SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for "Dark Waters," the midseason finale of "Arrow," which has yet to air on the west coast as of publication.


"Dark Waters," the freshly aired midseason finale of "Arrow," ended 2015 in dramatic fashion after Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) was shot, perhaps fatally, with her fate unresolved as of the episode's conclusion. in a crueler twist, earlier in the same episode she became engaged to Oliver (Stephen Amell), following his aborted proposal attempt earlier in the season.

After Felicity's mom Donna (guest star Charlotte Ross) finds an engagement ring in a box of Christmas lights, Felicity learns that Oliver planned to propose to her three months prior. Ollie later proposes to her at the end of the episode (she, of course, says "yes") at a public lighting of a Christmas tree much to the delight of their families, friends and hundreds of attendees.

The episode then cuts to a very domesticated Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) having a very special Christmas moment with a woman and young girl, who are presumably his wife and daughter, before quickly cutting back to Oliver and Felicity, blissfully leaving the Christmas tree lighting in a limousine.

But this is "Arrow," and the always-eventful mid-season finale (last year's ended with Oliver's apparent demise), and Darhk's ghosts attacked the just-engaged couple. After what looked to be a narrow escape, we see that Felicity was shot, quite possibly fatally -- remember the gravestone Oliver and Barry Allen met at in the season premiere? We'll have to wait and see what happens, but it's too bad that Nyssa destroyed the Lazarus Pit earlier this season.

Elsewhere in the episode, Darhk launches a drone attack during a clean-up of the Star City Bay that prompts Oliver, from his capacity as a mayoral candidate, to publicly call out the villain and his secret organization, H.I.V.E. Darhk later responds by crashing Ollie's campaign holiday party and abducting those closest to him: Diggle, Thea and Felicity. The Green Arrow also learns Darhk's plan: to unleash an airborne virus known as "the bloom," because, in his words, "humanity needs a reset."

Check back with CBR later this evening for our full recap of "Dark Waters." "Arrow" returns to The CW with new episodes on Jan. 20.