Arrow 7x14 : Brothers & Sisters review

Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it.

Arrow returns to continue it's 7th season that so far has been pretty damn great to be honest. The episode begins with Felicity running through a jungle like area. In the background we can hear soft cries of a baby. Felicity yells that she is coming but is greeted by Diaz who points a gun at her saying that she can never get away from him. Felicity wakes up in a sweat just as he is about to pull the trigger. At the SSPD building we see Oliver on the phone. He's talking with William or in this case leaving a voicemail as his son won't answer any of his calls. Rene walks up to Oliver and says that Zoey cut him out also after he failed to get custody of her. But now she's all good, Oliver just needs patience he says which we and everyone else knows is one of Oliver's strong suits. The flash forward scenes return and after the revelation that Black Star was indeed Mia Smoak daughter of Felicity and Oliver William questions her. She says all she cares about is her mom and that Felicity must be somewhere in hiding after all she did uncover a bomb threat to Star City & The Glades. Oddly enough however people who swore to have seen her be killed in an explosion have all committed suicide recently leaving all loose ends completely severed. Mia is unconvinced though and heads off to find her mother on her own. 

Oliver and Emiko interact and at times bond a little as Brother & Sister throughout the episode. Oliver after earlier getting all Emiko's info from Rene learns of her mission and what happened with her mom. He shows up at her location and wants to help her identify who made the weapon that killed her mom. They eventually do end up finding out who the person is. A guy named Andrew Thornton. So Oliver and Rene go after him as Emiko is deputized and will just put herself at risk. Of course she's as stubborn as her brother and doesn't listen leading to her failing her mission as Oliver brings in the guy for questioning. He does later end up giving her the interrogation report though which was nice to see as they bonded just a little bit more. The Ghost Initiative is brought back into focus in this episode and the team's first real mission. Meet a guy named Virgil an informant of Dante's. Being closely monitored, China White, Diaz, Cupid and Joe (Deathstroke's son) all go to meet this guy named Virgil who doesn't seem all that impressed by Diaz. He says he owes Dante a big debt as as the Longbow Hunters were not cheap. The entire meeting is cut short when Virgil threatens to kill everyone in the room except Diaz. Nobody gets killed however Virgil makes his escape by jumping out of a window. Later Diggle and Lyla with the help of their Ghost project learn of Dante's location. He's meeting a Princess and upon arrival the married couple also learn that Director Bell who is basically their boss at ARGUS is one of Dante's sources. We see him meeting with the princess and Dante himself who we finally get a good look at. Diaz throws the whole plan into chaos though as he outs everyone to Dante in exchange for him wiping his debt. A gunfight breaks out and people are running all over the building. Dig with the help of Felicity manages to subdue Diaz once more and Lya with the help of Oliver battles Dante. Dante is extremely skilled and really gives Oliver a good fight before making his escape into the night. 

The episode comes to a close with two big revelations / plot twists. The first is Dante who we see walk in on Emiko who is training. He asks if she has Oliver's trust to which she agrees. And the second? well that would be Diaz who after being returned to Slabside is greeted by the sprinklers being turned on in his cell. He asks who is there and we see someone throw a lighter into the cell. Diaz catches it and instantly bursts into flames before falling to the ground. One can assume he's dead but nobody really stays dead in these shows right?? the reveal that Emiko is working with Dante is the big thing I take away from this episode as in the Green Arrow comics both Emiko and Dante are a part of a group called the Ninth Circle. So who knows what this show could do with that. The Brother & Sister them running throughout was good here too with both Emiko and Oliver bonding. And in the future William and Mia agreeing to help one another. Overall though how was this episode?? well again it was really, really strong and after what happened at the end really just blew the rest of the season wide open. Looks like Oliver just hit this one right next to the bulls eye. 

★★★★