Arrow - Recap: We Get It. Drugs Are Bad.
Arrow ended Moira Queen’s trial with a shocking verdict. Meanwhile, The Count set up shop in Starling City once again! Again! Enough with the Vertigo kick already, man.
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Before we hit up the action in Starling City, I’ll start the recap by giving you the highlights of what went down during this week’s island flashback. Let me first say, Slade (Manu Bennett) looks more badass than ever with his Deathstroke mask basically imprinted on his face. I never thought I’d ever have to type that Slade had improved in all his badassery. He’s been pretty solid in that department from the get-go. On the island, Oliver attempted to clue his friends, Slade and Shado (Celina Jade), in on the looming attack from Ivo (Dylan Neal) with shouts from a distance. Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) remained torn between her old friend (with benefits) and her new evil regime. In the end, Slade and Shado narrowly avoided an onslaught, inevitably freeing Ollie from the confines of his captors. Oliver, making the decision for her, then swooped Sara along for the ride. The foursome is now in possession (at least in the past...) of something of dire importance to Ivo, the arrowhead Oliver had taken a liking to upon their first visit to the grave cave. Shado now dons the necklace, the old tchotchke with a secret inscription listing important coordinates.
About half a year prior, The Count escaped from prison during the attack on The Glades. He subsequently returned, in all of his insane glory, following freeing that freaky Dollmaker from his cell. Yes, we had The Count to thank for that fiasco that took place a few weeks back. I wish I could say that The Count had some sort of new plan to take down The Arrow and bring ruin to Starling City, but he’s a creature of habit, it seems. A new strain of Vertigo was all he needed to keep himself occupied. Of course, there was slightly more to the story that would come to unfold later on in Episode 7. For now, it’s important to note that traces of Vertigo began popping up in seemingly random cases.The CW "Arrow"
District Attorney Donner (Dylan Bruce) began to show symptoms similar to Diggle’s in the middle of interrogating Thea on the witness stand. Thea, who’d refused to visit her mother in prison out of anger for several months, ended up further crippling her mother’s case. Though, all eyes were certainly on Donner, who was keeling over in court one moment, only to be hurled in an ambulance, driven by The Count, the next. Before we knew it, The Count was invading every major television network in Starling City, broadcasting his ailing captive, the D.A. wriggling in pain, only to offer the man the cure to his drug. Yeah, that’s pretty much it folks. The Count poisoned a few dozen people with the new strain of Vertigo and dangled the cure in front of their faces in an effort to, I’m guessing, build a new consumer base through his dealers? All they had to do was come out and ask for it? Count, you’ve gone way too soft in all your days spent in a padded white cell confined to a straight jacket with only a box of Crayolas to keep you company.
Using a symbol discovered in the retinal reflection of the D.A. on the recorded footage broadcasted by The Count, Felicity managed to track his location to an abandoned municipal building. Well, at least it wasn’t a warehouse like those that each and every other villain manages to so easily acquire in Starling City. The Arrow managed to covertly release Donner from his confines, only to face The Count once again. The tiff was simple, really. Oliver fired an arrow at a gas canister and used the resulting fire to fly the coop.
Laurel was put in charge of Moira’s case following the downfall of the D.A. in court. This got me wondering. Wouldn’t there be some sort of conflict of interest considering the fact that Laurel was like family to the Queens for years while she dated Oliver? I mean, she was seen canoodling with him during Season 1! More on this in a moment, but first, it’s important to note that somehow the D.A. had managed to dig up a killer secret that could crush Moira’s case completely. Desperate to help her friend’s mother, Laurel risked everything to visit Moira in prison, pleading with her to decide against testifying. Laurel, who’d be expected to use all that she had been handed against Moira in court, did not want to be the one to bring the Queen family matriarch down.
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Moira, the next day, met with her children privately, deciding to go ahead with testifying against Laurel’s wishes, but first, to come clean. Thea… Oliver… Your mother had a brief slip during one of your father’s less faithful periods. She slept with Malcolm Merlyn. Oof, that was a whopper of a discovery for the D.A. to uncover. Thea, who loathes Malcolm more than anyone, was devastated and disappointed in her mother. Remember, Thea had been made to look crazy in her quest to prove that her mother had, indeed, had an affair with the man all through Season 1. In court, Laurel was forced to use the evidence, even further demolishing any shred of a chance for freedom Moira ever had.
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Outside, Laurel seemed visibly distraught and attempted, miserably, to avoid a confrontation with the Queen kids. Ollie, refusing to let Laurel slip out without so much as a goodbye, assured his ex that he understood how difficult the situation was, and that he simply wanted to ensure that she was alright following the court session. Arrow has continued the “Laurel is depressed that she ruins everything for everyone” arc, now adding Moira Queen to the list of folks she feels responsible for hurting. In Laurel’s defense, I think Episode 7 did her some favors in the likability department!
Felicity and Diggle managed to discover that The Count had been using mobile flu vaccination vans as a means of secretly contaminating unsuspecting civilians. While Diggle was too weak to attempt a bust, Felicity took it upon herself to snoop. Oliver remained busy with his family matters. Of course, Felicity never fails to get herself into sticky situation, and just as she’d managed to uncover the secret location of the Vertigo vials, she came face to face with the lunatic himself, The Count, who looks a bit like a wild and crazy Joel McHale.
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The jury had reached a decision, but with Felicity in the clutches of The Count, Ollie made his own choice to bail on supporting a crumbling Thea with good reason. Thea had a rough week, needless to say. I did enjoy the scene with Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) back at the club, though. At first, I thought it was going to play out quite ridiculously, but his offer to allow Thea to strap on a pair of boxing gloves and take out her frustrations on his pecs turned out to be a much-needed endearing moment during Episode 7. Let’s not forget, Thea is still in possession of the island arrowhead! I believe Roy handed it back after borrowing it for a hot second.
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I don’t believe we’d ever witnessed more fear in Felicity’s eyes than during her brush with The Count this week in the offices of Queen Consolidated. Ollie, who’d promised Felicity and himself that he’d refrain from killing, faced dire circumstances. The Count held a lethal amount of Vertigo to Felicity’s throat, threatening to kill her as punishment for what Ollie had done to him. Count, you know what you got yourself into when you decided to become a super-villain drug dealer. Whoever hired The Count, in truth, was looking to lure the vigilante out of hiding in order to lay him to rest for good. The Count, who’d discovered Ollie’s identity following piecing together Felicity’s company ID card with his past encounters with the former party boy, now had The Arrow right where he wanted him. Oliver, acting without any other clear option, landed several shots square in The Count's chest, finally putting him out of his mental-case misery and landing him several stories down in the street below. Later, Oliver and Felicity shared another touching moment in the lair where she apologized for forcing him to break his promise. Oliver, not showing any sign of regret or remorse following a private shutter earlier, assured Felicity that he’d made the decision to save her life with no doubts in his mind. Olicity fans, rejoice! Diggle recovered quite nicely, by the way. Diggle back in action for Episode 8!
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To close the Recap, we got two more big revelations this week. First, Sebastian Blood (Kevin Alejandro) was behind the attempted hit on the vigilante, funding The Count’s operation in exchange for The Arrow’s head. Also, whatever experiment he’s conducting to create superhumans seems to have found its first success story. I’m guessing this all ties back to the special serum they’re searching for on the island in the flashback sequences.
Finally, Moira Queen was found… absolutely innocent, not guilty, of anything and everything! She walked away a free woman, much to everyone’s confusion. The car hired to take her home ended up making a quick pit stop along the way. There, the man responsible for rigging her jury’s voting process revealed himself. Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) is back in action! Not only has he returned to Starling City, but he came with another bombshell ready for dropping… Thea Queen is his daughter!
What did you think of Arrow Season 2 Episode 7, “State v. Queen”? Are you happy that Moira is free and that Malcolm is back? Are you excited to watch the plot unfold now that we know the truth about Thea’s father? Will Ollie and Felicity ever get it on? Is Season 2’s down-and-out Laurel an improvement on her as a character or not so much? Did you enjoy the return of The Count, or were you simply happy to see him go? What is Sebastian Blood plotting? Is Merlyn involved? Is anyone tied to the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator that is likely to cause a fuss sometime soon?
Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Arrow Season 2 Episode 7, “State v. Queen”!