Arrow - Season 1 Episode 14 - Recap and Review - The Odyssey

Finally, Arrow gave us a solid reference to Castaway! “The Odyssey” focused nearly entirely on Oliver’s (Stephen Amell) island escapades, as he and Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett) finalized their practicing and planning before having a go at a legitimate exit. Things didn’t quite work out as planned, of course, because it’s only episode 14!

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The episode opened exactly where it left off; with Oliver garbed in the hood, threatening Moira Queen (Susanna Thompson). “You have failed this city!” Then she was all like, “But I’m a mom,” and grabbed a framed photo of Oliver and Thea (Willa Holland). Arrow faltered for a moment while he got choked up over the fact that his mother was the first target to focus on her children in what could have been her last breath. Relinquishing for an instant, Oliver caught a bullet in the chest from Moira. While she called for security, the vigilante vanished, leaving behind nothing but a bloodstain. In the parking garage, Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) found a very bloody Ollie in her backseat, desperate for help.

Felicity: "Wow, everything about you just became so unbelievably clear."

Refusing to be rushed to a legitimate hospital, he directed Felicity to the warehouse. Thus, one more person officially learned of Oliver’s alter-ego. In the Arrow lab, a very shocked Diggle (David Ramsey) helped Felicity to drag the big lug from her backseat. While Diggle readied the equipment necessary to “bring the hospital to Oliver,” Felicity started to take it all in.

Oliver, using this as a perfectly fine excuse to transition, took us back to the island in the form of a flashback. Every time Arrow gets clunked on the head, drugged, or is rendered otherwise unconscious, we know we’re getting a relevant island flashback. Oliver and Slade had been practicing their martial arts skills in the middle of an open field. Well, Oliver was attempting to learn, and Slade was just beating the crap out of him. Why train with bamboo when they have guns? Well, Slade Wilson can turn even a blunt stick into straight up death, Oliver. Even a gun in the face is no match for some quick fists and fancy footwork! Go, Australians!

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The duo had ten days to train before their escape vehicle, a supply plane, would land on the island for the mercenaries. The goal was for Slade to take out an entire network of guards, while Oliver eliminated the solo man safe behind bulletproof glass in the control tower. That night, Oliver dreamed of sharing a bed with Laurel and confessing his indiscretion to her.

Eventually, the two would start their mission. Right out the gate, Oliver stepped on one of the few Japanese land mines left on the island. Island Oliver is so Charlie Brown. After hearing the click of activation, he stood frozen while Slade attempted to trigger a safe release. Obviously, a group of mercenaries just had to show up from the abyss of the foliage at this point. Playing dumb, Oliver pulled over his ski mask and attempted to chitchat with his “buddies,” while Slade prepared a sneak attack from the trees. Once Slade, who’s quite possibly the best friend you’d ever want to be stranded on any island with, sliced and diced the men to death, he quickly rolled a corpse over the mine to free Oliver.

Meanwhile, Yao-Fei (Byron Mann) remained trapped within some sort of a deal with Fyers (Sebastian Dunn), the leader of the mercenaries. Because they held “her” captive, he’d be forced to train their men in the art of archery.

It took Oliver two hours of attempting to build a fire with twigs before he realized Slade was just pulling his leg and had a lighter. Here, Slade explained who the other man in the yellow and black mask is; the man who tortured Oliver. Billy Wintergreen was his partner upon arriving on the island. The two were meant to rescue Yao-Fei, but after getting captured themselves, they were given a choice to join the enemy. Billy, the godfather of his son, betrayed Slade in a heartbeat. Slade refused, and narrowly escaped. Hm, so they share the same mask as partners. We’d assumed Billy was Deathstroke. Well, the media did, and I was stupid enough to jump to conclusions along with them. That’s the funny thing about watching a series like Arrow, a show based on a DC Comic. We end up jumping to conclusions based on our expectations, but we really have no idea where this interpretation of the Green Arrow story could end up going.

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Had Felicity been unknowingly a part of their team all along? She and Diggle continued their talk as they worked on healing Oliver. Looking back, Felicity has been the key to taking down several of Oliver’s biggest adversaries, including The Count. When Oliver’s heart stopped, the two attempted to use a defibrillator. When something was amiss, Felicity realized in a snap that the machine had shoddy wiring. She fixed the problem just as quickly, saving Oliver’s life yet again. When you’ve been building computers since you were a little kid, wires are just wires.

After spotting Ollie’s bow, Felicity questioned how Diggle could be fine with the idea of killing anyone, even evildoers. At this point, Diggle told a story of his unit back in Afghanistan. They were instructed to protect some heinous warlord, and ended up killing rebels to defend him. When Diggle unmasked the man he’d shot, he realized it was just a boy. He was instructed to protect a scumbag and forced to kill a teenager. Working with Oliver has made him feel like a good man again.

The night of the attack on the mercenaries, things seemed to be going well enough for Oliver and Slade. That is, until it came time for Oliver to fulfill his part of the plan; eliminating the one protected guard. Inside the tower, the two came to blows, but it seemed as though Oliver was half-assing the job. He wasn’t awful, but Slade still had to step in to save the mission. Once things were secured, Slade stepped back out, and Oliver’s curiosity got the best of him. He used the mercenaries’ military phone to call Laurel, if only to hear her voice for a split second before Slade disconnected the call! Calls can be tracked, Queen! At this point, the plane contacted the tower, and Slade attempted to fake being one of the enemies to give them the okay to land. Unfortunately, he hadn’t anticipated needing a pass-code. Okay, Slade, that was a big screw-up! Thankfully, Oliver (!) managed to crack the code.

The Odyssey:  “Of all creatures that breathe or move upon the earth... nothing is bred that is weaker than man.”

The one book that Oliver had read in college was The Odyssey, so he was able to finish the quote.  Mission accomplished? Not really. Slade decided that he wasn’t satisfied with simply leaving, but that he wanted to have the island bombed in order to put a true end to the mercenaries’ evil scheme. Someone had been paying them to do something super evil, but what? Oliver, having been fed up with betraying people, refused to leave without Yao-Fei. Knowing the approximate time at which the plane would land, Slade warned him to be there, be square, or, well, die.

Oliver tracked down Yao-Fei pretty quickly! Unfortunately, he hadn’t anticipated that he may be working with the mercenaries for a legitimate reason. After being rendered unconscious, Ollie awoke the next day to his own execution. We’d become familiar with the whole scene by this point; circle of scary soldiers, man in the Deathstroke mask, etc. Oliver’s hands were tied behind his back, but when he started blabbing about how cowardly Billy Wintergreen was, the executioner cut him free! The fight would have been a super brutal fight to Oliver’s demise, but Slade set some explosions off and ended up killing Billy himself amidst the chaos. Sword to the eye; good choice, Slade!

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Oliver: “I’m trapped on an island, and my only friend is named Wilson!”

There it is, folks! Tom Hanks complained about a toothache. Look at this island purgatory! Then again, toothaches are the worst.

Oliver cut out a bullet from a shot Slade had taken to the arm. The two would need to concoct a new plan to survive. He hadn’t thought it possible, but Slade had now come to see Oliver Queen as a partner. Meanwhile, Yao-Fei’s capture of Oliver proved his value to his new team. He got five minutes alone with his daughter, the girl with the dragon tattoo. Sorry, I had to.

Oliver awoke back in his lair to find that he hadn’t died. Cool, Felicity and Diggle. While waiting for him to come to, Felicity even upgraded his pathetic computer system that looked like it had been spat out by the worst part of the 80s. In addition, she managed to hack into the laboratory system that was analyzing the blood sample Oliver had left in his mother’s office and had it “accidentally” destroyed. Not quite ready to join their duo and make it a trio, she instead came up with her own terms. Her goal was to find her old chum, Walter. Afterwards, she wished to return to her exciting life as an IT girl. We’ll see about that, Felicity. Your actress, Emily Bett Rickards, was just promoted to series regular for Season 2!

Before leaving the lab, Diggle and Oliver talked privately about Moira. Oliver remained sold that she was “innocent” because of the fact that she’d used him and Thea as an excuse to ward off the vigilante. Diggle still believed she had something to hide.

Back at Queen Manor, Detective Lance (Paul Blackthorne) continued his annoying obsession with the vigilante while questioning Moira. Oliver played dumb, but promised that Hood Guy” would never attack his mother again. Come on, man!

What did you all think of Arrow Season 1 Episode 14, “The Odyssey”? Are you happy to see more of Felicity Smoak in the future? Where’s Walter? Are you loving Slade Wilson as much as I am? Seriously, what’s Moira’s deal?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Arrow Season 1 Episode 14, “The Odyssey”!