Various events and relationships are coming to a head in this episode, and darkness is creeping into each and every character’s life. It’s the preamble to the season finale, and there’s nothing better than seeing how assumptions and arrogance mix to make a touchy situation so much worse. Oliver is about to find out that ending the mission is not nearly as simple as he thinks.

I’ll start with the weakest material first, even though my thoughts on the subject are far more forgiving than most (or so it seems). Oliver’s previous penchant for putting Laurel ahead of everyone else in the world comes to a head as his first instinct, when faced with the possibility of cutting the head off his personal demon(s), is to rush into Laurel’s waiting arms. Not only does it come across as rubbing it in Tommy’s face, after their tense little personal meeting, but it also exposes a huge vulnerability, since both Merlyns now know the truth about Oliver and have a reason to eliminate inconveniences.

Moira’s mistakes come back to haunt her in a big way, because while Oliver did a great deal to hide the true intentions of his clever little interrogation ploy, the damage was done to their relationship. Not only that, but Walter is walking away from their marriage, which means, as Moira pointed out, that she’s lost two husbands to her alliance with Merlyn. I can’t see how she’ll come out of this most recent set of revelations intact.

I was a little surprised when Thea and Roy had their falling out, but I’m wondering if it will be a long-term rift, or something confined to Thea’s current sense of loss and chaos. Given Thea’s previous addictions and related issues, I imagine this is going to lead to some unfortunate consequences. I don’t believe for a second that the writers would kill her off, but I do think they might leave her fate in relative doubt in the finale. Drug overdose, anyone?

This is the second encounter between Oliver and Merlyn, and it is about as brutal as the first. Oliver gets pounded, and the end result is Merlyn’s realization that Oliver is “The Hood”. Merlyn was clearly not happy with the implications, but I’m not clear on why he looks so worried. Is there some reason why he doesn’t want to kill Oliver? It’s all still pointing to a Norman/Harry Osborn scenario, in terms of Tommy taking up a dead Malcolm’s mantle, but part of me hopes that doesn’t happen quite this soon.

In terms of the island, things take a leap forward as Fyers reveals his part of the grand scheme involving Purgatory and Yao Fei, and Yao is killed once his part in the gambit is fulfilled. The writers are going to have to work overtime to make Oliver’s survival (along with Slade and Shado) viable, not to mention the inevitable thwarting of Fyers’ plan. A lot is pointing to Merlyn as the mastermind for Fyers, but since Fyers’ boss didn’t sound like Merlyn, it could be a red herring.

Arrow has stumbled a bit on the back end of the season, and to some extent, the events of this episode are a bit predictable. Certainly the writers are getting a bit of criticism for what seems to be an overly familiar Malcolm/Tommy plot resolution, and so much focus on the Oliver/Laurel relationship. A lot will depend on how it plays out in the finale.

John Keegan is Editor-in-Chief for Critical Myth, a partner site of SciFi Vision.