'Arrow' Recap: A.T.O.M. Takes Flight (and a Kiss)

Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer/The Atom
Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer/The Atom

Warning: This recap contains storyline and character spoilers from this week's episode of Arrow.

Arrow has been building to Ray Palmer's first flight in the A.T.O.M. suit for a while now — and building to Ray and Felicity getting together for even longer, so that's not unexpected. What is a surprise is what's waiting for Oliver when he once again comes face-to-face with Ra's al Ghul in Nanda Parbat.

The show is taking a month off, and they've left as many questions hanging as they did when Oliver took that dive off the cliff at the end of the winter finale.

The Plot

Thea is having difficulty with the truth about her killing Sara, so she tells... everybody. She tells Roy, who has been through the same thing, but she rebuffs him. She tells Laurel, who heads off to kill Merlyn. She tells Nyssa and hands her a sword so that she can exact justice.

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Thea has also blabbed Merlyn's location to the League. Oliver knows that the guilt of doing that will haunt her, so he goes with Diggle to Nanda Parbat to save Merlyn. He's also consumed with thoughts of his defeat, so part of his reason for going is to see Ra's al Ghul and get some kind of closure. They're captured — but rather than kill him, though, the League's leader acknowledges his strength and offers to make him the next Ra's al Ghul.

The Flashback

General Shrieve (Marc Singer) thanks Oliver for his service during the Alpha/Omega virus operation and sends him and the Yamashiros home. On the way, however, they're ambushed by A.R.G.U.S. Pinned down, Oliver escapes with Akio, leaving Maseo and Tatsu caught in a crossfire.

Nanda Parbat Episode 315 Marc Singer as General Shrieve and Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen
Nanda Parbat Episode 315 Marc Singer as General Shrieve and Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen

Secret Count: 0

Well, technically, unless Oliver decides to pull a Tony Stark, there will always be one secret on the show. But now that Thea's told Laura and Nyssa that she was the one who pulled the trigger... er, bow string, everybody's cards are pretty much on the table, right? How weird will it be to see the Arrowcave full of people and none of them shooting pained and mysterious glances at each other constantly? Now everybody knows everybody else's business. Except...

It's Adam and Eve, Not A.T.O.M. and Feliciteve

The legions who ship Oliver and Felicity are mighty; they routinely coordinate to get phrases like "Sinceriously Invested in Olicity" and "When Oliver Met Felicity" trending worldwide on Twitter. And yet, at the risk of offending these noble soldiers of love, it's pretty clear that, as a couple, they're no good for each other. They're two different people, and the only thing they have in common is work. Outside of Arrow business, they really have nothing to talk about. The two of them love what the other represents more than who they are.

Ray Palmer, on the other hand, is an intellectual match for Felicity, absurdly good-looking, and has enough money to buy an entire chain of tech stores just to get a first date with her. Things may change someday — Oliver might become more emotionally available; maybe he'll find some less lethal hobbies — and Olicity may yet happen, but Felicity doesn't deserve the grief he's put her through lately. Let her have this!

Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer and Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak
Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer and Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak

Inside Comics Moment

Ra's al Ghul's age varies depending on the writer, but in the comics, he's generally placed at somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 years old. Though it's insinuated that he's over 150 years old on Arrow — and in this episode, we may have actually seen one of the Lazarus Pits that gives him his youth — does "I want you to become the next Ra's al Ghul" mean that it's just a title that's passed down from men who live ordinary lifespans?

What do you think? Is Ray and Felicity a permanent thing, or will it just be a detour on the rocky road to Olicity? Will Nyssa's blind quest for justice force her to kill Thea? Is Diggle really going to have Ra's al Ghul (one of them, anyway) as his best man? Let us know below.

Arrow returns with new episodes Wednesday, March 18 at 8 p.m. on The CW.