S05.E16: Checkmate

[looptab]

Chase is batshit crazy, and I love him. More of this, please. I really liked this episode. I liked that nobody gave a damn about Susan really, and the boobs just being background. It needed more Diggle and Felicity*, but I'm happy with what we got.

The Olicity scene was very nice. Also, there was no music. How rare is that? Complete silence except those two idiots talking. 

I have a question, though; how the hell did Felicity find Talia's location? How did she even know what to look for? I didn't even know they were looking for her at all, for that matter, haha.

Random thought: ok, Oliver didn't know Talia's last name. Still, at some point he has to learn something about Ra's al Guhl, since he knew about him, the League's existence and Nanda Parbat when Sara came back in S2. Wonder when that'll be or if they'll forget about it.

*It also needed more Rory, but maybe that's just me, :D

[Delphi]

Honestly,  Susan is so dull that her dinner companion probably didn't even notice that she failed to show up. 

[bijoux]

4 hours ago, looptab said:

 

I have a question, though; how the hell did Felicity find Talia's location? How did she even know what to look for? I didn't even know they were looking for her at all, for that matter, haha.

They've been looking for her for a while. There was at least one occasion in previous episodes when  Oliver mentioned that while Felicity is looking for the woman who trained both Prometheus and me, we're following another lead. They just hadn't mentioned her by name during the search. What was the episode that Prometheus did a crazy flip in the air? As far as I remember, that's how Oliver caught a clue about his training.

As for the answer to your question, I imagine it's Pandora. But Oliver must have given her something to go off of once he realized she trained Prometheus.

[BkWurm1]

8 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

Oooh I just realised the "mature" conversation this week was actually mature and sane and lovely!!!! Omg I'm not used to not raging! I've even stopped making up names for the Pantry Moth!

Hee!  Everytime I read that insult I first misread it as "Panty" moth.

25 minutes ago, bijoux said:

They've been looking for her for a while. There was at least one occasion in previous episodes when  Oliver mentioned that while Felicity is looking for the woman who trained both Prometheus and me, we're following another lead. They just hadn't mentioned her by name during the search. What was the episode that Prometheus did a crazy flip in the air? As far as I remember, that's how Oliver caught a clue about his training.

As for the answer to your question, I imagine it's Pandora. But Oliver must have given her something to go off of once he realized she trained Prometheus.

Still finding a hidden training facility in the cliffs of the whatever mountain range remains impressive.  She even had notes about the ornamentation on the door.  But apparently really bad handwriting. My new head canon is that Oliver can read it even if no one else can.  :D

Edited March 17, 2017 by BkWurm1

[DeadZeus]

I dno, Talia is the one that taught Oliver that some ppl need to be killed for the greater good and that he should save his city... Ra's was threatening the city and he killed him... I think it's pretty dumb Talia now wants revenge for this...

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 hours ago, DeadZeus said:

I dno, Talia is the one that taught Oliver that some ppl need to be killed for the greater good and that he should save his city... Ra's was threatening the city and he killed him... I think it's pretty dumb Talia now wants revenge for this...

No matter which iteration, Talia has always has blinders where her father was concerned. Her mantra always being "He is my father." As if that justifies everything.?

[AudienceofOne]

Maybe I watched a different episode or maybe it's the setup of the season that's the problem but I'm struggling to care about anything that's happening.  Susan's kidnapped? Susan who? 

Chase's wife is dead. Did we know Chase even had a wife before last week?

Although the actor is rocking Chase's crazy, I don't find "oh he's crazy" compelling as a villain. What's his motivation? He's crazy! Why did he do that? He's crazy! Why doesn't any of this make sense? He's crazy! 

Talia's involvement makes it marginally more interesting but since Lexa Doig is a poor actor and the character was introduced ten seconds ago I can't care about that either. 

As usual, all of this would be less annoying if the plot so far hadn't been driven by Oliver's stupid. If there's a lesson here it isn't "you hurt everyone around you" it's "don't be so dumb". 

Not looking forward to next week's "the breaking of Oliver Queen". I suspect that won't inspire me either.

[legaleagle53]

11 hours ago, AudienceofOne said:

Chase's wife is dead. Did we know Chase even had a wife before last week?

She was introduced a few episodes ago when Chase was in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound.  He was trying to get dressed and leave the hospital, and she called on Oliver to talk some sense into him (even pulling rank if he had to) in order get Chase to stay in the hospital so he could completely recover before returning to work.

Edited March 20, 2017 by legaleagle53

[AudienceofOne]

5 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

She was introduced a few episodes ago 

No, I'm aware of that. My point is, we haven't seen any suggestion that Chase even cares about his wife. No scenes between them, Chase has never brought her up. If they want emotional resonance from these things, we need to care about the characters involved. From what we've seen, Chase is a crazy killer so why would killing his wife be a surprise to anybody? For all we know, he just married her for the appearance of normality.

[DigitalCount]

So is the "Checkmate" thing that Oliver wasn't willing to sacrifice his queen even though it would have ended the game, but Adrian was? They hit that note a few times.

[BkWurm1]

Susan though has never been anything but a pawn. ;p

[tv echo]

516 (Checkmate) – No Oliver Queen voiceover intro.

516 (Checkmate) – Alena welcomes Felicity to Helix's base of operations:
Alena: "Is everything okay?"
Felicity (looking at her phone and seeing a lot of missed texts from Curtis): "Yes. Peachy. Let's do this. Whoah!"
Alena: "Yeah, it's lit, right?"
Felicity: "All these people, there's just -?"
Alena: "You sound surprised."
Felicity: "Yeah, I guess I just thought that a secret hacker organization would be a little bit more, well, intimate."
Alena: "Well, Helix is a worldwide operation - kinda like the U.N., 'cept we can actually accomplish things."
Felicity (picking up a device): "You have 3D nano electrics designed to interface with a neural network. We were working on something like this at Palmer Tech."
Alena: "Who do you think we stole the prototype from?"
Felicity (looking at wall of surveillance monitor screens): "What is that?"
Alena: "Real-time feed from every cell phone camera in the world, running through a camera recognition algorithm."
Felicity: "Holy... that's -"
Alena: "So much bigger than anything the NSA is doing, I know."
Felicity: "That's a lot of power for someone to have who's not government."
Alena: "Well, the fact that we're not government's the whole point. Power of the people, right?"
Felicity: "Yeah. Power of the people."
Alena: "Welcome to Helix, Felicity. We're going to change the world together."

516 (Checkmate) – Oliver expresses concern for Felicity's secret-keeping; and Felicity discovers that Adrian Chase's real name is Simon Morrison:
(Felicity comes rushing into the Arrow Bunker.)
Felicity: "Hi! Oh, hi! I'm sorry. I know I'm late. Sorry, I got Curtis' messages. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm here now. I'm sorry."
Oliver (to rest of team): "Can you give us the room, please?" (They leave)
Felicity: "Much appreciated. I usually like my tongue-lashings to be done in private. So. Thank you. I'm... sorry."
Oliver: "I'm not angry. You don't - you don't work for me. (Pauses) I'm worried."
Felicity: "Right. Of course, for all you know, Prometheus could have - (makes throat-slashing gesture) Unh."
Oliver: "I'm not - I'm worried about you."
Felicity: "Hmm." (Looks at him with softened half-smile)
Oliver: "Because you are into something and you don't want to tell anyone about it. Or maybe you just don't want to tell me. I think we can both agree that keeping secrets doesn't end well, so -"
Felicity: "Yeah, you're right. It's just that right now is not really a good time with everything going on. You just have to trust me on this one, okay?"
Oliver: "Okay."
Felicity: "But, speaking of the something that I'm into, it actually helped me go through the petabyte of data we took off of Chase's mother's computer. (Pulls of screenshot of Simon Morrison's birth certificate on her computer) This."
Oliver: "Who's Simon Morrison?"
Felicity: "Adrian Chase."
Oliver: "What?"
Felicity: "Simon Morrison is his birth name. That's his real identity."
Oliver: "But his mother's name is Amanda Westfield."
Felicity: "Yes. Well, she changed her name when she went off the grid. So it runs in the family."
Oliver: "Well, if Adrian Chase is an alias -"
Felicity: "Then the proof that his background is fake will be enough for the ACU to arrest his ass."
Oliver: "However you did it, good work."
Felicity: "Thank you."
Oliver: "Put this all on a drive. I've got to get to City Hall."
Felicity: "Wait - oh, now? I mean, it's past 10."
Oliver: "Yeah. Before the 11 o' clock news, I have to make a statement on the Green Arrow breaking into the D.A.'s house."

516 (Checkmate) – Felicity must do something for Helix in return for getting further help from Helix:
(Felicity shows Alena the video of Susan being held captive by Prometheus.)
Alena: "Oh, my God. And this is -"
Felicity: "We've been calling him Prometheus, but you helped me ID him as Simon Morrison. Look, I've been striking out on getting a location off this, but someone with a cell phone at some point must've entered this room, which means there should be pictures of it in your database. If I can cross-reference the images of your database with this video, I should be able to help the police find her."
Alena: "And that's, like, really cool and noble and all. I mean, she definitely needs your help."
Felicity: "But?"
Alena: "But, Felicity, we gave you Pandora. We helped you sort through that data pool. And now - well, people are starting to ask what you're doing for us. I mean, we didn't invite you in, just so you could check items off your to-do list. Sorry, that feels gross."
Felicity: "No, uh, no, you're right. Okay. So, quid pro quo. I help you, you help me."
Alena: "I was kinda hoping you would say that. I've been trying to break the encryption on this certain Homeland Security drone.
Felicity: "Why?"
Alena: "Need to know, I'm afraid. Question is, what are you willing to quo in exchange for your quid?"

516 (Checkmate) – Felicity gets Curtis’ help to hack into Homeland Security drones, and he presses her for details:
(Curtis and Felicity are working on their laptops.)
Felicity: "Okay. Okay. Oh - Oh, I'm in! We're in."
Curtis: "Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa! Did we just accidentally hack a DHS drone system?"
Felicity: "Well, I wouldn't exactly say 'accidentally.' Am I right?"
Curtis: "Felicity, please explain why we're hacking Homeland Security drones instead of finding Susan's location, like you told me we were doing."
Felicity: "Because hacking the drones is what's going to lead us to Susan. So complicated."
Curtis: "Holy crap! You just sent the receiver false data and now you're spoofing the GPS system. There's nothing slight about this. This is just straight up illegal! Spill. 100 percent deets. Right now. Right now!"
Felicity: "Okay! So I - I've kind of made some new friends. Surprise. And they have access to inaccessible amounts of data and intel. They helped me get John out of prison, and now they're willing to help us find Susan, that's all."
Curtis: "If you redirect a few U.S. border patrol drones."
Felicity: "Hey, don't look at me like that. I've already gotten chapter and verse from John and Oliver. Please don't, please!"
Curtis: "I can't imagine them signing off on you hacking Homeland Security."
(Felicity looks at him.)
Curtis: "They don't know, do they?"
Felicity: "All they need to know is that I am a grown-up woman, making my own grown-up decisions."

516 (Checkmate) - DELETED SCENE: Prometheus threatens Susan Williams:
(Susan is tied up in a chair.)
Adrian: "Hi, Susan. It's time we finished this."
Susan: "Get away from me."
Adrian (untying her): "Why would I kill you now? Come on. You [unintelligible words]."
Susan: "Why are you doing this?"
Adrian: "Oliver Queen killed my father. But what started out as vengeance became something else over time. A journey towards self-discovery, you might say. This is my true self. My best self. I suppose I owe Oliver something for helping me find who I truly am. You know, I've never told anyone that before. 'Cause I'm going to have to kill you now."

516 (Checkmate) – After Felicity finds out Susan's location, Team Arrow rescues the captive Susan:
Rene (over comms): "This is where Prometheus is holding Susan?"
Felicity (over comms): "At least he was when he shot that video. I'm reading a few dozen heat signatures inside."
*  *  *
Oliver (over comms): "Overwatch, any word on Spartan?"
Felicity (over comms): "Uh, package is on route. ETA, five minutes."
Quentin (standing next to Felicity): "Package?"
Felicity: "Oliver's got something up his green sleeve."
*  *  *
Oliver (over comms): "What was that?"
Felicity (over comms): "Some sort of explosion."
Quentin (over comms): "Dinah and Rene, do you copy?"
Rene (over comms): "Yeah, we copy."
Dinah (over comms): "We're trapped in here."
Quentin: "Oh, that son of a bitch."
Felicity: "Yeah. (Over comms) What if those heat signatures are incendiary devices?"
Curtis (over comms): "I think we can pretty much confirm that."
*  *  *
(Diggle, Curtis, Rene and Dinah enter the Arrow Bunker.)
Felicity: "Where's Oliver? Guys!"
Diggle: "We have to assume that Chase has him. What about Susan? And Chase's wife?"
Felicity: "Susan's at the precinct. Quentin's with her. Um, Doris passed away en route to Starling General."
Rene: "We got to work on finding Oliver."
Dinah: "Felicity, you found Susan. You can find him."
Felicity: "You're right."
Curtis: "Felicity, please tell me you're not going to see them again."
Felicity: "Dinah's right. They're the ones who found Susan." (Leaves)

516 (Checkmate) – Quentin takes the rescued Susan to the SCPD precinct; Felicity is desperate to find the kidnapped Oliver; and Talia al Ghul and Adrian Chase visit the chained-up Oliver in his cell (per script):

516 (Checkmate) – Felicity is desperate to find the kidnapped Oliver: 
(Felicity is busily working on a computer at Helix's base of operations.)
Alena: "Everyone's mega impressed with the DHS hack you did for us."
Felicity: "That's great."
Alena: "You've also been chosen as the first woman to go to Mars."
Felicity: "Sorry. A friend of mine is missing.
Alena: "And the information we gave you didn't help?"
Felicity: "Different friend."
Alena: "You have a lot of missing friends."
Felicity: "Yeah. And this time I have no leads whatsoever. You guys have better resources than I do, and I have to use everything that I can to find him. I'll do whatever you need me to do for you."

 

Edited May 29, 2020 by tv echo

[tv echo]

516 deleted scene: Prometheus threatens Susan Williams...

(ArrowVerse TV)

[tv echo]

Yesterday MG tweeted four script pages for this episode, which I've added to my transcriptions above.

[tv echo]

Another 516 deleted scene...

Arrow 5x16 Deleted Scene - Kovar talks with the Bratva

(Hermandat)