arrow managed to listen in on a conversation between his mother and Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman), learning that his mother had been working with the man all along, even knowing that Walter was being held against his will somewhere until this “Undertaking” was completed. Walter was indeed still kickin', as a phone call from Malcolm would prove. Oliver was too devastated surrounding his mother’s involvement that he could barely react to Walter being alive.

But how involved in this “Undertaking” was Moira, in truth? A flashback sequence seemed to reveal that she must have been dragged in against her will. We were invited to a meeting between Malcolm, Oliver’s father Robert, and some other employees, including Frank, who recently bit the bullet in the present day when Moira’s plan to have Malcolm assassinated went wrong. Apparently, Malcolm’s team had been working overtime to eradicate crime in The Glades, only to see crime rates rise. Malcolm, on his own blind vendetta to avenge his wife, had come up with a plan that would take five years to carry out; “The Undertaking.” Using a super-weapon (the same super-weapon from the island? Hmm…) that would take the allotted time to develop, he planned on leveling The Glades to the ground, condemning everyone living there to die. What was interesting to watch pan out was Robert’s relationship with his wife, Moira, who seemed absolutely uninvolved at the time. Once she learned of Malcolm’s plan through Robert, she begged him to do the opposite. She pleaded with him to thwart Malcolm’s absurd scheme, even if Robert had his own reason for being on board. He’d accidentally murdered a man in, what is in the present day, Oliver’s club. The man had been strong-arming Robert for a bribe, and his death was an unfortunate side effect to Robert’s resounding refusal. He figured “cleansing” The Glades would be his form of repenting, although he later admitted to recognizing the decision to help Malcolm as a massive mistake.  Back in the present, we would witness Moira and Malcolm toasting the near completion of the project prior to her learning of Walter’s “death.” At this point, though, we know Moira is working her hardest to do what her husband had attempted to do before his murder. This leads me to wonder when and how she came to be a part of the enemy ranks to begin with, considering that she knew, at least in the present, that her husband’s death was planned. I’m guessing that will be cleared up when she’s confronted yet again by an enraged Oliver.

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Before we conclude, let’s catch up on some side stories. Laurel had been wallowing in the wake of her breakup with Tommy (Colin Donnell). Oliver advised her to simply attempt to talk things out, but her effort to communicate with Tommy revealed only that he believed Oliver still loved her. Laurel was flabbergasted and, well, still dumped. Felicity attempted to mend some fences as well, but between Diggle (David Ramsey) and Oliver, who had yet to set things straight following Oliver’s ditching of the Deadshot rendezvous during last week’s episode. We journeyed up the six flights of stairs to Diggle’s apartment with Felicity, but her attempt to convince Diggle to let things slide failed. He would need an honest apology from Oliver.

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Felicity managed to hack Malcolm’s phone records, divulging the location of Walter’s holding. Previously, I stated that the casino fight sequence was probably the most badass the show has laid out yet, but the final fight scene in which Oliver parachuted onto the rooftop of the building holding Walter, before demolishing an entire security team singlehandedly, might take the cake. “Hood Guy” had done it. Walter was a free man. The following scene in which Oliver witnessed Moira’s relief to have her family back together was very well played as well. Oliver was disgusted by his mother’s behavior, and even more revolted to see Malcolm at the hospital. Arrow is on the warpath, and lucky for us, it’s almost season finale time.

Laurel managed to finagle a moment alone with Ollie in the hospital hallway. She confronted him surrounding Tommy’s seemingly ridiculous belief that Ollie was still in love with her, even going as far as to ask Oliver to convince Tommy otherwise. Oliver, devastated in the wake of his recent discovery surrounding his mother’s lies, gave in. He does still love Laurel, and he left her in tearful shock as he left the hospital.

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The rest of the flashback sequence this week, which was truly extensive, surrounded Oliver as a young party boy and his lousy relationship with Laurel. In the present, Laurel had noted that sleeping with someone’s sister is an obvious attempt at self-sabotaging a relationship. In the past, we got some answers as to why Oliver was pushed to betray Laurel as he did. She had attempted to get him to commit to living together, to which he agreed. Of course, he would subsequently invite her sister to board The Queen’s Gambit with him on the fateful day Malcolm had conspired to kill his father. Why would Malcolm do such a thing? Robert enlisted Frank’s help in ruining Malcolm’s maniacal plan by buying out large portions of The Glades that he needed to adequately carry out “The Undertaking.” Robert's part involved journeying to Asia to access funding. Frank had betrayed him, though, and just like that, we don’t feel at all sorry for his future death at Moira’s request. The show’s continual humanizing of Moira, and the growing sympathy we’re inspired to have for her, proves that there is something else unfolding here. Still, we don’t know if she was aware of Robert’s impending death in the past. Did she allow her son to board the boat knowing that it was death wish?

The show closed with Oliver’s reconciliation with Diggle. He admitted that Diggle was right about everything including Deadshot and his own mother. With Diggle back on Team “Hood,” we head into Oliver’s final attempts at stopping “The Undertaking.”

What did you all think of Arrow Season 1 Episode 21, “The Undertaking”? Is it just me, or does this show keep getting more awesome? Did you enjoy the final flashback moments in which Laurel gave Oliver the famous wallet photo for good luck before he boarded the boat? What’s Moira’s deal? When Tommy learns of his father’s secret, who will he choose to back? What becomes of Ollie and Laurel’s relationship now? Do you understand Malcolm more after he revealed that he'd listen to his wife die over and over again via a voicemail left on his phone, or does the fact that he ignored the call negate that?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Arrow Season 1 Episode 21, “The Undertaking”!