'Arrow' Recap: Damien Darhk Has Ray Palmer Trapped in a Shoebox
Warning: This recap for the “Lost Souls” episode of Arrow contains spoilers.
Sure, Team Arrow manages to rescue Ray Palmer and his A.T.O.M. suit from Damien Darhk, but that’s not nearly as interesting as the long-awaited first meeting of Quentin Lance and Donna Smoak, aka #smoaknlance.
The Plot
Felicity runs herself ragged trying to track down where Ray sent his distress call from. In fact, he’s being held by Damien Darhk, who has plans for his miniaturization tech. With the help of Curtis, Team Arrow breaks in, enlarges Ray, and get away.
Meanwhile, on the island, Baron Reiter gets closer to finding whatever mystical thing he actually came to Lian Yu to find. Oliver kills one of the workers Conklin sent to kill him, and Conklin uses the death to frame him instead.
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Good Talk, Bro
Good to see the trunk with the Russian vodka is not forgotten — though a drawer with Tennessee whiskey doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. The main story of the episode is saving Ray Palmer, but really, it’s about saving Oliver and Felicity’s relationship. Ollie’s worried that Felicity is still in love with Ray and — if they don’t save him — that he’ll have to contend with his memory, which is even worse.
Diggle assures him that that’s ridiculous and that, besides, there’s no way a badass like Felicity’s going to fail. It’s good to see them both back on the same page and having some emotional bro time.
Good Talk, Moms
Nor does the show skimp with the girl talk. Donna Smoak may be a ditz, but she’s had enough awful life experiences to let her daughter know not to let go of a good thing when she’s found it. Felicity’s worried that she’s lost herself in Oliver, but Donna says, “You’ll find yourself in each other.” The show can get pretty ham-fisted with their big emotional arcs, but they almost always nail these small, emotional moments.
“He Says He’s Not Dead!” “Well, He Will Be Soon — He’s Very Ill”
According to next week’s preview, Andy faked his own death and is still alive. While we’ve known for a while that actor Eugene Byrd would be reprising the role, most folks were just expecting flashbacks. Given that he’ll be the third character brought back to life in just seven episodes, it’s probably a good thing that they foreshadowed a big death in the first episode and took away the Lazarus Pit so maybe that one will stick.
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Quiverful of Thoughts
* Ollie’s campaign manager has to be H.I.V.E., right? They already did the “Thea’s BF is an undercover assassin” thing last year, but he seems way too charming and convenient to be real.
* What is it that Damien Darhk plans to minaturize? A circuit? Is that a map of downtown Star City? Superman had the miniature city of Kandor in a bottle; maybe Darhk needs a decoration for his fireplace mantel?
* Mama Smoak finally meets Captain Lance, and it looks like an instant connection. If we make it through the season without Felicity and Laurel walking in on those two in bed, what’s even the point of this show? #smoaknlance
* Someone on Etsy is sewing an Arrow costume to put on a Chatty Cathy doll, right? Right?!
* For those who don’t know, Andy Diggle is also the writer of Green Arrow: Year One limited series that is the basis for the TV version. John and Andy are both named after him.
* Curtis is pretty terrific, but not as terrific as he could be. We already know he’s an Olympic athlete — but in the comics, he won Gold, not Bronze. We know he’s smart — but in the comics, he’s the third smartest man in the world. Maybe they gave him BASE jumping as a hobby to make up for it? Hopefully, he gets a new, crazier hobby every week until eventually he just joins Team Arrow in the field permanently.
Line of the Night:
“The best part about arguing is the makeup sex!” Moms all have the ability to embarrass their children, but it’s possible Donna Smoak is a metahuman, because she elevates it to a superpower.
Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.
