Arrow: Draw Back Your Bow Recap

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC8peLThhXI]

Arrow: Draw Back Your Bow (3×07)

Synopsis: Oliver must stop an Arrow-obsessed serial killer, Carrie Cutter, who is convinced that The Arrow is her one true love and will stop at nothing to get his attention. Unfortunately, her way of getting his attention is to kill people. Meanwhile, Ray asks Felicity to be his date for a work dinner with important clients. Thea auditions new DJs for Verdant and meets Chase, a brash DJ with whom she immediately clashes.

Rating: ★★★★★

Man, oh man. What an absolutely great episode. Arrow has been blowing it out of the water every week and this week was no different (granted this almost got 4.5 stars because of the horrible DJ storyline, but I have faith that the writers aren’t turning this into an episode of Gossip Girl).

One of the many things I enjoyed this episode was some serious momentum building up with Oliver’s storyline in Hong Kong, especially with Tatsu and Maseo’s backstory. I am a huge fan of this storyline, not only because I am Chinese and I can relate to the setting, but also it is serving as an interesting tie in to Amanda Waller, who has kind of been in the shadows this entire season.

Maseo leaves on an assignment by Waller, leaving Ollie behind to learn how to do laundry for the first time. After not hearing from Maseo, Tatsu and Oliver go down to the docks to investigate. Meeting Triad members there, Oliver tries to go investigate to see if he can find out where Maseo is. He gets his ass handed to him pretty quickly, and Tatsu busts in with her katana and easily handles the men before getting the information they need.

The last remaining triad member tells them that they just killed three men, and we are lead to believe that Maseo was one of them. I loved Tatsu in this episode, not only because we got to see Katana with a freaking katana, but because we got to see something past the mean wife of Maseo. She gave us some insight into their past and who they’re hiding from in Hong Kong.

Returning home and thinking Maseo is dead, they are both relieved and surprised to see him alive and well. This episode gave me a lot of hope that we might see Tatsu in the modern day by the end of the season. I love casting of the couple, and it would be great to see them see Oliver in Starling City. It’s up in the air where their story will go, but I like the direction so far.

Then of course, there was the villain of the week. We find out in the episode that she was saved six months ago during the mirakuru attack by Oliver after being cornered by no less than four or five guys. We find out that her name is Carrie Cutter, an ex-cop and the first woman on the SCPD’s SWAT team. Her attachment disorder lead to her quitting the force, after she became obsessed and fixated on a single person.

I really enjoyed Carrie Cutter, played by Amy Gumenick (aka young Mary Winchester from Supernatural). Her character was a good vehicle to deliver insight not only into Oliver, but also his relationship with Felicity. When Oliver visits Carrie’s therapist, she tells him that Carrie fixates on a person who she thinks mirrors her own emotional state, and her inability to form real lasting relationships forces her to push other people away. Sound like someone we know?

Obviously, Oliver is not on Carrie’s level, but he seems to display some of these problems. Oliver’s attachment is to his Arrow persona; his attachment to it makes him unable to form a lasting relationship with someone he has feelings for: Felicity. He recognized this with Sara, and then also with Felicity.

Which brings me to “Olicity” and also “Raylicity”. Ok, so I’m the biggest supporter of Oliver and Felicity out there (maybe not as big as Diggle is), but I loved the interactions between Ray Palmer and Felicity this episode. From the salmon ladder (yes, you do have a type, Felicity), to the dress and necklace, to the dinner date, to the kiss, it was a picture of what Felicity deserves. It might not be what she wants, because we know she still has feelings for Oliver, but it is nice to see her get what she deserves.

Ray has consistently proven himself to be an honorable person. Where Oliver sought to avenge the city, he seeks to heal it. He’s pulling all nighters doing work for the city, donating his paychecks to rebuild the city, he made Felicity vice-president of his company, and he stopped himself before that kiss went too far because he made a promise to keep the night platonic. He is a good guy, and I think that his relationship with Felicity might be the kick in the nuts that Oliver needs to reevaluate his feelings and his stance on where he is with Felicity.

It was absolutely heartbreaking to see Oliver witness that kiss between them, and even more so in the following scene when he flipped out in anger in the Foundry. Kudos to Stephen Amell for those acting chops. I think Ray’s character is the perfect foil to Oliver. As a rival, Ray has taken his company from him, he’s renamed it Palmer Technologies and he’s started to rebuild a city that Oliver basically broke apart in his crusade against corruption. He’s taken Felicity from him, not only as a romantic interest but also as an asset to his own team. And in the grand reveal at the end of the episode, he’s also about to put on his own suit.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we got to see the A.T.O.M. exosuit. Not only that, we got a name drop of the white dwarf star allow during their dinner date. This is the alloy that Ray Palmer uses in the comics that allows him to shrink. It will be interesting to see where they go wit this, as it seems that Ray already knows the properties of the alloy and has been preparing his suit for a while.

So the episode concludes with Oliver turning Carrie into Waller. He believes that she will do some good on the Suicide Squad. There was a nice little name drop for Harley Quinn from Diggle who hears from Lyla that Carrie’s “even nuttier than the last woman they had in the Suicide Squad”. If Carrie is Harley’s replacement, I’m totally ok with that.

Oliver, who still doesn’t know how to deal with his emotions with Felicity, has grown through the sequence of events in the episode. His past self learns how to do laundry, and his present self has taken some significant steps in forming stronger emotional bonds with his friends. Even in his relationship with Felicity, he is able to admit to Diggle and to himself, outloud, that it bothers him to see Felicity with Ray, that he knows what it’s like to want someone and not be able to be with them, and finds out that he doesn’t have to be alone. He ends the episode taking Roy with him for a late dinner with Diggle and Lyla.

All in all, a solid episode. With the exception of the magical DJ. Yeah, did you think I forgot about DJ McDouchbag? No, I did not. I’m a little surprised at Thea this episode. Not only was I expecting her not to kiss McDouchebag, but I was also expecting him to knee him in the nuts for taking such liberties. It felt a little out of character, but maybe the writers have something up their sleeve?

And the stinger of the episode introduces the villain of the two-part crossover episode between Arrow and The Flash! Presenting Captain Boomerang, aka George Harkness, aka Nick Tarabay, aka another Spartacus alum. I am totally excited for the crossover, but we’ll have to wait two weeks for the episode. Stay tuned for our review!

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LRe1WTtEWk]