Arrow: The Odyssey

We had a pretty fierce cliffhanger last time, the Hood confronted his mom, and with arrow nocked, he says his trademarked line, "Moira Queen, you have failed this city." Da da dum.

We pick up this episode exactly where we left off, and find Moira rather resourceful. She uses her family as a shield, begging for her life as a mother. When the Hood lowers his bow and drops his guard - she shoots him in the chest. Damn... it would seem Mom is a bit more proactive than Vanch, Bertinelli, China White, or The Count. She's hardcore.

Oliver escapes and finds Felicity, who after another identity reveal, takes him to Diggle at the Arrowcave. I guess now we not only officially have our Alfred, we have our Oracle. Oliver is hurt bad, and unconscious, so what better time for an island flashback, right, or even an all island episode?

Last episode, in "Betrayal," it was established that Slade Wilson, at least one of the Deathstrokes in the TV continuity, trains Oliver to fight. Their goal is to take an airstrip on the island where a supply plane lands. That's what he trains Oliver for.

We also get a bit of background. Slade is Australian special forces, and his partner, Billy Wintergreen is the Deathstroke who tortured Oliver. He was also the godfather of Slade's son Joe. In comics, Wintergreen is the butler/valet of Deathstroke, essentially his Alfred. And Joseph Wilson is the Teen Titan known as Jericho, frequently in opposition to Deathstroke.

We get some nice albeit brief scenes with Diggle and Feicity, but we all know two things. One, Oliver will survive the bullet, and two, Oliver is not getting off the island this time, at least not in this flashback. Diggle tries to rationalize Oliver's murders. I feel him, but it's still not enough.

In the end, we learn a bit more about Yao Fei, one particularly juicy bit I'll get to in a minute, Oliver goes up against Eddie Fyers and his men, and, yeah baby, Deathstroke vs. Deathstroke. What's keeping Yao Fei under Fyers' thumb is a young lady (his daughter?) named Shado, who is Fyers' prisoner. Oliver and Shado share the same tattoo, and comics fans know who Shado is. This should be very interesting...