- Title: Arrow – The Undertaking
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Following his fallout with both Diggle (David Ramsey) and Tommy (Colin Donnell), Oliver (Stephen Amell) throws himself into his work which includes liberating the laptop of Starling City’s dirtiest accountant. Felicity’s (Emily Bett Rickards) hacking of the man’s computer uncovers that one of his clients spent $2,000,000 to the city’s most notorious underground casino owner (Ray Galletti), who also dabbles in kidnapping, the same night Walter (Colin Salmon) disappeared. Not believing in coincidence, and too well known to hit the casino himself, Oliver has no choice but to send in a determined Felicity to gather more information.
Confronting Tommy about his reasons for their sudden break-up, Laurel (Katie Cassidy) is unprepared for the partial truth which he offers, that Oliver is still in love with her and that the two of them belong together. Her shock is only increased when Oliver admits Tommy is right. Oliver and Felicity get some shocking news of their own when Green Arrow breaks into the casino to rescue Felicity only to learn that Walter Steele is dead. Breaking the news to Moira (Susanna Thompson) and Thea (Willa Holland) causes Moira to run straight to Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) and for Green Arrow to learn a hard truth about his mother and her involvement in Walter’s disappearance and “The Undertaking.” It also leads Green Arrow to Bludhaven and the heavily-guarded tenement building with one very special prisoner.
Walter’s return reunites the family but also forces Ollie to take a hard look at what his mother and Malcolm are capable of. The episode also glosses over how exactly Green Arrow escorted his father-in-law back to Starling City without giving away his secret identity. Although Oliver and Diggle will eventually make peace by the end of the episode, several other ongoing threads are left dangling. “The Undertaking” marks the first episode to not include a single flashback to Ollie’s time on the island and Roy (Colton Haynes) is conspicuous by his absence (especially after Thea promised to help her boyfriend find the vigilante).
We do get several flashbacks to the days before Ollie and his father (Jamey Sheridan) left on their fateful voyage as well as confirmation that the explosion on the boat was caused by Malcolm after Ollie’s father expressed concerns over Malcolm’s proposed undertaking which would mean solving the city’s crime problem by leveling the Glades by use of a man-made natural disaster with a weapon created by Unidac Industries, possibly costing thousands their lives. The use of Bludhaven, as well as the mention of Ted Kord in this week’s episode are nice touches as the show moves ever closer to it’s First Season finale (and lays some groundwork for characters we might see when Arrow returns in the Fall?).
