Speedy Recap: CW’s Arrow: Damaged (Season 1, Episode 5) New Vigilante Debut & Deathstroke Arrives! (Stephen Amell & Katie Cassidy)

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We’re into week 5 of CW’s Arrow starring Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen / (Green) Arrow in the title role.

Spoilers follow. You have been warned. :)

Deathstroke makes his live-action debut in this week’s Season 1, Episode 5 called “Damaged”.


MAIN PLOT:

The episode opens with legal wranglings between Oliver Queen and his mom and step-dad over his legal representation. Why does he need a lawyer? Well, he was arrested in last week’s episode because Detective Lance believes he has video evidence showing Oliver changing into “The Hood”; the series’ titular vigilante has yet to be called Arrow or Green Arrow, but is “The Hood”. For more on The Hood including a history check this out.

In his defence, Oliver explains that he found a backpack with the hood of The Hood in it and was taking it from the stairwell. Since the police don’t see Oliver change into The Hood on camera, the case seems shaky.

Oliver’s ex-girlfriend, and Detective Lance’s daughter Laurel, makes a dramatic entrance in court as Oliver’s lawyer. In a legal manoeuver that allows Oliver to get out on a severl million dollar bail, Oliver must where a GPS leg tracker. That will certainly put a crimp in his vigilantism. How does he handle this? By throwing a party. Of course!

In briefing up Diggle his civilian bodyguard and vigilante partner (don’t call him a sidekick), we find out that Oliver had his arrest planned and he knew where the camera was in the stairwell the whole time. He logically notes that with he just returned from a 5 year hiatus on an island and at the same time “The Hood” debuted. He notes that someone would eventually make the connection, so he wanted to do that on his terms and dismiss it. Now that shows a distinct effort to morph comic book logic into real world logic.

How does that happen? Well Diggle assumes the mantle of The Hood while Oliver is partying it up at his home with his GPS ankle bracelet. Diggle foils a weopans sale by Leo Mueller – a weapons dealer on Oliver’s list – to keep military grade weaponry off the streets of the Starling City. Mueller escapes and the gang bangers disperse. We see Diggle in action too. He is a formidable ally for Oliver.

Back at the party, Detective Lance is watching over the scene while Oliver is checking in with Diggle by phone to see how his night’s activities went. As he is doing that, an assassin dressed as a waiter attacks Oliver. A skirmish ensues involving high kicks and the like causing the GPS tracker to be damaged. Detective Lance is notified electronically that tracker is damaged and rushes to see what’s up in time to “save” Oliver from the assassin.

Detective Lance removes the damaged anklet from Oliver and indicating all charges will be dropped because The Hood was spotted on the opposite side of town in a skirmish with a local gang. Oliver’s plan worked!

The episode ends with Oliver back in The Hood garb tracking down Mueller again and stopping another weapons sale attempt. And, another name is stricken from Oliver’s list.


SUB PLOTS:

During the main trial plot, we get advancement of the Oliver Queen and Laurel Lance passive aggressive romance. During a polygraph test with Detective Lance, Oliver admits to be being tortured in the island. He also indicates he has never been to Iron Heights prison; that’s the prison he as The Hood saved Laurel and her client from last episode as the Hood. Laurel whips her head to Oliver when he says that. She is in the room during the polygraph as Oliver’s lawyer. When Laurel’s eyes met with the Hood as Iron Heights last episode, did she recognize Oliver?

Well, later in the episode, we learn that Laurel and Oliver went to Iron Heights for some kind of field trip as kids, so how could the polygraph indicate he’d never been there? What else is Ollie lying about?

During the episode, Laurel and Ollie have a “moment” where she asks to see his scars. She is so ashamed she never thought about what happened to him and only worried about her sister who died on Oliver’s ship. She is teary as she sees Oliver’s scars. They embrace, but can never be together despite their attraction. Ok, never say never. :)

We also had the live-action debut of Deathstroke the Terminator in an island flashback. He is the henchmen for an Edward Fyers. (In the comics “Eddie” was a CIA operative sent to kill Shado an asian assassin in Mike Grell’s classic Long Bow Hunters. He also re-surfaced in the 1990s as a sidekick of sorts for Oliver Queen’s son Connor Hawke who assumed the mantle of Green Arrow after Oliver presumably died.) Edward in CW’s Arrow is looking for a Chinese military official. That official appears to be Oliver’s Asian island mentor. Oliver is tortured by Deathstroke leaving 20% of his body scarred. He’s saved by Island Asian Arrow who battled Deathstroke to a standstill and escapes with Oliver. Well, it looks like we’ll have more Deathstroke throughout this season! Oh and the island has a name. Translated from Mandarin its called Purgatory. ;) Uh, huh.

Walter Steele, Oliver’s step-dad and head of Queen Consolidated, asks his head of security Josiah to move the wreckage of Queen’s Gambit ship to a new location. He discovered last episode that his wife Moira has the ship found and stored in secret. During this week’s episode we learn that the security chief is killed “coincidentally” in a car accident. Walter confronts his wife about her secrets. She doesn’t deny it, but essentially indicates she loves him because he’s her husband, but for his own good his should stop pursuing his inquiry. He will make others angry. Walter leaves the Queen home to inspect Queen Consolidated’s Melbourne holdings. Not sure what’s in Melbourne in terms of the “List” plot, but I guess we’ll see.


Queen’s Gambit wreckage from previous episode.

We also see more interaction between Oliver’s mom Moira Queen and actor John Barrowman’s yet-to-be-named character. It seems he was the one who sent the assassin to kill Oliver in the main plot. Moira indicates she’s been a good soldier, but if anything happens top her family, she’ll bring his enterprise down around him.

Ok, that’s it for this week. I loved the action, drama, and quick pace of “Damaged”. Stay tuned for the appearance next week of the Royal Flush Gang plus the Huntress coming up afterwards.

Thanks for reading. All feedback welcome. :)


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John is a long-time pop culture fan, comics historian, and blogger. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief at Comics Nexus. Prior to being EIC he has produced several column series including DEMYTHIFY, NEAR MINT MEMORIES and the ONE FAN'S TRIALS at the Nexus plus a stint at Bleeding Cool producing the COMICS REALISM column. As BabosScribe, John is active on his twitter account, his facebook page, his instagram feed and welcomes any and all feedback. Bring it on!