'Arrow' Season 4 Spoilers: Episode 6 Finally Explains The Return Of Ray Palmer Ahead Of His 'Legends Of Tomorrow' Spinoff [RECAP]

After a really high-concept episode last week, the CW network's “Arrow” grounded itself somewhat in episode 6, “Lost Souls.” After dropping hints throughout the season, Team Arrow finally figured out that one of their presumed dead friends had been trying to contact them all along, prompting a daring escape mission.

The episode opens with Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) frantically working on the lead she received at the end of last week’s crossover episode. Her former boyfriend, and thought-to-be dead billionaire superhero, got a message to her indicating that he didn’t die in a lab experiment gone wrong. Much to Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Curtis’ (Echo Kellum) dismay, she’s hitting nothing but dead ends and it’s starting to affect her health. While her new friend just wants her to get some sleep, Oliver can’t help but feel like the love of his life is pushing him away for her ex-boyfriend.

Just as things look hopeless, one of Felicity’s rogue algorithms comes through and a line of communication is opened up with none other than Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) -- still alive, but not looking so well. He reveals that his experiment shrunk him down to a miniature size, which was just enough to allow him to survive the explosion. Unfortunately, he’s being held against his will by an unknown enemy. His captor is demanding that he get in his A.T.O.M. armor suit and return to normal size so that he can take control of it. This whole time, Palmer has been stuck in a little glass case refusing to deliver his precious tech to the hands of a madman.

Palmer tells Oliver and Felicity that he’s developed a way to bring him back to size and Team Arrow springs into action along with their newly restored member, Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) to get the right components for the device. One aspect requires them to break into a rival tech company and steal a part. The heist seems like it’s going off without a hitch when some slightly upgraded security sends guards into the room. The second Sara gets near one, she exhibits the same rage side effects that Thea (Willa Holland) had when she first got out of the Lazarus Pit. She pummels the guard (who is just trying to do his job) within an inch of his life until the rest of the Team gets her off of him. It looks like returning from the grave requires more than a visit from John Constantine. Meanwhile, another message from Palmer reveals his captor to be none other than Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough).

Unfortunately, the team can’t focus on Sara’s issues while Ray’s life is hanging in the balance -- especially Felicity. In order to help with her stress, Oliver takes it upon himself to make the worst decision possible and invite Felicity’s mother, Donna Smoak (Charlotte Ross), to town for a visit. It seems with Ray coming back into town, Oliver is inadvertently doing everything in his power to look like the worse boyfriend option. The emotions come to a head during a dinner Oliver planned with the Smoak ladies in which Felicity dramatically reveals that she’s taking full responsibility for Palmer’s predicament. She feels that, since she was off traveling the world with Oliver, she missed Palmer’s numerous distress signals. She blames her relationship with him for allowing her to get so distracted that she’d miss something so important. She tells Oliver that she needs to take a break because she wants to be more than just a superhero’s wife.

Oliver storms out and finds himself back at the Green Arrow lair having a whiskey-fueled pep talk with his partner, Diggle (David Ramsey). The guy time works, and, thanks to a similar talk between Felicity and her mom, when the time comes for the rescue of Ray Palmer, the gang is in full working condition. However, just before they suit up for the big night, Sara returns asking if she can come along. Although she’s clearly not in control of her emotions yet, the team agrees to give her one more shot at keeping her cool in the field.

They use Darhk’s connection to Captain Lance (Paul Blackthorne) to track Palmer down to an ultra-secure building in Star City. The Green Arrow allows himself to be captured, giving the rest of the team the distraction and security vulnerabilities they need to get inside. Thea, Sara and Laurel (Katie Cassidy) burst into the lobby to crack skulls and hit the brunt of Darhk’s H.I.V.E. security forces. Meanwhile, Diggle escorts Felicity and the team’s newest member, Holt, to find where Palmer is being held and operate the rescue device.

While all this is happening, Oliver is face-to-face with Darhk once again. While the hero manages to get a good kick in thanks to the element of surprise, all the fighting skills and trick arrows in the world weren’t enough to make him a match for the villains magical powers. He narrowly escapes with his life and goes to lend backup to Diggle, Felicity and Holt. They’ve found Ray and his device to bring him back to normal size has worked. Along with his A.T.O.M. suit, the gang gets him out of the building safely, making him the second character they’ve brought back from the dead in two weeks.

Unfortunately, the mission didn’t go off completely without a hitch. After a hard-fought victory in the lobby, a lone surviving H.I.V.E. guard swoops in for a final attack. Sara gets her hands on him and, despite protest from her allies, snaps his neck. While Oliver and the others are back at the lair congratulating Palmer on a job well done, Thea and Laurel are trying, and failing, to convince Sara not to leave town once again. The episode ends on a sad note as the team has lost Sara once again and doesn’t seem to be making any headway against stopping dark.

ODDS AND ENDS:

• For Someone so smart, Holt has no idea how to look for a superhero’s chin-line.
• Not much is happening during the island flashbacks in this episode except that the jerk soldier working with Oliver is still being a jerk.
• Oliver and Diggle were almost ready to murder each other at the beginning of the season, now they’re old drinking buddies?
• Not shipping Captain Lance and Donna Smoak.
• Why did anyone think bringing Sara into the field a second time was a good idea?
• What in the world was in Damien Darhk’s box at the end of the episode?