Among the things “Lost in the Flood” on this week’s Arrow are Damien’s twisted Genesis plan and his equally-twisted wife Ruvé. Found items include Thea, Malcolm’s parenting philosophy, and Noah’s conscience. Meanwhile, Oliver performs an Elven leap worthy of Legolas.

Unable to save Alex from Anarky, Thea mourns the loss of her latest Replaceable Boyfriend. I’m not sure why she is so broken up about his death since the man had all the personality of a cardboard cutout. He served as a mere stand-in for Roy Harper as will the next man who turns her head. Enter Malcolm who in the wake of Alex’s death does what Malcolm does best and often, he “saves” Thea by drugging her and turning her into a drone. Hey, at least the guy’s consistent.

Speaking of consistency, why are all the residents of the dome dressed like communist refugees? Do those yellow pills (the Pax!) cause everyone to lose their sense of fashion?

Oliver and Dig track Thea to the dome with Felicity’s help. Ruvé puts Malcolm in charge of eliminating the duo. In their effort to do so, Darhk’s henchmen lay waste to perfectly manicured gardens and split-level abodes with a hail of bullets that never manage to hit their target. Oliver performs the aforementioned spectacular leap, talks a drugged Thea out of killing him, and in a very-Felicity moment sings a song of hope (though not literally, we are still talking about Arrow here).

Lonnie Machin did what Oliver couldn’t and stabbed Ruvé Darhk in the chest with an arrow. Was it wrong to clap at this moment? Because I clapped. Oliver had the sense to leave Ruvé for dead, though he saves her young daughter who appears perplexed by the sight of a guy in a green hood and another in a black mask.

Across town Felicity has her hands full attempting to take Rubicon from Darhk and her ex-boyfriend Cooper. In the previous episode (“Monument Point”) Darhk took control of the world’s nuclear weapons and Felicity regained control of all but one of them which destroyed the city of Havenrock. She inadvertently killed “tens of thousands” of people in an effort to save millions. The historian in me is still not over Arrow’s decision to detonate a nuclear bomb in this fictional universe. One of the dangers with amping up the stakes season after season is the risk of trivializing actual human suffering and destruction.

There is a difference between a missile strike and a nuclear strike, even in a comic-book universe. Recovering from a nuclear explosion is not equivalent to neutralizing an immortal mad man possessed by dark magic. Lumping them all together strips them of their weight and meaning. Felicity ought to feel the effects of her action to send the bomb off course, thus inadvertently annihilating a city. She does not, however, have time to dwell on this at present since she and her father Noah must engage in a hack-a-thon to save the world from nuclear Armageddon.

Charlotte Ross continues to prove her indispensability as Donna Smoak, deftly moving from anger to compassion to humor as she deals with her ex-husband. Her worst nightmare threatens to come true as she watches her daughter work side-by-side her criminal father. They are attempting to save the world, but Donna knows more than Felicity or the audience does about Noah’s unsavory depths. Donna admits to Felicity that she made the difficult choice to pack up her young daughter and leave Noah behind years ago, and not the other way around. Noah would have stayed in Felicity’s life if Donna had allowed him to. As a testament to their bond, Felicity forgives her mother for misleading her about her father’s actions, though that forgiveness comes a little too quickly. One suspects (and hopes) that Felicity has several bombshells to process in the coming months.

Noah and Felicity, with some help from Curtis, knock Rubicon offline. Darhk finds this setback and the death of his evil bride rather upsetting. Oliver will have to dig deep to find hope after the flood and save Star City.