‘Arrow’ 2.08 Episode Recap and Review: The Scientist

Barry Allen is in town to give Starling City a bit of Flash on this episode of Arrow!

There’s been a break-in at the Queen Consolidated Applied Science warehouse. Ollie’s called in to look the place over, but no one’s quite sure what’s gone yet. Enter a fresh-faced young CSI from Central City, Barry Allen. He’s already figured out that the thieves have stolen an industrial-grade centrifuge, and he’s almost positive that the gang of thieves was comprised of just one super-strong man. All the deduction and lab talk make Felicity a little swoony. It’s kind of adorable. She invites him to set up his lab equipment right on the Queen Consolidated premises.

In the course of their flirting discussion of important matters about the theft, Barry admits to Felicity that he requested this case so that he could look into the vigilante in his spare time. Barry’s mum was killed by something inexplicable when he was 11, so he takes a special interest in inexplicable people like the Arrow and the man who broke into the warehouse.

The Arrow-team’s deductions lead them to a stolen sugar truck and a disturbing tie-in to Oliver’s island days. All of the indicators (stolen centrifuge, missing Ketamine, and a hit on a blood bank) are pointing to someone using Mirakuru, the serum from the Japanese sub. Now Ollie knows that whoever is behind all of this is serious bad news.

Meanwhile, in another section of the Glades, Sin has called Roy in to help her find her friend Max. Max disappeared on the same day as a recent blood drive (uh-oh). Roy and Sin eventually find Max, but he’s dead in an alley, supposedly having OD’d. Sin knows that Max never touched drugs because he donated blood for money, and Roy notes that Max’s body doesn’t look like any kind of OD he’s ever seen. It looks exactly like ones we’ve seen, though. Max’s case is tied to Blood’s gang and the Mirakuru.

Roy brings all of his information to Arrow, who puts the same pieces together. He tells Roy to stay away from the case, but Roy isn’t so keen on that idea. He says that he’ll investigate on his own with his “friends” (read: Thea), which earns him an arrow in the leg to emphasize Ollie’s point. (Ha! Point! See what I did there?) No good can come of this turn.

All of this leads up to a final confrontation between Oliver and the super-juiced thief, who confirms everyone’s suspicions that Mirakuru is behind this. He beats the ever-loving tar out of Oliver and injects him with two vials of some unidentified substance. Felicity keeps Digg from calling 911 and calls in her own cavalry, Barry Allen. Fade to black on Barry’s shocked face as he realizes who Ollie really is.

Major happenings on the island this episode, as well. The team finds the missing sub, but so does Ivo. Mirakuru has to be taken with a sedative, which they don’t have on hand. Whatever they’re going to do has to be done now, though, since Slade is at death’s door with no other hope of survival. Slade admits to Shado that he’s been in love with her this whole time, then agrees to take a chance on the Mirakuru. The odds are not in his favor, and Slade dies just before Ivo busts in to the room, weapons at the ready.

Welcome to Starling City, Barry Allen! I realize that Barry Allen was the first Flash, but I have to admit to a partiality towards Wally West. Maybe I’ve just watched too much Justice League. Regardless, I’m as excited as everyone else to see another hero on Arrow. I’m interested to see where this is going to go, and how many JLA members we’ll see on the show in the future.

Also, it looks like we might be getting closer and closer to seeing actual super-powers on the show. Don’t get me wrong. I thought it was immensely clever the way the writers replaced Black Canary’s “Canary Cry” with a handheld sonic device. (Who looks at a superhero and thinks, “This could be a little more sonic?”) I just can’t wait to see how Arrow will handle Barry Allen becoming the Flash. Especially since this episode pretty heavily implied that the super-speed power does exist. Guess we’ll have to wait and see!

Best Quote:
Felicity: “Maybe he thinks he penetrates just fine.”

Things to Ponder:

• really want to know what’s going to happen with Roy and Arrow on this one. I mean, Roy used to be a street fighter until he took an arrow to th- y’know, I’m not even going to finish that.
• First confirmation that Malcolm is part of the League of Assassins! Maybe we’ll actually get to see Ra’s al Ghul at some point. For now, it looks like Daddy Merlyn might be on the run for a while.