Synopsis:
When Detective Lance has him charged with murder, Oliver hires Laurel as his attorney. Given Oliver's time on the island, the district attorney offers an insanity plea with open-ended treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder in a psychiatric facility. Oliver declines, instead offering to take a polygraph test to prove his innocence to Detective Lance. The test indicates he is truthful in saying he is not the vigilante. Flashbacks to his time on the island show Oliver caught and tortured by the armed professionals before being saved by the hooded archer. He shows Laurel his scars, saying he is damaged by his experiences. While remanded under house arrest, Oliver throws a prison-themed party, maintaining his bachelor playboy facade. He has Diggle pose as the vigilante and stop a German arms dealer who is in the city to sell automatic weapons to the city's gangs. The plan works and the charges are dropped. Moira meets with a secret associate, who knows of the vigilante's list of targets and sees him as a threat to their organization. Walter leaves the house after confronting Moira on her deception.
The best thing about this episode to me wasn;t the way that Oliver tried to frame himself, to fool the police - but instead the fact that we see just how much he's having to surround himself with lies to maintain his Arrow identity, and how much this is hurting all of the people around him - whether intentional or not.
Again, the characters really stand out as well developed, and with great lines. No one in this series is uninteresting or under-developed.
Also, the continued development of the island backstory is gripping - this episode reveals that Oliver has been tortured, and we can see that the character still suffers from this - but also that his mental pain continues to afflict others through his self-serving actions to maintain his Arrow deception.
When Detective Lance has him charged with murder, Oliver hires Laurel as his attorney. Given Oliver's time on the island, the district attorney offers an insanity plea with open-ended treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder in a psychiatric facility. Oliver declines, instead offering to take a polygraph test to prove his innocence to Detective Lance. The test indicates he is truthful in saying he is not the vigilante. Flashbacks to his time on the island show Oliver caught and tortured by the armed professionals before being saved by the hooded archer. He shows Laurel his scars, saying he is damaged by his experiences. While remanded under house arrest, Oliver throws a prison-themed party, maintaining his bachelor playboy facade. He has Diggle pose as the vigilante and stop a German arms dealer who is in the city to sell automatic weapons to the city's gangs. The plan works and the charges are dropped. Moira meets with a secret associate, who knows of the vigilante's list of targets and sees him as a threat to their organization. Walter leaves the house after confronting Moira on her deception.
The best thing about this episode to me wasn;t the way that Oliver tried to frame himself, to fool the police - but instead the fact that we see just how much he's having to surround himself with lies to maintain his Arrow identity, and how much this is hurting all of the people around him - whether intentional or not.
Again, the characters really stand out as well developed, and with great lines. No one in this series is uninteresting or under-developed.
Also, the continued development of the island backstory is gripping - this episode reveals that Oliver has been tortured, and we can see that the character still suffers from this - but also that his mental pain continues to afflict others through his self-serving actions to maintain his Arrow deception.
