- "Sometimes, the mission is not worth the cost. You know that, so why are you still doing what he asks?"
- "Because if I'm wrong, then all of this is for nothing. Do you understand Tatsu? I left Felicity. I left my children, so if the Monitor can't fix this and if he's not here to help, then all these things I have sacrificed and all the things that so many people have sacrificed will have been for nothing."
- —Tatsu Yamashiro and Oliver Queen on Mar Novu
"Welcome to Hong Kong" is the second episode of the eighth season of Arrow, and the one-hundred-sixty-second episode overall. It aired on October 22, 2019.
Synopsis[]
Oliver, Diggle, Laurel, and Tatsu seek out an important person within The Monitor’s plan. Connor has a heart to heart with his brother.[src] |
Plot[]
A wave of antimatter demolished Earth-2 since Oliver Queen didn't adhere to The Monitor's accurate directions. This prompts an enormous encounter between Oliver and Laurel, driving the latter to leave her two Earth-1 companions. It's uncovered the Monitor has another crucial task for Oliver — he needs to find a Dr. Robert Wong and take him to the interdimensional being. During Oliver and John Diggle's first stop to find Dr. Wong, the two chance upon Tatsu Yamashiro, and she consents to support them.
Somewhere else, Laurel collaborates with Lyla Michaels to find a geek to have a go at fixing Cisco's interdimensional extrapolator. When it's fixed, it's affirmed that Earth-2 has been destroyed.
Oliver, Diggle, and Tatsu continue attempting to discover Wong, but they encounter individuals from the Chinese Triad. In a little while, they discover the educator has gone AWOL after effectively reproducing the Alpha-Omega infection. Oliver takes the infection in order to lure out the hostages of Wong; a gathering demonstrated to be driven by China White. At their meetup, Oliver tries persuading China regarding the looming crisis, yet she takes the infection in any case.
As she trades Wong for the infection, China White acknowledges she and her gathering have been set up by Oliver, who has Diggle and Tatsu holding up in the shadows. During the following battle, Lyla and Laurel appear and assist them with taking out China White and her colleagues, restoring the infection to safe hands.
Lyla's been working with the Monitor this whole time despite Oliver's good faith.
In the future, Connor, Zoe, and Mia track down JJ to give working things out a shot, something that prompts a genuine conversation between Connor and JJ. At the meeting, William reveals an increasingly evil plot of JJ and the Deathstroke pack — it's their arrangement to assume control over Star City. With no guards, the Deathstroke group strikes the Team Arrow shelter and takes William captive.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
- David Ramsey as John Diggle/Spartan
- Rick Gonzalez (credit only)
- Juliana Harkavy (credit only)
- Katherine McNamara as Mia Smoak/Blackstar
- Ben Lewis as older William Clayton
- Joseph David-Jones as Connor Hawke
- LaMonica Garrett as Mar Novu/The Monitor
Special appearance by[]
- Katie Cassidy as Black Canary (archive footage) and Laurel Lance/Black Canary
Guest starring[]
- Audrey Marie Anderson as Lyla Michaels/Harbinger
- Andrea Sixtos as older Zoe Ramirez
- Charlie Barnett as older John Diggle, Jr.
- Kelly Hu as Chien Na Wei/China White
- Rila Fukushima as Tatsu Yamashiro
- Lou Ticzon as David Chin
Co-starring[]
- Colin Foo as Proprietor
- Derek Lowe as Robert Wong
Production[]
Preparation ran from July 12 until July 22, 2019. Shooting ran from July 23 until August 2.[1]
Trivia[]
- The title of this episode references the last line from "Unthinkable" that is said by Amanda Waller after Oliver finds himself in Hong Kong and gets recruited by her.
- The opening scene of this episode is also very similar to the opening of the last flashback scene in Season 2, when Oliver wakes up in Hong Kong.
- Similarly to the previous episode ("Starling City"), this episode also has many references and callbacks to previous episodes, mainly from flashbacks of Season 3.
- When Diggle and Oliver go to a café, the shots have very much resemblance to the ones in "The Calm", where Oliver tries to send an email to his mother. When they get access to A.R.G.U.S. computer, Oliver also says how it would've been nice to know that ten years ago.
- China White and Alpha-Omega virus return as the main plot in this episode.
- When arguing about using the Alpha-Omega virus as bait to lure Chien Na Wei, Tatsu reminds Oliver how Maseo made the same gamble, referencing to the events of "Midnight City".
- Tatsu talked about how Nyssa forced her to give up the Lotus in order to save Thea, which happened in "Unchained".
- Chien Na Wei talks about their previous fight to Tatsu, that happened in "The Climb" and resulted in Tatsu's loss.
- Tatsu and Oliver talk about Akio's death that happened in "This Is Your Sword", which is the main reason Tatsu became a vigilante in Hong Kong after her exile from the Crescent Order. Tatsu also reminds Oliver how grief and anger made him torture General Shrieve for hours, referencing what happened in "My Name Is Oliver Queen".
- Oliver mentions that he and China White have been enemies from the start. China White was the first recurring villain Arrow had, first appearing in "Honor Thy Father".
- The final scene of the episode reveals that Lyla is working with The Monitor to prevent the Crisis. This is a reference to their relationship in the comics - Lyla being Mar Novu's adopted daughter.
- Laurel discovering that Earth-2 no longer exists is reminiscent of a similar scene in the original Crisis on Infinite Earths story, where Jay and Wally discover that Earth-3 no longer exists.
- Both Rila Fukushima and Kelly Hu made their final appearances in this episode as they didn't appear for the duration of the series.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
References[]
Arrow season 8 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
"Starling City" • "Welcome to Hong Kong" • "Leap of Faith" • "Present Tense" • "Prochnost" • "Reset" • "Purgatory" • "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four" • "Green Arrow & The Canaries" • "Fadeout" |