ARROW 2.19 "The Man Under the Hood" Recap: It's Not Who I am Underneath, But What I Do That Defines Me

Tonight’s episode was “Arrow” at its best. Not only were there phenomenal action sequences – some of which were the best of the series – but the performances from the entire cast – notably Stephen Amell and Katie Cassidy - were just as stellar. Everyone had a role to play tonight and boy was it fantastic.

The episode begins with Team Arrow blowing up the Queen Consolidated warehouse to prevent Slade from using the technology stored there to reproduce the Mirakuru but Slade has a backup plan: attacking STAR Labs, where he terrorizes characters from the upcoming “Flash” spin-off, Caitlin and Cisco, and takes a bio-transfuser that will allow him to transfuse Mirakuru-infected blood into multiple patients simultaneously. How does he pull off this heist? By stealing the Clock King’s Skeleton Key from Team Arrow after an insane knock-down-drag-out fight in the lair.

Unfortunately for Slade, the bio-transfuser requires a ridiculous amount of power to work and Felicity finds it the second it’s turned on. Oliver drops in, planning to take out Slade while he’s weakened by the transfusion, and finds the twenty prisoners undergoing the procedure – only it’s using Roy’s blood, instead. Slade and Isabel appear, revealing that they found Roy in a homeless shelter and took him without a fight, just before a different fight breaks out with Oliver. A nifty exploding arrow incapacitates Slade while Isabel is taken down by two bullets to the chest, courtesy of Diggle from the cheap seats.

Oliver escapes with Roy and a vial of Mirakuru, planning to manufacture a cure – which he knows is possible because Ivo made one years ago, only Oliver didn’t use it on Slade because he killed Slade instead.

But it’s not that easy to kill someone apparently. Slade transfuses Isabel with his blood and brings her back to life as his super-powered army of prisoners closes ranks around them.

Elsewhere in the night: Laurel, naturally, creates a conspiracy wall linking Oliver to the Arrow and figures out that Sara is the Canary after seeing Sara’s numerous scars. She is about to reveal to Oliver that she knows he’s the Arrow when she’s called to Quentin’s side after he’s been attacked in jail. Quentin’s fine and Laurel wants to tell him who the Arrow is but Quentin doesn’t want to know. He tells her it doesn’t matter who the man under the hood (TITLE ALERT) is. All that matters is what he does. Laurel takes this to heart and visits a distraught Oliver at episode’s end to give him a hug and assure him he’s important to her.

Thea cleared out her apartment since finding out about her real father and when Oliver goes to get her signature on paperwork that would protect the family’s remaining assets, she doesn’t want any part of it. However, Isabel reveals to Oliver that she was having a serious affair with Robert Queen and they were about to run away together when Thea was injured (a horse-riding accident, Oliver notes) and Robert chose to leave Isabel for his family – which is why Isabel let Slade train her so she could take over the Queen’s family company out of revenge. Other than her back-story, Isabel also reveals that Robert knew Thea wasn’t his biological daughter but didn’t care. Oliver eventually shares this with Moira and Thea but Thea takes it as confirmation that Robert was a liar, too.

Like I said: this is “Arrow” in its finest form. The writers need to replicate the way they utilized the entire cast tonight in every episode in the future. Maybe then I wouldn’t complain so much. Yes, Thea’s story was immature and grating but at least she’s doing something other than running Verdant and kissing Roy. And thank heavens for Laurel handling the big reveal like she did because I was more than prepared for her to go ballistic. The only weak parts of this episode – aside from Thea’s reaction to Oliver’s news about Robert – were the clunky “Flash” plugs. The dialogue was clumsy and heavy-handed and the acting was stiff. I certainly hope the inevitable spin-off is less hammy.

I give this episode a solid A.

What is your reaction to this action-packed episode? Best fight scenes ever? How do you think Laurel carries on knowing Oliver and Sara’s secrets? Are you totally intrigued as to why Oliver chose to kill Slade rather than save him? And are you also dreading rampaging Roy next week as much as I am?