Arrow: Corto Maltese Recap

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Arrow: Corto Maltese (3×03)

Synopsis: The boys head to Corto Maltese to find Thea and bring her back to Starling City, while the girls hold down the fort at home in Starling City.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

So we finally got Thea back. Kind of.

This episode kicked us off with a trip to Corto Maltese. Oliver and Roy are going to bring Thea back, while Diggle is sent by Lyla on behalf of ARGUS to track down an operative named Mark Shaw. Those of you keeping up at home, that’s another member of the suicide squad that they have brought in, this one you may know as Manhunter. I wouldn’t mind some Suicide Squad, like more than we got before, so please if this is the path CW, keep on it.

In Corto Maltese, (seriously what is with the Queen family and isolation on islands) Oliver tracks down Thea and pleads for her to come home. As heartfelt as Ollie’s plea for Thea is, we know two things. One, Oliver is not telling Thea who he is as the Arrow any time soon, since Diggle is definitely right, Thea would see her brother a sociopathic pathological liar afterwards. Two, Thea is not telling Oliver who she has been with all this time, because she does not look like she’s trusting him. However, despite these two lies, Thea is moved by Ollie, and decides to go back with him.

Malcolm, who seems reluctant to agree, asks her fight him and in a sparring match between the two, lets Thea win. In flashbacks we see him train Thea in the harshest of conditions, burning her hand with boiling water until she learns to endure the pain. It seems to have worked as when she goes to meet Ollie at the airport, someone spills hot coffee on her hand and she barely flinches. It doesn’t go unnoticed by Ollie, but alas he isn’t able to put together the whole picture yet.

The time they spend in Corto Maltese isn’t all tropical paradise, as tracking Shaw turns into an all out battle for a list of ARGUS operatives along with “soft targets” connected to them, aka family and friends. Obviously this makes it personal for Diggle, recent baby daddy of Lyla, and Team Arrow finds themselves in an all out gun fight. It’s worth noting that the best scene in this entire episode was flashes of Oliver building a bow and arrow for him and Roy out of the things in their hotel room. They manage to get the list back before Shaw can sell it to the cartel, and Shaw is set free after telling Diggle he was insubordinate because of Amanda Waller.

Meanwhile, back in Starling City, Felicity starts with with Ray Palmer who is not only dedicated to the cause but adorable as well. He’s a smart guy, I don’t doubt that he will catch on to Felicity’s involvement with Team Arrow, since he already witnessed some of it in the episode. Felicity ends the day asking for time off to see a friend who was struck by lightning in Central City (fyi his name is Barry Allen, and he’s the Flash).

And of course, we can’t forget Laurel. After hearing one of the women in her AA meeting share about her abuse by her repetitively abuse boyfriend, Laurel decides to take actions into her own hands. She dons Sara’s jacket and goes to search out the douchebag boyfriend. Unfortunately, ADAs aren’t all equipped to beat up bad guys, and she gets her ass handed to her. When Quentin finds her, he tells her that she isn’t Sara or the Arrow, and makes her promise not to do this again. Ollie does the same thing, after finding out she wants to do “good” and follow in Sara’s footsteps.

Never one to be deterred by opposition, she takes things into her own hands and seems ready to start training to become the new Canary.

The episode ends as the team returns back to Starling City and are greeted by an old friend. Yes, ladies and gentleman, that is Nyssa. And she wants to know where her girlfriend is.

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