S01.E22: Darkness on the Edge of Town

[MostlyC]

With the Undertaking days away, Malcolm dons his black hood to conclude business with seismologist Dr. Brion Markov and his team. Oliver and Moira entertain a number of surprise - and mostly unwelcome - visitors. Hooded confrontations at home and the Merlyn Global Group reveal dark secrets. Meanwhile, Roy and Thea are still looking out for a hero. Laurel makes a decision after Tommy's revelation. In a flashback to the island, Oliver, Slade and Shado struggle to prevent Fyers from shooting a Ferris Air jet out of the sky.

[KenyaJ]

The break-in at Merlyn Global is maybe my favorite thing that's ever happened on this show. It makes me wish for more Team Arrow all in the field together. And "But I looooove him! He's my man!" is hands down my favorite line so far. Felicity's wail and Diggle's complete amusement about it cracks me up like nothing else. I think I might have to go back and watch it right this moment.

[MsSchadenfreude]

This episode is so great except for the Laurel/Oliver hook-up, so I just fast forwarded right past that nonsense.  

 

The Merlyn job is one of the best Team Arrow exploits of the whole series so far.  

 

Oliver knocking that guy's papers to get him off the elevator.

Felicity's very platonic circumstances comment.

The fact that Oliver takes time to re-button his suit coat after swinging across the elevator shaft.

This is my hacking face.  I wear it when I'm going to hack.

Diggle/Felicity and the entire Merlyn bimbo stuff.  "Come along Barbie, your last name ain't going to be Meryln"

Malcolm showing up and riding the elevator down with Oliver.

Oliver confronting Roy as Thea's disapproving older brother.

The music that played during the whole sequence.

 

So much fun!

 

Poor Walter, but I love that he wasn't going to take Moira's crap. 

 

That fight between Malcolm and Oliver was brutal.  Dark Archer ain't messing around.

Edited August 18, 2014 by MsSchadenfreude

[Angel12d]

Yeah, I loved everything about this episode apart from the Oliver/Laurel hook-up. Tommy's face when he saw them through the window killed me. 

[calliope1975]

Yeah, I loved everything about this episode apart from the Oliver/Laurel hook-up. Tommy's face when he saw them through the window killed me. 

 

It's a weird situation when the supposed canon couple of a show get together and it only makes you dislike them both. I felt the same way when Dawson and Joey finally hooked up on Dawson's Creek - it was just unpleasant.

[Angel12d]

It's a weird situation when the supposed canon couple of a show get together and it only makes you dislike them both. I felt the same way when Dawson and Joey finally hooked up on Dawson's Creek - it was just unpleasant.

 

Yes, exactly the same as Dawson and Joey. It just felt so wrong. I never liked them but I knew that Oliver/Laurel would happen at some point because they had been building towards it all season, but the whole thing was just icky to me, especially because of the conversation Oliver had with Tommy beforehand. He totally screwed him over. It was awful. The whole kiss just had no chemistry either so it made it even worse. I always skip over it during re-watches. 

[statsgirl]

Oliver reverted to douche-Oliver when he thought he could have Laurel.   Great way to screw over your best friend and someone who (unlike Laurel) was really happy to have you back. One of the show's biggest consistency beats, whenever Oliver gets around Laurel, he gets more douchey.

 

The Merlyn Job is one of the best things this show has done.   Exciting, funny and character development all rolled up in one neat caper.

 

Oh Walter, don't go. You're one of the few sane people on this show.

[quarks]

More setup for the finale, but also one of Moira/Susanna Thompson's best episodes, as she easily morphs from conspirator to victim to conspirator to victim again. Plus, one of the best heist/Team Arrow scenes yet. 

 

1. No one on this show is really good at just asking people out, are they?  Even the people with just two lines of dialogue each.

 

2. You know how it goes, you're awkwardly trying to ask someone out and then an evil archer just comes along and shoots everything up and you're like, well, on the bright side, this does put that awkward dating thing into perspective and then you die.

 

3. "Are you ok?"

   

"My mom and my best friend's dad are involved in a conspiracy that may have dire consequences for the city and I'm pretty sure they murdered my father. I'm not planning on using the word 'ok' again any time soon."

 

I quoted this because I like the line, but also because it sets up a later contrast in the show.

 

4. Ok, so, we've got a conspiracy that's bad enough that it's got Diggle, Felicity and Oliver investigating it before 7 am without - and I feel this is an important point - a single cup of coffee around, Oliver's realized he has to contact his mother, various people have been shot, so, sure, let's stop the plot because Laurel has problems.  And also recap her plot.  Thank you, show.

 

5. in the last episode, Oliver said he still had feelings for Laurel, and then walked away. In this episode, Laurel tells Oliver that she thinks she still has feelings for him, and he walks away. The romance, it burns.

 

6. "Fyers was about to firebomb the entire forest just to eliminate you."  So, what we've learned about Fyers so far is that a) he's the impolite guy who never ever offers his torture victims soda or snacks even when they are clearly still suffering from shipwrecks, and b) he has absolutely no respect for the environment. Seriously, Fyers, deforestation is a very real threat and something you should be thinking about before setting nice forests full of stranded people hanging out in plane wreckage on fire.  I mean, you have a nice British accent but really that can only take you so far.

 

7. "Psychopaths are color coding themselves now. That's helpful."  Look, dudes. You could be dealing with the anti-environmental psychopaths over on Evil Island.  Just saying.

 

8.  Nice switch here: as the audience is looking at the Hood standing by Oliver and him and his mother, nice cut to island Oliver saying "This doesn't make any sense!"

 

9. And you are right, island Oliver, because this plot

involves finances, which this show seems to have absolutely no grasp on. Moving on.

 However, to be fair, the plots of Evil Psychopaths don't really have to make sense so I will give Fyers

and presumably Waller

a bit of a pass here. 

 

10. You know, Roy and Thea really aren't that bad on the detective thing when they work together.

 

11.  My little fanwank regarding the Diggle punches out Oliver in front of Moira scene is that Diggle regards this as a great chance for some payback.

 

12.  Susanna Thompson is really, really good here.

 

13. "Oh my god! You said you were going to pull your punches...let me get you an icepack. For everything."

 

14. I still have no idea how they got Diggle into the Merlyn Global security team.   Does he just have the ability to infiltrate any security team in Starling City?

 

15. And then we get to one of my favorite sequences in the series so far. The quick knockdown of the files, the about to hack face, the use of Windows 8 to hack, "We're not lacking for topics!", the confrontation with Merlin, the way this show only has one freaking elevator set but still manages to light it so it looks a bit different, the fist pump, Thea keeping Oliver from rejoining Felicity

(foreshadowing?)

, "I love him! He's my MAN!", "That's so not Roy! ok maybe it is." "I'm Thea's disapproving older brother."

 

16. "Very platonic circumstances."  And Oliver just looks at her, calmly shoots the little crossbow thing, swings across, and buttons up his suit jacket.  YES.  

 

17.

 Oliver's "the truth, please," really does get the truth out of everyone except his mother, doesn't it?

 

18. "Divorce is an extreme reaction."  Moira Queen, everyone: firmly believing that kidnapping and plotting to destroy large sections of the city shouldn't stand in the way of a happy marriage. When you think about it, it's kinda sweet.  I love Moira.

 

19. I love the bit where Malcolm just casually catches the arrow in midair. Hee.

 

And now, Laurel:

 

This is a very odd episode for her.

 

In theory, this should be a major episode for Laurel. After all, this is the episode where she, the presumed main love interest, finally hooks up with Oliver. And yet.  As it turns out, this is a Moira Queen episode, leaving Laurel with less screentime than any of the other women on the show except for Shado and the leggy woman

(presumably Waller)

. Even more notably, she is the only character on screen without an involvement in either plot - the destruction of the Glades or the destruction of China's economy.  Even up until now largely sidelined/ignorant characters like Roy, Thea, the police hacker, island Oliver's little cave dude, and a character with no lines (leg woman) are more involved.  Even Tommy, who up until now, with the exception of "Dead to Rights," (another episode where Laurel had no involvement in the main plot) has been largely kept out of the main action plot, and who knows zilch about the Undertaking, is dragged in.

 

Laurel isn't.  As everyone else is running around trying to figure out just what Malcolm and Moira are up to, Laurel is trying to figure out if Oliver loves her, eventually deciding that she does, and hooking up with him - while still completely ignorant about what is going on. As a result, her only relevance here is to be a sex/romantic interest, even in an episode that also insists that she isn't anyone's property and makes her own decisions. Well, sure, except that she's the only person making these decisions without full access to information. Even Shado, Slade and island-Oliver have more info to go on and they're prisoners.

 

This is a problem. Not because, once again, various characters comment negatively on the Oliver/Laurel relationship, but because in general, in action/superhero films, the main love interests are heavily involved in the plot. Love interests that aren't involved in the plot - well, they aren't in the final scenes, even if they've slept with the hero earlier in the film, and they end up not being the main love interest. 

 

The most recent well known example is Guardians of the Galaxy, but this is also true for the Iron Man films, most James Bond flicks, the first Captain America movie, and far more.  To be the main love interest, you have to be fighting by the hero or at least involved in the plot.  And Laurel - isn't.

 

This is why, I think, the sex scene between Laurel and Oliver feels so off here for many people. Yes, she's getting most of the romantic dialogue and the sex scene. But she's not part of the plot - and thus, it feels wrong to have her involved with the hero because she's not the one doing things with him and has no idea what's going on.

 

But there are six other reasons why the sex scene between Laurel and Oliver is a problem (besides that it starts with her hostile to him):

 

1. Right before the Laurel/Oliver hookup, the episode has two intense scenes between the other long term relationships on the show. In both cases, the "good" characters - Thea and Walter - tell their respective partners that they can't handle the idea of their partners being involved in vigilante/illegal activity, and leave the scene. Thea also leaves in part because Roy won't tell her about the previous people he's lost (hi secrets) and Walter leaves in part because Moira kept major secrets from her (hi secrets.)

 

Laurel, meanwhile, sleeps with Oliver before learning his secrets and before learning that he's involved in vigilante/illegal activity - something that the episode has just shown us is grounds for a divorce.

 

2. When Laurel initially meets up with Oliver, their entire scene is about what Laurel is thinking and how Laurel feels and how Laurel now thinks that Oliver is the person that she is meant to be with. This is all very nice even if Cassidy is playing it as if it makes no sense, since, in KC's defense here, it doesn't (Laurel has seen the Hood do heroic things and save her life, but not Oliver). But it makes the scene about Laurel, and is another scene where Laurel is concerned with what Laurel is feeling, not with what Oliver is feeling/going through except as it pertains to her.  This would be fine if the show was called Canary, but since it's called Oliver, the show is more concerned about what's good for Oliver than what's good for Laurel.

 

In contrast, Felicity twice asks Oliver if he's ok and expresses concern after Diggle beats him up. It's another Felicity/Laurel contrast, not in Laurel's favor.

 

3. The episode makes it very clear that Oliver heads over to Laurel only after he thinks he can hang up the Hood. (Sidenote, Oliver, if you had just waited a couple of days and stopped the Undertaking first and then gone over to Laurel everybody would be a lot happier, but moving on.)  In other words, he can't be the Hood/Arrow/Green Arrow and be with Laurel; he can be the Hood and swing through elevator shafts with Felicity.  That Oliver ends up leaving the Merlyn investigation so he can hook up with Laurel and leaves his partners to do the hunting only emphasizes this: he can't be the Hood and be with Laurel.

 

This is a change from the earlier writing problem, where because of the show's setup, the only way to make Oliver look good was to make Laurel look bad. Here, it's more hinting that if Oliver ends up with Laurel, there's no show. 

 

(This is in direct contrast to the second season, where admitting his feelings for Felicity allows Oliver to be the Arrow and take down Deathstroke, but we aren't there yet.)

 

4. The "You know me better than anyone." Uh-huh.

 

5. It's not the last scene of the show; we still have a good five minutes to go, and the camera now does its rather standard turning to Felicity after Oliver hooks up with someone else. And, more importantly, any emotional punch from that hook up gets almost immediately outweighed by Yao Fei's death, Diggle not finding the earthquake machine, the Hood's confrontation with Malcolm Merlyn, and Malcolm finding out that Oliver is the Hood.

 

Something similar happens in the Oliver/Felicity "I love you/do you understand" scene in the next season, which gets immediately followed by action scenes, but the follow-up beach scene is only followed by one short scene - and that scene is a teaser for the following season, not a character death plus a major action scene plus a major plot twist, leaving the emotional focus on Oliver/Felicity. 

 

6.

Long term, however, this scene would and will continue to, I think, come back and haunt the writers. Because however odd the setup, in the end, Oliver did end up back in Laurel's arms, even temporarily abandoning his hunt for an earthquake machine to do so - even if this is the same episode that showcased Felicity, not Laurel, as the actual action hero love interest. 

[bijoux]

Has Arrow done a sequence as well hought out and constructed as the Merlyn Global infiltration? Because it's 8 minutes of smooth sailing. Not for out heroes but for the viewers. There's OTA interacting, with the Merlyns, Thea and Roy, and various guards popping in for cameos and it just flows beautifully. I wish they found a way to recreate it somehow. Not the set up, just the feeling of tension without a single blow being exchanged, with multiple characters coming onto and leaving the scene. 

[dtissagirl]

It's still my favorite team mission/action outing they've ever done.

[bijoux]

It's so terrific because all three of them had well thought out, singular roles to play. It's not like anyone can look at those scenes and think Dig could have stayed at Big Belly and flirted with Carly, Oliver could have done what he did. He couldn't have. None of the three could have done what the other two did. All of them were crucial for the success of the mission. This is really something I wish the writers would bother with these days. Why are these characters present in the field, what does each of them bring that the rest can't?

[dtissagirl]

Oh man, when I saw this episode the first time I had a moment of thinking, "this is gonna become MY SHOW, if they solidify the team like this -- spy/infiltration stuff, going undercover, taking out big bads with more smarts than fists, Leverage-type team work where each member of the team needs specific skills". And then it never happened, hahaha. Lol @ me.

Edited January 31, 2016 by dtissagirl

[kismet]

Oh man, when I saw this episode the first time I had a moment of thinking, "this is gonna become MY SHOW, if they solidify the team like this -- spy/infiltration stuff, going undercover, taking out big bads with more smarts than fists, Leverage-type team work where each member of the team needs specific skills". And then it never happened, hahaha. Lol @ me.

I'm right there with you... I keep hoping maybe they'll change their minds.... But its been too many seasons without enough spy and brains over brawn moments for me. Then again, perhaps when the budget falls apart we might get more spy stuff if they other stunt work becomes too expensive. One can only hope.

[Angel12d]

I agree with you guys, the whole scene where they infiltrate Merlyn Global was flawless. This is the scene I always have in my head when I ask for more stunts involving Felicity. I don't want her to wear a costume or mask, I just want her to sometimes get the chance to get away from the desk. This episode did it perfectly. She was there to use her skills but she got to swing across the elevator with Oliver and play a part and have fun with Diggle all at once. It's one of my favorite scenes of the whole show actually. Everything worked and clicked and was fun to watch. 

 

We're missing that element now.

[catrox14]

Just rewatching this episode as my DVR  grabbed in from TNT.

What a great episode overall. 

I still laugh at how unsexy the sex scene between Laurel and Oliver is. Tommy & Oliver had more passion in their arguments than Oliver & Laurel. Oliver & Felicity had more chemistry in their Tarzan swing across the elevator shaft than the Lauriver sex scene. Malcolm & Oliver's fight in Malcolm's office had more chemistry than Laurel & Oliver.  Oliver and his bow have more chemistry than Oliver & Laurel.

That Merlyn HQ break in sequence is perfect and everything I love about OTA

And the reveal that Malcolm knows Oliver is the Hood is fantastic.

[Wayward Son]

1) The Good: The break in to Merlyn industries was perfection! Everyone had a suitable role to play, and there were some hilarious moments from Felicity, in particular her platonic comment to Oliver and the dramatic “but I love him” while posing as a Tommy fan girl. 

 

2) The Bad: Oliver completely screwed Tommy over. Personally, I don’t blame Laurel. As far as she was concerned she was now single after Tommy had been the one to break up with her. On the other hand, Oliver had just encouraged Tommy to try and get back with Laurel only to then go and sleep with her before he could reconcile with her. You were a complete and utter douche here Oliver. 

[statsgirl]

The break-in at Merlyn Global is the kind of screwball comedy that the show seems to have forgotten how to do these days.  It was such fun.

Oliver really was the worst here in terms of the triangle.  He was fine pushing Tommy and Laurel together when he thought that he had to be alone but when he thought that he could be in a relationship, he went back to being that self jerk of pre-island days.

But Laurel has to take some of the blame too.  A couple of episodes ago she said that she loved Tommy and she was going to fight for their relationship and get him back. But as soon as she heard that Oliver might be interested in her, it's "Tommy who?"  That's not love, or even being conflicted between two men.

[BkWurm1]

I agree in the end that technically Laurel didn't do anything wrong but yeah, none of them came out of this looking very good at this point.  From Oliver is was a total betrayal of Tommy.  But Tommy also is the one that did this to himself with his insecurity.  

[statsgirl]

2 hours ago, BkWurm1 said:

But Tommy also is the one that did this to himself with his insecurity.  

Because so many of the characters on Arrow are damaged, for me it comes down to how old they were when the damage happened.  Often people can get frozen in time when the trauma happened.

Tommy was 8 when his mother died and his father abandoned him. Of course he's insecure, those who loved him and were supposed to be with him left him.  Even Oliver, his best friend, left him

Spoiler

to go to Nanda Parbat to find himself.

 Of course he's insecure, those who loved him and were supposed to be with him left him.  Even his best friend, Oliver, left him (although not Oliver's fault).  Tommy was so happy when he returned

The woman Tommy has loved for years, Laurel, tells him that she is going to fight for their relationship and then runs back to Oliver the first chance she gets.  He has had no one he could really count on to be in his corner.

Both Oliver and Laurel were 22 when the Queen's Gambit went down. Until then, they had led charmed lives as far as we know.

Edited March 28, 2018 by statsgirl

[tv echo]

122 (Darkness on the Edge of Town) – 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."

122 (Darkness on the Edge of Town) – Diggle and Felicity report to Oliver on the results of their monitoring Moira:
Diggle: “I've been watching your mother for days now, Oliver, and nothing. She goes to work, she comes home. Occasionally she goes out for dinner. She seems to particularly like the salmon tartar at Table Salt.”
Felicity: “I'm linked into her home and office phone. Nothing out of the ordinary. No mention of Walter's abduction or the Undertaking. Just a few innocuous calls to Malcolm Merlyn.”
Oliver: “Why wouldn't she call him? They're old friends. We're all old friends.” 
Felicity: “Are you okay?”
Oliver: “My mom and my best friend's dad are involved in a conspiracy that may have dire consequences for the city. And I'm pretty sure they murdered my father. I'm not planning on using the word ‘okay’ again any time soon.”
Diggle: “Listen, all we know for sure is that Malcolm and your mother are planning something for the Glades.”
Felicity: “And that Walter and I were getting too close to it. That's why they had him kidnapped.”
Diggle: “We have to find out what this Undertaking is.” 
Oliver: “I got to ask her.” 
Felicity: “Well, no. The last time the Vigilante paid your mom a visit, you got shot, and I got to play doctor with you. Ahh! My brain thinks of the worst way to say things.” 
Oliver: “This time it'll just be me asking. Friendly mother-son chat.”

122 (Darkness on the Edge of Town) – After Oliver has Diggle (posing as the Vigilante) fake kidnap him and Moira to get information on the Undertaking, he returns to the Arrowcave:
Felicity (reacting to Oliver’s bruises): “Oh, my God. (To Diggle) You said you were going to pull your punches!”
Diggle: “I did.” 
Felicity: “Let me get you an icepack for… everything.” 
Oliver: “I'm fine. I need you to dig up everything you can on Unidac Industries.”
Felicity: “Well, we know Queen Consolidated acquired them seven months ago. (To Oliver) That's when we met.”
Oliver: “I need information about what I don't know.” 
Felicity: “Unidac is a small research and development technology company that specializes in seismic infringement.”
Oliver: “Merlyn plans on leveling the Glades with a device that triggers a manmade earthquake.”
Felicity: “You're kidding.”
Oliver: “What else does it say?” 
Felicity: “More information on the stock auction and, you know, the latest on what the media's calling –“
Oliver: “The Unidac massacre.” 
Diggle: “There's no way this timing is a coincidence.”
Felicity: “Oliver, there's a website claiming the police suspect a copycat archer.” 
Oliver: “What?!”
Diggle: “So the other archer works for Merlyn?” 
Oliver: “He's tying up loose ends. Erasing all evidence this device exists so no one can trace the devastation back to him.”
Diggle: “All right, so you're going to have a pointed conversation with Mr. Merlyn.” 
Oliver: “Well, even if I take out Merlyn, the other archer is still out there. He can set off the device. We need to find it. Then Merlyn can get his.”
Felicity: “Well, maybe there's another way to get Merlyn to tell us.” 
Diggle: “What do you have in mind?” 
Felicity: “As I keep proving, people keep secrets. Computers don't.”
Oliver: “Felicity, are you hacking into the Merlyn Global mainframe?”
Felicity: "’Hacking’ is such an ugly word. No. I'm… Yeah. Totally hacking into the Merlyn Global mainframe.” 

122 (Darkness on the Edge of Town) – Felicity is unsuccessful, so Oliver decides that they need to infiltrate Merlyn Global:
Oliver: “Anything?” 
Felicity: “Just for the record, I will pump my fist in the air and scream, ‘yes!’ If I get in.” 
Diggle: “You know, you can just say this isn't working.” 
Felicity: “This isn't working.” 
Diggle: “All right, there has to be some other way we can find out where he's keeping this device.” 
Felicity: “Unless I can waltz up to Merlyn's mainframe and plug in my tablet directly, there's no way of getting that location.”
Oliver: “Then we waltz.”
Felicity: “Excuse me?” 
Oliver: “You need direct access to the mainframe, so we get you direct access to the mainframe, and we figure out where the device is being kept.” 
Felicity: “Oliver. I did mention that the mainframe is located inside Merlyn Global Group's main headquarters, on the 25th floor? It's only accessible through a restricted access elevator.” 
Oliver: “I know. We're going to have to break in.”

122 (Darkness on the Edge of Town) – Original Team Arrow executes Oliver’s plan to break into Merlyn Global (Oliver makes appointment to see Tommy, Felicity poses as a delivery girl, and Diggle poses as a security guard):
Oliver: “Oliver Queen. I have an 11:30 with Tommy Merlyn.” 
Felicity: “I have a Super Deluxe Big Belly Buster for a Mr. Andrews. I think he's in security. He a good tipper?” 
Lobby Guard: “You can go on up, Mr. Queen. (To Felicity) You can wait a second.”
Guard (in video surveillance room): “New guy, you order food?” 
Diggle: “Yeah, I'm addicted to Big Belly Burger.”
Guard: “Never had it.”
Diggle: “I'll split it with you. (Felicity enters) Keep the change.”
(Cut to elevator dinging, Oliver and Felicity enter elevator.)
Man in business suit (runs into elevator): “Hold that. (To Felicity) Where you heading, sweetie?”
Felicity: “19th Floor.”
Man: “Too bad, I'm going to 13. (Oliver knocks files out of man’s hand and out of elevator) Damn it!” 
(Man exits elevator to get files, and elevator door closes.)
Oliver: “Mr. Andrews got his lunch?”
Felicity: “One Belly Buster with benzodiazepine. Hold the mayo.”
(Cut to Diggle in video surveillance room, he pulls some wires.)
Diggle: (To drugged guard) “Sleep tight. (Over comms) Mainframe's on 25, guys. That's as close as I can get you.”
(Oliver and Felicity emerge through top of elevator, Oliver retrieves special arrow from his suitcase, and he takes Felicity’s hand as they stand at edge of elevator shaft.)
Oliver: “Don't look down.”
Felicity: “Too late. I should mention, I'm afraid of heights, which I just learned.”
Oliver: “Hey, Felicity.”
Felicity: “Hmm?” 
(Oliver grabs Felicity around the waist.)
Oliver: “Felicity, hold onto me tight.”
Felicity: “I imagined you saying that under different circumstances.  (He looks at her) Very platonic circumstances.”
Oliver: “Ready?”
Felicity: “Uh-huh.”
(Oliver shoots grappling line arrow and they swing over the elevator shaft to the other side, they exit through another elevator door onto another floor.)
Oliver: “Come on. You all right?”
Felicity: “I'm fine. Yeah, this is just my ‘about to hack’ face. I always, oh, look like this right before I, you know, hack.”
Oliver: “Security patrol's on a ten-minute cycle. I'll have my meeting with Tommy and be back in nine, okay?”
Felicity: “Ok. Ok. 
Oliver (over comms): “Dig, you got eyes on her?” 
Diggle (over comms): “Five by five.”
(Felicity enters secured room after punching in security access code.) 
*  *  *
Diggle (over comms): “Guys, you got trouble.”
Felicity (over comms): “What?!”
Diggle (over comms): “Felicity's about to have some ahead-of-schedule company.”
Felicity (over comms): “I'm not there yet on the download. 
Oliver (over comms): “Hold tight, I'm on my way.” 
Malcolm: “Oliver.” 
Oliver: “Mr. Merlyn.” 
Malcolm: “I must say, I'm surprised to see you here.” 
Oliver: “Tommy and I just had a little unfinished business.”
Malcolm: “Ahh. I know things have been challenging between you two, but I trust you're working things out.” 
Diggle (over comms): “Felicity!”
Felicity (over comms): “Just a few more seconds.” 
Oliver: “Yes. I'm sorry, I have to go. There are some investors waiting for me back at the club.”
Malcolm: “I'm heading out to a meeting myself. I'll walk you down to the lobby.”
Diggle (over comms): “She's going to get made, Oliver. Oliver, did you hear me?! Felicity!”
Felicity (over comms): “What? Just a few more seconds! Come on, come on, come on.”
Diggle (over comms): “You don't have a few more seconds.”
Felicity: “Yes! (Makes raised fist pump) Wow, I really do do that.”
Diggle (over comms): “Damn it, Oliver, she's in trouble, where are you?”
(Felicity exits secured room and runs into a security guard.) 
Guard: “This is a restricted area. Let's see some I.D.”
Felicity: “I.D.? Um.”
Malcolm: “Tell your mother I said ‘hello.’”
Oliver: “I will. (Over comms) Got held up. Heading back upstairs.”
Thea: “Ollie?”
Oliver: “Thea? What are you doing here?”
Thea: “I, uh, just saw Tommy.”
Oliver: “Yeah, me, too. I'm going to run back up, I don't want to be late.”
Thea: “Oh, I thought you just came down.”
(Cut to Diggle approaching Felicity and security guard.) 
Diggle: “There you are! Thanks a lot, man, this one snuck past security. One of Merlyn Junior's bimbos. She's pissed he never called her back.” 
Guard: “Copy that. I read the tabloids.” 
Diggle: “Yeah. Thanks again. Let's go, Barbie. Your new last name ain't going to be Merlyn.”
Felicity: “But I love him! He's my man! (Laughs) You're my knight in shining armor.”

122 (Darkness on the Edge of Town) – Detective Quentin Lance finds out about Felicity:
Quentin: “What'd you find?” 
Police Tech Guy: “Merlyn Global's cyber security is off the charts. Firewalls, NSA-grade I.P. sec protocols.”
Quentin: “What's that, tech speak for ‘I struck out, boss’?”
Police Tech Guy: “Yeah, but I wasn't the only one. Somebody else tried hacking into Merlyn Global systems. Same pathways I used, same result.”
Quentin: “You're saying that someone else was looking for Merlyn's connection to Unidac?”
Police Tech Guy: “Yeah, someone good. Knew how to reverse engineer her footprints. I almost didn't catch her.” 
Quentin: “Her?” 
Police Tech Guy: “Yeah. She works at Queen Consolidated. Name's Felicity Smoak.” 
Quentin: “Who the hell is Felicity Smoak?”

122 (Darkness on the Edge of Town) – Oliver plans to stop Malcolm, and then quit being the Vigilante:
Felicity: “In addition to the download, I also took the liberty of uploading a Trojan to Merlyn's system. Figured it might come in handy.” 
Diggle: “That's smart. If Merlyn thinks he's been compromised, it'll help if we know first.” 
Oliver: “Can you locate the seismic device?”
Felicity: “I'm working on it. But there's at least a teraflop of data to go through.”
Diggle: “You all right?”
Oliver: “My father, he told me that he failed the city. Asked me to right his wrongs, but I never knew what he meant until now. It's the Undertaking. I promised myself that when I crossed all these names off the list, I'd be done, but – taking down these people, it doesn't honor him. I was just treating the symptoms while the disease festered. I stop the Undertaking, I wipe out the disease.”
Diggle: “What are you saying, Oliver? You would hang up the hood?”
Oliver: “Merlyn's plan is what I returned from the island to stop.” 
Diggle: “Where are you going?” 
Oliver: “Out.”

122 (Darkness on the Edge of Town) – Oliver and Laurel have sex, while "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons plays in the background:
(Oliver knocks on Laurel’s apartment door.)
Oliver: “Hi. Can we talk?”
Laurel: “What’d you want to talk about?”
Oliver: “Wow. I thought this was going to be easier to say. But now I’m standing here, looking at you, and it’s –“
Laurel: “Just say what you have to say and go, okay?”
Oliver: “Ever since I’ve been back, we’ve been doing like this dance. We come together and then I pull away - something pulls me away. But I think – finally – that something might be over.”
Laurel: “What are you trying to say?”
Oliver: “That… you know me better than anyone and that you are more important to me than anyone. I just hope I didn’t wait too long to say it.”
(Laurel lunges forward and kisses him. They continue to kiss and she removes his shirt, while the song “Radioactive” begins to play in the background.)
Laurel: “You didn’t wait too long… You’re right on time.”
(He picks her up and they move to her bedroom.)
(Cut to exterior shot, where we see Tommy on the street. He looks up at Laurel’s open window, where you can clearly see a shirtless Oliver and Laurel making out. Scene ends on a close-up shot of Tommy’s devastated face.)

(The song "Radioactive" includes the following lyrics:
I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my system blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive …)

Edited February 11, 2020 by tv echo

[Featherhat]

The Merlyn Job is still one of my favourite Team Arrow capers. It was perfectly executed was very funny and had a lot of dramatic tension. I love that Thea and Roy were absolutely on the right track with the idea that the Hood might be wondering around the MG building. And Oliver calls himself a dangerous psychopath....

I think it was in the Watchover podcast that Jen or Calli says that Olicity had one of their most openly shippy scenes in the episode where Lauriver have their sex scene and that all anyone remembers from that is Tommy's heartbroken face. 😭

[lemotomato]

1 hour ago, Featherhat said:

I think it was in the Watchover podcast that Jen or Calli says that Olicity had one of their most openly shippy scenes in the episode where Lauriver have their sex scene and that all anyone remembers from that is Tommy's heartbroken face.

I can verify this. I wasn't watching Arrow when 122 aired, but I used drop by the TwoP and other TV discussion boards just to peek at what was going on. I remember it seemed like the majority of the reactions to the sex scene was anger at Oliver and Laurel on Tommy's behalf. 

I don't think the forums were archived, but here's the except from the twop recap (http://www.brilliantbutcancelled.com/show/arrow/darkness-on-the-edge-of-town-1/8/):

Quote

Oliver goes to Laurel's place and asks if they can talk. He stalls for awhile, and Laurel is nearly as impatient as I am for him to get to the point. He eventually spits it out: "You are more important to me than anyone. I just hope I didn't wait too long to say it." Apparently he did not, because she kisses him. The music is certain that this is a great moment. He takes his shirt off and they go into bedroom. Guys! This couple has no chemistry! No one cares! Well, except Tommy, because they happen to be making out in front of a window that he can see from the street. Tommy has a right to be annoyed, since this is the same day that Oliver came to him in the middle of his job and encouraged him to get back together with Laurel.

 

Edited February 8, 2020 by lemotomato

[tv echo]

OK, I bit the bullet, re-watched the final scene and transcribed the dialogue that preceded the O/L sex scene (see above edited post).

Edited February 9, 2020 by tv echo

[bijoux]

On 2/8/2020 at 6:29 PM, Featherhat said:

The Merlyn Job is still one of my favourite Team Arrow capers. It was perfectly executed was very funny and had a lot of dramatic tension . I love that Thea and Roy were absolutely on the right track with the idea that the Hood might be wondering around the MG building. And Oliver calls himself a dangerous psychopath....

I think it was in the Watchover podcast that Jen or Calli says that Olicity had one of their most openly shippy scenes in the episode where Lauriver have their sex scene and that all anyone remembers from that is Tommy's heartbroken face. 😭

God, yes. It's so very The Man from U.N.C.L.E.