Arrow season 3, episode 5, “The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak,” aired tonight. Read our recap and discuss the episode with fellow fans!
Mommy dearest
The episode opens with a training montage between Roy and Oliver, Laurel and Ted, and Thea and Malcolm. Felicity, meanwhile, struggles to do sit-ups before Ray Palmer shows up. However, their conversation is interrupted by Felicity’s mother, Donna, who arrived for a surprise visit. Donna fangirls over Ray and his smartwatches, so Ray gives her a prototype before leaving.
Meanwhile, Oliver heads to Thea’s new loft, which she paid for with Merlyn’s money. Oliver is upset, thinking that will give Merlyn a hold over her. Thea, though, won’t let Oliver boss her around.
After Thea storms off, the lights go out all around the city, and panic ensues. Oliver wanders the streets and television screens light up with a creepy eye; someone calling himself Brother Eye takes credit and says this is just the beginning before turning the power back on.
Felicity, with Donna in tow, heads to Verdant. Felicity is forced to introduce her mother to an amused Oliver and Diggle. Diggle, though, has baby Sara, who they leave with Donna while the team goes to work downstairs. Felicity is unable to track the virus Brother Eye used.
Super virus
At SCPD, acting DA Laurel sends a riot squad to Starling National, where the situation degraded after Brother Eye threatened banks. The Arrow and Arsenal set off tear gas to disperse the riot.
Felicity, for her part, can’t stop the virus because she wrote it five years earlier. She created the virus while in college as a tool for civil disobedience, calling it her first attempt at being a hero. Narrowing down the suspects, Felicity points Oliver toward her college boyfriend Cooper’s roommate.
Back at SCPD, Lance confronts Laurel for calling in the riot squad, which escalated the situation. He recognizes Laurel is going through something. When Laurel says she can’t talk about it with him, he asks her to talk about it with someone because secrets hurt more than the truth. Ouch.
Meanwhile, Oliver finds Thea checking on things at Verdant. Thea offers an olive branch, but Oliver still doesn’t want her using Merlyn’s money, so Thea asks him to meet her halfway in their relationship.
Dead man walking
The Arrow and Arsenal head to Cooper’s roommate’s address, only to find he’s not the mastermind. Oliver presses Felicity about her ex, and she reveals he killed himself in prison. Upset, she runs off.
At Queen Consolidated, Ray finds Felicity and pours a drink. They begin talking but are interrupted, again, by Donna. Ray gives them some privacy. Mother and daughter argue, with Felicity saying she’s sorry for being a disappointment. Donna replies that she knows she’s not as smart as Felicity or Felicity’s father, and she only sees in Felicity what he gave her. She’s always been afraid Felicity would leave but now realizes Felicity already had.
Felicity returns to the foundry, and Oliver, with his own family drama, encourages her to talk to her mother. At her apartment, Felicity finds Donna packing. Donna reveals she won a free flight to Starling, which sets off alarm bells for Felicity. But it’s too late, as masked men kidnap both women.
In a warehouse, Felicity and Donna are confronted by Brother Eye: Cooper.
Final showdown
Cooper’s death was faked so he could work for the NSA, and he’s disappointed Felicity went corporate. His current plan is to target banks in order to lure out trucks of money. However, he needs Felicity to hack the trucks’ routes to send them to his current location — and Donna is his leverage.
After Felicity does so, Cooper ties her to the desk and leaves with the guards. Donna’s new smartwatch starts beeping, which gives Felicity the idea to hack into its wifi to get help.
When Cooper returns, he aims a gun at Felicity, but Donna threatens him — and the talk gives enough time for the Arrow to arrive. However, he’s distracted by motion sensor-powered guns. Meanwhile, the trucks arrive and a shootout ensues. Arsenal and Diggle join the fray and take down Cooper’s men.
After the Arrow disables the guns, he draws on Cooper, but Felicity disarms him herself and frees her mother because she’s awesome like that.
Olive branches
In the foundry, Felicity is feeling raw and Oliver says he’s glad she had the experiences she had because they shaped her into the person she is today.
Elsewhere, Laurel confesses to Ted Grant that her sister was murdered, and Ted realizes she’s been swinging at her sister’s killer, which is a target she’ll never hit. He knows how to train her now.
At Thea’s, Oliver brings a housewarming gift, and Thea suggests Oliver move in with her. She offers to donate Merlyn’s money once Verdant starts making a profit. Oliver agrees, and the two watch TV as Merlyn watches from an adjacent roof.
Back at Queen Consolidated, Donna comes to say goodbye. Felicity hugs her and thanks her for always being there. She tells Donna that she got strength she never knew she had from her. Ray interrupts the mother-daughter moment, and Felicity fakes a cough to play hooky with her mother.
That night, Roy dreams about murdering Sara. Wait, what?
Felicity flashbacks
Five years ago, a goth Felicity, Hunter Clarington Cooper, and his roommate were in a group of hacktivists. Cooper uses a super virus Felicity designed to hack into the Department of Education and begins to erase all student loans, but Felicity pulls the plug to stop them from getting caught.
Later, the FBI arrests Cooper. In prison, Felicity tells Cooper she plans to confess to writing the virus, but Cooper already took credit for it to protect her.
After Cooper’s funeral, Felicity changes her look to blonde and preppy.
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