It’s been over a month since our last episode of Arrow or “We Want To Be Batman and We Don’t Care Who Knows It” so after a brief recap we’re into a fire where Leonardo DiCaprio’s Italian buddy from Titanic is a fire chief talking to one of his guys inside. The guy inside calls to another fireman for help with a hotspot, but this isn’t one of his buddies. It’s a loon who douses him with some kind of flammable liquid, which burns him alive. It’s pretty gruesome because the fireman is screaming the entire time.
Back at the Arrow Cave it’s time for, you guessed it, a shirtless workout! Interspersed with close-ups of his 2% bodyfat body are memories of having his butt kicked by Daddy Merlyn in the last episode. Then Oliver actually misses hitting a tennis ball with an arrow. Diggle comes in and they discuss That Bond Guy going missing (we know Daddy Merlyn took him hostage to keep Queen Mother in line). Diggle wants to know when Oliver is going to get back to killing people from his father’s book without due process, but Oliver says his family needs him with That Bond Guy missing. Pretty sure they always needed him, but it’s different now that he’s has his ass handed to him, right? This takes us to a Bad Wig Flashback, which is easily the best part of the show. It picks up where it last left off, with Yao Fei—the guy who teaches Oliver on the island—being taken prisoner and Oliver running off. Title credits…
As it turns out the, fire fighter killed was the brother of Dinah Laurel’s best friend and co-worker. Because Detective Quentin Lance is the only cop in the city he turns up with Titanic Fire Chief (it’s appropriate because he’s packed on a few pounds) to inform her of it.
Queen Mother is morose over the loss of a second husband and won’t join Oliver and his sister, Speedy, in watching a movie. Speedy explains the first time around when their father died it was That Bond Dude who helped pull her out of it. Guess we should start looking for husband #3. This episode also heralds the return of the TV as an exposition device, as Oliver and Speedy watch a discussion on how Justice Hoodie has gone missing. Again, no one notices that Oliver’s around more and Justice Hoodie is around less any more than they noticed he showed up when Oliver returned.
At Dinah Laurel’s, Tommy wants a drawer, but that discussion will have to wait as Laurel’s best friend has shown up with evidence that her brother was murdered (the obvious accelerant on his body made it burn hotter than the actual fire). Evidence that any competent police and fire department would have noted and come to a similar conclusion, but then what would Justice Hoodie and Dinah Laurel have to do? But this is Star City, so even when she puts it in her father’s face, it’s meaningless. Fortunately, at that exact moment a lab tech is returning the Bat-phone—er, I mean, Arrow phone to Detective Lance telling him he can’t hack or trace it. Of course he leaves it on his desk and of course she takes it and calls Oliver.
