Arrow – Underneath

By: Stacy Miller

When last we left Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) they were in the Arrow Cave and Ms. Smoak was using the biometric scanner to trace Adrian Chase’s (Josh Segarra) heartbeat in an attempt to learn his location. Then boom! There was an explosion. The episode opens with the aftermath of the explosion, which finds Oliver and Felicity trapped underneath the rubble.  Oliver finds Felicity and tells her not to move. That won’t be a problem for her as due to the explosion, the chip in her spine that was helping her to walk was damaged and now she is paralyzed again. And to make matter worse, the bunker has now been locked down thanks to Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) from “The Flash,” who made it impenetrable in order to keep any unwanted persons out. So, Oliver and Felicity have enough oxygen in the bunker to last six hours, meaning they have to escape before they run out of air. And that means working together.  But as viewers remember from the last episode, Oliver and Felicity weren’t exactly on the same page as she worked with Helix to spring Cayden James from A.R.G.U.S. We get a flashback to eleven months earlier and see Oliver and Felicity talking about recruiting more members for Team Arrow.

In the present, Team Arrow can’t get a hold of Oliver and Felicity and learn that the Arrow Cave is in lockdown.  We also see that things aren’t better between John and Lyla (David Ramsey and Audrey Marie Anderson).  Diggle still can’t believe that Lyla condoned A.R.G.U.S holding Cayden James with issuing formal charges. This argument is causing problems in their marriage as John is sleeping on the couch when Curtis (Echo Kellum), Rene (Rick Gonzalez) and Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) arrive to tell them about Oliver, Felicity and the Arrow Cave lockdown.  Lyla offers the assistance of A.R.G.U.S, that is, if it’s okay with John.  Forget Killer Frost of “The Flash,” it’s icy at the Diggle house!

Back at the bunker, we see that Felicity is sitting in her old wheelchair.  Oliver is eager to escape not only because after six hours of air left, but also because he fears Adrian has discovered where to find Oliver’s son William and is going after the boy.  Queen thinks they can escape through the elevator shaft, but Felicity reasons that Chase probably fixed it so the elevator shaft is not safe.  She suggests they find another way out. Of course, being that Oliver never likes to listen, he decides to try the elevator shaft anyway.  He gets thrown onto a huge screw that is sticking out.  Felicity is able to use a camp light to stitch up Oliver’s wound, but lets him know him getting hurt just illustrates what she said earlier about always trusting him but Oliver doesn’t return the favor; if he had listened to her about the elevator shaft, he wouldn’t have gotten hurt.  Oliver tells Felicity that she is right. Next, they decide to help jump start the generator by using the combustible engine from one of the motorcycles that happens to be parked in the Arrow Cave.

Back to the flashback, Felicity is telling Oliver that they didn’t break up because he had a son, but because he didn’t trust her enough to tell her about William. Curtis is there and can see that Oliver and Felicity care about each other.  He encourages Felicity not to give up on Oliver as she owes it to herself to see whether there is still anything between them. He suggests that she does so tonight. So, later that evening Oliver and Felicity spent the evening in the bunker with Chinese food and wine.

Back in the present, Oliver again gives Felicity his reason for not trusting her play to break out Cayden James. Ms. Smoak is so tired of hearing Oliver’s explanation that he did it because he didn’t want her to turn into him.  Felicity is a big girl, she knows the difference between right and right. Besides, was Cayden James more dangerous than the Bratva?  Before the argument escalates, the motorcycle engine triggers an explosion that rips open a methane gas pipe. “So much for doing things my way,” Felicity says.  Does that mean they are finally willing to work together? They’ll have to since now they only have enough air to last twenty minutes.  Oliver checks the blueprints of the bunker and finds a sealed steam tunnel behind a cabinet. And Felicity uses her skill to measure the explosive powder in order to ensure that the methane gas won’t ignite.  Her calculations must be accurate or boom. She fears that she will be off. “Are you still Felicity Smoak?” Oliver asks, “Your math is always right.” See Felicity, Oliver DOES believe in you! The explosives are put onto an arrow and Oliver has to be accurate in his shot (Hello, he’s the Green Arrow, of course he’s accurate). Oliver’s aims is perfect (there was no doubt) and the explosion helps open a hole in the wall to the tunnel, but there is a two-story drop to reach the tunnel and safety.

In the flashback, Oliver and Felicity have drunk the wine and eaten the Chinese food.  Now it’s time for a salmon ladder climbing lesson. She has difficulty. Oliver shows her how and she is able to climb higher onto each new ladder rung. Why is this flashback of salmon ladder climbing important?  All will be revealed later in the episode. The flashback ends with a lot of kissing between Oliver and Felicity, then him lowering her down onto the mat with a fade to black. Aw…Olicity!  She tells Oliver this still doesn’t solve their problems.  If he can’t fully trust her, what kind of relationship can they have? “I love you, but that is why I can’t settle for anything less than your full trust,” Felicity says.

Meanwhile, back in the present, Rene is using a blowtorch to break through the hatch. Lucky for him Curtis happens to see the methane gas levels and grabs Rene out the way just in time before a minor explosion. But Curtis gets second degree burns on his arm. Diana has experience cracking a safe from an undercover assignment and knows that hydrochloric acid will help make the titanium hatch flimsy enough to open without the methane gas igniting. Oliver and Felicity have less than ten minutes of air left. He puts Felicity on his back to piggyback her to safety, but all the energy he’s used has reopened his wound and he passes out.  Felicity pounds on his chest, pleading with him to wake up. Oliver hears her and makes a confession, unsure how much time they have left.  Oliver tells Felicity he’s sorry for not backing her and admits after he was tortured by Adrian Chase he confessed he enjoyed killing. He knows his mission was based on a lie. Oliver passes out.

Lyla gives John information for every off-the-book A.R.G.U.S site and then asks him how he can always trust the less than moral choices Oliver makes but not hers and she’s his wife.  Before John can respond, Curtis enters to tell him about their plan to rescue Oliver and Felicity.

When Oliver wakes up, Felicity questions him about his confession that he enjoyed being a killer. She tells him that after the torture Adrian Chase afflicted upon him “anyone would’ve admitted to being a tap dancing flamingo.”  Felicity tells him that the way he’s handled all the pain and challenges of his past proves his strength of character. Just then, one of Curtis’ T-sphere explodes through the wall. Rene and Curtis can now talk to Oliver and Felicity. Curtis gives them some bad news: The generators in the bunker will automatically come back on in twelve minutes and ignite the methane gas which means they are sitting underneath a four story bomb! A T-Sphere flies to them and delivers 20cc of adrenaline. It works, Green Arrow is Superman and full of energy. He piggybacks Felicity to the ladder rescue spot, which is the air vent where John has already starting climbing down the other side. Oliver will climb up the ladder on the other side and make a jump to the other side where John will catch them and Rene will pull them up. “I’ve always appreciated you doing the salmon ladder, but never as much as in this moment,” Felicity says (Told you that salmon ladder flashback was going to be important). Felicity begins to slip off Oliver’s back.  He ends up holding on to her with one hand.  Felicity urges Oliver to let go. Like he was going to do that Felicity and watch you get torn apart by the rotator cuffs below.  Oliver finds strength and pulls her back up onto his back. And Rene uses the rope to pull them all up to safety. Lyla and John agree to talk to fix their marriage. Curtis repairs Felicity spine chip and she’s able to walk again. Oliver asks to see Felicity after he gets out of surgery. Felicity and Oliver talk about their trust issues.

The episode concludes with Adrian finding William, who is now called Matthew, and approaching the child as he steps off the school bus.