If you were thinking Arrow was going to drag out the whole Felicity finding out that her father is The Calculator storyline then you were sorely mistaken. During Wednesday night's Arrow episode "Sins of the Father," Papa Smoak made it quite clear to his daughter (over a cup of coffee no less) that he was the super hacker she was facing off against last week. But here's the thing — he claims that he's not actually the bad guy we thought he was. In fact, he assures her that his motives are a lot like hers used to be during her hack-tivist days, but can Felicity's dad really be trusted on Arrow ? Is he actually on the side of good? As of right now, it's still a little too difficult to say.
According to Noah, his threat to kill thousands of people were completely empty and he only blackmailed Roy in order to achieve a goal for the greater good. I guess you could say he was claiming to be a vigilante of sorts. He even offered up a digital record to her of all the hacks he's done throughout the years, so that she could verify his intentions and know he's telling the truth. But on the other hand, Mama Smoak was none too keen on the idea of him getting closer to Felicity and believes that he must have another reason — a darker reason — for getting in contact now. Because, in her experience, he tells you exactly what you want to hear, so he can use you for his own means.
It's a classic parental divide that every child fears. Do you trust the mom who's always been loyal, but has built up years of bias? Or do you believe that your father is a better person than you ever realized? It's definitely a tough a call to make, which is why Felicity set up a test to see if her dad could truly be trusted. And unfortunately, he appeared to flunk with flying colors after attempting to steal information from Palmer Technology. But nothing is ever as it seems on this show, so I'm tempted to think that maybe his reasons for wanting Felicity's data aren't for sinister reasons.
Call me naive, but I just can't shake the feeling that all of this isn't as straightforward as it seems. Noah mentioned something about how he's working for someone, yet we have no idea who this mystery person is. Did the writers just not feel the need to share this piece of information or are they trying to make us think badly of Felicity's dad for as long as possible before revealing that he's actually a decent guy? His emotions seem pretty legit, but that didn't stop Felicity from calling the police and having him arrested. Let's just hope it's not a decision that she'll later come to regret.
Image: Dean Buscher/The CW