The third episode of Arrow starts with Oliver working out in his very own warehouse gym while his voiceover gives a quick wrap up of the point of the TV show, lost billionaire found again, getting vengeance on corrupt rich people. This week is James Holder, someone who installed faulty smoke detectors in low income housing. Also, how freaking long is this list? It looks like his dad was writing for ages, like is there an end to it? Or are there are a few more books to go through after this one? Though, I suppose if they’re going to tackle one or two rich people an episode they’ll need quite a few.
It looks like they’re mixing it up a bit this episode though, halfway through Oliver’s righteous speech about how the rich guy needs to right his wrongs a sniper from the top of another building shoots the rich guy in the heart. Uh oh, guess he’s not going to pay his restitution.
Oliver scurries back to his cave to do some self-surgery and patch up the graze he got from the bullet, something I’m assuming he got pretty good at on the island. But then Oliver starts stumbling around, apparently the bullet was poisoned, dun dun dunnn! He gets to his magic crate in time to take down some herbs, and promptly passes out into a flashback.
Kicking off from last episode’s flashback, he has an arrow in his chest and is in a mysterious man’s cave. Apparently the man who shot him last week was trying to save him, who knows from what, and is trying to keep him from being harmed by whatever other bad things there are on the island. It’s starting to feel a little like Lost on this island, I’m expecting to see a random polar bear at some point.
Oliver wakes up on the floor of his warehouse, seeming more annoyed than anything. Oliver goes back to his house, where the cops are dropping off his drunk sister, and Diggle gives him another ‘I know that you’re doing something on the side’ look.
Oliver does a bit of research into the poison and finds out it was from an expert marksman hunted all over the world, Deadshot (a villain from the DC universe). Who also happens to tattoo his mark’s names on his skin. That’s pretty badass, but what happens when he runs out of space?
Oliver decides to open up a club above his base, giving him an alibi and a reason to spend his time at the warehouse. The news hits the internet, which Laurel is stalking. After she’s caught her friend demands they go out and dance with some strange men. Who wants to bet that’ll end up with her running into Oliver and Tommy?
Back at the scene of the shooting, Oliver scales a wall in order to retrieve a bullet buried in it. I swear there was an easier option, but hey the guy keeps a tight schedule. Oliver is far quicker and more successful at following the evidence and leads, and he sends out some feelers through some very questionable sources.
Oliver and Tommy go to a club where, shocking, Laurel is, as well as Thea. Oliver and Thea have a little family tiff, then the club owner (whose fiancée Oliver slept with) starts being mad at Oliver too. Oliver and Tommy try taking on three huge bouncers until Laurel comes in and beats on the club owner. Apparently she has more Black Canary in her than previously implied.
From the Russian Mob, Bratva, who apparently Oliver is a captain of, he obtains Deadshot’s hotel room and charges in, in full costume. They have a brief firefight before Deadshot escapes and Oliver grabs his laptop. He takes it to Felicity Smoak (another DC character), deadpans that he got coffee on it despite the bullet holes, and asks her to retrieve as much information as she can.
She pulls off blueprints of the Exchange building, where the auctioning of a company is taking place and a lot of buyers (including the owner of the laptop, who isn’t Deadshot) will be attending. Seeing the issue that he can’t protect everyone he enlists the help of Detective Vance, who doesn’t seem too thrilled about it.
At the auction, it’s swarming with cops, rich people, the Queen family, and Deadshot lining up everyone in his sights from the next building. Oliver and Deadshot have another show down, with machine gun against boy and arrow it seems kind of unfair, but Oliver ends up getting him right in the eye. Unfortunately, Diggle gets hit in the crossfire and Oliver takes him to his underground cave to help heal him. Once he regains consciousness he sees Oliver wearing his Arrow uniform. Yeah, he’s totally going to be a sidekick and, hopefully, help ease some of that angst.
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