Arrow season 5, episode 10 recap: The return of Laurel Lance?

Did Laurel Lance really return from the grave? Find out in this recap of the winter premiere of Arrow titled “Who Are You?”

The episode opens exactly where the midseason finale of Arrow left off. Oliver Queen returns to the Arrow Cave and is greeted by an alive and well Laurel Lance. In shock, Oliver asks how exactly she is back from the dead. Her answer will tip off any fan that also watches Legends of Tomorrow that Laurel is lying.

She claims that just as she was about to walk into the white light, Sara arrived and brought her aboard the Waverider. Using the ship’s advanced technology, Laurel was saved and has been spending some quality time with Sara. The alarm should be going off in Oliver’s head that something is wrong seeing as they buried a body, and he has seen Sara and the Legends since Laurel’s death. But he is too excited by her return to question the story.

Luckily, Felicity shows up a little while later and is not as quick to believe this story. She questions why Laurel is back now, nine months later. It is not exactly adding up. But someone coming back from the dead should be celebrated, so Oliver and Felicity throw Laurel a welcome back party.

Thea is out of the country and Diggle is in jail, but the rest of Team Arrow gathers to celebrate Laurel’s return. Only most of them feel that it is a little too soon to be celebrating anything. And it turns out Felicity only agreed to the party so she could test Laurel’s DNA.

She runs the DNA test back at the Arrow Cave and it comes back as a match for Laurel. Rory is there as well to joke that maybe Laurel has an evil twin somewhere, not realizing that she really does. Just as Felicity finishes telling Rory about Black Siren, Laurel’s evil doppelgänger from Earth-2, she arrives and attacks them.

Realizing that using Black Siren would add extra hurt to the attack, Prometheus broke her out of the pipeline at S.T.A.R. Labs – that place really needs better security. But Black Siren has failed in her mission and Prometheus is not happy.

So Laurel asks to meet Oliver in front of the Black Canary statue. She pleads to him that she was just being used by Prometheus and needs help. Alas, Felicity is not buying this story and gets the rest of the team to attack and capture Black Siren.

Oliver is not happy with this. He believes that Black Siren can be redeemed and is willing to do whatever it takes to bring out the good in this Laurel. Felicity on the other hand just want to use her to get to Prometheus. Her only focus is getting revenge for Billy’s death. So she lets Black Siren go but places nano-trackers in her water.

The trackers work and lead Team Arrow straight to Prometheus and Black Siren. To neutralize her powers, Curtis has constructed a portable power dampener so they actually have a fighting chance. But this is a TV show, so it doesn’t work until exactly the right moment.

Oliver has to choose between taking down Prometheus or saving Felicity from Black Siren. He chooses Felicity. After another attempt to appeal to this Laurel’s good side, Black Siren starts using her powers to kill them. That is when Curtis finally gets the power dampener to work. Felicity then punches Black Siren in the face, and Laurel is locked up again.

Felicity is upset that Prometheus got away again, and Oliver promises that they will eventually catch him. They then make their way over to the Black Canary statue the was destroyed earlier in the episode when Team Arrow captured Black Siren. Oliver is upset that he could not save this Laurel, but it has inspired him to find the next Black Canary.

Cut to a bar in Hub City. A woman gets into a fight with two guys. After hearing a Canary Cry, the guys go flying through a window.

Other highlights from this episode of Arrow:

Oliver gets D.A. Adrian Chase to try and free Diggle from prison. But Diggle is about to be transferred to the military and likely killed before he ever gets a trial. Adrian has Diggle punch him in the face so Diggle has to stay in Star City.
On Earth-2, Oliver died 10 years ago. That is what led to Laurel seeking a fresh start in Central City before the particle accelerator explosion.
Curtis is upset about Paul leaving him and constantly getting beat up. It is Rene who ends up giving him a pep talk. Curtis may not be the best fighter on Team Arrow, but he adds a lot to the team. It is this talk that inspires Curtis to create the portable power dampener.
In the flashbacks, Oliver is getting tortured by the Bratva for trying to kill Kovar. His options are to obey or be killed. Oliver ends up being saved by a woman in a black hood who turns out to be Talia al Ghul.