S08.E02: Welcome To Hong Kong

[scarynikki12]

Quote

Oliver, John, Laurel, and Tatsu seek out an important person within The Monitor's plan.

 

Sorry guys! Discuss away!

[insomniadreams88]

It was alright? I'm already tired of all the Crisis talk and it's only episode 2. That could be a problem.

Liked seeing Tatsu again, liked her scenes with Oliver.

Laurel's story is good — although I can't bring myself to care about any LL — I just have a problem with them picking and choosing what has been established about her in the past/what she's done/etc. Also, it felt like they put her and Lyla together because they were the "outsider" (not the right word, I know) characters — needed to give Laurel someone to talk to and needed to bring in Lyla.   

Is it just me or is Laurel barely acknowledging Diggle? Standing directly in front of Oliver, only talking to him, which I noticed at the end of 801, too.

All I have to say about the flashforwards: DON'T YOU DARE HURT WILLIAM.

[apinknightmare]

I really loved last week's ep, it made me sad that Arrow was ending. 

This week's ep made me think...nah, it's time. 

[scarynikki12]

2 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

Also, it felt like they put her and Lyla together because they were the "outsider" (not the right word, I know) characters — needed to give Laurel someone to talk to and needed to bring in Lyla.   

I thought that too until we saw Lyla meeting with The Monitor. Now we know that she was part of Siren's story as a cover for being in Hong Kong at all. If it were truly about helping Siren she could have sent an Argus therapist or, as suggested in the live thread, Dinah to get through to her. So I like how the show took the typical "Laurel Lance/Laurel Lance doppelganger goes off to do whatever away from the main story" thing that they've done since season 1 and turned it around to having an actual purpose. And none of us questioned it because we're beyond used to it. Well played show.

7 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

Is it just me or is Laurel barely acknowledging Diggle? Standing directly in front of Oliver, only talking to him, which I noticed at the end of 801, too.

It's probably just blocking but she does seem hyper focused on Oliver.

[Primal Slayer]

Despite all the awesome comebacks in 8x01 I ended up enjoying this episode a lot more? The story seemed able to breathe more and flow better.

It was great seeing Tatsu again, I'm glad she got so much to do in this episode with Oliver. Her showdown with China White was great (though I didnt understand the far away shots) and I screamed when she got stabbed because this is Arrow and they love stabbing women and killing them off so I was SURE she was dead. Glad she isn't.

China White popping up was another surprise! I am all about spoilers but had no idea she was coming back and for once she got 2 wins in! 2! That's major for her after 8 years. Why hasn't Arrow used her more? She truly deserved to be the shows 1st female big bad, she has the skills, the history, Kelly Hu....it's a no brainer.

The Monitor sending Oliver to an Earth that he knew was going to parish.....and being mad with him about saving someone from said Earth just....it doesn't make sense no matter how you write it. You can't be all "you have to save the Multiverse...but you aren't allowed to save these billions of people! Because you need to show how serious this is" like....come on now! I really hope we get a flashback of Lyla being a double agent, when it happened, was it from the start? Was she surprised? Like???? What if John hadn't called her in then what would the Monitor have done?

Laurel dealing with the loss of Earth 2 was great and from a Laurel stand point my thirst was quenched but I still feel like we needed more time on E2 to truly feel the loss of everyone. Sure we got the plenty of E2 CC but Arrow has been afraid of the multiverse up until now so we only got adequate time with Laurel. And why cant Laurels sister get a name? Why don't they want to call her Sara? But I thoroughly enjoyed the Laurel/Lyla team up, they were fun together. We've seen plenty of similarities between E1/E2 Laurel throughout the years but we get to add another one to the list....their love of pulling guns on people when they are overly emotional...I guess it's a step up that Laurel would rather shoot him then scream his brains out.

[quarks]

4 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

Also, it felt like they put her and Lyla together because they were the "outsider" (not the right word, I know) characters — needed to give Laurel someone to talk to and needed to bring in Lyla.   

I initially thought it was an odd choice, since if memory serves, Lyla and Original Laurel interacted all of one time, back in season 3 at Diggle/Lyla's wedding, and Lyla and Not Laurel have never interacted at all, or only minimally.

But Not Laurel wasn't exactly good friends with any of the other women characters except for now-off-the-show Felicity, and, as scarynikki12 pointed out before I could, it was a twist - Not Laurel was there to serve Lyla's storyline, not Not Laurel's storyline.

So my main criticism of this subplot is a bit different - Laurel recovered awfully quickly for a woman who has just lost her entire universe at the end there. On the other hand, she was also useful twice this evening, which for a Laurel - any Laurel - is kinda miraculous, so I'm not going to quibble too much.

As far as the rest of the episode goes, yes, thank you Katana for pointing out that "oooh, I want to make sure my sacrifices are worth it" is not really the best reason for believing an interdimensional superpowered creature who so far has done nothing particularly trustworthy. I'm not even sure he paid for the popcorn that he was eating over on Legends of Tomorrow. Also, just in general, YAY KATANA!  Sure, this season is not exactly making a lot of sense so far, but it's Arrow, so I'm used to that, and at least we're getting a great dose of nostalgia and terrible sets. 

[apinknightmare]

3 minutes ago, quarks said:

But Not Laurel wasn't exactly good friends with any of the other women characters except for now-off-the-show Felicity, and, as scarynikki12 pointed out before I could, it was a twist - Not Laurel was there to serve Lyla's storyline, not Not Laurel's storyline.

Yeah, after thinking about it the only thing I found really weird about it was Lyla mentioning E2 Laurel and her loved ones to The Monitor as if she felt particularly aggrieved that Adrian and Sister had died. 

[quarks]

8 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

Yeah, after thinking about it the only thing I found really weird about it was Lyla mentioning E2 Laurel and her loved ones to The Monitor as if she felt particularly aggrieved that Adrian and Sister had died. 

To be fair, Adrian is capable of doing the salmon ladder, so he really is a loss to the multiverse.

[JamieLynn832002]

23 minutes ago, Primal Slayer said:

The Monitor sending Oliver to an Earth that he knew was going to parish.....and being mad with him about saving someone from said Earth just....it doesn't make sense no matter how you write it. You can't be all "you have to save the Multiverse...but you aren't allowed to save these billions of people!

You're not wrong but I think The Monitor might just be kind of a dick. Trying to save the Multiverse or not, I'm really starting to hope someone decks him soon.

[apinknightmare]

3 minutes ago, quarks said:

To be fair, Adrian is capable of doing the salmon ladder, so he really is a loss to the multiverse.

He is, but Lyla doesn't know that. OR DOES SHE

[statsgirl]

The elements for this episode were all there -- great fight scenes, intense emotional scenes, a trip back to the past with Tatsu and China White -- but it didn't seen to come together as well as last week's episode did.

The emotional notes were great:  Laurel dealing with the loss of Earth-2 (glad to know someone somewhere will miss an Adrian Chase); Oliver's scene with Tatsu pretty much met the hype, and JJ and Connor had their confrontation.

But none of these plots really had time to breathe and carry through. Any one of them could have been an A plot for the episode. But in the end they all got short-changed because there wasn't time to do them properly.

I appreciate that the show is trying to carry on the tradition of Flashbacks with the Flashforwards but they have to limit the present to one big plot, not two.

I really enjoy Anthony Negret's directing.

[apinknightmare]

2 minutes ago, JamieLynn832002 said:

You're not wrong but I think The Monitor might just be kind of a dick. Trying to save the Multiverse or not, I'm really starting to hope someone decks him soon.

RIGHT IN HIS DUMB FOREHEAD HAIR POINT

[Lantern7]

I know Monitor has to pump up CoIE . . . but he's going to be so annoying here, isn't he? He's probably mad that he can't hang out with the Legends (because reasons), and he has to be cryptic with Oliver every week. Oh, and have clandestine, canon-nudging meetings with Lyla. Can't forget that part.

Seriously, I am liking Laurel-2. How the hell did that happen?!? Is it the outfit? Is it that her entire universe just got negated, and she can't help but look more sympathetic? Seriously, though, she should be broken down. If that had happened to Oliver, the void that had once been the universe of Earth-1 would have been filled with so much damn manpain.

And yeah, I'm bugged Sara's name doesn't get mentioned. Actually, I vaguely remember that the Sara Lance of Earth-2 died on the Queen's Gambit. I'm guessing that if her name gets said out loud enough times, she jumps from the other side of a mirror and beats up everyone she sees. And then Mick Rory pops in to steal anything not bolted down.

I'm still not "feeling" Star City 2049. I figure that plot will kept going until Monitor sends Oliver over to that time, and he gets reunited with William and Mia. I'm not really compelled by Diggle Brother Drama. I will say that one Deathstroke? Menacing. More than one? Not so much.

[Chaser]

Rila looks fantastic. Great hair.

When Lyla first popped up, I wondered why she was helping Siren instead of talking her out of it and then I just figured she wanted to toss her in the void. Which would have been cool.

Certain team ups were rather oversold. LOL

I think this greatest hits tour is going to get old fast. I love the references to Olicity but if I don’t get a reunion it’s going to end very flat. 

The disconnect between present and future is jarring but I’m appreciating the break the FFs bring. I think Mia and JJ could be fun. 

They really need to pretend to talk to Felicity. The idea that Oliver/Diggle (or even Siren) wouldn’t call her is ridiculous.

Oh and Lyla’s ‘hi honey’ was perfect.

[quarks]

6 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

He is, but Lyla doesn't know that. OR DOES SHE

I suspect the Monitor showed her the video!

[UNOSEZ]

Decent episode.. I find myself just waiting for the Uber-Droll  monitor to pop up and say something really significantly with no real emotion... Like when Ollie asked about the denizens of E2 and he said plainly they are no more... As for the flash forward... Decent enough.. I still have no idea how this ties into the current day.. But I appreciate as little Mia as possible... Her Tough- Woman bravado is just irritating to me... Proclaiming she'll kill JJ the next time.. Like he didn't fool you and then best you in combat.. Literally holding his life in your hands.. Then at the club where he once again outsmarted our team of young heroes shes popping off about how if he touches William she'll kill him and I'm thinking... He's got you connor and Zoe surrounded  at this club.. He's got goons all around William... The only reasonable reason they're alive now is because somewhere in his brain he doesn't wanna hurt Connor... I know I'm an odd duck.. I like laurel and Dinah.. But I could barely stand shadowhunters thanks to Kat's portrayal of Clary and I think Mia is an even more bothersome character... Dunno if I'll be around for the spinoff 

[bettername2come]

Okay, so the Monitor and Lyla conversation has me thinking I need to learn more about Lyla's comic background because that surprised me. Having said that, Lyla is a great wife and I love when she saves Diggle. Those are always her most badass moments. It was no rocket launcher from a helicopter, but still.

Katie Cassidy did really well with the grief of Laurel losing her earth. Yeah, Laurel's a murderous bitch, but she was never an "end the world" kind of person and it feels true to character and less annoying and self-absorbed than E1 Laurel's grief ever was. 

Tatsu looked really pretty tonight, I was happy to see her back and even happier to see her live. Good thing Laurel showed up and remembered she had powers. 

Oliver's sad, wobbly voiced crying over the doppelgangers of Earth-2 and "Did you hurt John and Laurel?" made me just want to reach out and give the man all the hugs. I need him to live happily ever after with his wife and children and teach Mia to fire arrows, okay!

[apinknightmare]

12 minutes ago, bettername2come said:

Katie Cassidy did really well with the grief of Laurel losing her earth. Yeah, Laurel's a murderous bitch, but she was never an "end the world" kind of person and it feels true to character and less annoying and self-absorbed than E1 Laurel's grief ever was. 

IDK, I thought it was the right amount of self-absorbed for a Laurel, since she mainly focused her anger on the loss of her own life on E-2 and the people that she loved and counted on her, not any of the billions of people who didn't fall into either one of those categories. I don't mean that as a knock, either - if a Laurel was going to grieve, that's exactly how I would expect it to play out, LOL. 

[tennisgurl]

Alright, first of all, could people please stop blaming Oliver for shit that isnt his fault? I can cut Laurel a bit of slack, losing her whole universe (and the salmon ladder!!) but this better not be a pattern. 

Anyway, not as good as last week, but I still enjoyed it a lot, I love that the show is basically doing a curtain call for various Arrow characters, concepts, and periods in Oliver's life. Loved seeing Tatsu, who is always awesome, who asks the very common sense question of "why exactly are you blindly following this needlessly vague and sketchy space man who stole you from your family and gave no fucks about a world being destroyed?" at last. Also cool seeing China White and her fight with Tatsu was great. 

Thinking about grown JJ hating Diggle and being evil with Diggle and Lyla raising their own little Kylo still makes me sad. They better not hurt William you bastards! 

Oh god, Oliver's sad broken voice and his tears just killed me! Nobody cries like Stephen, and the poor guy has so much to cry about. His flashbacks to Felicity while he looked at his ring, his voice breaking when he mentioned Tommy, his sad eyes when he said that this couldn't be for nothing, oh it hurt! I might be putting on my clown costume, but I want Oliver to get a happy ending so freaking much.

Lyla, what is going on?!

[Soulfire]

 

 

 

 

 

[Featherhat]

Great to see Tatsu and China White. I thought CW had died, guess not. She looked and sounded fabulous. Rila F is really great in the role and works really well with SA. Love that she questioned Oliver's mission with the Monitor. SA's voice breaking when they talked was amazing. I liked that it was E1 and Oliver actually got to reconnect with "his" version of someone he cares about this time. And she's probably joining Team Prevent Crisis. 

I love Oliver and Diggle constantly in sync but it just makes me sad it took the end of the show to make it happen, and of course that it's not part of OTA. I did like the moment of Oliver putting his ring back on and flashbacking on Felicity, IIRC that was a moment SA talked about as unscripted but something he and AN put in at SDCC.

I felt like the actual "get a scientist for the sake of the multiverse" plot was paper thin (Hi Alpha and Omega virus again) but the whole point of these episodes is a farewell tour of people and places so it doesn't matter in the end. I guess they skipped the S2 tribute because there's no way they could do it without Sara, Slade and Felicity. 

Laurel and Lyla's story was unexpected and I thought worked well. I was frustrated that we were back in "blame Oliver" mode at the beginning but losing a whole world, even one you didn't give much of a shit about when it was there (see working with Zoom etc) is pretty damn huge. Sara is not a naughty word Arrow, you can use it, LOT is not on a rival network. KC is much better at playing this Laurel I just end up rolling my eyes a lot still and finding it difficult to connect with her. 

So the "god" Lyla made a deal with was the Monitor and she's been playing the COIE game the whole time. I do think it will be interesting that

Spoiler

it's definitely *this* Lyla that's Cosmic!Harbinger. Definitely puts the Diggles on a different path. Hopefully together.

The FFs are ok, quite brief this time and if not for the spin off and potential for meeting the present characters I would wonder why they'd bother with them. I like the team together in the little moments though. Wah, wah, wah JJ cry me a river. Very Kylo Ren there with a lot of Andy "always be unrepentant" Diggle. Poor John and Lyla. They wouldn't kill off William before we even get many William/Mia scenes would they?

[thuganomics85]

Looking past all of his powers and all-knowing persona, The Monitor basically personifies the worst of middle management, huh?  "Sure, Oliver, you accomplished the task I sent you to do, but you didn't do it quick enough, didn't do it the way the handbook said you are suppose to, and look at the extra cost, dammit!  You can do better!"  Ugh, at this rate, I hope the Crisis ends with them defeating the big baddie, but then all of the heroes take turns smacking him in the face.

I did like that they acknowledge that Laurel/Black Siren basically lost everyone she ever knew on Earth 2 and, credit where credit is due, Katie Cassidy delivered with her heartbreak.  But it certainly looks like her recovery is going to be sped up due to the shorten season and it probably would have been more helpful from a viewing perspective if we had actually saw more of the Earth 2 squad.

Great seeing Tatsu again.  Glad she was the one to point out that maybe Oliver should just do whatever The Monitor tells him to do, when he clearly is up to no good.

China White was great as always.  Really wish she was used more as a main villain.  Granted, I never understood why Kelly Hu never became a bigger star after The Scorpion King.  At the very least, she should reunite with Dwayne Johnson in one of his many goofy action flicks!

Did not miss Rene or Dinah.

So, the 2049 squad discovers that J.J. broke into a vault, but leaves one item behind, so they... take it and have William insert it into their computer?  Did no one think that was a little suspicious?  Come on, kids!

Lyla is also back and she and ARGUS are... aligned with The Monitor?!

Judging from Oliver's final line, it looks like Nanda Parbat is next on the nostalgia tour.  Can't wait!

[UNOSEZ]

I imagine Earth-2 was always doomed and the monitor was just keeping it at bay long enough for Oliver to do whatever it is he asked him for.. So he could see it fall.. He knew Oliver would get involved in a world where his mom and Tommy were still alive.. Based on his convos with Lyla I think the only surprise was Laurel being brought back... Plus maybe the fact Diggle snuck over at all.... But yeah he said to Lyla we have to prepare him... But I'm betting that's more for the absolute madness of what the anti-monitor is tryna do.. And having the resolve to make super gut-wrenching decisions.. Hell he may have wiped out Earth-2  himself.. Just to make the point and to get Oliver ready to Obey... Dickish... Controlling... Unsympathetic... But maybe necessary 

[Writing Wrongs]

Can someone explain to me the point of the flash forwards? I just get bored by them. Are they for a spin-off or something?

[UNOSEZ]

20 minutes ago, Writing Wrongs said:

Can someone explain to me the point of the flash forwards? I just get bored by them. Are they for a spin-off or something?

Mia is getting a spinoff with the two canaries and I dunno who else.. Which is something.. Unfortunately for me she's my 4th fave member of the flash forward team

[Writing Wrongs]

Do they have relevance to the present story?

[GHScorpiosRule]

10 hours ago, JamieLynn832002 said:

You're not wrong but I think The Monitor might just be kind of a dick. Trying to save the Multiverse or not, I'm really starting to hope someone decks him soon.

There's no "kind of" about it. He's a MAJOR DICK AND ARSEHOLE. After what he said to Oliver about the destruction/annihilation of Earth 2 as a "reminder" to Oliver--I'm convinced HE'S the Villain of this whole "Crisis" and like others, I'm getting so weary and sick and tired of "Crisis is coming...Crisis is coming..." blah, blah, blah, fishcakes. And I'm not familiar with the comic version of this story, so all of this is based on that smug asshole who keeps telling Oliver if he doesn't listen, then there will be "dire" consequences. Fucktoid arsehole.

10 hours ago, bettername2come said:

Katie Cassidy did really well with the grief of Laurel losing her earth. Yeah, Laurel's a murderous bitch, but she was never an "end the world" kind of person and it feels true to character and less annoying and self-absorbed than E1 Laurel's grief ever was. 

Tatsu looked really pretty tonight, I was happy to see her back and even happier to see her live. Good thing Laurel showed up and remembered she had powers. 

Oliver's sad, wobbly voiced crying over the doppelgangers of Earth-2 and "Did you hurt John and Laurel?" made me just want to reach out and give the man all the hugs. I need him to live happily ever after with his wife and children and teach Mia to fire arrows, okay!

Eh. I think I'm in the minority in that I found if difficult to believe Laurel's grief. That she has ever cared about anyone or anything. How long had it been since she returned to her own Earth? She was more than happy to impersonate Earth 1 Laurel until her hand was forced and she left. 

OMGEEE!!!! I was just sooooo happy to see KATANA/TATSU!!!!!!! But when White China stabbed her, I was like "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT TATSUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" No, really. I literally screamed this, and held my breath and looked through my fingers when it looked like White China was going to behead Tatsu, praying Oliver would save her in time. But that went to Siren, I guess, to "show" how she's with them in this fight.

I suppose it's my own fault for fast forwarding the flash forwards, but based on everyone's comments, I still don't understand why JJ has gone over to the EVUHL side?

And since Diggle joined Oliver on this quest, does this mean, he was also "gone" for over 20 years? And now I'm convinced that Monitor was leading Felicity to her doom in last season's finale, just based on his ASSHOLISHNESS in the first two episodes here and on the Flash.

[quarks]

1 hour ago, Writing Wrongs said:

Do they have relevance to the present story?

Probably not? 

I have a question mark there because a) these are Team Arrow's kids, so they have at least some connection to the present day characters, b) it's at least possible that time travel stuff on Flash and Legends of Tomorrow might make Team Kid Arrow impact the present day storyline, c) I think we're supposed to be seeing that Oliver's choice to follow an alien dude with very questionable motives and abandon Felicity and kids in the present timeline has led directly to one of his kids having hostility and trust issues and his other kid turning into the sort of person who is naive enough not to think that finding just one item in a vault is just a touch suspicious.

That is, Team Kid Arrow is showing us the impact of Oliver's present day choices.

[tv echo]

Felicity came up four times in this episode: (1) as part of a montage of past scenes during Oliver's new voiceover intro, (2) as part of a montage of past memories of loved ones when Oliver wakes up in Hong Kong, (3)  as part of Oliver's specific Felicity memories when he puts his wedding ring back on his finger, and (4) when Oliver tells Tatsu about how he can't be wrong about the Monitor's mission...

(O&F)

(TV iQ)

(FAZZ IQBAL)

(FAZZ IQBAL)

Edited October 23, 2019 by tv echo

[Commando Cody]

I don't care about the future kids lives. I had a momentary thought of fast forwarding through them. 

[tennisgurl]

The Monitor really is probably trying to save the multiverse...but does he have to be such an unhelpful dick about it?

[tv echo]

[Cthulhudrew]

At this point, the only relevance I think the FFs have is to at some point show Oliver that his earth survives the crisis and gives him back some measure of hope to do whatever it is he has to do to stop it.

Thank god Tatsu pointed out that, "hey, what do you guys really know about this Monitor dude, anyway?" Every time that guy has shown up, he's been doing something nefarious, hasn't he? First with using the Book of Destiny and causing havoc and destruction, then with what from all appearances is him destroying Earth-2, then threatening Oliver with more of that if he doesn't follow orders. I really don't understand why Oliver and Barry are just going along with whatever the Monitor says. 

[JamieLynn832002]

59 minutes ago, Cthulhudrew said:

Thank god Tatsu pointed out that, "hey, what do you guys really know about this Monitor dude, anyway?" Every time that guy has shown up, he's been doing something nefarious, hasn't he? First with using the Book of Destiny and causing havoc and destruction, then with what from all appearances is him destroying Earth-2, then threatening Oliver with more of that if he doesn't follow orders. I really don't understand why Oliver and Barry are just going along with whatever the Monitor says. 

I do think this a huge problem with this storyline, I believe The Monitor is actually trying to save the Multiverse but based on the information Barry and Oliver know for sure (caused Elseworlds, E90 Barry Allen warning them about him) both should have told him to f off, at least at first. It's not like he has a warm, trustworthy personality that might make them look past his seemingly nefarious actions, his default seems to be jackass

[Featherhat]

Maybe Oliver trusts him because he's a Jackass? If he was friendly and helpful that would be more suspicious. 

But even so, they should recognise enough that even if they think the Monitor ultimately needs to stop this Crisis, his version of that and priorities could be vastly different, even if they have accepted likely death. 

[apinknightmare]

9 hours ago, JamieLynn832002 said:

I do think this a huge problem with this storyline, I believe The Monitor is actually trying to save the Multiverse but based on the information Barry and Oliver know for sure (caused Elseworlds, E90 Barry Allen warning them about him) both should have told him to f off, at least at first. It's not like he has a warm, trustworthy personality that might make them look past his seemingly nefarious actions, his default seems to be jackass

I do think it's in character for Oliver to just go along with whatever the Monitor says since he's a big ol dummy when it comes to the people he loves being threatened. We're lucky this time he's actually trying to get to the bottom of things unlike, say...just going along with something stupid for an absurdly long time. (Looking at you Samantha, Malcolm, however other many people made Oliver say, "It's the only way!!" before someone convinced him it is not). 

[Quark]

Decent episode. Katie Cassidy did a great job.

Was awesome seeing Tatsu and especially China White.

The flash forwards continue to be awful.

Edited October 27, 2019 by Quark

[benteen]

I enjoyed the episode.  It was nice seeing Tatsu again.

Take a shot every time Oliver says the word "Crisis" and you'll be dead of alcohol poisoning...

[GHScorpiosRule]

22 minutes ago, benteen said:

ake a shot every time Oliver says the word "Crisis" and you'll be dead of alcohol poisoning...

Not just Oliver...

[AudienceofOne]

On 10/23/2019 at 2:07 PM, UNOSEZ said:

But I could barely stand shadowhunters thanks to Kat's portrayal of Clary and I think Mia is an even more bothersome character... Dunno if I'll be around for the spinoff 

She's just a really bad actor. Not even mediocre - actually bad. Alternatively William is my new favourite everything. 

[tv echo]

802 (Welcome to Hong Kong) – No Felicity Smoak.

802 (Welcome to Hong Kong) – Oliver Queen’s voiceover intro:
(During this voiceover, we see a montage of past scenes, including scenes of Mia’s birth, Oliver and Felicity saying goodbye at the cabin, and both of them standing in the Arrow Bunker with the rest of Team Arrow in 722.)
Oliver (voiceover): "My name is Oliver Queen. For seven years I have fought with only one goal - to save my city. But now a new threat has emerged, a danger so severe it has forced me to leave my family in order to face it. And it won't be enough for me to just be the Green Arrow. To prevent the Crisis that's coming, I'm going to have to become someone else. I'm going to have to become something else."

802 (Welcome to Hong Kong) – Oliver experiences a montage of memories when he wakes up in Hong Kong:
(Montage of past memories: Tommy saying, “I missed you, buddy,” and hugging Oliver; Oliver kissing Felicity in Nanda Parbat, with a voiceover of Felicity saying, “because we found ourselves in each other” from 406; Oliver hugging his mother Moira Queen; the deaths of Moira, Tommy and Laurel; and Robert Queen shooting himself in the life raft and telling Oliver to “survive”.)

802 (Welcome to Hong Kong) – Oliver thinks of Felicity as he puts his wedding ring back on his finger:
(Oliver looks at his wedding ring and thinks of past Felicity memories: taking off Felicity’s glasses right before he makes love to her in Nanda Parbat, hearing Felicity saying “knowing you has changed my life” from 320, kissing Felicity with the light glowing behind them, kissing Felicity during the yin-yang kiss, and hearing Felicity saying “we’re going to be fine” from 406. He puts his wedding ring back on his finger.)

802 (Welcome to Hong Kong) – Oliver has a heart-to-heart conversation with Tatsu Yamashiro AKA Katana:
Tatsu: "Nine years ago, you failed to stop the virus, and my son died."
Oliver: "And I regret it every day."
Tatsu: "You must remember, because of what happened after."
Oliver: "I tortured General Shreve."
Tatsu: "Your grief, your anger, your guilt over the failure. It stole your humanity."
Oliver: "This is different. I'm not angry. I'm simply doing what has to be done."
Tatsu: "How do you know that? It is said the Monitor believes order comes through chaos."
Oliver: "So he's bringing us order."
Tatsu: "But first maybe chaos. He's asking you to bring him a man who re-created a deadly virus. Why? How do you know he won't use it for something worse than the Triad."
Oliver: "I don’t know. But I have to believe him. I have no other choice. "
Tatsu: "Even if that is true, he does not seem to care who he hurts along the way. Sometimes the mission is not worth the cost. You know that. So why are you still doing what he asks?"
Oliver (half-tearfully): "Because if I'm wrong... if I'm wrong, then all of this is for nothing. You understand, Tatsu? I left Felicity. I left my children. So if - if the - if the Monitor can't fix this, and if he is not here to help, then all of these things that I have sacrificed and all of the other things that so many other people have already sacrificed will have been for nothing! I need my family to live. Which means, I need for this to work."
Tatsu: "You're risking too much."
Oliver: "There's no other choice."
Tatsu: "There's always another choice."

Edited March 31, 2020 by tv echo