Ep 12. Bratva

Oliver Queen - once a billionaire playboy, now vigilante superhero Arrow - has come a long way. After being stranded on a deserted island for five years, he returned home to Star City with a renewed sense of purpose. Since then, he's fought countless battles against criminals and supervillains, often with the help of his team, which includes his sister Thea, his best friend John Diggle, and the tech whiz Felicity Smoak.

In season 5, Arrow is facing a new threat in the form of Prometheus, a twisted mastermind who seems to know all of Oliver's secrets. Meanwhile, a new group of vigilantes has sprung up in Star City, led by a mysterious and deadly archer called the Green Arrow.

In "Bratva," the 12th episode of season 5, Oliver's past comes back to haunt him as he's forced to confront his ties to the Russian mafia. The episode starts with a flashback to Oliver's time on the island, where he's rescued by a group of Bratva members led by Anatoly Knyazev. They take him under their wing and teach him the ways of the Bratva, a ruthless criminal organization that has its fingers in every pie.

Back in the present day, Oliver gets a call from Anatoly, who tells him that a dangerous hacker named Kovar is in town. Kovar is the head of the Solntsevskaya Bratva, a rival organization that's been causing trouble for the Star City Bratva. Anatoly wants Oliver's help in taking out Kovar and restoring order to the underworld.

At first, Oliver is hesitant to get involved. He's spent years trying to distance himself from his past and become a hero, not a criminal. But Anatoly reminds him of the debt he owes to the Bratva, and how they saved his life on the island.

To make matters worse, the Green Arrow and his team are also after Kovar, hoping to get information that will lead them to Prometheus. Oliver realizes that he can't let his two worlds collide - he needs to keep his Bratva ties a secret from his crime-fighting comrades.

Oliver goes undercover as a Bratva member, infiltrating a meeting between Anatoly and Kovar. Things quickly spiral out of control as Kovar reveals that he knows Oliver's true identity and sets his goons on him. Oliver barely manages to escape with his life, but not before he's forced to reveal that he's the Green Arrow to one of his Bratva brothers.

The episode culminates in a tense showdown between Oliver, the Green Arrow, and the Bratva, as they all converge on Kovar's hideout. With his two worlds colliding, Oliver has to make a difficult choice - does he stay true to his principles and fight Kovar as the Green Arrow, or does he honor his Bratva debt and join forces with Anatoly?

Overall, "Bratva" is a thrilling and action-packed episode that explores Oliver's complex relationship with his past and his struggle to balance his two identities. It's a testament to the strength of the show's writing and characters that even in its fifth season, Arrow is still able to surprise and delight viewers with its twists and turns.