ARROW: State v. Queen

Frea and I originally agreed to split the recapping duty, but then my real life got in the way of me being able to pull my own weight until now. But here I am. Ready to go into this episode with a level of cynicism and some snark, because that’s the only way to approach the show sometimes.

A little bit about how I watch the show, however: a group of my friends decided that Wednesdays were #pinkwinewednesdays, based of some comment from Stephen Amell about wine. That turns into weekly live-reactions in someone’s post and many laughs as we watch (and sometimes drink along the way).

But now that that’s out of the way, let’s get down to the episode.

CW Promo Monkeys have been nice to remind me that Seth Gabel is back tonight as Count Vertigo and given his impressive exit from jail thanks to the earthquake, it’s already going to be a show. Nothing says “A Very Big Episode” like an opening jailbreak and angry prisoners.

But that sort of show is nicely contradicted with Moira’s trial and the media frenzy around it. Nothing spells a great episode like family drama and crazed villains. Even better drama involves some heavy-duty flashbacks to the islands that include watching Oliver’s friends being nearly killed.

Diggle, dear, what the hell is wrong with you? Please don’t be that sick? You’re a much needed part of my OT3 (One True Threesome) in a platonic way. Yeah, Diggle, you’re not in good shape at all. It’s never good to fall down on the floor of a really expensive office.

Count Vertigo always has reminded me of The Joker, but he’s just a good ruthless villain who never questions what he does – right down to killing his new scientist.

Turns out that Diggle passed out from some Vertigo in his system. Now, do we all need to wonder how that happened? Of course we do. Will we find out the answer before the end of the episode, surely!

Adam, the DA, seems to want to hate on Thea for not visiting Moira in jail until five months later. More distressing, it looks like he’s gotten hit by the same thing Diggle did and let’s see how long it takes for him to pass out from Vertigo exposure. (Look, no time at all!)

In our favorite flashbacks, the friends that Oliver was protecting on the island have come out of hiding to meet Ivo head on.

Count Vertigo, clever as always, has hacked into all of Sterling City’s media feeds and tells everyone that the city’s Vertigo dealers have a cure for the new bug that hit Diggle and Adam the obnoxious DA. Never say you want something from the crazed man, because I think there’s nothing good to come of it.

Felicity’s now getting to scrub video footage to find Court Vertigo and Adam, and that puts Laurel as lead in Moira’s trial. What’s not to love about a little conflict between prosecutor and defendant? This is better than moot court trials. While we’re all looking for outlets of the stress of the case, Roy is teaching Thea to punch him. Such a healthy way to act as a couple! While Thea’s getting a lesson in anger release, Felicity found where Count Vertigo is hiding.

Laurel, on the other hand, is doing a good job at being a poor excuse for a lawyer and telling Moira that there’s a smoking gun on the People’s side. It’s good that Laurel’s got a heart, but I think she’s really a horrible choice as a DA now.

Oliver’s gone deep into the Count’s layer and decides that now is the time to set things on fire rather than kill everyone in the room. Making a villain angry hasn’t worked well before, has it Oliver? Why start now?

Moira, ever the dutiful mothers, confesses her sins to Oliver and Thea. Turns out while her husband was around having affairs, Moira had an affair with Malcolm Merlin. There’s a good family bonding experience and bombshell. Malcolm’s got a soft heart when it comes to Moira, but that doesn’t seem to do much good now. Moira’s still a questionable witness, as Laurel’s point out: the only danger to Moira is Moira.

Oliver, why are you being a sympathetic ear to Laurel about that take-down? Ah, there’s the answer, it goes back to a flashback and Ivo’s got some crazy plans for getting the hoisan, even a crazy fire-fight.

As Diggle and Felicity are trying to trace how Diggle got infected, they discover that the mobile flu vaccine trucks are the point of contact. Felicity, as the only one not currently infected, goes to search through one the the trucks. Of course, this means that the Count finds her. Of course!

Moira’s verdict is about to be read just as Oliver gets a call from Court Vertigo, calling Oliver’s bluff about his status as The Hood. Nothing spells extra special show-down like the threat of public outing. So, if the Count is the first real person to put together Oliver and The Hood, there’s a pretty strong chance that Oliver’s going to kill him. If there’s someone else around who hates Oliver as much as the Count does, can I place a bet that it’s the alderman from The Glades? The one who wants to pretend to be The Scarecrow? Oh look, Oliver killed The Count! Just like he needed to in order to keep his secret safe from all the other baddies of Sterling City.

Oliver has a good save for why he ran off before this verdict came in, but I don’t know if Thea really buys it. She lets it go, as all good sisters might do, and now we have a verdict: Not Guilty on both the conspiracy and murder counts. At least Moira’s safe from dying in jail, but I don’t know if that means she won’t be a target for upset citizens in The Glades. Oliver’s not sure there’s not something wrong with the verdict, and I have to feeling that’s going to be a plot point for another few weeks.

Felicity, you’re a doll, but why are you apologizing to Oliver for kill The Count? Oliver’s been pretty clear that this team is more important than not killing someone. In the last flashback, Sara reveals that the hoisan has the coordinates of a Japanese sub with something that can save humanity.

Ah yes, the alderman was the one who put The Count up to this little game, and now he has some new acolyte to come up against The Hood.

Why is someone not taking Moira home when she needs that to happen? Of, I’m sure that’s because there’s evil afoot – Malcolm Merlin’s not dead and is going to help Moira. He’s the one who swayed the jury and now he wants something else. It is important that you run, Moira. Stay as far away from Malcolm. For one last bomb: Thea is not a Queen, but a Merlin. JOY! That won’t ruin her worldview at all. Nope. Not in the least.