BWW Recap: What Happens in Moscow Stays in Moscow on The CW's ARROW

On last night's ARROW on the CW, Isabel and Oliver are once again fighting over at the Queen Consolidated offices, this time about Oliver's unreliability. Isabel wants Oliver to stop missing important meetings and to take more responsibility in his position as a partner in the company. Leading a double life is hard - too bad he can't just tell her to lay off because he's actually off fighting crime every other night.

Felicity calls Oliver away from his meeting with Isabel because according to Roy some sort of fake money deal is going down. When he arrives he tries to get Roy to vacate the scene, but Roy of course stays and ends up getting arrested when a fight breaks out. Maybe the Arrow should formally train his apprentice so he stops getting arrested all the time.

Diggle also doesn't make it out of there safely. He is captured by a woman named Amanda Waller, who works for A.R.G.U.S. Waller steps out of the DC comics but we're not sure of her position on the show. What we do know is that Lyla Michaels (Diggle's army contact) is missing. Lyla was busy tracking down Deadshot (the accurate assassin that killed Diggle's brother) and so Amanda tasks Diggle with finding and bringing Lyla back.

Down at the precinct, Mr. Lance lets Roy go because they're both in cahoots with the Arrow. Of course Mr. Lance tells Thea that its because Roy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The "in the dark" storyline can only remain a conflict for so long. We think it's time to let Thea in on the secret. Or one of the secrets. How many secrets is she not privy to at the moment?

Lyla Michaels was Looking into the whereabouts of Deadshot in Russia as per Diggle's request so now he feels responsible for getting her back. Diggle tells Oliver and Felicity that he has to find a friend and Oliver Being the good friend he is says that of course they're coming with to help him out.

Isabel catches up with the trio and is pissed that as a partner in the company they didn't inform her that they were interacting with their partners in Moscow. As annoying as Isabel can be, she does bring up some valid points. So what does Isabel think Oliver was doing with the company jet? Taking it for a little joy ride with his blonde, beautiful assistant. Yup, Isabel thinks Oliver and Felicity are getting it on. Oliver assures her it's definitely not like that (yet).

Moira's lawyer comes to the club to tell Thea that she has to break up with Roy because it could hurt her mother's case. The jury won't be too sympathetic when the defendant's daughter is dating someone who has been arrested multiple times.

Oliver and Diggle go to meet with Oliver's Russian mafia contacts. After toasting to "strength" over shots of vodka, Oliver's contact shows them pictures of Lyla and tells them that she's Being held in a facility called the Gulag. Too bad The Gulag's security is extremely tight and the only way they're getting in is as prisoners.

Well, that's the only way Diggle is getting in. He convinces Oliver that he's the one that has to do this and that it's too risky for Oliver. This would be a more valid argument if Oliver didn't risk his life pretty much every night. Luckily, their mafia contact has his own contact in the prison that can get them out safely once Diggle locates Lyla.

It turns out Oliver's safety isn't the only reason Diggle is the one that needs to do this. Lyla isn't just some badass army woman; she is also (surprise!) Diggle's ex-wife. Did not see that coming. But it's a good twist-it makes Diggle's relentlessness in bringing Lyla home believable and poignant.

They set Diggle up with a whole bag full of drugs to ensure that he's arrested and is taken to the Gulag. In the prison. Diggle is stripped of his clothes, personal belongings, and his dignity, and then thrown in a cell.

FLASHBACK

Doctor Ivo asks if Oliver saw the Japanese imperial navy submarine. Apparently back in WWII, the Japanese were developing some stem cell genetic therapy that led to increased strength and rapid cell regeneration. In other words: Super-soldiers. The submarine was carrying all this material when it was attacked by the allied forces and was marooned on one of the islands. Now thanks to Oliver's confirmation they know that that it was in fact this island. Jerks. Ivo wants Oliver to help him but Oliver is still not over the whole "you killed my friends" thing.Sarah confesses that she thought Oliver was dead and that she had no choice but to side with the men who rescued her. Oliver confesses his friends aren't really dead because they're not that easy to kill. Careful Oliver, while we trust "canary" Sarah, who has come out on the other side of this as a fighter, we're not sure this version of Sarah is all that honorable.

Sarah takes Oliver to talk to his friends over the radio and they respond letting him know they're alive. Unfortunately, Sarah cuts him off and in comes Ivo. Turns out she was playing him and now her superiors know that his friends are in fact alive and kicking in the same spot they were in before.

The nasty guy with the gun wants to shoot Oliver but Sarah reasons that he could be useful. Ivo believes Oliver could lead him to the graves. Then Ivo calls him by his name even though he had provided him with a fake one. He tells Oliver he knows exactly who he is and that he is going back to the island. Oh boy!

END FLASHBACK

Thea breaks up with Roy saying that their relationship just isn't working for her when really she just doesn't want to do anything that could worsen her mother's chances in her trial. Man, it sucks when you have to put your social life on hold to make sure your parent doesn't get sentenced to life in prison, or worse. Just the daily struggles of a regular teenager. We're also not entirely sure why Thea couldn't just tell Roy that they had to keep their relationship on the DL for a while.

Diggle gets into a fight that lands him in some sort of punishment freezer place, where he comes face-to-face with Deadshot. Not sure about Diggle, but we're pretty sure we'd rather be pretty much anywhere else rather than chained to a pipe in a freezer with the person who shot our brother.

Oliver and Isabella bond over some vodka shots (this is becoming a trend and we like it) She tells him she doesn't really believe he's a "lazy idiot", which is probably the biggest compliment he's going to get out of her. And she opens up to him about wanting to make it in business and how difficult that is as a woman (preach). Woah, they've got some serious chemistry going on and we're not sure where it came from (was it the vodka? It was probably the vodka). They head upstairs to do the deed but Oliver warns he has somewhere to be soon. Uh, Oliver that's not exactly what a lady wants to hear when they're dragging you to bed. But apparently it doesn't faze Isabel, who just says, "I'll be quick."

In the prison, the helpful guard has unchained Diggle, but Deadshot catches up with them, having somehow gotten out of his own chains and he proceeds to kill the guard. He can't help it; the whole killer thing is in his blood.

In a surprising move, Deadshot actually brings him to Lyla. We guess he really wants to get out of this hellish prison and Diggle is his best shot.

Felicity and co. are waiting at the designated rendezvous point. She has shut down the phone lines so the guards can't call for help and an explosion has been set off to cause confusion. Diggle, Deadshot and Lyla fight their way out with a little help from Oliver.

Safe and mostly sound, they all pile into the van. But not for long. Diggle kicks Deadshot out of the vehicle. He's this close to shooting him but can't do it because he, unlike Deadshot, has honor. Deadshot for some reason tells Diggle that what he thought all along was wrong-his brother wasn't killed by mistake, Deadshot doesn't miss after all. He was in fact hired to kill Diggle's brother. Dun dun dun.

Back in the US of A, Diggle thanks Oliver for having his back rather than the other way around for a change. Diggle and Lyla have reconciled and their obvious love for each other is a nice contrast with the quick and dirty nature of Oliver and Isabel's Moscow tryst.

Oliver and Isabel pointedly don't discuss what happened in Moscow because as Felicity says: what happens in Moscow stays in Moscow. Except Felicity definitely hasn't forgotten what she accidentally walked in on Moscow and asks Oliver, "Why Isabel?" Besides the fact that they would have super hot babies together, Oliver says his life right now doesn't lend itself to a relationship with someone that he genuinely cares about. Felicity tells him he deserves better than Isabel (do we detect a bit of jealousy) and better than this life of not caring about people too much (touché).

Will Diggle ever find out who called a hit on his brother and why? Will Oliver and Isabel's affair continue? Watch next week to see if we find out! ARROW airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on the CW.

Photo Credit: Diyah Pera/The CW

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