The CW’s Arrow returned on January 20, 2016 from its season four winter break which left fans worried about the fate of Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards). Oliver’s limo was attacked by Damien Darhk’s Ghosts and Felicity was severely wounded in season four’s episode nine. That attack, combined with the tease of Oliver and Barry (The Flash) visiting a freshly dug grave in a cemetery, had fans concerned we’d seen the last of Felicity. By the end of episode 10 Felicity’s fate was revealed…
Recap of Arrow Season 4 Midseason Premiere
Four months from now: Oliver stands in front of a freshly dug grave, staring at the headstone. Barry (Grant Gustin) joins him in the cemetery and Oliver confesses that while he doesn’t feel this is his own fault, he does feel it’s responsibility to kill Damien Darhk.
Back to present time, Felicity fights for her life as the doctors operate. Instead of being at the hospital, Oliver unleashes his inner beast and takes down every Ghost he can find in his hunt for Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough). Back at Team Arrow’s lair, John Diggle (David Ramsey) wants to know how the hunt’s going and Oliver suggests they talk to John’s brother, Andy, again because he’s not getting anywhere. In comes Laurel (Katie Cassidy) with the news Felicity’s back in surgery again. Oliver says Felicity would want him to stay on point and keep hunting for Darhk.
Back on the island, Oliver and Taiana have been discovered by Conklin and are being taken in for punishment. Oliver’s badly wounded and falls to the ground in pain, whispering to Taiana that she needs to make a run for it.
At the hospital, everyone but Oliver is gathered to support Felicity as she gets ready for surgery. Felicity assures everyone she knows Oliver’s doing everything he can to track down Darhk.
John visits his brother and this time he’s not playing nice. He hits Andy hard, trying to get information.
At the police station, Oliver tells Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne) he has no other choice but to ask him where it is he’s met with Darhk. It will mean Quentin is exposed as working with Oliver and Quentin understands the risk and gives Oliver the information even though it means he’s setting himself up as target of Darhk’s rage. Oliver assures Quentin he’s not going to let Darhk out of this alive.
Green Arrow heads to the location Quentin gave him and finds dead Ghosts scattered on the floor. He opens a door and finds a bloody anarchy symbol on the wall.
Back at their headquarters, Oliver tells Thea (Willa Holland), Diggle and Laurel that the symbol was left by Lonnie Machin (Alexander Calvert). Lonnie (aka Anarky) also left that symbol by two paramedics a few months ago. Darhk gave up Lonnie’s location after he kidnapped Danforth’s daughter, and now Lonnie is out for revenge. He’s targeting Ghosts and is one step behind Darhk but one step ahead of Oliver.
Back on the island, Oliver’s brought in – along with his backpack full of maps – to see Baron Reiter. Reiter is now sure Oliver is a traitor and gives the okay to kill him. Instead, he’s taken out to be viciously whipped by Conklin who appears to relish the opportunity to inflict pain on Oliver.
John stops by him to see his wife, Lyla, before heading back to the hospital. There’s blood on his knuckles and he admits he had to see Andy again. John feels betrayed by Andy and Lyla suggests that if he can’t get through to him by treating him as a Ghost, maybe he should treat him like a brother. John balks at the suggestion, but Lyla is sure this is the best approach.
At the hospital, Thea confesses to Laurel that she’s not sure they will actually catch Lonnie. “I can’t seem to win for losing,” says Thea. She tells Laurel she ran into Damien Darhk while they were rescuing Andy and that her blood lust vanished when Darhk used his powers on her. Thea thinks Lonnie’s blood lust is completely her fault.
Laurel stumbles on her dad and Felicity’s mom sharing an intimate moment at the hospital. She’s surprised but gets over the shock quickly. Laurel thanks him for giving up Darhk’s location, and they’re both very concerned about each others safety. As they’re talking, Quentin gets a text saying the lab got a match on the DNA of the blood Lonnie used to paint the symbol.
Laurel meets with Oliver, Thea, and John to let them know the blood is Lonnie’s foster parents. He kidnapped them and planted their blood. Thea thinks maybe Lonnie is hiding at his former home now that it’s vacant. They spot him there on closed circuit cameras and head out.
Symbols are painted all over Lonnie’s house and it’s filthy. A man in a clear mask is sitting in front of the TV – and it’s Lonnie. He was expecting Darhk’s men but is fine with it being Green Arrow and his crew. A cabinet opens and guns start firing as Lonnie flees the room. Thea heads out after him and is knocked down temporarily. Lonnie reaches for her, saying, “You’re the one who saved me from myself.” As Speedy is about to shoot, Black Canary uses her canary voice on Lonnie and John knocks him out. Now it’s time to find out what he knows.
Lonnie’s tied up, but Speedy thinks he needs to be put away right now. Green Arrow is determined to use him to get info on Darhk. He demands to know where Darhk is, but Lonnie says there’s nothing Green Arrow can do to him that hasn’t already been done. Speedy stops Green Arrow’s interrogation by telling him Felicity’s out of surgery and it didn’t go well. He needs to get to the hospital ASAP.
John goes back to see Andy and apologizes for beating him up. They talk about old times and how Andy tried to walk the straight and narrow. Andy harbors a lot of anger toward his brother, but John tells him he’s always loved him. John takes the blame on himself for what Andy has gone through, but Andy truly believes in Darhk. John says Darhk crossed a line by hurting Felicity. He asks again where he can find Darhk and Andy says he used to talk about Stonehaven.
Speedy is left alone with Lonnie who tells her she burnt away his weakness by burning his face. He wants to know why she’s holding back. He can see the blood lust in her eyes. Just then the police arrive and Speedy leaves.
Oliver sees Felicity’s mom, Donna, at the hospital and discovers there’s a new diagnosis. “They can’t fix her,” says Donna, crying. The damage to her spinal cord is permanent. Oliver can’t believe it, but Donna says it’s the top doctor who delivered this news.
Back on the island, Oliver is being beaten when the tattoo on his abdomen lights up. Reiter sees it and stops the beating. Oliver grabs a gun and is ready to kill himself.
Green Arrow stops the police van taking Lonnie away. Lonnie emerges handcuffed from the back and says he’s not giving up Darhk’s location. Green Arrow shoots off Lonnie’s handcuffs and replies, “You make sure he’s dead.”
Back at headquarters, Laurel wants to know if Oliver’s lost his mind. Oliver is mad because she gave Lonnie over to the police and tells her he’s placed a tracker on Lonnie so he can lead them to Darhk. Laurel’s pissed he put a murderer back on the streets and Oliver fires back, “Like you did with Sara.” John arrives and Laurel tells him Oliver broke Lonnie out of custody. John asks Laurel for a second, and she leaves. Apparently Andy’s lead was a dead end and now John’s worried Oliver’s lost his humanity.
At Oliver’s campaign headquarters, Alex is typing away when Thea arrives to tell him she has to break things off. He wants to help her with her anger issues, but she says it can’t be helped. He tells her when she’s ready, he’ll be there for her.
John, Oliver, and Laurel are locked on Lonnie’s tracking device when Thea arrives and senses the bad vibe. John gets her up to speed and Thea wants to know what happens if Lonnie gets loose and starts hurting people. Just then the tracker goes dark and Oliver admits there is no other plan; that was the extent of it. John tells him to go see Felicity now – they need each other. Laurel and Thea promise to find Lonnie.
Felicity greets him with a “hey stranger” and he apologizes for not being there sooner. He didn’t want to visit her until Darhk was located. She’s worried he’s gone off the rails. “I can’t help but think that the reason that Darhk is winning is that I haven’t been willing to go far enough and that if I was and I had, you wouldn’t be in here right now,” says Oliver. Felicity cries as she tells him about her condition but he says he knows. Still, she’s worried it’s the real reason he hasn’t been to see her. Oliver gets her engagement ring out of his pocket, telling her the nurse took it off in the emergency room. “How dare she,” he says as he places it back on her finger. “For better or for worse,” says Oliver and kisses her.
Back on the island, Oliver tells Reiter that he’ll cooperate as long as Taiana is allowed to go free. It’s a deal and Oliver hands over the gun.
Laurel arrives at the hospital and Oliver says that while they fight villains and metahumans, etc, Felicity is actually stronger than all of them. Laurel agrees. Laurel also says they’ve got a lead on Darhk and that Lonnie is going after him where he lives. Laurel thinks Oliver might want to go, too.
Lonnie has Darhk’s wife and daughter tied up and has painted symbols all over their house. Damien’s on his way and Lonnie is ready to torture his family to fill the time until he gets there.
Green Arrow, Diggle, Black Canary and Speedy arrive and quietly approach the house. Inside, they take on Lonnie who’s confused as to what Green Arrow really wants. The wife and child are freed as Lonnie, Speedy and Green Arrow fight. Lonnie escapes and Green Arrow and Speedy split up. Just then Green Arrow sees Darhk and charges him. Speedy catches up with Lonnie and binds him to a tree. Green Arrow and Darhk engage in hand-to-hand combat, and Green Arrow seems to be winning. Speedy fires an arrow toward Lonnie. Darhk uses Green Arrow’s arrows against him, demanding his family. Green Arrow says he saved them. Darhk reminds Green Arrow that he can’t beat him but because he saved his family, Darhk will give Green Arrow a few weeks to be with his family. “Enjoy your time…what’s left of it,” says Darhk.
Speedy missed on purpose and Lonnie cuts himself loose from the tree. They fight and he knocks down Speedy and runs away.
Back at headquarters, everyone seems okay so Oliver heads out to see Felicity.
Back on the island, Oliver and Taiana are locked up and she tends to his wounds. She tells Oliver he’s a good man.
John goes to see his brother and this time it’s just to play cards.
Thea invites Alex over to her house. He’s confused, but she just wants to tell him he was right. “I am stronger than I think I am,” says Thea.
Oliver is sitting by Felicity’s bed when she wakes. He tells her he wants to go to Bali. “I’d go anywhere with you,” says Felicity. “Just one question: what’s Damien Darhk doing in Bali? I only ask because if he’s still here, we have some work to do.” Oliver wants to know how she got to be so strong.
Darhk’s family is with him in a car and he’s taking them to a hotel he bought out for the month. Damien says Lonnie will never hurt them again, and the wife says the vigilantes saved them. She says he should have killed the Green Arrow tonight and that they’re too close to play games. He promised her a new beginning and she’ll have it, “once we’ve brought this world to an end.”
Four months from now, Oliver heads back to the limo from the grave and Felicity is in the back seat already! She’s crying and he asks if she’s okay. She relies, “Are you?” He says no and she says, “You know what you have to do, right? You have to kill the son of a bitch.”
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