Arrow Scoop: Oliver Will Be Faced with Saving the Life of His Enemy

Oliver may have to save the life of the man who tried to kill him. He just doesn't know it yet.

On Wednesday's episode of Arrow, Oliver (Stephen Amell) will attempt to save the life of Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman), who previously had a hit put out on him by Moira (Susanna Thompson)! Lest we forget, in an attempt to get out of the Undertaking, the Queen matriarch enlisted the help of China White (Kelly Hu) to kill Merlyn — and that dastardly white-haired villain will use Deadshot (Michael Rowe) to do it. Little does Oliver know, the man he's trying to save is also the Dark Archer, who previously put Oliver in the hospital.

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"He doesn't know anything about Malcolm Merlyn's alternate identity of the Dark Archer, so in a very bizarre way, he's going to try to save the life of the man that he almost lost his to," says Geoff Johns, the DC Comics vet who penned Wednesday's episode. "When people he cares about are going to be caught in the crossfire, he's got to get involved."

But the hit might backfire since Moira plans it to take place during a very public benefit honoring Malcolm that his son Tommy (Colin Donnell) begrudgingly decides to attend. Since Moira wants to get out of the Undertaking to protect her children, she may feel conflicted about putting someone else's kid in harm's way. "Moira regrets most of the decisions she makes," Johns says. "In trying to fix or correct those bad decisions, she makes more bad decisions. This stuff will haunt her for a while."

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Meanwhile, Oliver will also have trouble balancing his extracurricular vocation and his budding flirtation with ex McKenna Hall (Janina Gavankar). "Finding that balance is something that Oliver has got to prove to himself that he can do," Johns says.  He gets back [from the island] and suddenly he's emotionally charged with all these relationships he's trying to pick up where they left off, and new ones are forming. He's being lured back in to real life and we'll see how that balance is going to turn out very soon."

Do you hope Oliver and McKenna can make it work? Or should Ollie get back with Laurel (Katie Cassidy)? Hit the comments! 

Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.