Arrow recap: The 5 most shocking moments from Season 7, Episode 10

Arrow returned with an episode that resolved the mystery of the new Green Arrow’s identity while also laying the foundations for several other exciting subplots.

Since debuting in November, Arrow Season 7 has revolved around one question: Who is the new Green Arrow? With “My name is Emiko Queen,” that question was answered. We also learned about her past, her motives, and her place in Star City. But Emiko Queen’s (Sea Shimooka) secrets were really only part of an unusual plot dense installment of Arrow.

This episode also made the 2038 timeline even darker, gave one of Oliver’s (Stephen Amell) greatest enemies a shocking new job, saw Diggle (David Ramsey) make a potentially disastrous choice, emotionally shattered Oliver and introduced a new villain. Like this episode, Arrow Season 7 hasn’t hit every target it’s aimed at, but the series hasn’t felt this exciting and focused in years.

5. “I’m not Oliver Queen”

“Emiko Queen” began with its titular character catching a bullet and going to René (Rick Gonzalez) for help. After some resistance, Emiko opened up to René about his past.

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A poor Glades resident, Emiko was also the daughter of the late Robert Queen. For reasons not elaborated upon, Robert was not a part of Emiko’s life and though he intended to set her up financially after he died, the money was never delivered. In the recent past, Emiko’s mother was killed and she took up her older brother’s mantle to get revenge and protect the city. And now René knows she’s Green Arrow but not that she’s a Queen.

In more ways than just sharing a genetic talent for archery, Emiko is very much the female Oliver. She is an incredibly competent fighter and archer, driven by a desire to seek vengeance and she (initially) thought she could clean up the entire city by itself. And she being consumed by feelings of rage and vengeance.

As such, it’ll be fascinating to see how Oliver deals with what is essentially the Season 1 version of himself. And if he can talk her out of making some of the self-destructive mistakes he made when he was starting out.

4. “The Glades has never been stronger but our work is far from over”

In 2038, we finally found what future René is up to and it’s nothing good. Now rocking an ‘80s movie villain haircut, René is the Mayor of the new Glades. And though he’s totally committed to his old neighborhood, he’s utterly indifferent about Star City and his old friends.

In fact, he’s so cold-hearted and myopic, he refused to help Zoe (Andrea Sixtos) and Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) stop its destruction. Under duress, he gave Dinah and Zoe access to a vast surveillance network called Archer. And it was also revealed that he is either working with or for the group that killed Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards).

Like the rest of Team Arrow, René’s life is pretty grim in 2038. At the very least, he’s turned his back on his friends and sold out to the establishment, two things that are totally against the character of 2019 René. And his once indefatigable altruism and optimism seems to be have been replaced by an unfeeling pragmatism.

But the scenes with his aid/possible handler suggest something else is going on. Presently, my feeling is that he’s been coerced into enacting the agenda of Felicity’s killers but we’ll see how things develop. Either way, it’s kind of heartbreaking how badly things turned out for the show’s heroes.

3. “Hey, can you sit down?”

While a lot of Emiko’s backstory was revealed in her conversations with René, we also some key information from the SCPD’s investigation of the new Green Arrow. Oliver learned he had another sister via a DNA test performed on the Arrow’s blood. Some digging into the Queen family archives revealed that Robert willing abandoned his second family and Moira seemingly kept Emiko from getting her inheritance by covering up her existence.

Watching Oliver learned that his parents were even worse people than he thought was devastating. And a lot of that was due to Stephen Amell’s performance. He really sold Oliver’s anguish and sense of betrayal. Because Arrow’s lead character is so single-minded and stoic, Amell rarely gets to show off the full range of his abilities. But he can be really good when given the proper material. I hope that the Emiko storyline gives Oliver more opportunities to reckon with his legacy. And Amell more chances to earn an Emmy nomination.

2. “You give us Dante, you go free”

In one of the episodes of most disconcerting moments, Diggle employed a rather brazen strategy to get Diaz (Kirk Acevedo) to help ARGUS catch one of his allies. He offered the Dragon, who has tortured and murdered his closest friends, total immunity if he cooperated.

Even worse, he did this without Lyla’s (Audrey Marie Anderson) knowledge or approval. He subsequently doubled down by convincing/forcing Lyla to reactivate the Suicide Squad (which is now called the Ghost Program for reasons of presumed brand synergy). Now Diaz is an unofficial agent of ARGUS.

So, I get that Diggle probably doesn’t really intend to let Diaz walk after getting his assistance but his actions in this episode felt really out of character. Superseding his wife’s authority was both a breach of trust and protocol.

And after all he has done, it’s hard to imagine that the mysterious Dante is actually worse than Diaz. It should be noted that when he was arrested, he was in the middle of a plot to destroy the entire city. How much of a threat is Dante that he’s worth putting a superhuman monster back on the street, bomb implant notwithstanding?

1. “Hello Emiko”

After telling René some of her secrets, Emiko did something kind of shocking for an Arrow character. She accepted that she’s more effective when working with people rather than going solo and teamed with René and Curtis (Echo Callum) to track down her mother’s killer.

Unfortunately, it turned out the man she was hunted was framed, presumably by the unknown real killer. Following her setback, Emiko recommitted herself to her mission and visited her father’s gravesite, where she met her brother for the first time.

In addition to its many shocking revelations and twists, this episode also reoriented Arrow’s premise. For most of its run, the show been about Oliver’s life as a superhero. And the difficulties he’s encountered balancing his personal, professional and hidden lives. But this season all that’s changed.

The whole world knows Oliver is Green Arrow and he’s now doing what he’s always done, but legally. He’s in Quentin’s old role of being a cop who has ambivalent feelings about a vigilante operating in his city. All that is to say, “Emiko Queen” has further convinced me that we’re nearing the end of Arrow’s run and Oliver Queen’s story.

Did you like “My Name is Emiko Queen?”Arrow airs on The CW Thursdays at 9 pm.