Darkness on the Edge of Town

"Darkness on the Edge of Town"
Information
Episode number	22 of 170
Original airdate	May 8, 2013
Written by	Drew Z. Greenberg Wendy Mericle
Directed by	John Behring
Guest stars
Colin Salmon as Walter Steele Manu Bennett as Slade Wilson Byron Mann as Yao Fei Celina Jade as Shado Sebastian Dunn as Edward Fyers Roger Cross as Lucas Hilton Jarod Joseph as Alan Durand Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak Colton Haynes as Roy Harper John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn/The Dark Archer Eric Floyd as Brion Markov
Chronology
Preceded by	"The Undertaking"
Followed by	"Sacrifice"

"Darkness on the Edge of Town" is the ???th episode of Arrow. It aired on May 8, 2013. "Darkness on the Edge of Town" is the twenty-second episode of the first season of Arrow, and the twenty-second episode overall. It aired on May 8, 2013.

Synopsis

With the Undertaking days away, Malcolm dons his Dark Archer costume and black hood to conclude business with seismologist Dr. Brion Markov and his team. Oliver and Moira entertain a number of surprise and mostly unwelcome visitors. Hooded confrontations at home and the Merlyn Global Group reveal dark secrets. Meanwhile, Roy and Thea are still looking out for The Hood. Laurel makes a decision after Tommy's revelation. In a flashback to the island, Oliver, Slade, and Shado, struggle to prevent Edward from shooting a Ferris Air jet out of the sky.

Plot

Malcolm Merlyn, in his Dark Archer costume, goes to Unidac Industries to tie up loose ends by murdering scientists who worked on the seismic device that will be used to level the Glades.

Oliver wants to get information about the undertaking and decided to get some information from his mom, Felicity told him it's a bad idea as the last time he got shot because of it. Oliver told them it will be a friendly mother-and-son chat. Laurel was at the Verdant on Oliver way out, they had a little chat about the love triangles. Oliver leaves the conversation saying Walter is coming back and he needs to go back.

Flashback scene on Lian Yu when the trio is bought back to edward's base. Meanwhile, Roy drove Thea in a "borrowed" car and spotted outside Unidac Industries while the police are investigating.

Oliver and John devise a plan where John dresses as The Hood and kidnaps Oliver and Moira in an attempt to uncover the truth about the Undertaking. Scene flashes back while Edward reveals that he plans to the trio to cripple the Chinese economy by blowing up an aircraft going into China. The plan works and Oliver, Felicity, and John break into Merlyn Global to hack the mainframe and find the device. Flashback scene YaoFei sneakily hands Oliver a knife to help them escape and agrees on helping Edward with his "job", it was then hinted the mastermind of this was a woman behind a desk. Back to present, due to unable to hack into Merlyn Global, Felicity states unless she can plug into the mainframe or else, its highly impossible, Oliver than tell them they shall do it. Oliver's Team starts infiltrating the building, although there was a staff who almost got into the way when Oliver and Felicity was on the way in the lift, Oliver hits the man documents out of the lift (epic). They successfully got on to the 25th floor and the plans goes on. Meanwhile, Walter reveals that he knew that Moira was part of his kidnapping and gives her divorce papers as a result. Oliver convinces Tommy to get back together with Laurel, but when he learns that he could give up being the Hood if he stops the Undertaking, Oliver decides to reconcile with Laurel himself; later, Tommy outside Laurel's apartment witnesses Oliver and Laurel becoming physically intimate from the window.

In a flashback, Edward shot Yao Fei, after forcing him to take credit for the attacks via video recording being the scapegoat. That night, John goes after the device, but Malcolm learns of the system hack and has the device moved. The Hood attempts to kill Malcolm, who reveals to the Hood that he is the other archer, the two fight and Malcolm gets the upper hand, discovering Oliver's secret, however he seems to express regret for beating him up after unmasking him.

Production

Preparation ran from March 18 until March 26, 2013. Shooting ran from March 27 until April 8, 2013.

Featured Music

Radioactive by Imagine Dragons

Trivia

• The episode's title is a reference to the Bruce Springsteen 1978 album and song of the same name.
• The Jet Liner that Edward Fyers wants to take down belongs to Ferris Airlines. In the DC comics, Carol Ferris is the on/off girlfriend of the Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, and the owner of Ferris Airlines.
• This episode marks the 5th main character to discover Oliver is The Hood. The others being Diggle, Helena, Felicity, and Tommy. Malcolm is also the first major villain to discover his secret identity.