Arrow Recap: Season 5 Episode 17 “Kapiushon”

“Kapiushon” put viewers through hell, as Oliver faced off against Prometheus – and lost. Arrow will never be the same after last night.

This week’s Arrow begins with an appropriate shot: Oliver’s head held underwater. It’s striking from a visual standpoint, the vivid blue a jarring contrast from the show’s usual grungy aesthetic. However, it also sets the tone for what’s to come – namely, an hour of physical and emotional torture.

Like we predicted, “Kapiushon” dispenses with the standard three-plot structure and confines us to Oliver’s point of view. We find our hero (or “hero”) in the cell where Prometheus imprisoned him at the end of “Checkmate”. There is no way of telling how much time has passed since then, which aggravates the creeping sense of claustrophobia. For all we know, Oliver and Prometheus have been here for an eternity.

As supervillains are wont to do, Prometheus fancies himself a figure of mythic proportions. He points out that his name derives from the legendary Greek Titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity. Taking down the Green Arrow, he argues, is a similar act of defiance, an attempt to prove that the powerful is fallible. He conveniently ignores the fact that every version of the Prometheus tale ends with the Titan punished.

Oliver occupies that role at the moment. In order to escape his punishment, Oliver has to reveal his darkest secret – one buried so deep even he doesn’t know it.

Prometheus tries to extract the confession using a variety of methods. First, he holds Oliver’s head underwater for 144 seconds – the length of time he claims his father, Justin Claybourne, was conscious before dying from Arrow-inflicted wounds. He tapes photographs of the Arrow’s victims on the wall. “Do you even remember their faces?” he demands rhetorically. It’s almost meta; like any action movie or show, Arrow is guilty of exploiting violence for entertainment or shock value. And no, I don’t remember the faces of all the random people Oliver killed back in season 1, including Claybourne.

Of course, Prometheus is guilty too. The difference between him and Oliver, at least according to Prometheus, is that he acknowledges his guilt. Can anyone on a crusade truly be free from self-deception, though? Again, Prometheus prattles on about how he’s holding the Arrow accountable for his crimes, even as he commits dozens of crimes himself, such as murdering his own wife. Maybe he doesn’t believe what he’s saying either.

“Kapiushon” diverges from the norm in another way, devoting about half its running time to flashbacks. The title card doesn’t appear until 16 minutes in, on the heels of what is certainly the longest unbroken flashback sequence in the show’s history.

Gregor, it turns out, survived the hockey stadium shootout – though not for long. Before dying, he flings an accusation at Oliver: “You are no one’s hero. Everything and everyone that you love will wither and die at your touch.”

His death leaves a vacuum in the Bratva, which Anatoly fills (succession is determined by seniority). Feeling obligated to fulfill his predecessor’s commitments, Anatoly agrees to meet with Kovar, much to Oliver’s disapproval. He arrives to find Kovar talking to someone else – Malcolm Merlyn (this gives John Barrowman the unique privilege of appearing on three CW superhero shows in one week). Malcolm, then CEO of the Merlyn Global Group, is giving Kovar information about an important shipment. How do they know one another? What does Malcolm want as compensation?

Anyway, once they’re alone, Kovar describes to Anatoly his ambition of overthrowing the Russian government. The mysterious shipment must be related, Anatoly and Oliver reason, most likely some kind of weapon. An attempt to intercept it at the shipyard fails, but they do manage to find out what it is: enough canisters of sarin gas to kill thousands of people.

They also capture one of Kovar’s men. Oliver interrogates him about his boss’ plans using a skinning technique from Mongolia – a scene that’s disturbing less for its violence (this is The CW, so thankfully, most of it happens off-screen) than for its moral implications. Not only does our alleged hero skin a man alive, but he appears unfazed by his actions. “He gave up pretty quickly,” Oliver casually says when Anatoly expresses his revulsion. “The rest was me practicing.”

*shudder*

The important thing is that it worked. In order to gain access to the casino where Kovar will release the gas, Oliver finds Taiana’s mother, Galina. He tells her that her children are dead – killed by “a monster” – and insists he intends to bring Kovar to justice. Predictably, this doesn’t turn out well for her; Kovar’s men find out that she talked and kill her. But again, it worked.

Back in the present, Prometheus changes tactics. He brings in Evelyn, who, if you remember, turned against Team Arrow after learning about Oliver’s past. She looks beaten up and has a knife in her hand. Prometheus wants Oliver to kill her. When he leaves the room, Oliver tries to persuade Evelyn to hand over the knife so he can get free and they can work together to ambush their captor. He forgives her for betraying him. His efforts prove futile. Evelyn stabs at him, and he easily disarms her. He doesn’t kill her, though.

Prometheus returns and again orders Oliver to confess. When he’s rejected again, he snaps Evelyn’s neck.

Director Kevin Tancharoen cross-cuts that sequence with flashbacks of the Bratva infiltrating Kovar’s casino. Naturally, the attack culminates in a mano-a-mano fight between Oliver and Kovar, the former sans hood. Oliver manages to overwhelm Kovar and, dismissing Anatoly’s warning, slashes the crime lord across the face before plunging the knife into his chest.

Evelyn dying proves to be the last straw. Oliver finally realizes what he’s supposed to say: he kills not because he has to, but because he wants to – because he likes it. Like Prometheus, he used his father’s memory to validate a homicidal rampage. All his loved ones who’ve died over the years – Tommy, Moira, Laurel – are the cost of that original sin.

“I knew he’d break,” Evelyn says. She’s alive after all; the whole thing was an act. Having heard what he wanted, Prometheus agrees to let Oliver go. But first, he removes the tattoo that Oliver got when he joined the Bratva, as a reminder. Oliver apologizes again for killing Claybourne. “I believe you,” Prometheus says. “I just don’t care.”

Also not actually dead is Kovar. Malcolm Merlyn rescued him and got him surgery, Darth Vader in Revenge of the Sith-style. Could Kovar be Vigilante? He’s one of season 5’s few new characters, yet he doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who’d get self-righteous about justice.

Defeated, Oliver returns to the Arrow Cave, where Felicity, Curtis, and Diggle have spent six days trying to track him down. Visibly shocked by his physical condition, they don’t venture to ask what happened, and he doesn’t tell them. He simply announces that he’s done with the Arrow.

With that, Arrow shows us mercy and cuts to black. I don’t know about you, but I could use the Flash/Supergirl musical crossover as a chaser, just to remind myself what happy TV feels like.

Best line

Anatoly, to Oliver on their way to the shipyard: “See how easy it is to think first and kill people later?”

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

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