The Usual (Masked) Suspects take centre stage in this they said/they said WHAT?! mystery

I am a narrative structure nerd. I’m also a trained stage magician so appreciate when a story can pull a coin out of my ear every once in a while. This episode made me very, very happy.

Structure is, at first, king here. We see Oliver’s initial version of the operation, we see the others slowly build on and often contradict what he’s saying and we get a sense of what’s going on. Cheekily, the terrorist plot they foil sounds more than a little like a couple of previous season finales and that’s a smart way of showing how the stakes have been raised. It also gives an added relevance to Roy making his return.

Colton Haynes is, without making a big deal of it, one of the strongest and most consistent cast members this show has ever had. It’s great to have him back and even greater to find Roy being used for something only he can really do instead of being a Green Arrow stand in. He’s on top form here too, as is the entire cast. This feels, at times, like the platonic ideal of a late season 7 episode of anything; everyone hits their marks, everyone knows what they’re doing and there’s one Hell of a sting in the tale.

The whole thing truly comes together in the third act as we’re hit with reveal after reveal. Dinah’s in on it, the events being investigated are far worse than they first appeared and everyone is off their game. The consequences of the vigilante life are revealed as the dark star the episode orbits, with Roy having to cope with a new-found lease on life and Ollie discovering just how far down the rabbit hole Emilio has gone.

Verdict: It’s all good, chunky character work, with a fantastically nasty fight scene at its core and it sets up the end of the season brilliantly. Top marks, folks. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart