First Published: November 13, 2013 7:35 PM EST Credit: The CW
Caption Audrey Marie Anderson as Lyla Michaels and David Ramsey as John Diggle in the ‘Keep Your Enemies Closer’ episode of ‘Arrow’
BURBANK, Calif. -- Tonight, the “Arrow” team is heading to Russia on a mission to save Diggle’s pal Lyla.
But, with no green leather-wearing Hood on regular patrol of the streets of the former Soviet Union in recent months (or, ever), Oliver Queen won’t find it easy to slip into his alter ego without attracting a lot of attention. He doesn’t have to be the main hero all the time and tonight’s new episode of The CW series sees Diggle leading the charge to try and save Lyla, and puts him on a collision course with his own arch nemesis, the man who killed his brother — Deadshot.
David Ramsey, who plays Diggle, told AccessHollywood.com that the international leap brings new challenges for the trio that make up Team Arrow, when we spoke with him ahead of tonight’s all new episode, kicking off at 8/7c.
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AccessHollywood.com: This is Diggle’s first big episode in Season 2. What can you tell us about it? It looks like a there is a lot of action, some fighting… Russians…
David Ramsey: There’s Russians, there’s fighting, there’s romance, [it’s] just a big episode for Diggle. You’re right. I can only hope for more episodes like that (laughs), but I think this is a great comeuppance story for Diggle and Deadshot. It’s been a longtime coming. [We’ve been] building up in the story for [an] episode like this between Diggle and Deadshot and I think you’re gonna really find out some things about Diggle that you didn’t know before. Team Arrow is gonna unite in a way that we didn’t before and I think that part of this is because of the location change. This is the first time we’re really leaving Starling City and of all places going to Russia. I think what’s also important to that is how does the team stay the team outside of Starling City and in a place like Russia? I think it’s gonna be very, very exciting in terms of the relationships between the three [Arrow, Diggle and Felicity] and how it works in Russia.
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Access: That brings up an interesting question — is Oliver really the only one at an advantage because he knows the language and he knows the people?
David: Mmmm… Oliver is at an advantage at that, but at the same time, Oliver is Oliver Queen in Russia. He’s not Arrow, so how much can he do? And, how much can he reveal in terms of his ability as Oliver Queen? How much can he really help? So those are really good questions and we have him helping in very interesting ways because of those restrictions.
Access: How much trouble is Lyla actually in?
David: Why she’s captured is very, very interesting and that ties us into Amanda Waller [played by Manu Bennett’s ‘Spartacus’ love interest Cynthia Addai-Robinson]. Amanda Waller ties us into a lot of stuff, so the worm hole goes very, very deep and the Russian story… it also opens up a door to some other stories that are coming, as do many of the episodes. But Amanda Waller is a big part of that storyline and a big part of Lyla and why she’s captured.
Access: From the trailer that I saw, Diggle’s going to break into the gulag (where he thinks Lyla is being held). Oliver wants to do it, but Diggle says he has to go. Why does he want to step forward? Is this a ‘man’s pride’ thing?
David: Good question. Wow, you guys get a lot of information. That’s great. This kind of connects us back to your previous question, which is how much can Oliver do because he’s Oliver, he’s not The Arrow in Russia? How much can he reveal of himself? That’s a big part of why this ultimately becomes Diggle’s story is that Oliver can only do so much outside of the protection of Starling City. If he is caught in Russia, then there’s a bigger problem, at least in Diggle’s opinion, than if something happens in Starling City. We have resources in Starling City. … I think the consensus is very quickly made that whatever plan that we’re going forward with, Diggle will play point and this is the first time you’ve kind of seen that — Diggle kind of being the point guy in one of our stories. But the way Oliver’s kind of integrated into it, the way Arrow’s integrated into it, I think it’ll be very, very interesting. A lot of fun to watch.
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Access: There was a snippet in the trailer of Diggle and Deadshot. They appeared to be chained up together. Could these enemies have to work together in this situation?
David: You would love to know do Diggle and Deadshot work together (laughs). … What that was meant to reveal to you was that Diggle comes face to face with Deadshot in Russia. Where that leads us is [Wednesday] night at 8 o’clock on The CW.
-- Jolie Lash
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