Arrow: Keep Your Enemies Closer

So remember that time in season one that Oliver called upon the help of the Russian mafia? Remember how funny that was? Well, the show has decided to fill in a few gaps and provide context to some throwaway lines of dialogue, leading to an episode that has a lot of exciting name-drops in what is otherwise a filler episode.

It's good to get some focus on Diggle as a person instead of a sidekick, though it involves a little bit of retconning in regards to Lyla being his ex-wife (the actors certainly never had this vibe in any of their interactions up until this point). But during Diggle and Ollie's standard night-time activities, Diggle is nabbed by a group of special ops, taken to an undisclosed location, and introduced to Amanda Waller.

I call foul. Amanda Waller was one of my absolute favourite things about the animated Justice League, and as lovely as Cynthia Addai-Robinson is, the character is meant to be a heavy-set woman. 

(As an aside, is she supposed to be the owner of the high-heel-wearing pair of legs that made their first appearance at the end of season one?)

But once you get past all that, we learn that Lyla Michaels went to Russia in the hunt for Floyd Lawton and didn't return. Amanda is passing on this information because she a) can't afford to lose Lyla and b) in her words: "know how you and Oliver Queen spend your nights." It's eye-opening, but not quite as devastating as the animated Amanda's sly little "rich boy" comment to Batman over on the other show.

So it's off to Russia!

Ah, Russia. A country forever doomed to be signposted in television shows by the presence of shitty industrial buildings, vodka shots, furry hats and wacky accents. Also along for the ride is Isabelle ... but we'll get to her in a bit.

You know you're in Russia when someone is wearing this hat.

It's nice to see Oliver helping out Diggle for a change, and I think one of the fundamental differences between Oliver and his most obvious DC hero equivalent (Batman) is that Oliver isn't solely defined by his mission. Sure, he gets in a few "I have to do this alone" speeches here and there, but I also feel that – unlike Batman – he would always put the safety of his people first, and that he could walk away from the vigilante if his friends or family truly needed him too.

Diggle's movement from a luxurious hotel room to a dingy street with a bag full of cocaine was a fun little contrast, but don't ask me to keep track of what exactly the plan was to find Lyla and get out of jail again. It seemed to involve rigging Diggle's jacket with an explosive that killed several guards. Guards who were just doing their jobs. Guards who probably had families waiting for them at home.

But before that Diggle ends up chained to a pipe with none other than Floyd Lawton, the one-eyed assassin with the least-intimidating name ever. I can see why he prefers Deadshot. Somehow Floyd knows where Lyla is being held; even more amazingly, he manages to break himself free of his handcuffs and kill a prison guard with an icicle.

Yeah, this episode is kinda silly.

They grab Lyla and make a run for it, only to stop the car and let Deadshot go free on the side of the road. Are you kidding me? After Lyla was only there in the first place to track him down? After he murdered an innocent guard who was leading Diggle to Lyla? Knowing that he'll go straight back to being a hired killer? Why not just ARREST him, because you sure as hell don’t set killers free because they did you the favour of leading you through a prison after murdering the innocent person whose job it was to do exactly that.

Actually, this episode is kinda awful.

When an advert obscures an actor's face, you know you've gone too far.

Elsewhere, Isabelle decides to screw Oliver because ... he's the main character and therefore every beautiful woman that crosses his path and isn't related to him is contractually obligated go to bed with him? They make a half-assed effort to forge a connection between them through their shared loneliness and ability to speak Russian, but I ain't buying it. She's spent most of her time being totally disgusted with his behaviour, and even made the assumption that Felicity is only around because Ollie is sleeping with her.

Even she looks completely bewildered by this turn of events.

Over in the flashbacks, things are rather more interesting. Though the lack of emotional realism is still in effect (there's no way Oliver would be able to process any of Doctor Ivo's babbling about genetic engineering while he's still reeling at the sight of Sara) things are beginning to align with current events in Starling City, and you can tell that the writers have a master plan in place.

Sara plays nice with Oliver in an attempt to learn whether or not Slade and Shado are still alive. As it turns out, they're okay – Slade is getting the smeared mud and Intimate Healing treatment for his wounds, and I get a sinking feeling in my stomach because I can see where this is going and it's already making me mad.

I have no real understanding as to why Ivo deems it necessary to kill Slade and Shado – they pose no real threat and have no understanding as to why the freighter is even there in the first place; heck, it makes a lot more sense to keep them all alive considering their potential knowledge of the island. That Ivo jumped straight to the "kill em all" option seems completely pointless on so many levels.

Designated Villainy at its finest, I guess.

Miscellaneous Observations:

Accidental hilarity ensues when a post-coital Lyla gets out of bed, only for Diggle to immediately type "HIV" into his phone – let’s all be thankful it was followed swiftly by an E.

As ever, the skill of trained officers and guards is completely arbitrary.

The Roy/Thea subplot was filler of the worst kind: nonsensical filler. After being told by her mother's lawyer that she needs to stop seeing Roy to strengthen Moira's case, Thea does the sensible thing and informs Roy of the situation, suggesting that they take a break from dating until after her mother's sentence is ruled. Not.

Instead she cold-shoulders him in a completely unnecessary way, leading to Moira to fix the problem from prison. More interesting was that Oliver is still using Roy to collect intel, and Roy is getting a little antsy about it.

Felicity tells Oliver (regarding Isabelle): "I think you deserve better than her." Personally, I think it's the other way around.

But my favourite line would have to be Isabelle's: "You (Oliver) don't seem the kind of man who has female friends." Sad but true.

A quick glimpse at a monitor provides a neat little introduction to the particle accelerator. It's about this time that Barry Allen is making his first appearance, right?

OKAY I'll watch The Tomorrow People. Just get rid
of the invasive advertising already!