Arrow season 2, episode 10 “Blast Radius” aired tonight, featuring Firefly alum Sean Maher as a mad bomber.
So what happened in the Arrow mid-season premiere?
Five weeks
Five weeks have passed since the mid-season finale. The Arrow’s been on a tear through the criminal underbelly of Starling City looking for information on the man in the skull mask, but has come up empty so far.
Meanwhile, Barry Allen has been in a coma since his accident, and Felicity has been spending a lot of time in Central City with him — much to Oliver’s chagrin.
And Laurel has been investigating Sebastian Blood, of whom she’s been suspicious of since the blood drive. She and the alderman have been spending more time together, though, and she even accompanies him to a fundraiser for his mayoral run at Oliver’s club.
And in the present day…
Firefly‘s Sean Maher guest stars as Shrapnel, a criminally underused mad bomber determined to make a political statement. He bombs one building before posting his McCrazypants manifesto online. This bombing also brings Felicity back to Starling, though Oliver is a bit passive-aggressive about her comings and goings.
The next day, Laurel visits Sebastian and asks him about Cyrus Gold, who Sebastian describes as a father figure. Sebastian also reveals that his father was an abusive drunk who his mother shot before running away and leaving Sebastian alone.
Meanwhile, Roy’s been trying to deal with his mirakuru injection. He hasn’t been sleeping and is angry and defensive. Thea manages to calm him down, and he confesses that she’s the only thing keeping him together. While getting hot and heavy in the backroom, they knock a box of glasses off a shelf and Roy gets a chunk of glass stuck in his arm — only for it to start healing on its own.
The chase begins
The Arrow and Lance meet on a roof. Lance indicates that the bombing was done by a professional, while asking for police phone records in return, since he believes there is a leak in the department (hello, Officer Daly).
Their meeting is interrupted by a second bombing, and Felicity traces the detonator’s signal. She puts the Arrow on Shrapnel’s trail, leading to a chase scene with some cool stunt work, but Shrapnel scrambles his signal and the Arrow loses him.
Back at the Arrow cave, Ollie chews Felicity out for losing the signal, accusing her of having her head in Central City. Hurt and angry, Felicity storms off while Diggle calls Oliver on his jealousy.
Unity rally
The next day, Laurel visits her father at the police station, looking for a woman named Maya Resik, whose medical bills she discovered Sebastian is paying, yet doesn’t seem to exist. Lance discovers that she’s Sebastian’s institutionalized aunt. Lance encourages Laurel to stop looking for something wrong with Sebastian since he seems like a good guy, but Laurel’s not convinced.
Meanwhile, despite the Arrow warning him to cancel the rally, Sebastian’s unity rally goes on as planned and crowds, including Roy, Thea, and Moira, pack the plaza. It’s a perfect target.
In the Arrow lair, Felicity manages to track Shrapnel via a message board to an antique shop. Oliver heads to the shop while Diggle goes to the rally. Of course, Shrapnel booby trapped the shop with explosives, so one false move will blow the shop — and Oliver — sky high. Felicity finds the building schematics and helps Oliver knock out the power, therefore stopping the bomb. Of course, that still leaves the rally, which has also been rigged to blow.
As Sebastian takes the stage at the rally, Diggle finds the detonator in a speaker. Felicity shows up to disable the detonator, but Shrapnel shoots Diggle in the shoulder. But the Arrow makes a dramatic entrance and shoots one of Shrapnel’s grenades mid-air, though the resulting explosion knocks some towers down. Roy jumps on top of Moira to save her from one.
After a chase, the Arrow confronts Shrapnel, but the bomber threatens to detonate explosives all over the city. The Arrow shoots out his detonator’s wire, though, and Shrapnel is arrested.
Back at the club, Thea confronts Roy about the tower that fell on him, though Roy writes it off as adrenaline. Thea then notices Roy’s healed wound, and Roy runs off while Thea watches him go, nonplussed.
A chilling revelation
Oliver sends Diggle home to recover from his injury then apologizes to Felicity for snapping at her. He says that her being in Central City made him realize how much he needs her; he relies on her and Diggle. In a sweet moment, he calls Felicity his partner and assures her that Barry will wake up.
Later, Laurel visits Maya at the institution to ask about Sebastian. “Sebastian is the devil,” Maya says. He locked her away and made everyone think she’s insane because she was there when Sebastian killed his father. (Oops, turns out Maya is Sebastian’s mother.)
With this chill-inducing revelation, we watch as the Arrow and Sebastian shake hands in an agreement to work together to save the city.
Meanwhile, on the island
Slade, Oliver, and Sara bury Shado next to Oliver’s father, and Slade gives Oliver Shado’s father’s hood. Oliver wants to tell Slade the truth about Shado’s death, but Sara discourages him because the mirakuru in Slade’s system is affecting his mind.
Case in point, when Sara tries to talk Slade down from arming up to fight Ivo, Slade snaps. Oliver steps between them and Slade starts choking him. Slade eventually comes back to himself and lets Ollie go.
That night, Sara and Oliver are awoken by a radio message from Ivo, threatening the group unless they give him the mirakuru. But Slade disappeared into the night, taking the mirakuru with him.
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