Arrow - S5E22 - Missing

Previously on Arrow, “Honor Thy Father”

“Missing” is, in essence, a set up episode, putting all of the pieces into place for the season finale next week. The bad guys (Chase, Evil!Laurel, Talia Al Ghul, and Evelyn) assemble on Lian Yu with their bait (Felicity, Diggle, Thea, Lance, and Curtis) to await the arrival of the good(?) guys (Oliver, Merlyn!, Nyssa!!, and Slade!!!) for what looks to be an explosive end to the season.

The Good

Oliver got his first birthday party in years, with his very own Green Arrow themed cake! Why anyone would decide on a surprise party for a martial arts expert with PTSD, however, is anyone’s guess.

Nyssa is back, and about as happy as can be expected to be working with Malcolm Merlyn. Maybe after this she can head over to Legends of Tomorrow for a far more pleasant reunion.

Also back: Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke, aka someone Oliver should really not be letting out of his cage (side note: Diggle REALLY has no leg to stand on criticizing Lyla about locking people away without due process given where Slade has been hanging out for the last few seasons). As much as it makes no logical sense for Oliver to release Slade (your friend has super speed, but by all means team up with the man who murdered your mother!), it’s hard to be too critical given that it brings the charming Manu Bennet back to our screens.

The Bad

It really is hard to believe that the team would let their guards down to the degree that they wouldn’t worry about Rene’s mysterious absence.

I had actually forgotten that Evelyn existed, but apparently she not only exists, but is still angry enough that Oliver is a mass murderer to continue working with a different mass murderer to bring him down. It’s hard to pin down her motive given that she drops in and out of the narrative and has no lines.

How is it that no one has thought to tell Lance about all of the alternate Earths out there? Also, if I never again hear Laurel refer to him as “daddy” it’ll still be too soon; the Internet has ruined that word forever.

So Oliver is just going to beat up a bunch of prison guards who know him as the mayor, inside a prison, and come out of it with his secret identity intact? That’s a stretch too far, even for this show.

Quote of the Week

The delightfully sassy Nyssa Al Ghul: “Mr. Merlyn, I assume you still have no title.”