Arrow season 3, episode 8, “The Brave and the Bold,” aired tonight. Read our recap and discuss the episode with fellow fans.
Putting the S.T.A.R. in Starling
Team Arrow heads to their boomerang killer’s house, but there they are confronted by an A.R.G.U.S. tactical team. It turns out the murder victim was an A.R.G.U.S. agent, which complicates matters.
At Palmer Technologies, Cisco and Caitlin arrive to see Felicity. They want to see the Arrow cave, and Oliver does his best Grumpy Cat impression while Cisco geeks out.
Meanwhile, Diggle follows Lyla to work, trying to get an in on the A.R.G.U.S. investigation. But when our boomerang killer uses the first victim’s credentials to get into A.R.G.U.S., the entire building goes on lockdown. Diggle calls Oliver, so Roy and Oliver suit up and head out. While the boomerang killer takes out guards, Diggle and Lyla shoot at him.
The Arrow and Arsenal arrive in time to save Lyla from getting hit with a boomerang, which leads to a three-way fight. The Flash appears just in time to stop the Arrow from getting hit by boomerangs, and the killer vanishes under the cover of a smoke bomb.
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It’s always sunny in Central City
Team Arrow brings Lyla to the foundry, and she tells them their killer’s name is Digger Harkness. He was a member of the Suicide Squad who went rogue after Lyla made the decision to wipe his team and his own bomb malfunctioned. Barry speeds in then, and Lyla’s reaction is almost as funny as Diggle’s was.
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After convincing Oliver to let him stay, Barry uses his super speed to reassemble the boomerangs Diggle recovered from the A.R.G.U.S. fight, and Cisco recognizes the signature of a certain weapons maker. While this weapons maker doesn’t have a current address, he was recently arrested by Detective Lance.
To follow up on the lead, Oliver brings Barry to see Lance. Barry learns that Lance arrested the weapons maker for identity theft related to the Russian mob. Our four heroes head to the Bratva’s cybercrime division, where the Arrow catches the weapons maker and tortures him for information on Harkness. The weapons maker gives the Arrow an encrypted phone Harkness used while Barry looks on in horror.
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Tricked
Felicity cracks the encryption on the phone and gets Harkness’ location, so everyone heads out. In the van, Cisco talks to Diggle and Roy about how there were crazy people like Harkness before there were metahumans and superpowers, so he thinks that people like Barry are the hope for people like them.
But Harkness isn’t at the location — he played them. He’s actually in the foundry. He throws a boomerang, and Felicity and Caitlin hide while Lyla arms herself and shoots at Harkness. Lyla, though, takes a boomerang to the chest. Felicity throws a bomb and knocks Harkness down, which gives Caitlin the chance to apply first aid. But Lyla stops breathing.
While Caitlin stabilizes Lyla, she can’t operate in the foundry, so Barry takes Lyla to Starling General.
Perspective
While Lyla goes into surgery, Caitlin joins Felicity, Roy, and Cisco for drinks at Verdant. Cisco and Caitlin realize they haven’t been taking things seriously; fighting metahumans somehow makes things cleaner and seem less real.
Meanwhile, Oliver says that in doing what is necessary, he’s trading away parts of himself — the parts that are Oliver Queen. Barry, though, thinks he’s full of crap. He says that Oliver wouldn’t have survived everything he did and become a hero if he didn’t have a light inside him.
Felicity interrupts the superbro chat — she found Harkness at the train station. The Flash removes all the innocents before he and the Arrow confront Harkness. However, Harkness has a contingency: five bombs will explode in 90 seconds unless the Arrow lets him go. The Flash takes off while the Arrow fights Harkness.
Felicity and Cisco locate the bombs and the Flash heads to the closest ones, but the five bombs are connected and need to be defused at the same time. The Arrow captures Harkness and tries to convince him to stop the bombs, but he refuses. Meanwhile, the Flash grabs each of his teammates and drops them in front of a bomb. They cut the wire on their bomb at the same time, stopping the explosion.
“Screw you, Captain Boomerang,” Cisco declares because he’s a gift.
Back at the train station, Harkness goads the Arrow. But the Arrow says not killing him is a sign of his humanity. However, when Harkness draws on him, the Arrow shoots his hand. Couldn’t resist.
Friends and family
At the hospital, Lyla wakes up from surgery and Diggle proposes. She says yes because Diggle.
In the foundry, Oliver reveals that Harkness is locked up with Slade. Oliver has also had a new mannequin installed in the cave for the next time Barry is in town. Cisco gives Oliver an improved suit.
As Barry and Oliver suit up to settle some unfinished business, Barry tells Oliver that he can inspire people — as Oliver Queen.
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The two then fight because they’re ridiculous.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong
Waller wants Oliver to interrogate a suspect who has planted a bomb in the city. She had Oliver’s makeshift bow and arrows recovered from the freighter and demands Oliver get the location of the bomb. The suspect, though, taunts Oliver. He doesn’t think Oliver has the stomach for torture. He’s right — and the bomb goes off in the background.
At the explosion site, Waller snaps at Oliver, saying the blood of the victims is on his hands. She thinks he has not only the stomach for torture, but the talent. And she wants him to practice.
Later, Waller summons Oliver to get information from a subordinate of China White. She calls it a “stab of redemption,” and Oliver gets to work.
