The Cast of ARROW Teases ‘Betrayal’

ARROW has never been shy about pulling any storytelling punches, but it seems like tonight’s brand new episode, “Betrayal,” might be the most insane hour they’ve done yet. (Which…is saying a lot.)

I was on set for a bit of the filming of tonight’s episode, and the cast gave some good teases about what you can expect…

The introduction of Cyrus Vanch marks a “different kind of villain.”

As the season has progressed, the types of villains the Arrow has had to face have evolved. And series star Stephen Amell (Oliver/Arrow) indicated that his character’s latest foe will be different than what we’ve seen so far.

“Episode 13 is all about me investigating something that is very personal to me, and we have Cyrus Vanch, played by David Anders, who is a different kind of villain,” Amell teased to reporters during a break from filming the episode in question. “If The Count was very diabolical and scheme-y, this guy is reckless and incredibly confident. I don’t come after him; he comes after me. Which is a change for us.”

In fact, Cyrus setting his focus on the Arrow could spell trouble for someone Oliver holds dear.

“He does try to flush me out by figuring out who is close to me, and if I have any weak spots and he tries to exploit them,” Amell noted. “In Starling City, we have a power vacuum right now. All the heads of organized crime and all the people who were running the show before I came back to town, they were all taken care of. So he comes out of Iron Heights Prison and he wants to assume control. So he goes after the person people are scared of, and that would be me.”

Laurel’s relationship with the Arrow will continue.

Laurel’s relationship with Oliver may be over romantically, but her newfound reliance on the Arrow will continue.

“You definitely get to see more of the relationship between Laurel and the Arrow,” Katie Cassidy (Laurel) said. “You’ll see a lot of betrayal going on…there’s going to be a lot of betrayal.”

Aside from that episode title-appropriate tease, Cassidy was also pleased the hour would be a big one for her character.

“Yeah, this episode is a big episode for Laurel,” she teased. “There’s a lot of action and a lot of things happening. There’s a huge, huge ending I’m really excited about…there’s a huge ending and this episode is so cool. I think it might be one of my favorites.”

Trouble for Detective Lance?

Detective Lance hasn’t had things entirely too easy — and to be fair, he’s pulled some shady tricks, like using his daughter as Arrow bait — and “Betrayal” will be no different.

“Detective Lance has to face up to a few things in this episode he probably was never expecting to have to face up to,” Paul Blackthorne (Lance) teased. “And it’s a little bit of a — it’s not the easiest time for him. He’s falling apart. Everything’s falling apart around him in his imaginary world and his created world, it’s going horribly wrong.”

“He needs a little bit of help in this episode,” he added. “But he always needs something.”

What is Moira up to?

Diggle has spent much of his time this season around Oliver, but in tonight’s episode, he makes it a point to stick to Oliver’s mother, Moira.

“I think there’s suspicions,” Susanna Thompson (Moira) teased. “More suspicions are being raised around her. I think there’s something that’s revealed that points to Moira. And Diggle is very suspicious of her…unbeknownst to Moira [Diggle] let her private driver go for a couple of nights and under the guise of stepping in for the driver that isn’t there, he’s driving her to see where she goes.”

Wonder what he’ll find out…

A series milestone is reached tonight.

When a show is brand new, there are a lot of little first moments to take note of. Tonight’s hour? The first hour where a director returned for their second time with the show.

“It’s also the first time we’ve had a returning director,” Amell noted. “Our first 12 directors were all slotted — Glen Winter who is our DP was supposed to direct this episode, but it didn’t work in the schedule so now he’s going to do 16, so we had Guy [Norman Bee] come back. And it’s fun now having people come back. It’s like a landmark in the series.”

Yep, there’s a big ending coming.

If you have any plans tonight, you may want to cancel them, because based on what all the actors had to say about tonight’s ending, you’re not going to want to have it ruined for you.

“I will say this: the ending of episode 13 is season finale-worthy,” Amell teased. “It comes out of nowhere, it is something people have been waiting for, and it is one of those moments that ends with people screaming at the television and clamoring for next week.”

“A lot of things are going on this episode,” David Ramsey (Diggle) added. “A tremendously big ending. But the plot thickens here. Some of the things you’re kind of seeing in the beginning in terms of suspicions — suspicions grow even more. Suspicions grow a lot in this episode.”

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ARROW airs Wednesdays at 8 PM on The CW.

Related:

ARROW: Seth Gabel Previews The Count Going Toe-to-Toe With Oliver in ‘Vertigo’
ARROW: ‘Betrayal’ Photo Preview
ARROW: David Ramsey and Andrew Kreisberg Tease ‘Trust But Verify’

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