Arrow – Kapiushon

By: Stacy Miller

Hasn’t Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) been tortured enough? Obviously not as the episode begins with another session, courtesy of Adrian Chase (Josh Segarra). Chase holds Oliver’s head underwater to get Queen to confess to what he did. Yes Oliver, confess, confess – viewers want to know too! But Oliver has no idea what Adrian’s talking about, confess to what? In that case Oliver, enjoy your head first swim!

Let’s take a break from Oliver’s torture with a flashback. When we left off last week, Oliver was this close to killing Gregor (David Meunier). Green spares the man’s life but that doesn’t stop Oliver from torturing Gregor to find out what Anatoly (David Nykl) is planning. Gregor refuses to tell Oliver what he is demanding and with his dying breath says “You are no one’s hero. Everything and everyone that you love will wither and die at your touch.” With the Parkhan dead, Anatoly is inducted as the head guy in charge. He tells Oliver the meaning of the words Gregor muttered samovol shchnia; it means ‘Do as you will.’ Back during the Russian Revolution in 1917, it was code for a plan to overthrow the government. Could this have something to do with the Gregor/Kovar deal?  Oliver decides to question Kovar’s (Dolph Lundgren) housekeeper, Galina (Natasha Vasiluk).  He finds her at a market shopping for apples. But before he can get the information he needs, Oliver has a run in with Galina’s bodyguard which ends in gunshots.

Meanwhile, Anatoly is planning to meet with Kovar, who is having a meeting with Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman). After Merlyn leaves, Kovar offers his congratulations to Anatoly on his rise to power. Anatoly tells Kovar that Kapiushon a/k/a ‘The Hood’ is the one responsible for Gregor’s death but offers his assurance that he’ll honor what Gregor committed to; especially samovol shchnia. Kovar tells Anatoly that the plan is to give Russia the strength it loss with the fall of the Soviet Union. Anatoly comes back to Oliver and urges him to go back to America.  But Queen speaks of the brotherhood and wants to see what Meryln is planning to ship to Kovar so he goes to the docks.

Back to the present, Adrian has finished water dunking Oliver. Physical torture over, time for the mental torture portion of the evening. We see that in the cell in which Chase is holding Oliver, there are photographs of all the people who have been victims of Oliver.  Adrian tells Oliver that he can make this easy on himself and just confess.  There’s that word again. What is Adrian expecting Oliver to confess? Oliver continues to insist that he doesn’t know what Adrian is talking about so Chase shoots him in the shoulder with an arrow and taunts him with glasses her took from Felicity’s apartment.  And Adrian will also track down Oliver’s son. So Oliver can think about who Adrian is planning on coming after next, Chase leaves him alone in the cell.

In the flashback, on the docks the shipment from Merlyn is revealed to be sarin gas. The Bratva are in the process of putting the sarin gas on a truck when Kovar arrives and soon, gunfire takes place. But the Bratva don’t die from the bullets but the deadly sarin gas. Oliver captures and tortures some of Kovar’s men using a cruel Mongolian technique. Oliver tells Anatoly that wearing the hood allows him to let his darkness out. But Anatoly thinks Oliver is giving too much credit to a piece of material. “You’re a fool to think a piece of cloth can separate man from monster,” Anatoly tells Oliver.  He even comments how seeing Oliver torture those men so brutally reminded him of Slade Wilson. Oliver reminds Anatoly that he got the information and it didn’t take long. “The rest was me practicing.” But at least because of Oliver’s torture, the Bratva has learned that Kovar is planning to kill the political and military heads of Russia at Kovar’s casino opening.  Oliver will need Galina’s help to get pass the heavy security. He returns to the market and tells Galina that Kovar’s lied to her; her children are dead. Galina gives Queen the key to Kovar’s casino and asks him who killed her children. “A monster,” Oliver answers. On the night Kovar’s casino opens, Oliver lets himself in and kills the guards as he heads to the security room.  He checks the security monitors to find out where the sarin gas is and then opens the door for the Bratva. He notices on the security camera Kovar questioning Galina and tries to save her but by the time he gets there, Galina is dead. Anatoly calls out to Oliver on the intercom to tell him that they are surrounded by Kovar’s men. As Kovar and Oliver fight, he sees who is behind the hood.

Flash to the present and Adrian brings Evelyn Sharp (Madison McLaughlin) into Oliver’s cell.  It is apparent that Evelyn has been beaten by Chase. Adrian wants Oliver and Evelyn to fight to the death and whoever is still alive when he returns gets to leave. Evelyn is tearful on having betrayed Oliver and Team Arrow. She bends down to pick up the knife that Adrian left there.  Oliver tries to convince Evelyn to use the knife to free him and then they both can go after Adrian.  But Evelyn is a shell of her former self and tells him that she can’t spend another day there. Adrian is angry and annoyed when he returns to the cell and finds both Oliver and Evelyn alive. Adrian grabs Evelyn from behind and orders Oliver to confess to him what he’s been afraid to tell John, Thea and Felicity.  Again, Oliver shouts that he doesn’t know what Adrian is talking about. Wrong answer. And with that, Adrian snaps Evelyn’s neck, killing her.  Oliver is heartbroken that one more person is dead because of him and vows that he will kill Adrian.

In a flashback, as Oliver and Kovar fight and Oliver manages to get Kovar pinned, Anatoly tells him to stop; Kovar will face justice. Oliver agrees. “You’re right, he’ll face justice,” Oliver says then delivers a killing blow to Kovar.

And in the present, Adrian Chase questions Oliver about why Queen kills.  It’s not always because he has to. “So why? Why do you do it?” Adrian demands. Oliver answers quietly “Because I wanted to. I want to.” Then shouts “I WANTED TO AND I LIKED IT!” So, Adrian Chase has achieved what few people on “Arrow” ever has – he’s gotten Oliver Queen to admit that he is a killing machine not always out of necessity but out of choice. Oliver is emotionally spent by his confession.  Adrian reminds Queen that Oliver is an infection that has killed everyone in his life because he has refused to admit to himself that the quest to do good is based in the lie that he’s a killer who enjoys to kill. Before Chase makes good on his promise to let Oliver go, he takes out a blowtorch with the intent of burning off Queen’s Bratva tattoo and tells Oliver “Now when you look at it, you’ll think about our time here together and the secret that you confessed to me.”

In the final flashbacks of the episode, we see Oliver first getting the Bratva tattoo and Anatoly telling him that “Someday it’s going to fall apart, and when it does, you’re not going to like the man you see underneath.” And then we see Merlyn talking with the surgeon who gave Kovar and new face and a thirst for revenge against Oliver Queen.

Oliver is finally freed.  He’s been missing for about six days and tells John, Curtis and Felicity “It’s over for me. I don’t want to do this anymore. I’m shutting everything down.”