Arrow - Recap: You're Right On Time

The penultimate episode of Arrow’s first season could certainly have stood as the show’s season finale in the case of any other series, but Arrow has developed to the point of delivering solid cinematic television that surpasses the medium. In other words, this show is starting to feel like a weekly mini-movie, and there is no way in hell Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) is closing out his debut season without one final encounter with Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) on the brink of The Undertaking. “Darkness on the Edge of Town” tied up enough lose ends to ensure that next week’s finale will be one epic showdown. With one more character learning the identity of the vigilante, Oliver Queen heads into the final hour of the season in deep trouble.

The episode opened with Malcolm Merlyn suited up as the Dark Archer. Following the extermination of an entire team working at Unidac, the company we discovered was responsible for developing the technology necessary for The Undertaking to occur. Merlyn was eliminating any evidence that tied him to his life’s work. The copious amounts of bodies, including the corpse of a top seismologist, sent Detective Lance (Paul Blackthorne) and his team sniffing for evidence and heading straight for Merlyn Industries. Meanwhile, Ollie and Team Hood Guy had already been keen on nailing Malcolm Merlyn following Oliver’s discovery that Merlyn and his mother were responsible for Walter’s (Colin Salmon) disappearance, The Undertaking, and, most likely, the death of his father. Ollie continued to find himself sickened by the sight of his mother’s showing of gratitude for Walter’s return. Walter seemed out of sorts, as well.

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Oliver attempted to give his mother one last chance to come forward with the truth, recognizing that paralyzing fear could have been behind her despicable behavior. She wouldn’t budge. Thus, in a very clever attempt to get Moira (Susanna Thompson) to confess, Oliver enlisted Diggle’s (David Ramsey) help. At first, it seemed as though Oliver and his mother were apprehended by the Dark Archer. Only after a disguised Mr. Diggle uttered the infamous, “You have failed this city!” did I realize what kind of a scheme they’d drummed up. I have to say, I always get a kick out of Diggle playing The Hood, and the trick worked! Moira ran her mouth after Diggle roughed up Oliver a bit. She’d been dragged into the plan against her will after her husband had overcommitted their family. In her defense, we do remember the flashback sequence from last week’s episode in which she begged her husband to thwart Merlyn’s plan. Moira and Oliver were “released,” and Team Hood was now privy to the fact that Unidac was preparing a manmade earthquake machine. Queen Consolidated had offered their applied sciences to turn it into the weapon Merlyn needed to level The Glades.

There’s nothing Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) loves more than hacking (except maybe Oliver, but that’s still a secret)! The idea of breaking into Merlyn Industries' mainframe and downloading any information that could help them piece together the planning of The Undertaking thrilled our favorite adorable IT girl, but she came up short. For the first time ever, Felicity couldn’t finagle her way past the security. The trio would have to infiltrate Merlyn Industries in person, and it was not about to be easy.

Meanwhile, Thea (Willa Holland) and Roy (Colton Haynes) continued their hunt for The Hood, leading them to a stakeout of the Unidac crime scene. Roy figured the vigilante would drop in, but Thea realized that all they were doing was stalking Detective Lance. In a move to help Roy meet his hero, Thea used her connections in Laurel’s (Katie Cassidy) law firm to snoop around Detective Lance’s station. It wasn’t much, but she caught wind of Merlyn Industries involvement, and the couple suddenly had a new building to stakeout.

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The break in at Merlyn Industries went off without a hitch to begin with. Oliver set up a meeting with Tommy (Colin Donnell), while Felicity played the role of burger delivery girl. Diggle, meanwhile, threw on a security team uniform and masqueraded as the new guy on the job. Felicity would deliver him a juicy burger laced with drugs to knockout the other guard. From the security room, Diggle could watch the two maneuver around the company and hack the elevator system to allow them to access the mainframe’s restricted floor. They’re obviously not going there any time soon, but the chemistry between Ollie and Felicity was in full force as they swung from the elevator roof to the door across the way. The writers could have just had Diggle grant them direct access to the floor, but the show wanted that scene of Felicity and Ollie getting cozy as he readied his grappling gun.

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In truth, Oliver was killing two birds with one arrow with this visit. He needed to speak with Tommy about what had unraveled within their friendship and within Tommy’s relationship to Laurel. Tommy considered himself a consolation prize, but in actuality, Laurel had chosen him. Oliver let the “serial killer” dig roll right off of his back, but he wasn’t about to take credit for ruining Tommy’s love life.

While Felicity continued to download the information she needed from the company computer, Diggle managed to spot a security guard returning to the room earlier than anticipated. Oliver attempted to make haste in his walk back to Felicity, but he found himself caught off guard by Malcolm, who offered to walk him out. After he ditched Merlyn, Ollie suffered another unfortunate encounter. Thea and Roy had been standing in the lobby looking for the vigilante. Oliver, displeased with the idea of Thea getting hurt or discovering his alter ego, laid into Roy about putting his sister in danger. Meanwhile, Felicity looked like she was in deep trouble, but Diggle managed to step in and save the day. She was just another one of those bimbos obsessed with party boy Tommy. Felicity’s night in shining armor had pulled through once again! Unfortunately, Detective Lance's own computer nerd was able to trace her hacking skills back to her while he was busy trying to illegally leech information from Malcolm's system as well.

Back at Roy Harper’s bachelor pad in The Glades, Thea pleaded with him to put the brakes on his quest to find the vigilante. Once Roy referred to Oliver as a “wimp,” Thea had enough. Oliver had survived five years on an island. Roy, on the other hand, revealed that he’d lost someone who was never coming back, and that he wasn’t about to ever let that happen again. Hmm, a rage-fueled vengeful streak… sounds like a superhero sidekick in the making to me! Thea and Roy ended up breaking things off. Better now than later, according to Harper. He claimed he would never lose anyone again, yet just like that… Back at home, Thea was devastated to find Walter leaving. He’d served Moira divorce papers, realizing that her threats to stay away from her business were a part of his disappearance. Walter knows she was partially to blame, and Moira admitted to knowing about his kidnapping. Maybe it was only for his safety, but Walter’s life was certainly shattered.

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Before we close out the Recap and Review, we finally learned what the purpose of Fyers’ island scheme was this week. In captivity, Ollie, Slade (Manu Bennett), and Shado (Celina Jade) sat furious with Yao Fei (Byron Mann), who’d seemingly betrayed them. In truth, Fyers was ready to destroy the entire island if it meant uncovering the trio, dead or alive. Oliver also caught a glimpse of the man he’d left to die in the cave a few weeks back. Remember, the man claimed to be a beaten and battered college boy looking for help, but Oliver refused to trust him. Fyers had direct orders (from a mystery woman!) to begin firing down commercial flights to China. His team would hack their radio systems, direct them towards the island, and destroy them. Why? To devastate China’s economy. Yao Fei would take the fall if it meant saving his friends’ lives, but he did manage to slip Ollie a knife before changing back in to his uniform. Yao Fei recorded a confession, only to find himself executed by a direct gunshot to the head from Fyers, as Oliver watched helplessly in horror.

Laurel had spoken to Oliver earlier in the episode surrounding the possibility of rekindling their relationship. Laurel’s candor was met with Oliver’s well-practiced rejection. He claimed he hadn’t changed at all from his time on the island, which obviously couldn’t be any further from the truth. Still, a no is a no. Bummer, Laurel. Laurel would eventually confess her feelings for Oliver to her father, who without knowing, managed to deliver the best response he could give her. Simply put, as much as it killed him to admit it, Queen has changed, and just like that, Laurel had a shred of hope.

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Realizing that The Undertaking was the disease he’d merely been curing symptoms of, Oliver recognized his true purpose. If he could stop Malcolm from leveling The Glades, he would have fulfilled his promise to his father, and he could hang up his hood for good. Well, we know Arrow is renewed for another season, so don’t hold your breath, Ollie! Still, this revelation was enough to draw him back to Laurel, as he could finally offer her a safe future life with him. Within moments of sharing his feelings with Laurel, the two got right down to heating things up with some makeup sex… as a devastated, and more importantly pissed, Tommy watched through the window from the street. Oliver wondered if he'd been too late, to which Laurel replied,

You're right on time.

Unfortunately for Ollie, the episode didn't close on that note. A trojan Felicity had planted in Malcolm's system revealed the location of the weapon. Diggle was prompted to obtain the device, while Oliver took it upon himself to confront Malcolm in his office. Diggle was concerned after finding that the crate meant to contain the weapon had been prematurely emptied. Felicity's trojan not only helped them, it tipped off Merlyn. Of course, Malcolm isn't like the other names on Ollie's list, he's the Dark Archer. This became all too clear to Oliver, who was looking for revenge following the last time they'd duked it out, the fight that landed Oliver in the hospital. Episode 22 closed with Malcolm Merlyn besting Hood Guy yet again, only to be left surprisingly distraught after discovering the vigilante's identity, Moira's son, Oliver Queen.

Oh, no.

What did you think of Arrow Season 1 Episode 22, “Darkness on the Edge of Town”? Are you pumped for the season finale? Has Season 1 developed into the show you hoped this would be? Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Arrow Season 1 Episode 22, “Darkness on the Edge of Town”!