S01.E14: The Odyssey

[formerlyfreedom]

After Oliver is shot, he turns to a surprising person for help – Felicity. Diggle is stunned when he sees Felicity walk through the front door of the lair dragging a dying Oliver behind her, and the two team up to save Oliver’s life. As Oliver hovers between life and death, he flashes back to a seminal event on the island – a daring escape attempt with his new friend Slade Wilson.

 

[MsSchadenfreude]

I loved this entire episode.  Oliver/Slade on the island.  Team Arrow at the lair.  Moira shooting her son.  It's all made of WIN!

 

Moira:  "Don't kill me.  My children will be orphans" Oliver lowers bow  "I won't hurt you."  Bang, she shoots the Hood.  But I of course, will hurt you.  Moira doesn't not mess around.

 

That's okay Moira, no hard feelings from me for shooting Oliver because it means he winds up hiding/bleeding out in Felicity's car. "Felicity" "How do you know my name?"  "Because you know my name"  removes hood  "Everything about you just became so unbelievably clear"  That's how you do a superhero reveal.

 

I cannot even pick a favorite part of the scenes between Felicity/Diggle while they save Oliver's life.  They were all awesome.  Felicity apparently watches hospital dramas.  "You didn't say clear" It's a good point and if I ever find myself performing surgery for a serious bullet wound in the basement of a steel factory with an IT genius and army guy, I will totally remind everyone to say clear before using the paddles.LOL

 

After Oliver wakes up, I like that Felicity didn't just jump on the hero bandwagon.  She's not immediately willing to give up her life to join some crusade.  She's doing it to find Walter.  Both Diggle and Felicity thought before jumping aboard the Arrow train and I like that.  It shows they made a conscious decision to be there.

 

Now for Slade.

 

"You take care of your one guy and I'll take care of my ten"  And then Slade still has to take care of Oliver's guy.  I just love the look he gives Oliver afterwards like seriously you couldn't even handle one.

 

If you think you can sleep with your girlfriend's sister and still make it right, you're dumber than I thought…and believe me that's saying something" LOL.

 

When Oliver removes the bullet, Slade tells him "A man in pain will do strange things"

True words given what Slade ultimately does to Oliver's life because of his pain over Shado's death

 

The episode ends with Oliver back at the Queen mansion.  "Your mother was attacked by the Hood"  "What!  well did you find any evidence about him"  "Nope, there was a lab mix-up" thanks Felicity  "Aww too bad"

[icandigit]

 

After Oliver wakes up, I like that Felicity didn't just jump on the hero bandwagon.  She's not immediately willing to give up her life to join some crusade.  She's doing it to find Walter.  Both Diggle and Felicity thought before jumping aboard the Arrow train and I like that.  It shows they made a conscious decision to be there.

Yes.

 

I love Moira.And then next up Felicity.This is everything that is awesome about Arrow.

 

"You're bleeding." "I don't need to be told that"Ha.Love them.They'll have to pry this ship from my cold dead hands.

 

And rewind and rewatch scene because oliicty.

 

I have to give them credit.Having Dig and Felicity working together without Oliver was a great way to start/build team arrow.Good job writers.

 

SA owns as island Oliver.I'm such a fangirl.

 

Slade and Oliver on the island should be a sitcom.I laughed through the whole thing.He does seem to lack the spine to be a bad boy.

 

I kinda miss Felicity's lower hanging ponytail.

 

Laurel ruins everything.Oh she didn't do anything.Still. Laurel's the worst.

 

If Slade up and killed Oliver at any point during this episode, I wouldn't blame him.

 

I love every time Dig starts with "When I was in Afghanistan.."

 

Wilson v. Wintergreen.Loved that fight!

 

"You didn't puke"."I swallowed it.Ha and Eww.

 

The good part of the 80's.I'm embarrassed by how much I love Felicity.*Reminds self she's not real*

 

 

*Spoiler*I think having Oliver turn his back on Slade would have been a better motivation for future events.I think Dig uses that "clear" in a later episode. Felicity taught him well.

Edited July 14, 2014 by icandigit

[quarks]

Game-changing episode: Island Oliver starts his training and finally starts thinking of Other People, like About Time Island Oliver, and Felicity enters the Arrow Cave and picks up Oliver's lovely bow.  Plus: Slade badassery! Diggle backstory! Introducing Shado! Fyers still inexplicably failing to offer anyone any soda! Or even tea! He's British! Why is he failing on the tea part?

 

Also, Laurel's still in it. But first!

 

1. Have we mentioned recently how AMAZINGLY AWESOME MOIRA QUEEN IS?   I mean, seriously.  Waving a picture of her spoiled brat kids in front of the vigilante and sobbing and getting all sniffly about little teenage Thea then SHOOTING HIM.  You have to cheer.  Best. Moira. Moment. Yet.  Bonus points for being the sort of CEO who has the sense to keep a gun in her desk which honestly, although I'm usually not all that pro-gun, given the number of people running around breaking windows, shooting people with arrows and getting involved with international gang wars, maybe more people in Starling City should be doing.

 

2. It doesn't get brought up a lot, but I love Oliver's "Are you KIDDING ME?" look when Felicity starts in with the "Everything about you has just become so unbelievably clear," and the "You're bleeding." Not that he says FELICITY really loudly this time.

 

3. "I'm guessing how and why are Oliver Queen's least favorite questions."  "Yeah, well, there's also when and where he's not too fond of."  More of these two, please, show.

 

4. "I know Girl Scouts have more fight in them." "Fighting Girl Scouts now, Slade?"  This, everyone, is what happens when you are left on a not all that isolated island without any Girl Scout cookies.

 

5. You know,

Slade's really quite fond of this "you have two choices" thing, isn't he?

 

6.  You know, watching Slade take out three goons and then roll one of them on top of a land mine to save Oliver, I can't help thinking that

just maybe Slade didn't NEED the Mirakuru.

 

7.  Slade pulling out the cigarette lighter: my favorite scene in the entire episode. Though I do have to ask: where did he get it or the replacement lighter fluid? Granted he doesn't seem to be much of a smoker and cigarettes seem to be the one evil the island doesn't have, but does he rush into Fyers' camp on a regular basis to steal lighter fluid, or did he find a whole box of cigarette lighters on that crashed plane? It's the little things, show!

 

8. "I always wondered how I would react if I found my boss shot and bleeding inside my car." We've all been there, Felicity. Well, with some of our bosses, anyway. Moving on.

 

9. I love how completely incompetent Island Oliver is at absolutely everything, including holding a gun.

 

10. I also love that a) Oliver has only read one book, b) it just happens to be a book about a guy stranded on various dangerous islands, and c) he just happens to have read the same translation that the pilots are using. There's about 100 translations of the Odyssey out there, show! What if Oliver had been assigned the Alexander Pope one?

 

11.  "Simply to satisfy my own curiosity, why aren't you already dead?"  Honestly, Fyers, I've been asking the same thing since episode one, and I can only answer with "Great Abs."  I mean, this episode does go way, way out of its way to feature said abs – it was very nice of Moira to shoot Oliver in a way that left his chest all nice and clean and admirable instead of bloody.

 

12. "I'm not a hero." "No, of course not. It's not possible to be a hero when there's nobody worthy of saving."  You have to give Fyers some kudos here for having the balls to make this sort of statement right in front of several VERY HEAVILY ARMED MEN.  You can almost hear them thinking, "Ok, geesh, Fyers, we know we're just extras who don't even get character names, but did you have to say we're not worth saving RIGHT OUT LOUD?"  In related news, Fyers is a jerk.

 

13. And Felicity joins – well, almost joins – Team Arrow, complete with a handshake and swelling music to emphasize the importance of this.

 

14. Kudos to Oliver for wearing that really thick coat to hide the bullet wound.

 

And now, Laurel, Laurel/Oliver – and the gamechanger.

 

Sidenote: I swear, up until now, I completely forgot that one of the scenes in that fan vid of Laurel/Oliver that someone posted here was a scene where sharing a bed with Laurel a) gets Oliver shot, and b) was just a dream sequence.  Based on the fan vid, I thought that was one of the ROMANTIC scenes between Oliver and Laurel since of course in the fan vid it got cut before the gunshot.  

 

This is another episode that Laurel's barely in, with only two scenes, one a dream sequence. Out of the main cast, only Thea and Tommy (who once again is not in this episode) have fewer lines.  And yet, even with her barely on screen, the show still manages to emphasize that she and Oliver are Not Good Together:

 

Number of characters making negative comments on the Oliver/Laurel relationship, two: 1, Oliver, admitting that he cheated on Laurel with Sara, 2, Slade, "If you think you can sleep with your girlfriend's sister, and make it right, you're dumber than I thought, and that is saying something."

 

Number of times the show makes a negative comment on the Oliver/Laurel relationship, three: 1, when Oliver and Laurel are shown in bed together, he ends up dead – it's a dream sequence, granted, but still; 2, when Oliver calls her from the radio tower, which, as Slade immediately points out, puts both Oliver and Slade into danger.  3, when, shortly after that, Oliver finally starts thinking about people not named Oliver Queen and rushes off to save a not-wanting-to-be-saved Yao Fei, he asks Slade to call his family – his family, not Laurel. He doesn't have a message for her, even though he's just heard her voice.

It's another not exactly subtle message:  When Oliver thinks of Laurel, he puts himself and others into danger. (Well, er, if Slade had been caught at any point in this episode, fewer of the goons would have ended up dead, but as Fyers cheerfully tells us, the goons aren't worth saving anyway. They apparently aren't even worth tea! Where was I? Oh, right.) When Oliver thinks of Laurel, people – including Oliver – get hurt. When Oliver starts thinking about other people, he stops thinking about Laurel.

 

There's a reason this episode is not really subtle in that regard: this is the official start of the Oliver/Felicity relationship. 

 

Sure, Oliver spends the first half of the episode looking at Laurel's picture and making ill advised telephone calls to her. By the second half, however, the picture – and Laurel – is forgotten; the emotional connection Oliver makes with a woman is with Felicity. Notably, even in the bedroom dream sequence, Oliver and Laurel don't touch; they don't speak in real life.

 

And although Laurel had just told the Hood that she still wanted to work with him in the previous episode, just hours later, when he's almost killed, he crawls to Felicity's car instead of calling Laurel for help. It's not clear how long he waited for Felicity (or what would have happened if she was working another shift or decided to leave early, whichever), and to be fair, since he didn't call Diggle either he might not have had a phone – but the end result is that Felicity, not Laurel, is the first to enter the Arrow Cave and join his team.

 

In action films/comic books the first girl to learn the secret identity/gain access to the hideout/join the team generally either is or becomes the main love interest.   At this point, the show has now had two women find out the secret/enter the lair before the ostensible love interest, Laurel. And when you add in that Felicity is the one to help save Oliver, not Laurel, and the way the show blatantly linked being with Laurel to Oliver dying, plus Slade's comment, well.

 

And then, the Oliver/Felicity parallels:

 

1. Both question violence as an approach: Oliver, under considerably more duress since people are shooting at him and waving swords around and refusing to offer him any tea, gives in to an extent.

 

2. Both find themselves patching up bullet wounds, feeling sick as they do so, but (mostly) managing not to actually throw up.

 

3. Both, after gaining new information/proving unexpectedly helpful in a mission find themselves welcomed as new teammates/partners, if decidedly junior teammates/partners, joking a little as they do so.  To emphasize this, the camera moves into the two handshakes: Felicity/Oliver and Oliver/Slade.

 

Complete with dramatic music during the Oliver/Felicity handshake.

 

It's played cautiously (in part because when this episode was blocked/written the show hadn't been renewed for a second season yet), and at this stage can still be interpreted as platonic, partly because, I think, because the showrunners didn't want to show their hands too much at this stage, and partly because they wanted to move slowly on this one, but it's the first major beat.  And from this point on,

although the word salad continues, Felicity's innuendos are only spoken to Oliver or about Oliver ("maybe he thinks he penetrates just fine.")

[dtissagirl]

The one thing I love the most about The Odyssey is how Felicity gets her two big moments with Oliver -- the revelation in the car, and then the handshake of Official Team-Joining at the end -- but she spends all her time between those two beats getting to know and trust Diggle [and vice-versa] in probably the most stressful situation of her life until that point.

 

And then Dig questions Oliver about Felicity joining the team because he has to, but Oliver's "we can protect her" seals the deal BECAUSE Dig just spent several hours with Felicity, and she came through when he needed her, and he already trusts her independently of Oliver.

 

It really is the perfect set up of them as a TEAM in all caps, done in a single episode where the focus isn't even in the present time storyline. I'm one of those people [suckers] who truly believes sometimes ~magic~ just happens in a set; to me, this episode was Arrow's first clear example of that.

Edited July 18, 2014 by dancingnancy

[icandigit]

 

2. It doesn't get brought up a lot, but I love Oliver's "Are you KIDDING ME?" look when Felicity starts in with the "Everything about you has just become so unbelievably clear," and the "You're bleeding." Not that he says FELICITY really loudly this time.

One of my favorite moments in the show.

[BkWurm1]

Rewatched.

Yeah, made me sad about were Slade ends. Right now he's crazy in such a good way. And yet he had a soft side. And is hilarious. Their banter is wonder, the whole episode has a sharper wit to it than normal. I cared more about the island stuff this time around so that was nice too.

The parallels and contrast scattered throughout this episode are kind of fascinating. Like the marked difference in who Oliver is: the weak guy cracking lame jokes vs strong and stoic. I also thought Oliver showing up at Slade's plane was a parallel to turning to Felicity and her backseat in his moment of survival. Slade almost killed him but Felicity immediately tried to save him. Oliver entered into a partnership with both Slade and Felicity. (Yes, on her part temporary) Oliver vows to protect her while Slade is the one protecting Oliver. Of course the biggest contrast is the one we couldn't have known.

that Slade would turn on Oliver while Felicity would become his greatest supporter

It's a very satisfying episode except that I will never believe Oliver fit in the backseat of her car. Hell, we know he did the whole scene with the door open. It's just sooooooooooo obvious. Hiding in the backseat of the car is one of those left over tropes from the days when large backseats existed, lol.

[Password]

I need to give this episode some love. The Diggle-Felicity interaction is priceless. It is honestly one of the best team Arrow episodes of the series. She questions John, we're informed through his past why he's with Oliver now, and Felicity is allowed to show her computer skills (as if she needed to). And Oliver was unconscious. It really was a wonderful way to set up the trust and loyalty that is so pertinent to team Arrow today.

[Wayward Son]

• And Felicity joins Diggle in the “Knows the truth about Oliver” club. 

• Felicity and Diggle make a good team. “do you know how to use one of those?” “We are about to find out!” 

• Too much flashbacks! Although I did enjoy the scene where Oliver talks about how he has spent his life taking everything for granted. It’s a good insight into how he went from the man he was pre island to the man he is now

[BkWurm1]

Fun fact, SA actually could not fit in the back seat of a Mini Cooper and they had to film the scene with his legs sprawled out the door, lol.  

[SmallScreenDiva]

On 3/18/2018 at 5:20 PM, Wayward Son said:

Too much flashbacks! Although I did enjoy the scene where Oliver talks about how he has spent his life taking everything for granted. It’s a good insight into how he went from the man he was pre island to the man he is now

Up until Season 5, Arrow had 1 flashback heavy episode every season. This is the one for S1, “The Promise” in S2, etc.

[tv echo]

This is the episode when Felicity finds out that Oliver is the hooded vigilante and OTA is formed (provisionally)...

114 (Odyssey) – Oliver Queen’s voiceover intro:
Oliver (voiceover): "My name is Oliver Queen. For five years I was stranded on an island with only one goal... survive. Now I will fulfill my father's dying wish... to use a list of names he left me, to bring down those who are poisoning my city. To do this, I must become someone else. I must become something else."

114 (The Odyssey) – Felicity helps an injured Oliver after he hides in her car and reveals himself as the Vigilante:
Felicity: “Ohh!”
Oliver: “I'm not going to hurt you, Felicity.”
Felicity: “How do you know my name?”
Oliver: “Because you know my name.” (Reveals his face)
Felicity: “Oliver. Oh, wow. Everything about you just became so unbelievably clear. You're bleeding.”
Oliver: “I don't need to be told that.”
Felicity: “You need a hospital.”
Oliver: “My - my father's old factory, in the Glades.”
Felicity: “No, you - you need a doctor, not a steelworker.”
Oliver: “Felicity, you have to promise me that you are going to take me to my father's factory and nowhere else.”
Felicity: “Promise. (Starts driving) Something tells me blood stains are not covered under my lease.”

114 (The Odyssey) – Felicity takes an injured Oliver to the Arrowcave, where she and Diggle work to save Oliver:
Felicity: “Excuse me!  Can you help me?  He’s really heavy.”
Diggle: “Oh, damn it. He just missed a carotid. It's a zone two wound. Press there.”
Felicity: “I should have taken him to a hospital.” 
Diggle: “No, Felicity, that's why he asked you to bring him here. Because he knew the police would want to know how and why he got the wound.” 
Felicity: “I'm guessing ‘how’ and ‘why’ are Oliver Queen's least favorite questions.” 
Diggle: “Yeah, well, there's also ‘when’ and ‘where’, he's not too fond of.” 
Felicity: “So, we can't bring him to the hospital –“ 
Diggle: “We are bringing the hospital to him.”
Felicity: “Is that –“ 
Diggle: “Yeah. His blood. He stored it for a rainy day. And I say right now, it's pouring. I got it. Over there.” 
Felicity: “Do you know what you're doing?”
Diggle: “Yeah, I had some medical training in the army. I just hope it's enough. Remember playing 'Operation' when you were a kid?”
Felicity: “Yes. And it never made me want to throw up.” 
Diggle: “Hey, Felicity, listen, trust me. He'll be fine. He's been through a lot worse than this.”
*  *  *
Felicity: “Good job… I think.”
Diggle: “His heart rate’s elevated, but at least the bleeding’s stopped. Thanks for your help. You kept your head on.”
Felicity: “Well, I always wondered how I'd react if I found my boss shot and bleeding inside my car. Not that I helped because he's my boss. I'd help anyone who was shot and bleeding in my car.” 
Diggle: “I was thinking all of this would be more of a shock. What, are you saying you called this all along?”
Felicity: “I'm not saying anything. Except Oliver brought me a laptop riddled with bullet holes, had me trace a black arrow, and research a company involved in armored car heists. I may be blonde, but I'm not that blonde.”
Diggle: “Yeah, Oliver's not too great with the cover stories.”
Felicity: “Neither are you. The two of you with that whole energy drink hangover cure? Please. What was really in that vial, anyway?”
Diggle: “Vertigo.”
Felicity: “I knew it! I mean, I didn't know it was Vertigo for sure, but I definitely knew it wasn't something that can cure a hangover.”
Diggle: “Yeah, we needed it analyzed so we could take down the Count.”
Felicity: “That was you and Oliver?”
Diggle: “And you, Felicity. Without you, we never would have found him.”
Felicity: “But why come to me?”
Diggle: “Hard as it probably is for him to admit, even Oliver needs help sometimes.”
*  *  *
(Monitor beeps.)
Felicity: “What's happening?!”
Diggle: “There's a syringe labeled Ativan. It should stop the seizure. Go.” (Beeping stops.)
Diggle: “His heart stopped.”
Felicity: “I'm calling 9-1-1.”
Diggle: “No. Wait, you can't.”
Felicity: “You know how to use one of those?” 
Diggle: “We are about to find out.” 
(Paddles beep.)
Felicity: “You didn't say clear! … I heard the charge. That's good news.”
Diggle: “How's that?” 
Felicity: “It means it might not be the machine, it could be the wiring.” 
(She fiddles with wiring on the monitor.) 
Diggle: “Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on!” 
Felicity: “Try again.”
Diggle: “Clear. (Regular beeping, he exhales) What the hell did you do?” 
Felicity: “I've been building computers since I was seven. Wires are wires. What do we do now?” 
Diggle: “Pray we don't have a heart attack ourselves.”

114 (The Odyssey) – Diggle explains to Felicity why he joined Oliver:
Diggle: “He’s going into cardiac arrest again.”
Felicity: “No – the leads just came loose.”
Diggle: “Arghh! It's less stressful when he's jumping off rooftops.” 
Felicity: “Ohh. This bow has put arrows in quite a few people.” 
Diggle: “Yeah, bad people.” 
Felicity: “That doesn't bother you? Because – and I mean this in a good way – you seem like the kind of guy it would bother.”
Diggle: “When I was in Afghanistan, my unit was tasked with protecting this local war lord. Gholem Qadir. Qadir was less than human. Sold opium. Sold children. One day, we were accompanying him to Mosul when my convoy was ambushed by insurgents. We had them outgunned. Fire fight didn't last more than a minute. When the smoke cleared, I moved in on their position. They were all dead. I knew which one I had killed. When I pulled off his keffiyeh, I could see it was just a kid, no more than 18. Shot him in the throat. I killed this kid to protect this human piece of garbage, and I thought, am I still good? Am I still a good man? Doing this with Oliver? Doing what we do? I feel good again for the first time in a long time.”
Felicity: “And that's worth all the collateral damage?”
Diggle: “I haven't killed anyone, if that's what you're asking.” 
Felicity: “But he has.” 
Diggle: “Unfortunately, there are always casualties when you're fighting a war.”

114 (The Odyssey) – Felicity joins Team Arrow on a provisional basis:
Oliver: “I guess I didn't die. Again. Cool… (Looking at his wound in a hand mirror) It's not bad. So how am I going to explain this one?”
Diggle: “Hickey gone wrong?”
Felicity: “The police collected a sample of your blood at Queen Consolidated. I just hacked the crime lab and ordered the sample destroyed. Oops. Heh. I hope it's all right. Your system looked like it was from the ‘80s, and not the good part of the ‘80s, like Madonna and, well, legwarmers.”
Oliver: “That's a lot of work. Does that mean you're in?” 
Felicity: “You mean ‘in’ as in I'm going to join your crusade?”
Oliver: “Well, you're practically an honorary member of the team already.” 
Felicity: “Hmm. So Mr. Diggle said. (Pause) No.”
Oliver: “Then why'd you upgrade my system?”
Felicity: “First, because seeing a network that poorly set up hurts me. In my soul. And second, I want to find Walter.” 
Oliver: “My stepfather.”
Felicity: “He was nice to me. And Mr. Diggle told me that the notebook you use to fight crime is the same notebook that got Walter abducted. I'll help you rescue him, but that's it. Then I want to go back to my boring life of being an I.T. girl. That's my offer.”
Oliver: “OK.”
Felicity: “So I've been meaning to ask – is there a bathroom? Cause I've had to pee since I got here.” 
Oliver: “It's upstairs to the left.” 
Felicity: “Great. 
Oliver: “Felicity. (Extends his hand, and they shake) Thank you.” 
Felicity: “Yeah.”
Diggle: “Oliver, I know you don't want to hurt this girl and you didn't have any choice in telling her who you really were, but we're asking her to get involved in some pretty dangerous stuff.” 
Oliver: “We can protect her.”
Diggle: How? Your mother just shot you, Oliver. You can't even keep yourself safe.”

Edited March 27, 2020 by tv echo

[Mia Nina]

I only started watching Arrow during S3 and it took me a while to warm up to the show. This episode was the turning point that kept me watching. That shot of Felicity walking to her car only to find a bleeding Oliver in the backseat was such a fantastic moment. Of all the ways the show could have written Felicity finally finding out Oliver/Diggle's secret, they found the very best one IMO. Diggle and Felicity's banter was top notch as well. Excellent.

[bijoux]

It surprised me how much I loved this episode, not because of the scenes you've transcribed, @tv echo, but because those really only provide the bones of this episode which was so flashback heavy. But it was one of my favorites. It's nice to be reminded how many favorites I had to chose from in the early seasons. 

[tv echo]

I added a few more script pages to my above transcriptions for this episode (since MG provided more per his tweet yesterday).

Edited March 27, 2020 by tv echo