This week's episode brought everyone's favorite techie, Felicity, back into the picture in a big way, and it was awesome. So let's just dive in, shall we?
(Need to catch up? Don't miss H&H recaps of the pilot episode, episode 1.02, episode 1.03, episode 1.04, episode 1.05, episode 1.06, episode 1.07, episode 1.08, episode 1.09, episode 1.10, episode 1.11, and episode 1.12). Plus, read Jennifer Proffitt's report on the Arrow cast panel at NYCC!)
***SPOILERS TO FOLLOW FOR ARROW 1.14, “THE ODYSSEY”***
Highlights
Moira actually shoots at—and hits—the Green Arrow, not realizing, of course, that she's just seriously injured her son. Y'know, the one she's just said she has to live for when pleading with Arrow not to kill her. Oh, the drama!
FELICITY! My favorite episode of the moment, by far, was the reveal that a wounded Oliver had climbed into her car, and Felicity's realization that he's the vigilante. “Everything about you just became so unbelievably clear,” she says. Love her. And look, I know Laurel is probably going to be The One for Oliver, the one he'll spend seasons pining over, but at this point I'm waaaaay more into the idea of Oliver/Felicity.
Abs! Ollie spends most of the present-day scenes in the episode stripped to the waist on a table. One can't help but admire the bod. Maybe I'm weird but the (fake! it's fake, OK?) blood just makes him hotter.
The island flashbacks are not my favorite (I'll save that for Lowlights) but I did like the training scene with his Aussie ally Slade Wilson, who tells Ollie at one point that “girl scouts have more fight.” Ha! Also enjoyed Oliver's incredulous comment later in the episode that “I'm trapped on an island and my only friend's name is Wilson.” Cast Away reference ftw!
The other flashback plus this week was getting to see Oliver turning a corner as a person. He tells Slade he can't leave without trying to rescue Yao Fei, who saved his life, and that he's not going to be the selfish person he's always been anymore.
Digg and Felicity make a good team!
The Oliver-Felicity-Digg scene at the end of the episode was great. I want more of the three of them, and sounds like we might get that, so yay. Felicity declines to join Arrow's super secret boy band (as Tony Stark might refer to it) but says that she is in to help find Walter because he's always been nice to her. Then she wants to go back to her nice, boring life. Have I mentioned how much I like her?
Lowlights
So yeah, the flashbacks have become confusing for me; I have a hard time keeping track of who all these different guys are and what their agendas are with regard to Oliver. I know this means I just need to pay more attention, but I just don't care to. (That said, I know some of you are more invested in the flashbacks than the present-day stuff. I can't say I care more about anything in the present-day scenes myself...I guess I just see more potential for things I could care about, like Felicity/Oliver, in the present day.)
The Oliver/Laurel references in this episode didn't do much for me. I feel like the dream scene of them in bed together was probably fan-service (especially judging by the promotion I saw for it in advance of the episode), but since I'm not dying for Oliver and Laurel to get back together, I wasn't all that excited about it even before it turned into a nightmare.
***
That's all I've got. Thought it was a strong episode, even if the show isn't all I'd hoped it'd be. What did you think of “The Odyssey”?
