Year’s End
Overview:Oliver discovers that after he and his father went missing, Moira and Thea stopped celebrating Christmas. Determined to make up for lost time and restore a sense of normalcy to the Queen household, Oliver decides to throw the family a Christmas party. Meanwhile, Tommy asks Laurel to spend Christmas with him but she points out that Christmas was also her sister Sara’s birthday and she needs to be with her father. Tommy suggests changing things up might be the best way for everyone to heal but Laurel isn’t sure her father is ready for that. Meanwhile, Diggle tells Oliver someone is murdering the people on his father’s list with arrows, which sends Oliver off to face his toughest adversary yet.
Air date: 12/12/2012
Directed by: John Dahl
Guest Stars: Colin Salmon as Walter Steele, John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn, Byron Mann as Yao Fei Gulong, Sebastian Dunn as Edward Fyers, Brian Markinson as Adam Hunt, Jeffrey C. Robinson as Deathstroke, Mark Ghanime as Dr. Douglas Miller, Philip Prajoux as Bomb Squad Officer, Lisa Marie DiGiacinto as Attractive Woman.
This is kind of a holiday episode in that Oliver discovers that his family has not been celebrating the holidays since his death. He plans to bring that tradition back. While that is going on the powers that run the city make some threats. To make matters even more complex another vigilante shows up and starts taking out targets with arrows, almost like he is calling the Hood out.
Overall, my favorite parts of this episode were the flashbacks to the island. I actually really want to see where that goes and how it turns out. It also seems to be foreshadowing that a bigger target is on the horizon for Arrow.