Next week's episode brings NBC’s version of John Constantine.
The CW says of tonight’s “Beyond Redemption”:
Laurel (Katie Cassidy) must deal with the repercussions of taking Sara (guest star Caity Lotz) to Nanda Parbat. Meanwhile, Oliver (Stephen Amell) asks Captain Lance (Paul Blackthorne) for a favor and while he's not surprised at the response, he is surprised at what he finds out next.
Longtime talkbacker Shermdawg recaps last week’s “Restoration”:
TLDR RECAP!!!
- Ollie and Diggle seem to overcame their trust issues while Diggle looks for answers involving his brother's murder and the two tangle with a card slinging meta-human from Central City by the name of "Double Down."
- Laurel, Thea, and the corpse of Sarah Lance traveled to Nanda Parbat in hopes current "Ra's al Ghul" Malcolm Merlyn could cure Thea of her bloodlust and resurrect Sarah via the Lazarus Pit much to the protest of Sarah's former lover Nyssa, who ends up destroying the Pit after they are successful.
- Back on the island, Ollie learns the mercs are overseeing the production of a heroin/cocaine hybrid drug called "Slam", tortures a slave, kills a guard, and aligns himself with the woman he was tasked with killing.
- Felicity gets Palmer Tech employee Curtis Holt mixed up with Double Down and is forced into revealing that she works with the Green Arrow. She also discovers further evidence that Damien Darhk's "Ghosts" may be clones, and gets a strange text message.
THE WHOLE SHEBANG...
The episode opens with Oliver and Diggle chasing down some of Damien Darhk's "Ghosts" through a lumber yard. Unfortunately they get away and Diggle asks where Laurel and Thea were, because they needed more feet on the ground. After coming up short, they return back to base, but not empty handed. Diggle managed to pull out a Ghosts tooth that held a cyanide capsule before he was able to ingest it. He gives it to Felicity to see if she pull any information off it. To mark the special occasion of the "OG" Team Arrow of just her, Ollie, and Dig taking on the bad guys "just like the old days", Felicity suggests they celebrate, and in an attempt to make Arrow HQ seem a little more like home, she mentions she brought along their waffle iron which Oliver had taken quite a liking to back in the suburbs. Unfortunately before Ollie could share recipes, Diggle....still uncomfortable with Oliver regarding his actions while posing as a member of The League of Assassins....says he doesn't have time for his waffling recap, that he has a family at home, and turns down Felicity's invitation. "I guess he needs more time" Felicity says as Diggle walks off, but feeling that time and apologies haven't helped their fractured relationship, Oliver says he's "tired of waiting for him to come around."
Laurel and Thea are off enjoying a relaxing spa getaway....or that's what Oliver thinks, when in reality they decided to pay Malcolm Merlyn, the new "Ra's al Ghul" a visit in Nanda Parbat to see if he could help her deal with the Lazarus Pit induced rage issues she's been experiencing as of late. That, and possibly letting them attempt to resurrect Laurel's sister Sarah. Once in Nanda Parbat, Merlyn and Nyssa quickly deny Laurel's request saying Thea wasn't dead when she was healed by the pit, and if they were able to resurrect Sarah, what they'd bring back wouldn't be her sister.
When Diggle returns home, he finds the door to his apartment open, and an A.R.G.U.S. agent waiting on him inside with information regarding who hired Floyd Lawton a.k.a. Deadshot to do a hit on his brother back in 2009. The name he's given is "Mina Fayed", and that she arrived in Star City the previous night. We soon learn Fayed was sent to Star City to meet with Darhk and deliver him a deadly assassin who's covered in playing card tattoos and is fond of using razor sharp ones to kill his victims as we see when Darhk offers up the ghost that Diggle took his tooth from. After being impressed with his work, Darhk hires him to take down Team Arrow.
Back in Nanda Parbat, Nyssa once again tries to talk Laurel out of her obsession with resurrecting Sarah. She tells her that even though the Lazarus Pit gave her father an unnaturally long life, it came with a price, and whatever comes back won't be the Sarah she knew, she'll be a monster. Laurel tells her that regardless of the risk she has to try and hope the spirit of her sister is still intact.
While examining the tooth Felicity discovers its DNA some how only has half the genetic markers of a normal human and the person it was taken from should be nothing more than a "pile of goo." An alert comes in of a robbery, and despite Felicity mentioning a hold up was below the Green Arrow's pay grade, Ollie points out the SCPD hasn't had the best track record as of late before heading off.
In flashback-land, Oliver is now embedded in the mercenary force guarding the drug farm on Lian Yu which produces a drug by the name of "Slam" a genetically modified hyrid of heroin poppy and coca leaf. After assuming a fleeing slave was a distraction so a brick of Slam could be stolen, one of the mercs rounds up the farm's labor. After threats of killing them one by one until someone came forth with info regarding the missing product go nowhere, Oliver suggests torture may be a better solution to their problem. Soon after going to work on a random slave, the woman who begged for and was denied water to help a dehydrated man who collapsed in the field in the previous episode comes forth and admits she was the one that took the drugs and gave them to her fellow workers to help them get through the pain. Just as she's about to die for her apparent crime, Oliver offers to take her into the jungle and do it himself, but instead leads the accompanying merc into yet another landmine. He tells the woman he isn't going to kill her, he's on her side, and if she doesn't do what he says, they're both dead.
Diggle, too busy tailing Fayed, ignores Felicity's calls to back up Oliver, who arrives on the scene of the reported robbery and soon discovers it wasn't below his pay grade after all when he comes face to face with Darhk's card slinging assassin who stupidly name drops Fayed, pulls a card hidden within his tattoo sleeve and tosses it at Oliver who dodges it as his attacker runs off. Meanwhile one of Fayed's security sneaks up on Diggle, who he quickly takes down before engaging in a gun fight with the detail protecting his target. Oliver has his hands full at the moment also as he catches up with the assassin weaving in and out of cover as the two trade projectiles before taking things hand to hand and flooring his opponent who then pulls two more cards from behind his head tossing them at Oliver, who manages to block them as his battle rages on just as Diggle's fight across town comes to an abrupt end as he runs out of ammo just as Fayed is escorted to safety and makes her escape. Something Oliver does as well after one of the assassin's cards lands in his arm.
Back in Nanda Parbat, Meryln checks on Thea who seems conflicted in Laurel's plan of resurrecting Sarah knowing full well of what she may go through if successful. Merlyn tells her that the Lazarus Pit holds the souls of any person that its waters have healed and for it to give life, it curses that person with a bloodlust to take a life. Not wanting to go on a killing spree, Thea asks if there is an alternative, to which her father hesitantly reveals there is. A sage, high in the mountains may be able to help her, and that they would visit him at first light. However, during the night Thea is awoken by two assassins who she ends up killing and quickly realizes they were sent by her father, and that there was no sage after all. He enters her room and asks her how she felt. He tells her that the blood lust that tortures her would not return for several weeks and because Ra's al Ghul, the person that wronged her is dead, there was no cure, but he would do anything for his daughter to help her control her madness.
As Diggle arrives back at Arrow HQ and Felicity tends to Ollie's wounds she reveals their assassin is actually a meta-human by the name of Jeremy Tell who Cisco Ramon has informed her goes by the moniker of "Double Down." Turns out, Tell was getting a tattoo when the particle accelerator at S.T.A.R. Labs exploded (dude gluing cards to his arms doesn't sound nearly as ridiculous in comparison). Before heading to Palmer Tech to see if she can figure out how this particular meta can generate razor sharp playing cards from his tats, she gives both Ollie and Diggle hell for not backing the other up and both nearly getting killed because of it. She tells them to settle their shit and to not leave HQ until they do so. Unfortunately Diggle can't get past Oliver's actions while in the League and fears at some point he'll pull something again while Oliver just wants a chance to somehow rebuild the trust they once had. When the conversation circles back to Tell, Oliver sparks Diggle's interest when he reveals Tell was working for someone named "Fayed" which understandably alarms Dig. He asks Oliver to accompany him to some place where he'd "try to trust him again."
Felicity takes the card that was stuck in Ollie to Curtis Holt back at Palmer Tech, while there she checks out his progress in developing the world changing tech he was tasked with the previous week that would save the company from financial ruin.
Diggle takes Oliver back to his apartment where he shows him his journal of intel regarding H.I.V.E., his brother's death, and the revelation that Mina Fayed may be behind it. He says that she is his first legitimate lead and he has to find her. Unfortunately for Diggle, Fayed is killed in the very next scene when Darhk loses his shit over Tell's failure in killing Green Arrow and Fayed's slip of the tongue regarding the "Genesis" project Darhk has in store for Star City. Darhk asks for Tell to try and kill him but stops his card midair with his telekinesis and sends it sailing into Fayed's throat killing her then across the room to Tell's, who he threatens to not fail him again.
Back in Nanda Parbat, Thea barges into Laurel's room waking her and informing her that they're leaving. She says Merlyn would be of no help to either her or Sarah. Meryln catches up with her and tries to convince her to stay, and he would attempt to resurrect Sarah. Thea balks at the suggestion saying that there was no way she'd let that happen knowing what she would have to deal with afterwards. Merlyn says if Thea was truly sincere in fighting her bloodlust she'd offer the same to Sarah, and he was willing to heal her conscience by restoring Sarah's life.
After Felicity manages to locate Fayed's apparent location via her cell phone, Diggle and Oliver find her dead body tied to a chair. Diggle facing the reality that his first real lead in his brother's death is now a bust after two years of trying to find answers, Oliver reminds him that he spent those two years doing it alone assuring him they'd now find those answers together.
Felicity returns to Palmer Tech in hopes Curtis had found any leads on Double Down from his playing card. Curtis reveals that the card's ink contains a high concentration of magnetite, which is not only a common ingredient in tattoo ink but happens to guide the internal compass of birds....specifically homing pigeons. When Felicity asks him if it's possible to use the magnetite in the card to get a location of its owner, Curtis says in theory if that person had a full deck of those cards he would probably be able to find her faster. Turns out Curtis is right as a card is sent sailing past their heads as Tell enters the lab and informs them that the first person that tells him about the Green Arrow gets to live. Felicity grabs Curtis and they book it to a secret elevator. Feeling as she has no choice given where they're headed, she tells him she works with the Green Arrow, the man that's chasing them is dangerous (obviously), and she's taking him to the only place she knows they'll be safe....Arrow HQ, which is located on a hidden floor at Palmer Tech. Unfortunately, it isn't so well hidden as Double Down catches up with them just as Felicity grabs a sub-machine gun firing wildly at Tell pinning him down as Curtis, who tries to take cover, is knocked out by a falling light fixture that was dropped by one of Tell's cards. Thankfully Felicity finally manages to drive Tell away when some how one of her bullets lands on target.
After Felicity sends Curtis to the hospital, Oliver and Diggle arrive back at HQ surprised she was able to hold Tell off. They ask her if she can track him using the info Curtis gave her, which she does finding out he appears to be headed to Central City. Ollie and Diggle give chase and manage to cut off his attempt to escape the city with a well aimed explosive arrow taking out his ride. During a minor face off, Oliver jumps in front of Diggle taking a card to his kevlar reinforced chest plate before Diggle manages to take Double Down....down. Diggle thanks Oliver for taking a bullet for him, to which Ollie reminds him "it was just a meta-human tattooed playing card."
In Nanda Parbat, Sarah's resurrection ceremony is under way and her corpse is raised over the Lazarus Pit. Thea and Laurel lower her into its regenerative waters just as Nyssa finds out what they're doing and demands them to stop....but continue on. After several moments of the water doing its magic, Sarah rises from the pool, seemingly fully restored to her old self! She locks eyes with Nyssa....her former lover, and leaps from the water before her then quickly turns her attention to Thea....her killer, and with a vengeful scream charges at her but is quickly stopped by Merlyn and his guards before he incapacitates her as Laurel stares in amazement that her sister is alive once again.
"OG" Team Arrow forego the waffles and grab a beer with everything seemingly back to normal between Dig and Ollie. We learn Tell is now locked away in the meta-human wing of Iron Height's prison and they wonder if he gave Damien Darhk the location to their current HQ and if they should be finding a new spot to set up shop. Oliver says he had been working on just the thing, to which Diggle reminds him about them no longer keeping secrets. "It's not a secret" Ollie replies, "It's a surprise."
Back at Palmer Tech, Felicity thanks Curtis who's busy cleaning up what's left of his lab and receives a strange text message.
In Nanda Parbat, Laurel tries to talk to her sister who is now chained within the dungeons of the League's fortress. Sarah only responds with animalistic grunts trying to break free as Thea and Merlyn look on. Laurel tells Thea she had been in a similar state upon exiting the Pit, but given Sarah's condition, she would likely take longer to come to her senses. A guard approaches them and tells Merlyn that something has happened. They soon discover that Nyssa has apparently tainted the waters of the Lazarus Pit destroying its regenerative properties using means Ra's al Ghul came up with should the Pit fall into the wrong hands. She tells Merlyn that one day she will have her moment and kill him, and that he won't be coming back. Merlyn....furious with her actions, orders her to be taken away. On the way out she turns to Laurel and tells her she warned her. She begged her. "What happened to Sarah last year was on Malcolm's hands....and what's happening to her now, is on yours!"
