This week, we see the return of Tom Amandes as Felicity’s dad but Amandes will always be Dr. Harold Abbott of Everwood to me.

Father-Daughter Hack Time

We open at a Russian Missile Control Center and we soon learn that Darhk has initiate Rubicon as the launch sequence has begun for the nuclear warheads there. According to Felicity, Team Arrow only has 20 hours to try and stop all the nuclear missiles from launching. Lyla says that Waller has made Rubicon virtually unhackable but Oliver has faith that Felicity can hack it. However, Felicity recognizes the complexity of the code and knows only person that can hack Rubicon and that is her father, Noah Kutler aka the Calculator.

But you know who else is after Noah? Darhk who knows that Felicity’s dad is the only person that can stop Rubicon. So Darhk sends Brick (remember him?) and Murmur to kill Noah. When the Green Arrow and Diggle go to where Noah is hiding out, they see that he has escaped, narrowly missing Brick and company.
As Felicity is looking at some code, she notices Rackspur and asks her mom if that sounds familiar to her. Donna says it is a cabin where she believed Felicity was conceived. Beforehand, Oliver and Diggle were checking out a lead as where Noah might be. Oliver encourages Diggle to tell Lyla the truth about killing Andy but not in self-defense. Oliver says it never ends well when you lie to your lady love and he knows from experience.

Unfortunately, Brick and HIVE ghosts arrive at Rackspur. Noah does fire off some shots and takes down some ghosts but Brick catches up ot him and is about to kill him. Thankfully, the Green Arrow and Diggle take down Brick and Felicity arrives in her trusty van to scoop up her father.

At the loft, Noah agrees to help Felicity. Despite being a bad father, Noah wants to help because he doesn’t want to lose his daughter to Genesis. Noah also promises not to steal from Felicity again. However, Noah requires the quantum processor that Palmer Tech is developing.

So when Felicity goes to Palmer Tech to retrieve the processor, she finds out that the board has fired her for not doing her job as CEO. I don’t blame them because they don’t know her other job as Overwatch. So Team Arrow is forced to steal the processor but unfortunately, Noah is only able to clone 90% of the processor. While trying to steal the processor, Noah tries to explain himself to Felicity on why he was such a crappy father but Felicity feels that it is a bad time for explanations.

In order to stop Rubicon, Team Arrow heads to a data center. Father-daughter work at hacking Rubicon. While working, the Green Arrow and Noah have a heart-to-heart on the difficulties of living a double life. When Noah does something, it triggers an alert to HIVE. So Green Arrow, Diggle and Lyla’s ARGUS agents deal with the HIVE ghosts arriving to the data center.

Felicity and Noah have managed to stop the nuclear missiles from launching except for one. Noah has put in a loop to stop the missiles from launching as Rubicon tries to circumvent the hack. But that one missile that has launched? It is heading to Monument Point. Felicity manages to redirect it to a smaller town but none the less, the body count is in the tens of thousands. Lyla reassures Felicity that if the missile had hit Monument Point, a couple of million lives would have been lost.

When that one nuclear missile launched, Ruve Darhk evacuated City Hall. Oliver realizes that is where Darhk’s Nexus Chamber is. The Green Arrow and Diggle go to City Hall and find the Nexus Chamber but sees the idol feed into Darhk all the souls that died becoming more powerful.

Donna and Lance

Donna has found an affidavit that Lance is planning on signing that states he had no clue that Laurel was the Black Canary. By signing the affidavit, Lance will get reinstated back on the police force. But Donna knows that the affidavit is a lie and doesn’t want Lance to lie just to get his job back. Lance believes a small lie is justified if it means he can go back to being a cop and helping people. But Donna disagrees and doesn’t want someone she loves to lie. This is the first time that Donna has told Lance she loves him but Lance doesn’t say it back. Later, Donna reads the amended affidavit where Lance does admit to knowing Laurel was the Black Canary. Donna is pleased that Lance has told the truth and it doesn’t matter to her if he is not a cop. It is a sweet moment between the two.

The Ark

Thea is trapped in the Ark and isn’t surprise to see Malcolm is also there. Thea is tired of hearing that Malcolm did what he did for her protection. Malcolm tells Thea about Genesis but she only wants to see Alex. When Thea finds Alex, she sees him helping welcome Darhk’s followers to the Ark. Thea sees that Alex is drinking the Kool-aid that Ruve has been giving him.

Aside from being trapped in the Ark, Thea has also to contend with Anarky who has broken into the Ark seeking revenge against Darhk. Malcolm tells Thea that Anarky is holed up in a house that contain the ventilation system of the Ark. If that goes down, then there is no breathable air when Genesis happens.

In the basement, Thea tries to talk some sense into Anarky but he wasn’t going to listen to reason so Malcolm hits him with an arrow. Malcolm finds explosives and does manage to disarm it.

When Thea goes to the backyard of the house, finds Alex unconscious on the porch. Anarky tells Thea that Alex is fine. Anarky doesn’t understand why Thea allows herself to be defined by men and notes that she is a Queen in her destiny. Anarky and Thea fight. Alex wakes up but Anarky shocks him again but this time kills him. Thea knocks him out and mourns Alex.

Island Flashback

I feel that these flashbacks are the weakest element of Arrow. So this week’s island flashback really was just that when Tianna grabbed the idol from Rieter and is running through the woods, her eyes started to glow gold. This indicates that Tianna has the same powers as Rieter. And is Rieter dead after Oliver pumped his body filled with bullets and blew him up with a grenade? The answer to that is yes he probably is.