Arrow: Key Moments from Season 5 Episode 12 “Bratva”

This week’s episode of Arrow took Oliver away from Star City, but it was no vacation. We go in depth on the moments in “Bratva” that stood out to us.

Note: Need to refresh your memory? Check out our recap of Wednesday’s Arrow.

Since its return from hiatus, Arrow hasn’t been fooling around. Both of the past two episodes offered new revelations and developments, whether in terms of the ongoing plot or the character arcs. And, despite the change in scenery, this week was no different.

Here are three important moments from “Bratva”:

Felicity issues a threat

Let’s be real: Arrow’s fashion game was pretty on point this week. Oliver rocked a leather jacket (while torturing a man!). Even Rene looked sharp, donning a suit for his practice interview with Quentin Lance. As usual, though, Felicity takes the cake. As “Maxime Trotsky”, she struts into a swanky party wearing a strapless black gown, a fur coat draped over her shoulders like armor. She’s a regular femme fatale.

Not that she’s there to mingle. Felicity really wants to talk to a phone network executive who knows how to locate General Walker. Thanks to Curtis’s strategic reveal of his sidearm, she gets her wish. In private, she demands access to DetraLink, disclosing that she knows the executive withheld information about terrorist activity on his network from the government. The man balks and we understand why. Although she can’t throw a punch without having to submerge her hand in ice afterward, Felicity can be pretty intimidating.

The meeting represents another step in Felicity’s gradual moral corruption. Gone is the slightly ditzy geek prone to Freudian slips (not that she’s lost her sense of humor – see her snide response to Oliver going out on a secret mission with Dinah). Felicity claims that she is acting out of necessity; since Laurel and Billy’s deaths, she’s become more receptive to the idea that the ends justify the means.

Yet, on some level, she enjoys bending the rules. When she had to hack into the NSA last week, she happily proclaimed that “it feels awesome.” Crime in Arrow is seductive, like an impeccable outfit, and not even Felicity Smoak is invulnerable.

Dinah tells Oliver what’s what

Dinah Drake has only been in two episodes, but she already feels integral to Team Arrow. As Black Canary, she’s a worthy successor to Laurel, effortlessly holding her own in battle, and as a person, she provides a welcome twist to the group dynamic, effortlessly holding her own in conversation.

For example, after helping Oliver beat up a guy for Anatoly, Dinah gives him a pep talk. Unlike the others, she isn’t content with letting him wallow in guilt and self-doubt. “Brooding really kind of gets on my nerves,” she says, as if reading our minds. Neither is she particularly moved by Oliver’s anxiety about Prometheus, basically telling him to get over himself: “You infect the people in your life, Oliver; that’s hardly a revelatory observation. In fact, I think it’s called living.”

Her candor is refreshing. Dinah is the only member of Team Arrow whose relationship with Oliver developed from a place of complete honesty, with no illusions or baggage attached; right away, she saw him as he is. At first, it might seem ironic for a woman who, not long ago, was obsessed with avenging her dead boyfriend to be dispensing life advice. But even then, Dinah had the self-awareness to know that she was driven by emotion rather than a sense of morality – a need for catharsis rather than justice. She has accepted her imperfections, perhaps a result of her background as an undercover cop; she’s used to shifting between identities.

Oliver sleeps with Susan

After weeks of flirtation, Oliver and Susan finally consummate their romance upon his return from Russia. He explains that he hesitated to commit to her because he was stuck in the past; it’s not like he has a history of successful intimate relationships. Still, he isn’t ready yet to talk about his trauma or divulge any secrets.

Wherever this arc is going, we hope it gets there soon. In an otherwise solid season, Susan has been the biggest pitfall. To start with, actors Stephen Amell and Carly Pope have no chemistry to speak of; Oliver and Susan aren’t believable either as a viable long-term relationship or as a brief fling. More importantly, it’s disappointing to see Arrow fall into the stale trope of the supposedly competent female journalist who sleeps with a source. Politics have never been the show’s strong suit (this is a comic book universe, after all), but this feels like a missed opportunity. Imagine how much more resonant the overarching themes of responsibility and accountability would be if Susan, you know, actually did her job.

Regardless, we’re bracing ourselves for the inevitable betrayal and heartbreak, especially now that Susan knows the truth about the Green Arrow. This will surely do wonders for Oliver’s trust issues.

Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.

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