When Laurel and Thea are away, the original Team Arrow gets to play! That’s right, we had some serious Season 1 deja vu this episode as Oliver, Diggle and Felicity got a chance to get back to basics. And first on the ‘To-Do’ list, is restoring the Oliver and Diggle Bromance. Although while one dynamic duo was being restored, on the other side of the world relationships were tested as Laurel made a very dark decision.

So let’s take a Closer Look at this week’s episode and see what’s coming next!

Episode Meaning – The Restoration Of Sarah Lance & Trust:

With a title like “Restoration” it shouldn’t be so too hard to figure out what this episode title is alluding to – but do you know all it’s referencing? The first one we have to talk about his the “restoration” of Sarah Lance. Laurel was doing fine and was finally caming to terms with Sarah’s fate; but once she heard of a way to bring people back that spark of hope turned into a roaring blaze. Sadly, that blaze has consumed all rational and possibly the lives of others as Laurel moves ahead with her plan to revive her sister.

I’ll discuss the dangers of the Lazarus Pit a little later; but with Sarah’s former love Nyssa objecting to the endeavor, we knew this wouldn’t end well as Sarah’s body might have been restored but her soul certainly wasn’t. This will of course get worked out over the next few episodes and will also have repercussions in Legends of Tomorrow; but one way or another Sarah Lance had to be revived in order to make the way for Legends of Tomorrow.

In a similar fashion, if Arrow itself wanted to continue forward then Oliver and Diggle had to put their differences aside and have a “restoration” of mutual trust. Through the episode we see Diggle and Oliver going after different objectives and almost getting killed. Although even when they were both going after the same target in the opening scenes, they could hardly coordinate. If it wasn’t for Felicity, they would never have captured that Ghost – momentarily.

Of course as the episode progresses, Diggle and Oliver are forced to talk it out and Diggle FINALLY lets Oliver in on what he’s been secretly been putting together the last few years. Thanks to this and Oliver taking a bullet … metahuman playing card tattoo to the chest, Diggle’s trust in Oliver has been restored.

The Return Of The OTA – Season 1 & 2 Memories:

I loved it when Roy joined Team Arrow – and Sarah, Laurel, Thea and the others – but the Original Team Arrow comprised of Oliver, Diggle and Felicity had some of the best momentd. And this episode featured all of that. In fact, the idea of Oliver now joining Diggle’s crusade is a wonderful reversal of Season 1 where Diggle joined Oliver’s. We even got a Season 2 reference to Mirakuru Soldiers.

Although the parallels didn’t end there as we found Felicity blabbing to Curtis about her work with the Arrow. This is a great reference to not just Season 2 where Barry Allen was brought in; but also to how Oliver originally brought Felicity in. And similarly as in those situations, Curtis will go on to join Team Arrow not just in the tech support but also out in the field as Mr Terrific. This season in general has really brought back the feel and drive of early seasons and that’s probably why we’re all enjoying it so much. Good job writers team!

The Price Of The Lazarus Pit & What’s Next:

This season is of course going to deal with mysticism and the things science can’t explain. So what better time to actually explain what the Lazarus Pit is and how it does what it does! If you’re looking for chemical compounds and such, you’re out of luck. Although this episode we learned that the Lazarus Pit gives life at the expense of life. In other words, each time you use the Pit, you leave a little bit of you behind and gain something from a former user. This explains why Ras was such a cruel man, Malcolm uses the pit VERY sparingly and Thea has been struck with such a bloodlust lately.

When you use the pit, you are healed but also take on some of the spirits of those before you. You are given their bloodlust and anger and unless you quench that thirst it will consume you. So if it affects people this badly when they’re still alive and have their souls with their bodies, what happens if the person’s soul is already gone? What happens if the person has been dead… for a while? Well that is exactly what they all found out this epsidoe and will continue to see next week as Sarah is not coming out of the feral rage. She is pure beast and with no soul of her own, the souls of the Pit are having a field day and control her completely.

Next week we’ll see if Damian Darhk will be able to do anything to help Sarah – and if he can, will he. Although matters of the ‘soul’ sound more like a job for *drumroll* Constantine, who WILL be appearing to help with Sarah’s transformation – most likely this coming week. Although with this being such uncharted waters since the pit has never been used to revive someone already dead, it’s probably a good thing Nyssa destroyed it and neutralized its powers.

Rapid Fire – Easter Eggs, Quotes & Other Notables:

• Nyssa refers to Thea as “sister-in-law” which is true in two sense. The first since she was married to Oliver for a little while and the second that they are both “daughters of Ras al Ghul”… albeit different Ras al Ghuls
• There were SO many double meaning card joke pus this episode. For example
  • “Deal” as in “we have a deal” and “deal/begin the game”
  • “Call this” as in end the match and match your opponent
  • “Check” as in “check back in” and “not raise anything”

• The Ghost seem to have half the molecular markers of a normal person, so what are they? What else does Damian do to them besides the cyanide capsule
• Oliver notices how the SCPD seem to be even less effective than usual, which will serve as a good precursor for next week when they learn Quentin has been working with Darhk
• In the Flashbacks we learn about a drug called Slam, but there must be more to the story than just that.
• We learn that the bloodlust is only cured when you kill the person who put you caused you pain in the first place. For Thea this would be Ras; but with all the talk that Malcolm would do anything for his daughter, would he sacrifice himself since in a sense he caused her pain as well?
• Additionally, if Ras is Thea’s initial target, would that make Thea or Malcolm Sarah’s?
• The metahuman Double Down got his powers by getting a tattoo during the particle wave accelerator. As a result he can turn his tattoos into razor sharp playing cards as well as track them since they are part of his body.
• We hear that Phase 3 of Darhk’s plan is called Genesis, so does that mean the end of Phase 2 includes a destruction of something?
• Felicity’s phone acting up and sending her strange messages is actually Ray Palmer trying to send her a message from Sub-space. We don’t know for sure, but it makes sense so I’m calling it now
• Curtis is already working on HD contact lenses and autonomous spheres, both of which become part of his gear as Mr Terrific.
• What are Oliver’s plans for Lair 3.0?
• You might be wondering how Laurel could say that Sarah is acting just like Thea did when she emerged from the pit since Laurel WASN’T there and didn’t even know about it until recently. Well this isn’t a continuity error perse since Thea did tell her about the experience and Laurel is just assuming it’s the same. Had she ACTUALLY have seen it before she might have never put Sarah through it.

Next week will further the Canary story as Laurel brings Sarah back and Quentin enlists the help of Darhk to try to save her; but we can bet that won’t do anything. So get ready for a powerful episode next week that will not only call for some hard decisions but also reveal to the team that Quentin has been working with Darhk. Stay tuned!