The Lances Take Center Stage on ARROW

 

Episode 404 “Beyond Redemption”

[photos: Dean Buscher /The CW]

If there is one common flaw that is in the Lance family’s DNA, it is that they are masters of deception. Tonight, both Lances’ agendas were revealed. How did Team Arrow react to these bombshells? Read on to find out…

Let’s start with Laurel!

A few weeks ago, Black Canary lied to Oliver about taking Thea to a spa. Instead of receiving massages and having cucumbers on their eyes, both ladies traveled to Nanda Parbet to visit Malcolm (the new Ra’s Al Ghul) and Nyssa in hopes to use to the Lazarus Pit raise her recently deceased sister, Sara.  Despite Ra’s early descents, he gave in to Laurel’s request after seeing Thea murder his henchmen.  After seeing Sara’s bloodthirsty attitude, an enraged Nyssa destroyed the pit and kicked the Lance women and Thea out of Nanda Parbat.

If you thought that Laurel was bad at decision making, then the apple does not fall from the tree. Detective Lance has kept his alliance with Season Four baddie Damien Dahrk from Team Arrow since the show returned from its summer hiatus.

Team Arrow assembled at Oliver Queen’s new mayoral headquarters. They scoffed at the announcement, but Oliver shared his conversation with Lance. However, the team worried that Oliver was getting in way over his head. Despite the announcement, the team was surprised with their new Team Arrow headquarters’ upgrade (thanks to Flash’s Cisco and STAR Labs).

While Detective Lance was taken aback by Oliver’s announcement, nothing could prepare him for Laurel’s little reveal: Sara came back to the land of the living.  In shock as he learned about the League of Assassins’ Lazarus Pit, he insisted that the chained-up Sara was not his daughter. However, Sara could not remember who she was.

As the Lances were trying to rectify the situation, Team Arrow stumbled on the Ghosts’ plot to take over the Star City Police Department. Oliver revealed his findings to Detective Lance, who joined Team Arrow on an assault against the rogue Star City SWAT agents. While the rogue cops stole their equipment and drugs, Lance revealed to the team that the agents they fought were indeed dirty cops.

Felicity was shocked to see Lance enter Team Arrow’s new hideout. The good captain also revealed that he reinstated the Vigilante Task Force and gave them exclusive access to Star City Police Department’s gear. Unknown to Team Arrow, Lance confronted Damian Dahrk and told him about Sara’s resurrection. Dahrk advised him to put his baby girl down and set into motion events that could possibly unravel his relationship with Team Arrow.

Due to Felicity’s hacking skills, she was able to pinpoint the activity of every officer on the Star City Police Department including Lance. Oliver was surprised to see the conversation with Dahrk.  The Archer confronted Lance about his relationship with Dahrk. Lance countered that Oliver had no right to barge into his apartment, but Oliver called his bluff. Detective Lance revealed that he got in bed with Dahrk two months after Oliver left the city. Oliver screamed at Detective Lance for hiding behind his daughters and revealed that he was always looking for his approval and that the Good Captain was the main reason why he was running for Star City mayor.

A remorseful Lance was about to pull the trigger on Sara. Laurel rushed to her father’s side and begged her not to pull the trigger. Just as he rushed out of the basement, the Star City Vigilante Squad kidnapped him and knocked out Laurel. The Anti-Vigilante Squad forced Lance to open up the SCPD Contraband storage unit. Luckily, Team Arrow was able to rescue the good captain. Before he left the scene and arrested Lady Cop, Detective Lance reminded everyone why he may be rough-around-the-edges, but he is still a good guy suffering under desperate times.

Detective Lance received an unexpected visitor in the form of Oliver Queen. The mayoral candidate asked Detective Lance to keep tabs on Dahrk. He was surprised with the amount of interns that Thea recruited for Oliver’s mayoral campaign. As Oliver celebrated the launch of his campaign, Laurel discovered that Sara was missing!

My take: I am glad that the Lance family was front-and-center in this episode. Laurel has blossomed as a character and seeing the angst between all three family members reminded me of a tension filled family reunion that happened between a child who met their birth parents (who were crack addicts) for the first time. It seems like Detective Lance got his just desserts as Oliver finally called out the Good Captain for his “Holier Than Thou” card and confessed his sins to his family.

While it might be a rough road of redemption for Detective Lance, I think that he will be able to complete it before Season Four goes on its winter hiatus.

Meanwhile, I am glad that Felicity has found a friend in Curtis Holt. This relationship had special potential to be one of TV’s great friendships.

Next week, John Constantine joins the “Arrow” family to save Sara’s soul!