Warning: this recap contains spoilers from Wednesday’s episode of Arrow, “Penance.” This is, after all, a recap! Don’t say we didn’t warn you …
It’s always one step forward and two steps back on Arrow, and Oliver and Felicity learned that lesson once again in this week’s episode. “Penance” was all about making Team Arrow whole again, whether that meant getting Diggle his freedom back, or convincing Ragman to rejoin the team. And while Team Arrow was successful on both of those fronts, they ended up losing another recruit in the process. See, like I said: one step forward and two steps back. Let’s get to recapping, shall we?
After a week of waiting, the hour began with finally letting us know how Rory Regan a.k.a. Ragman reacted to Felicity’s confession—he just straight up quit Team Arrow. But not out of anger, surprisingly. Instead of blaming Felicity for what he understood was an impossible choice for her to make when it came to diverting the nuclear missile from Monument Point to Havenrock, he maturely and calmly came to the decision that he just couldn’t look at Felicity without seeing the faces of his family and remembering how she is the reason why they’re not with him anymore. And so he gave Oliver his notice in person, leaving the new recruits down one essential team member.
But more importantly, it’s time to break Dig out of prison! Oliver and Lyla were going full-force into figuring out the logistics of their jailbreak, but Felicity was more than a little shocked to hear what they were planning, especially when they confessed that Dig wasn’t interested in being a fugitive for the rest of his and so he wasn’t going to cooperate with them. That’s kind of a crucial aspect to their plan of breaking him out, don’t you think?! So when Felicity made her feelings known, Oliver decided to keep her out of the loop, and that just pissed her off even more. He seemed to think helping Dig not make a bad choice about staying in prison was the same kind of situation as her and Rory, and he thought she shouldn’t let Rory off the hook so easily with quitting the team. But the circumstances are just a bit different if we’re being totally honest here.
And you know who else agreed with Felicity about the notion that what Oliver was planning was wrong? The rest of Team Arrow, as the new recruits intercepted Oliver on his way to break Dig out and told him they weren’t going to “let him” do it. Oliver just laughed at that and immediately laid them all out in the middle of the road without even breaking a sweat before speeding away to carry out his plan. It’s cute that the recruits thought they could stop him, though!
With Lyla’s help, Oliver, dressed in all black, made it safely inside the prison with only 25 minutes until he’d be stuck inside and left to face the legal consequences. But there was a huge hiccup in their plan. Dig had been moved to gen-pop in the prison and out of his solitary cell and he wouldn’t be moved back until after their deadline ended. So Oliver caused a lockdown by knocking out one of the guards, and Dig was returned to his cell in the nick of time. After a few minutes trying to argue with Oliver, his protests ended with Oliver blackmailing Dig into cooperating since, otherwise, Oliver would get caught in his cell and arrested. So Dig finally agreed to go with him. Operation Break Dig Out of Jail officially moved on to the next phase!
Unfortunately, right when Oliver needed Lyla’s help the most, his communication device jammed and he and Dig were on their own when it came to navigating the underground tunnels out to safety. But they made it out alive just in time, and so Dig’s life as a fugitive began. Oliver and Lyla moved Dig into an abandoned warehouse to keep him off the grid for the time being, and he thanked Lyla with a lot of passionate kisses. And then he thanked Oliver with a handshake. At least he’s not mad at them for not listening to him! Side note: how good did it feel seeing Oliver and Dig sharing the same scenes again? Man I’ve missed this.
Back in Star City, ruthless gangster Tobias Church reared his head again this week, stealing a whole bunch of weapons from the SCPD evidence lockup while Oliver was “out of town,” or “dealing with his gout” … or staging a jail break. That meant that newly minted Deputy Mayor Lance was left to deal with the fallout along with D.A. Adrian Chase. So Lance recruited the new Team Arrow to help him out, and they all knew they needed Ragman with them or else they wouldn’t stand a chance. Felicity sucked up her pride and confronted him, apologizing again and explained how they both needed to move forward so they can live up their respective legacies. Rory’s was his family legacy of men wearing and using the rags to be a hero, and Felicity’s was to make up for the destruction she caused in Havenrock. But she was called back to Team Arrow before she could see if her words made any difference with Rory.
Back in the Arrow cave, Team Arrow figured out Church and his men were going to hit the Anti-Crime Unit next. But without Oliver and Ragman, Felicity didn’t think the recruits could take him on and win. Thankfully, her earlier words to Rory struck a chord with him, and he rejoined the team just in time, giving them the edge they needed to take on Church. They infiltrated the ACU, but Mister Terrific got a knife to the back, slowing them down enough for Church to face off with Wild Dog while Artemis got Mister Terrific to safety. Lance drove the getaway car, saving Artemis, Mister Terrific and Ragman, while Church knocked out and captured Wild Dog.
The next day, neither the SCPD nor Felicity could find where Church took Wild Dog. Felicity couldn’t stop beating herself up over losing a team member, but Rory gave her some words of encouragement about how they wouldn’t let each other let their guilt eat them up. And Oliver came back to the Arrow cave to let them all know they wouldn’t stop until they saved Wild Dog. But I hope they move fast, since Church had him tied up and tortured in some hideout, intending to break his spirit.
And in the flashback storyline this week, it was time for Oliver’s third trial to become a full fledged member of the Bratva. He had to get arrested to make contact with Kovar’s money launderer who was also in jail. Oliver threatened the man’s family for information on how to get to Kovar, and once he got it, Oliver snapped his neck, killing him instantly. It proved that he trusted his orders, and so the Bratva trusted him. And just like that, Oliver was officially in the Bratva. Now it’s time to see how he rose through the ranks so quickly to become a captain.
What did you think of this week’s episode of Arrow? Tweet me your thoughts at @SydneyBucksbaum!
Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.
Images: The CW
