Arrow Recap: A Mother Of a Twist (Times Three)
The following recap, by the very definition of the word “recap,” contains spoilers from this week’s Arrow.
The CW’s Arrow this Wednesday uncorked one mother of a twist after another — one that made you go, “Huh,” one where you went, “Well, that makes sense,” and then one that was (heavy sigh) very, very sad.
RELATED | May Sweeps Scoopapalooza: 99+ Spoilers on Your Favorite Series’ Season-Ending Episodes
Amid a rollicking hour in which Team Arrow tried to track and then tussle with Mirakuru’d Roy, we first learned, during a Starling City flashback, that billionaire playboy Oliver had gotten a girl pregnant. Moira (looking all kinds of Once and Again gorgeous) nipped that potential detour in Oliver’s life in the bud by offering the young mom-to-be a cool $2 million dollars to lie about losing the baby and then git outtta town.
Twist No. 2 came toward episode’s end, when just before reversing her decision to bail on the mayoral race, Moira confided in a distraught Oliver, “I know” — as in, what he does at night, wearing leather and a mask. And she has known since night of The Undertaking, she shares, and “I could not be more proud.” It was a deftly played, low-key reveal nonetheless rife with emotion, as Moira effused that last line.
And then… there were other emotions, as the hour’s final, dark twist played out. Traveling together in a car after the rally, Moira is thisclose to telling Oliver and Thea that Malcolm (aka their adversary and dad, respectively) is alive, when they totally get Michael Vaughn’d. Upon regaining consciousness, they are out in the woods, tied up, held at gunpoint by Slade, who then recreates the Sophie’s Choice Oliver previously faced back on the island. Does Slade kill Moira, or Thea?
RELATED | May Sweeps Scorecard 2014: Deaths, Weddings, Births, Sex, Resurrections, Firings and More!
Oliver barely has a moment to grapple with the situation before his mother rises to her feet, acknowledging to their captor, “There’s only one way this night ends,” offering her life to save Thea’s. Slade puts his pistol away, commending Moira’s courage — a quality her son lacks, he taunts, as he then pivots and drives a sword through Moira’s chest. After he withdraws the blade, she collapses to the ground (yet still, stunning), leaving Thea in tears and Oliver utterly shell-shocked at what transpired. And there you have your Episode 20 funeral.
Just moments prior, Oliver vowed to kill Slade if he took a family member’s life — will he be able to make good on that threat before season’s end?
What did you think of “Seeing Red”? Devastated as I am to lose Moira?
Related stories
Reign Post Mortem: Francis & Mary's 'Bittersweet' Reunion Revealed, Plus More Relationship Scoop
Vampire Diaries Recap: Enzo the Unfriendly Ghost
Arrow First Look: Laurel With a Bow and More Photos From the 24-Style 'Streets of Fire'
Get more from TVLine.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter