Last week on Arrow, Diggle finally was at his wit’s end with Oliver as Team Arrow finally was dissolved. With Oliver unwilling to give up the mantle of Green Arrow, Diggle was feeling some kind of way with Oliver. As the two briefly argued, Diggle realized that he’s not really mad at Oliver about him remaining as the Green Arrow, he’s mad at Oliver because his leadership is suffering. The two then argued some more, but this time their argument turned into fist blows. In the aftermath, although they worked together to try and take down one of Diaz’s drug labs, Diggle decided that he no longer could work with Oliver. Team Arrow finally is down to just Oliver and Felicity.
Even without Diggle, Oliver has to continue his mission to take down Diaz. Because Diaz has gotten rid of all cops that aren’t on the take, Oliver storms the police station. However, he’s not wearing the Green Arrow outfit, he’s dressed as “The Hood” instead. Diaz isn’t a dummy and was prepared for Oliver. Even after he takes down scores of crooked cops, Diaz has a small army waiting for him.
We then rewind to ten hours ago. Oliver has just received word that he is probably going to be impeached as a result of him firing the police captain and prosecutor that’s on Diaz’s payroll. The public perception though, is that he fired the people prosecuting the accusations that he is the Green Arrow. The city council is preparing to impeach him, so Oliver has to start preparing. Diggle comes into the Arrow Cave under false pretenses. Felicity lured him in an attempt to try to get him and Oliver to make peace with him as he is needed. It did not go according to plan though.
Oliver meets up with one of the city councilmen to discuss the preliminary impeachment proceedings. While Oliver states that he did nothing wrong as the two people he fired were in Diaz’s pocket, there’s no proof of it. Oliver knows he needs to get some information, but he also has to get it through legal means. The councilman promises to be fair during the hearings and shakes Oliver’s hand. Oliver, later on, meets with Felicity in the hopes that her hacking skills will be able to uncover some sort of information, but something’s off with him. He gets into an argument with her in which he becomes aggressive, to the point that he yells at his son and breaks a piece of furniture at his home. Felicity tells Oliver that he needs to leave so he can clear his head.
Down in the Arrow Cave, things get weird for Oliver. After having a heart to heart with Lance who seems to be the only person still willing to deal with him, he’s alone. He then hears some strange noises. After trying to discover where the banging noise comes from, someone comes through the elevator. Oliver arms himself in case it’s someone dangerous, and it turns out it’s someone who is dangerous from his past: Adrian Chase, last season’s big baddie who is supposed to be dead. The two engage in a brutal fight across the Arrow Cave and Oliver ends up breaking his back. Oliver turns around and his wounds are missing, as is Chase. Turns out, Oliver was drugged by the councilman when they shook hands with Vertigo. Oliver now proceeds to trip for most of the episode. Chase operates as his hallucination, but so does Laurel Lance (the one who died), Renee, Felicity, his son’s babysitter, and even Diaz. His last hallucination is his past self, “The Hood,” the past version of Oliver when he was a murderous vigilante who killed people who “failed this city.” The Hood reminds Oliver that he failed his mission by getting attached to people. He wasn’t supposed to have a Team Arrow, be friends with Diggle, or marry Felicity.
While all this tripping, Oliver has an impeachment trial to attend, which isn’t just as hard to do as it sounds. After stating that he has evidence of the police corruption, the city councilmen ask where he got the information from, which he says he got it from the Green Arrow. That doesn’t bode well for him. Lance in a last-ditch, stops the meeting so Oliver can get his act together from the effects of the drug. The Adrian Chase hallucination tells Oliver that he still has to take on Diaz, who Oliver knows is at the police station.
Fast forward to the beginning of the episode, as a drugged out Oliver tries to take on the police so he can kill Diaz. Diaz is waiting with an army of cops that will unload their bullets into him. Lance tries to stop Oliver, so proceeds to beat him up. It’s up to Felicity to try and talk him off the ledge. Oliver at first can’t tell if she’s real or not, but she manages to tell him to trust his heart and he snaps out of the hallucination. Diaz and his men then try and take Oliver out, which he and Felicity escape.
Oliver decides that some of what the Adrian Chase hallucination said was right. He has been stretched too thin. If he’s going to take on Diaz, he needs to get back to his “fundamentals.” He has to try and disconnect from all attachments so that he can take on Diaz. Felicity proceeds to give him his space so that he can complete his mission. They turn on the Tv to find out that Oliver has in fact been impeached. With no day job, Oliver now is ready to take Diaz on as just the Green Arrow, but Diaz is more than ready for him.
