WARNING: SPOILERS...DUH
Recap
This episode of Arrow picks up where the mid season finale left off after Laurel suddenly appears in the Arrow cave after she clearly died in season 4. The episode bounces back between a flashback of Oliver being held captive by Kovar and some Bratva members. Felicity devices a plan to see who Laurel really is by throwing a party so she can take a DNA swab from Laurels glass. Felicity takes the glass and tests the DNA and it matches. Rory jokingly says it could be an evil twin, which reminds Felicity that Laurel actually has a evil twin from an alternate Earth. Earth-2 Laurel attacks felicity and the rest of team arrow and gets away. Its later revealed Prometheus was the one who freed Earth-2 Laurel from imprisonment, and that she is working with Prometheus. Oliver arranges a meeting with Earth-2 Laurel a.k.a Black Siren believing he can reason with her and turn her away from the "dark side". Oliver's teammates decide to engage Black Siren anyways despite being told not to because Felicity tells them to. Black Siren and team arrow get into a fight which ends with Earth-1 Laurels statue being destroyed and Black Siren being captured. Oliver tries to see the good in Earth-2 Laurel, because he is trying to make up for the death of Earth-1 Laurel. Curtis a.k.a. Mr. Terrific is angry that he keeps getting his but kicked in battle. Oliver's District Attorney Adrian Chase attempts to defend Diggle who has been framed for war crimes, but the General who framed him is trying to transfer him to another facility. Felicity lets Black Siren go so the team can track her. Rene eventually warms up to Curtis and tells him "Instead of focusing on what you can't do, take a moment and appreciate what you can do." This gives Curtis confidence back and he helps the team by creating a power dampener. Eventually the team fights with Black Siren and Prometheus. Oliver once again tries to reason with Black Siren but she rejects his offer and attacks him. Curtis uses the power dampener to take down Black Siren, and she is defeated after Felicity knocks her out. Adrian Chase eventually creates a plan to bar the transfer of Diggle. He whispers hit me and Diggle hits him, which causes Diggle to stay put because he committed a crime while in Starling County. In the flashback Talia al Ghul rescues Oliver from imprisonment.Review
The mid season premiere of Arrow gives a good opening for the second half of the season. The way they used Black Siren to act as Laurel was done very well and fooled the team with the exception of Felicity. I thought it was obvious that Black Siren wasn't really Laurel but Oliver just wanted to believe it was her because he loved Laurel. I would of liked to see Earth-2 Laurel deceive the team longer because her deception was short lived. I liked how they reveal shes not Laurel by Rory sarcastically saying maybe Laurel has an evil twin and she shows up and attacks the team. I disliked the way Oliver consistently tries to reach out to Earth-2 Laurel because she clearly is not a good person and she certainly cannot be trusted. It also disappoints me how easily Felicity gets over Billy's death considering he was her boyfriend and he died an episode a go and she seems unfazed. It also seems a bit strange that Felicity is not mad at Oliver at all considering he's the one who killed Billy albeit unintentionally. The bonding between Rene and Curtis is done very well and its good to see them becoming friends. After thinking he is useless Curtis actually saves the day in the end by using the dampener on Black Siren. The plan Adrian Chase devised was very smart but the guards probably should've heard him tell John to hit him. Overall the mid season premiere was a solid episode that provides a good start for the second half of the season.
