Arrow season 3, episode 18, “Public Enemy,” aired tonight. Read our recap and discuss the episode with fellow fans.
Critical condition
After the mayor is killed by Maseo’s arrow, Ray pushes Felicity to the ground and takes an arrow to the chest. He’s taken to the hospital in critical condition. Meanwhile, Captain Lance announces a city-wide manhunt for the Arrow.
At SCPD, Laurel visits her father. She tries to talk him down and refuses to reveal the Arrow’s identity. Lance vows once more to bring the Arrow to justice.
At Roy’s place, Thea and Roy are post hook-up when Roy turns on the news to find that there have been arrest warrants issued for the Arrow and his team.
Meanwhile, Ray wakes up at the hospital with Felicity at his bedside. His doctor says the surgery left him with a blood clot that could kill him. He’s so weak from surgery, though, that a procedure to remove the clot could also kill him. Ray suggests using some nanotech that he invented to dissolve the clot, but the hospital has a policy against using untested procedures. After the doctor leaves, Mama Smoak arrives to offer moral support.
High-speed chase
Oliver ends up asking Nyssa for help. Nyssa doesn’t want to betray her father, no matter how mad she is, but Oliver plays the Sara card, and Nyssa tracks the League to a warehouse. She refuses to do more than share information, though.
At the warehouse, Team Arrow confronts Maseo’s team. Team Arrow gains the upperhand, but the appearance of Ra’s interrupts everything. Ra’s is impressed by Oliver and tells him once more that he must take up the mantle of Ra’s al Ghul. If not, he’ll live out his days in a cage. Oliver says Ra’s won’t take him captive, and Ra’s agrees; he was referring to the SCPD, which arrives with aerial reinforcements.
Team Arrow flees, and the police chase them. As Diggle provides cover, the Arrow draws fire as Arsenal and Black Canary split up. Lance confronts Black Canary, but before he can arrest her, Nyssa rescues her. As Arsenal flees separately, the Arrow jumps into Diggle’s getaway van. The Arrow causes a car accident, allowing them to escape.
Taking a risk
The team reconvenes in the foundry. Oliver calls Lance and tries to defend himself, but Lance is determined to take him down.
At the hospital, Mama Smoak encourages Felicity to inject Ray with the nanotech if the doctors won’t do it. She’s afraid, but Donna thinks she should be willing to take the risk.
Meanwhile, Maseo attacks and kidnaps Lance, bringing him to Ra’s al Ghul. Ra’s compliments Lance, saying Sara spoke highly of him. Lance is furious, believing it’s Ra’s’ fault Sara is dead, but Ra’s simply tells him the truth: Sara and Oliver were both on Lian Yu and Oliver is the Arrow.
At SCPD, Laurel visits her father. She once again tries to talk him down, but he reveals that he knows Oliver is the Arrow. He also believes it’s Oliver’s fault Sara is dead because he took her on the boat and they were on the island together, which is how Sara got involved with the League. And now masked vigilantes are popping up all over.
No way out
At the hospital, Mama Smoak distracts the doctor long enough for Felicity to inject Ray with the nanotech. He briefly seizes before recovering. The nanotech does its job, though, as the clot disappears.
Meanwhile at Verdant, Roy and Thea watch the news. Roy confesses that part of him wants to be arrested because of the cop he killed while on Mirakuru. Oliver arrives, but shortly after cops raid the club. Oliver flees to Diggle’s. There, they watch as Captain Lance tells the city that Oliver is the Arrow.
Felicity, Roy, and Laurel then arrive, and no one has any ideas. There’s no way out of the city and the Queen assets have been frozen. Oliver leaves Diggle’s, saying he’s going the only place he has left.
Felicity returns to the hospital, and Ray tells her he loves her. Felicity awkwardly avoids saying it back. After leaving his room, her mother catches her. Felicity fills her in, and Donna says Felicity doesn’t love Ray because she loves Oliver; Felicity needs to make a choice.
Making the sacrifice
At SCPD, Oliver turns himself in. While Oliver sits in an interrogation room, Laurel, Felicity, Roy, and Diggle arrive. It turns out Oliver made a deal in exchange for the team’s immunity. Oliver asks them to continue following his lead just a bit longer.
In the foundry, the team doesn’t know what to do. Roy, though, is adamant that they don’t give up because Oliver wouldn’t if it were any of them.
Meanwhile, Oliver is being transported in a prison truck. He’s riding with Lance, who tells Oliver that he’s a villain. Everything stops, though, when a figure in an Arrow suit jumps on the truck and says they have the wrong man. The man reveals himself to be Roy, and he gives himself up.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong…
We pick back up with Oliver running into a woman who looks just like Shado. Her name is May, and she’s Shado’s twin. Oliver asks her to take them in and makes up a lie about knowing Shado from medical school. However, when Oliver goes to take a shower, May sees the tattoo on his back and realizes he knew Shado.
She confronts Oliver about it, having called the cops, but their discussion is cut short when A.R.G.U.S. agents start shooting. Maseo and Tatsu come to the rescue, though. Oliver tells May that Shado and Yao Fei are dead, and May thanks him for giving her closure after three years. Oliver then leaves with the Yamashiros.
Watch a promo for the next episode
