Arrow S05 E22: Missing

With Prometheus behind bars, one might assume that Oliver can have a happy birthday.  Felicity throws him a surprise party, and instead Oliver throws Curtis over his shoulder.  I like Curtis growing out of his awkward personality, but dislike his growing into an annoying class clown who won't shut up.  Quentin is late and Rene is missing.  That last thing is not good.

After the party that Dinah is also late for, Curtis drops by her place to find it broken into.  While on the phone with Felicity, he too vanishes.  Someone is taking down Team Arrow one by one.  Paranoid Oliver immediately suspects Chase.  And yeah, it is him, manipulating others from inside.  Talia and Black Siren are also out there hunting Oliver and company. 

The confrontation between Black Siren and Quentin is the one we've all been waiting for since she was staying on our Earth, but shouldn't her reaction to seeing him been just as shocking as he seeing her?  We get it later, but I would have liked it earlier.  I did like that Quentin was able to figure out and accept the multiverse concept a lot easier than some pre-Crisis DC writers, which is how it should be.  Come on, guys, it's not that hard. 

I liked that it's Malcolm Merlin that finally centers Oliver, even though a dozen other things should have done it already.  Although other than Thea I have to wonder what his motive might be.  When she is safe, will he turn?  Oliver also calls on Nyssa to counter her sister for a showdown on Flashback Island. And one other. 

The weirdness of the reforming Olicity or calling in foes as friends is nowhere near as weird as Kovar being back from the dead on Flashback Island.  He injects Oliver with a drug that makes him relive every pain he's ever had.  Yeah, torture might have been better.  The drug is also a hallucinogenic, which provides for interesting flashbacks. 

How does Oliver keep getting into ARGUS to purposefully brutalize Chase?  Is everyone there okay with this?  And how is it Chase seems to be able to shave in his prison, even getting the sides of his head?  Is someone slipping him a razor? Oliver is free and still always has a half-beard.  By the way, did anyone else notice that Kovar, Artemis, and Prometheus all use the same tranq darts?  Was the anti-Arrow tranq dart company having a sale? 

Everyone, except for apparently William, Lyla, Rene, and the conveniently forgotten Roy, are on Lian Yu.  And Oliver, along with Nyssa and Merlin, is on his way there for a showdown with Prometheus, whose entourage includes Back Siren, Artemis, Talia, and the League of Assassins.  But Oliver has one more player to recruit, Deathstroke. 

Maybe one other too, if the writers remember Captain Boomerang is there too.  And hey, where was the ARGUS staff in charge of the feeding and care of these two baddies?  I guess we'll find out next time.

Next: "Liam Yu" the season finale!

For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode, anything else in the Arrowverse, or anything in the Marvel or DC television or cinematic universes, please join the Marvel DC Movies TV group on Facebook.