ARROW: Corto Maltese {Recap}

Ah, Arrow. Here we are again when we can have everyone’s life revolve around Oliver’s own issues. Good to know this doesn’t change week to week.

What does it say about an episode or Arrow that starts with a flashback to Thea’s decision to train with Malcolm Merlyn and then switches into the Arrow hunting down a dead-end lead in Sara’s death but it still feels like everything is about Oliver?

But the mention of Thea is good for one thing: it tells us where Thea actually is – an island called Corto Maltese – but clearly she doesn’t want to be found. Too bad Oliver won’t listen to that and needs her safe after everything that happened to Sara. So is Thea only good as a representative of Oliver’s own fears? Maybe I’ll take it, though, because it gave us a funny line about Roy having never been on a plane.

John, Lyla and the Digglette are being a happy family while Oliver goes off to South America in search of Thea. Lyla, however, wants John to go with Oliver because she’s got a missing agent down there. How fortuitous for everyone?

Laurel is being a tough DA figure to Mr. Grant, who runs a boxing rink. Her being a hardass isn’t new, but how it’s not effective might be. Does she need to work off steam? The answer should be no.

Corto Maltese is the anti-Starling City! Oliver goes to see the house where Thea and Malcolm are staying, but Malcolm seems more than willing to kill Oliver if he actually entered the house. How pleasant for this family to have so much trust and affection.

Thea gets another flashback – this time about learning to handle pain from boiling water. When can we give Malcolm father of the year? Back in the here and now, Oliver and Thea share a nice hug and have one of those conversations that’s about everything that they aren’t saying. Thea won’t come back, though.

Felicity’s first day at QC finds her as the head of Applied Sciences, complete with her own executive assistant and office (Oliver’s old one).

Diggle’s side job has him finding a jumpy ARGUS agent who has heard that someone has the ARGUS Acutal – a file divulges all employees personal reasons, family included. But there isn’t a buy and the ARGIU agent wants to get Diggle’s file to help with the real buy.

Roy tries to convince Thea to come home after Oliver failed, and she finally opens up about why she left: all the secrets that were told to her in Starling City.

Lyla’s working on getting Diggle the help he needs to counteract that blown ARGUS agent, but that also works against Felicity’s day at the office where everything wants her attention to solve their problems, Laurel included.

Too bad Laurel’s attempt at vigilante justice doesn’t go so well and she ends up in the hospital. She does promise not to be like the Arrow or Sara, however. How long can that last?

Rather than reveal all of the secrets that Oliver could tell Thea, he tells her the most important one: that his father killed himself so that Oliver could survive on that lifeboat. They’re all they have left and they need each other. If that’s good enough for Thea, it might get her out of South America.

The disreputable ARGUS agent has made the buy, Team Arrow’s there, but so are other people who might also want a firefight. The extra men where hired by our creepy ARGUS agent, but they still aren’t a match for Team Arrow. Diggle won’t kill the rogue agent, but he might tell Waller he did.

One secret revealed was enough to make Thea want to go home, and Malcolm maybe let’s her win a sword fight so that she’s going home with his blessing. Perhaps her secret about the training’s out; a man spills coffee all over one of her hands at the airport.

Laurel wants to train to be like Sara – to avenge Sara – but Oliver won’t train her because Sara would never forgive him. Family, why are you always so complicated? Mr. Grant, on the other hand, he might train Laurel.

To end, Felicity’s off to Center City to visit Barry after he’s woken up and Ray Palmer has discovered some of the ugly side of QC’s work from before.

What a lovely moment to end on: Nyssa al Ghul looking for Sara.

Come back next week for Arrow, Wednesday at 8PM Eastern/7PM Central on The CW.