Oh. My. Goodness.
“Arrow” season eight, episode three, “Leap of Faith,” did the most unexpected thing ever and I just want to say that season eight is as crazy as ever. That cliffhanger just blew me away.
Let’s recap!
The Queen Siblings and Their Sweet Reunion
One of the many cherished relationships on “Arrow” is the brother and sister relationship between Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Thea (Willa Holland). And honestly, it was so nice seeing it in this episode and to witness the most heartfelt moments between them as he makes his way to Nanda Parbat one last time. Their reunion starts with Oliver saying, “Hi Speedy,” and ending with Oliver saying, “Bye Speedy.” Thea is in Nanda Parbat rebuilding the league and marking her own territory. Seeing them team up to find clues as to what Mar-Novu is all about is great to watch. Seeing Thea come this far, witnessing her overall growth as not only being the badass Speedy, but also seeing how her and Oliver have evolved together is too sweet. These two have been through a lot: they lost their parents and went through a plethora of suffering all to be such great warriors now. Oliver has taught her a lot and, as much as Thea can handle herself on her own, the overprotective side of Oliver is not lost on him. Their final embrace towards the end of the episode is a tear-jerker.
Stephen Amell conveys his emotions into Oliver so well that it makes you feel all the feelings. Thea Queen has been a pleasure to watch grow and being able to see their screen time together is one of my favorite parts on “Leap of Faith.”
Lyla Distracts Diggle With a Mission
After learning that Lyla (Audrey Anderson) knows more than she’s leading on back in “Welcome to Hong Kong,” she has Diggle (David Ramsey) tag along to their next mission instead of having him by Oliver’s side in Nanda Parbat. I wonder when she’s going to tell him the truth about what she knows about The Monitor/Mar-Novu (LaMonica Garrett). This new mission is an interesting one, though. Remember Ben Turner (Michael Jai White)? He’s Connor’s (Joseph David-Jones) biological father, who later is adopted by Diggle and Lyla as we learned in the future time back in season seven. In present day, Connor’s father is on a secret op and Lyla is worried about Connor and his mother and wants to make sure that they are okay. I’m glad they are beginning to surface Connor’s background a bit as a child and how exactly it came to him being adopted. I do, however, want to see flashbacks to J.J. as a child and what made him turn so evil against anything that is remotely moral and good. We have yet to explore that family dynamic and I hope we see it soon before the show ends. There is a lot to unpack there.
Lyla and Diggle also share a sweet moment together during their mission. These two have been through a wild ride over the seasons. They are that married duo not to be taken lightly because their work makes them strong, but their love for each other makes them stronger.
The Monitor Has Us All Wary
“Mar-Novu is not trying to prevent what’s going to happen, because he’s going to be what causes it,” Oliver says.
So this means The Monitor is not as truthful as he seems to be? I mean, he is a cosmic being that comes in and out as he pleases and doesn’t nudge to answering any vital questions when he’s approached by them. But wow, if he’s on the opposite side of trying to save the universes, this will be a big game-changer. However, there is always more to the story as well. But this ounce of information is something I doubt Oliver will take lightly. He is doing all of this for his family — nothing can go wrong, right?
THAT CLIFFHANGER! MY GOODNESS!
When I tell you I screamed at my screen during the last minute of this episode, I kid you not. After an untimely loss of Zoe (Andrea Sixtos) by the hands of evil J.J (Charlie Barnett), her last moments with Mia (Katherine McNamara) are heartbreaking and tells her to tell her father that she loves him.
Then a beam of bright light approaches Future Arrow in all their locations.
And BOOM.
Oliver is back at Earth-2 with Rene (Rick Gonzalez), Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) and Diggle which leaves not just them all clueless and confused, but Oliver as well. Right when Oliver turns around he sees Mia, William and Connor from the future! My mouth literally dropped in shock!
Something must have been messed up for this to happen! Can this be The Monitor’s doing?! This was not supposed to happen, but it did.
Mia’s face as her voice breaks when she says, “Dad,” and the heartbreaking longing stare William gives his father breaks you into pieces. The present and the future just collided. Oliver is face to face with his children from the future! But…but that also means Rene is going to have to find out that Zoe dies in the future so young. I’m not ready for that moment.
This fantastic episode was directed by Katie Cassidy, which was also her directorial debut. I cannot WAIT until episode four of “Arrow,” titled “Present Tense,” next week!
What did you think of this episode of “Arrow”? Share your thoughts with us in the comments. “Arrow” airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.
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Shadia Omer is an entertainment writer, pop-culture enthusiast, and an aspiring TV writer. She’s based in San Diego, CA but will always rep being from Houston, TX instead. She watches way too much TV for her own good. With her passion for the TV/entertainment industry, Shadia is working to change the American-Muslim narratives on TV, pushing for authentic and inclusion representation in the media. When she’s not writing, obsessing over her love for pizza and traveling, you can find her on Twitter tweeting about her favorite shows one tweet at a time.