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‘Arrow’ Recap ‘Shifting Allegiances’

You know those episodes that keep you saying ‘OMG!’ the entire time? Well, this was certainly one of those episodes. I have to say, there was some stellar performances this week by both Paul Blackthorne and Katie Cassidy. Although Black Siren is a character I am not 100% sure as to whether I love or hate her, the Lance family is one that I hold near and dear to my heart. (Seriously though, Quentin must make it through the series!)

‘Shifting Allegiances’ kicks off with Oliver confronting a member of the Bratva in Russia, asking for a favor. Rene returned home after a month of being in the hospital. He states that he is ready to take on Ricardo Diaz, and that New Team Arrow is back in action. Diggle, at ARGUS, gives a briefing to a group of recruits about how they are going to track down Ricardo Diaz. Elsewhere, Ricardo Diaz meets with Black Siren and tells her that he wants to meet with Lance himself, since his is the new mayor, – to lay down some ground rules rather than Black Siren herself. Oliver meets with Anatoly and asks to speak with him. Oliver informs Anatoly that he fixed the relationship between the Bratva and Anatoly in Russia and that Anatoly can go home. Rather than having a heart to heart conversation, Anatoly struck Oliver with a taser – knocking him out.

Image result for anatoly and oliver gif
Arrow/The CW

Anatoly ties Oliver to a chair and tells him that he is foolish if he thinks that he can take on Diaz by himself without a team and even though he is thankful for what Oliver did, he cannot betray Diaz. At the NTA bunker, the trio narrow down multiple ways to track down Diaz. They figure out he must be working with an older supplier called ‘The Scorpions’ to sneak illegal items and large shipments into the city. Elsewhere, Lance meets Black Siren at a Chinese Restaurant – one that was a favorite of his, Laurels and Sara’s back in the day. She whispers an apology to him, just as Diaz walks in. He presents Lance with an executive order demanding a private sale of a piece of land. Lance refuses to sign, and Diaz and Black Siren both leave the restaurant. Rene, Dinah and Curtis get a bead on ‘The Scorpions’ and track them to their headquarters. They discover an illegal shipments of M4’s and engage in a firefight with ‘The Scorpions’ crew – led by a member of the Quadrant. NTA gets overwhelmed, and they are eventually rescued by Diggle and some ARGUS agents.

Back at the NTA bunker, the team gets a visit from both Diggle and Lance. Lance informs them of Diaz’s visit, and that he asked for a piece of land that included a building that would be large enough for the Quadrant to store all of their illegal materials. Oliver, still chained to a chair, tells Anatoly that he is making a mistake and that Diaz is going to get him lose when Diaz no longer has a use for him. At City Hall, Black Siren meets with Lance and begs him to sign the order so that Diaz won’t kill him. Lance still refuses.

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Arrow/The CW

Diggle and Rene have a heart to heart about how Rene keeps flashing back to how he almost died – and how it is affecting his ability to fight. Lance heads home and talks to Black Siren. They come to a mutual agreement and they will do whatever it takes to protect each other. NTA and Diggle face off against the Quadrant leader and the scorpions, and halt their transport operations. Anatoly brings Oliver down to Diaz, and Diaz begins beating up Oliver while he is chained. Anatoly steps in and tells Diaz that it is the work of a coward to beat up a chained man. Diaz orders Oliver to be unchained, and states that whoever gets thrown down to the ground first has to leave Star City. After a brutal fight, Oliver gains the upper hand. Oliver begins choking Diaz, demanding he tap out. Instead Diaz cheats, and stabs Oliver in the gut with a knife. Diaz walks away, while Anatoly watches with a hint of remorse.

Anatoly patches up Oliver, and states that all he wanted was to see was which one would actually fight with honor. He tells Oliver he has a plan to get Oliver out of the city but before he gets a chance to act on it, one of Diaz men comes and asks Oliver to follow him.

Black Siren comes in to see Diaz, bringing the executive order he had asked for. He says he didn’t even care about the order, he was testing Lance’s loyalty. Diaz tells Oliver that he changed his mind and doesn’t want Oliver to leave the city anymore, but that he will instead stay for ’25 to life’. He has the dirty cops arrest Oliver, and rigs any chances of Oliver getting his bail revoked.

 

 

Arrow will return next week on Wednesday, May 3rd 2018 at 9PM/EST on The CW.