Felicity's Struggle In Season Five is Her Version of the Island

02/15/2017 09:29 pm EST

As the fifth season of Arrow has progressed, Felicity Smoak's problems seem to be getting bigger and bigger.

At first, it was little stuff like having to hide her relationship with Billy Malone from Oliver until the perfect moment of reveal. That seems quaint compared to the Green Arrow being sought for the murder of Detective Malone, and Felicity being tied up with a group called Helix -- dark web hackers with questionable methods and motives, who have provided Felicity with a very suspicious piece of hardware she used to get Diggle out of jail, and which remains on her desktop in the Arrowcave.

"We really started the season wanting to have her go through some version of her own island in some way," Mericle told reporters during a screening of tonight's episode. "I would say it's going to get very interesting, and the team, they're definitely going to have very strong opinions about it. We really wanted to take her to place where she would sort of understand Oliver in a more profound way. Without giving too much away, that's what I would say about her and Helix."

If all that sounds familiar, it's possibly because "his/her version of the island" is a way the writers, producers, and stars of Arrow have frequently talked about the experiences that test their mettle and evolve them on to a better version of themselves.

"Obviously season one was all about Oliver's arc on the island," series star Willa Holland told ComicBook.com before the start of season 3. "Season two was almost like a homage for Roy's being on an island, or his version of the island. So, I've been getting teased about and am quite excited for it, the idea that season three is kind of Thea's arc, on her version of the island."

What's next for Felicity in the Helix story? Well, who knows? It's hard to imagine it will end well, given the name and the ominous shots of that device that tend to take up a lot of real estate in recent episodes. Still, they did help her expedite the search for Prometheus's mother, apparently...!

WILD DOG'S HISTORY IS REVEALED — A traumatic attack on City Hall triggers painful memories for Rene (Rick Gonzalez) about his family. Flashbacks reveal how Rene went from simple family man to a hero named Wild Dog.

Meanwhile, Oliver (Stephen Amell) must deal with the perpetrator behind the attack and realizes the best way to do so is as Mayor Queen instead of the Green Arrow. Tensions run high in the Arrow bunker.

Kristin Windell directed the episode, written by Marc Guggenheim.

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Arrow airs on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW. "Spectre of the Gun" premieres on February 15.

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