Arrow – Trust But Verify

• Title: Green Arrow – Trust But Verify
• tv.com: link

Diggle (David Ramsey) and Oliver’s (Stephen Amell) partnership becomes strained when Oliver goes after Diggle’s former commanding officer (Ben Browder), whose name is on the list left for Oliver by his father and who he believes is responsible for the recent series of armored truck robberies. Diggle intervenes, preventing the man who saved his life from the wrath of Green Arrow before going undercover in his friend’s private security company to prove his innocence.

Thea’s (Willa Holland) birthday shopping day with her mother is cut short when Moira (Susanna Thompson) gets a summons from Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) who needs her help with a business issue concerning a mutual friend. After seeing them together Thea comes to the wrong conclusion which forces her to tell Oliver about her suspicions of an affair. After confronting his mother Oliver discovers there’s quite a bit Moira isn’t telling him and even more she’s lying to her family about. Tommy (Colin Donnell) is also surprised to hear from his estranged father who wants to have dinner with his son and his new girlfriend, Laurel (Katie Cassidy), but not for the reasons he proposes.

After Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) decrypts the security fab Oliver borrowed from Blackhawk Squad Protection Group which contains detailed plans for seven separate armored car robberies Oliver finally has the proof to tie the company to the recent thefts. When Green Arrow stops the latest robbery, injuring one of the soldiers, Diggle’s former CO shows his true colors by kidnapping Carly (Christie Laing) and blackmailing Diggle into taking his place on the last score. Unable to go through with it, Diggle double-crosses the robbers, and with the timely help of Green Arrow manages to save his sister-in-law and take down a man he once called friend.

The episode also contains more flashbacks to Oliver’s time on the island where his attempt to rescue the man (Byron Mann) who saved his life from the soldiers who abducted him ends in a bizarre twist (seriously, WTF?) which helps explain why our emerald archer has a hard time trusting people. The tragic end of the B-story, as Thea leaves her party after seeing Merlyn and her mother together only to crash her new comfortable while as high as a kite, sets up next week’s episode featuring the series take on an old DC bad guy – Count Vertigo (Seth Gabel).