Catching up with the latest episode of Arrow, and we finally get to meet Oliver Queen’s (Stephen Amell) new team. Welcome to Popcorn time, and this is a recap of Arrow Season 5, Episode 2: “The Recruits.” Let’s get right into it. As always, if you haven’t watched the latest episode yet, ample warning: SPOILER ALERT
The Recruits: Wild Dog, Evelyn Sharp, and Curtis Holt
The show opens up with a chase scene between Rene Ramirez aka Wild Dog and a drug dealer. All of a sudden, the chase is interrupted when the Green Arrow shows up with an invitation to join the team.
Right from the start, Oliver subjects his new “team” to a brutal exercise: Wild Dog (Rick Gonzales), Evelyn Sharp (Madison McLaughlin), and Curtis Holt (Echo Kellum) are given the task of getting past the Green Arrow and ringing a bell a mere twenty feet away from a starting line — a training method he picked up from the Bratva. Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) serves an arbiter over the exercise to ensure Oliver keeps the beatings to a minimum. Interestingly, Oliver doesn’t give out his secret identity to the recruits.
Arrow S05E03 follows John Diggle’s Storyline and Oliver’s life as mayor
The show starts paying attention to John Diggle’s (David Ramsey) life in the military, allowing us to catch up with what he’s been up to. He’s about to be sent in with a team to secure a nuclear device leftover from Season 4’s Genesis Day. We get a moment with John as he inspires a young soldier about to go into the field for the first time.
Meanwhile, Oliver and Thea Queen (Willa Holland) are busy in City Hall setting up a medical event. Things start to escalate when a board member of AmerTek — the company sponsoring the event — is strangled close to death by a mysterious man in rags. To make matters worse, Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne), who had taken a job as an extra hand for security showed up just as the event ended.
Ragman makes his debut; recruits abandon Oliver
At Oliver’s medical event, the ragged figure makes an attempt on the lives of Amertek board members, but is stopped by Wild Dog despite Green Arrow’s instructions not to interfere. Wild Dog manages to tear off a piece of the “Ragman’s” wrappings, granting Team Arrow their first lead.
The Green Arrow appears pissed at his new team, and they abandon the recruitment program after he chastises them for their incompetence. Curtis retaliates by explaining to Oliver how no team ever trusted him; how the original Team Arrow left. It is later revealed to the audience that Oliver was taught in the Bratva that the only person he could trust was himself… even with an exercise designed for teamwork.
Felicity haunted by Havenrock; Diggle gets in trouble
Returning to Ragman, we find he’s actually a hero. As it turns out, Ragman is the sole survivor of the Havenrock nuclear strike on Genesis Day. He set out to avenge the deaths of everyone who died in Havenrock by taking down AmerTek, the CEO of which is apparently selling arms to Tobias Church. Green Arrow and Ragman each decide to interfere with the weapons exchange, and Ragman proves his heroism by sacrificing his chance at vengeance to save Green Arrow’s life. Ragman and Green Arrow reach an accord and become allies.
All the while, Felicity watches as Ragman tells his story: that he is the last person left from a nuclear missile explosion Felicity herself had directed away from Star City.
Meanwhile, John Diggle appears to be getting in a little bit of trouble when he discovers the team he is operating with is actually trying to procure the nuclear device for their own gain. The last we see of John, he’s cuffed to a pillar and set to be framed for stealing a nuclear weapon and murdering a fellow soldier.
Prometheus vs Team Arrow v2.0: Pieces are Set
The episode ends with the recruits returning to Oliver’s side. He finally reveals his identity to them, and they agree to re-join the team under the newfound trust of their mayor. Meanwhile, Tobias Church is ambushed in a back alley by Prometheus who gives out his name for the first time. Prometheus warns Church to stay away from the Green Arrow or die at his hands.
And the episode ends right there. I’m personally glad that Arrow is returning to its gritty roots. I’ve said it before, but I’d say it a hundred times over. Is it better than Seasons 1 and 2? We’re not sure yet. The first two seasons will be hard to top, for sure. But so far… Season 5’s looking good.
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