Original Air Date (CW): November 6, 2013
We open to a flashback from 6 years ago on the Queen’s Gambit. Sara and Oliver are celebrating the betrayal to their friends and family. During their intimate moment, the boat is hit by a wave and Sara is swept out to sea.
“Sara, we’re going to be fine” – Oliver
Present
Sara wakes up in Queen Manor. She was having nightmare. Oliver tries to get Sara to tell her family that she is alive.
At the prison, Oliver arrives for a meeting to discuss his mother’s upcoming hearing. Laurel has been assigned to sit second chair for the prosecution. Moira is offered a plea bargain for life imprisonment (with the possibility of parole) or the death penalty if she refused. Oliver confronts Laurel only to find that she has become emotionally numb from everything that has happened.
Flashback: Sara
Sara awakes on a floating door to the Queen’s Gambit (and yes, Mr. Cameron, there is room for two on that door as well) as a canary lands near her. The canary flies off toward a freighter.
Present:
Oliver tries again to have Sara see her family and thinks that it has to do what happened on the island. She tells him that it is because of what she did after her time on the island.
“Well that’s the thing about forgiveness, you can’t get it until you ask for it” – Oliver
A masked man breaks into a window of Queen Manor and Oliver first believes it to be Merlyn. Sara and Oliver begin to fight the intruder. Oliver subdues the intruder but gets away when he creates a distraction that focuses his attention toward Sara.
At the Arrowcave, Oliver introduces Digg and Felicity to Sara. Oliver explains to the team that there is a copycat Merlyn out there that knows Oliver’s identity. Sara confesses that the copycat is after her and not Oliver. He is Al-Owal, a member of League of Assassins… and so is she! The League had rescued her and her payment was to become part of them.
Moira wants to take the plea deal. Oliver knows she hiding something and wants to know what it is. She ignores his request and wants him to make Thea understand the choice she has made.
Have you found someone for me to hit yet? – Oliver
Felicity tracks down Al-Owal and Oliver decides to make the fight his own. When The Arrow confronts Al-Owal, he learns that this man had trained Malcolm Merlyn. Black Canary appears to provide back up.
“The child of Ra’s al Ghul awaits your return” – Al-Owal
Two more assassins appear out from the shadows and begin to attack The Arrow and Black Canary. Our heroes make their escape after Canary has suffered some cuts to her back. As they flee, Al-Owal warns her that he will go after her family next. Back at the Arrowcave, Felicity offers to tell Lance to leave town for a few days. Oliver will try and keep and eye on Laurel.
As Lance is getting off of work for the evening, Felicity warns him that the League is targeting him. Lance asks what he did to piss off the assassins and Felicity struggles trying to come up with a story. He doesn’t listen to her and goes home.
Meanwhile, Oliver picks up Laurel from work to offer his friendship and take her to dinner.
Felicity tells the team that Lance won’t budge and Sara makes the decision to watch over her father. Digg tries to follow but Sara won’t have any of it. The League is much stronger than Digg and she is trying to protect him.
As Lance is being over-cautious while walking to his car, Sara appears out of the shadows. The two embrace in a really strong emotional moment. I would like to say that Paul Blackthorne is one of my favorite actors. He keeps showing up in many of the regular shows that I watch and I’m glad he has a full time gig.
The two catch up at a Chinese restaurant. A waitress drops a napkin holder with a crash, which causes Sara to grab a knife and jump to fighting stance. Lance sees this and asks if she is trouble. He begins to piece it together that she knows The Arrow and that she is the woman in the mask.
“You sent Felicity Smoak to warn me to leave town. You know The Arrow. You’re the girl in the mask. You’ve been kicking the crap out of creeps in The Glades.” – Lance
Flashback: Sara
Dr. Anthony Ivo leads Sara into a room and locks the door. He tells her that he experiments on the prisoners and wants her to help him.
Present:
Oliver walks Laurel to her apartment after dinner. She moves in to kiss him and is quickly rejected. Laurel takes this as an indication that everyone in her life has left her. Sara left with Oliver, Lance fell into a bottle, her mother drove off, and Tommy died (Well, you can’t argue with that logic). Laurel is about to walk inside when she sees that her door is open. Oliver checks it out and finds a knife stuck in a wall. He leaves and Laurel starts popping pills.
Sara brings Lance to the Watchtower in perfect timing for Al-Owal and two assassins to appear. She had been expecting them and had set up traps around the place.
“You should be mindful of your surroundings” – Sara
The Arrow arrives just in time and takes out one of the assassins. The other is shot by Lance. Sara breaks Al-Owal’s neck, granting his ‘freedom’ and sends the surviving assassin to return to Ra’s al Ghul with a message of leaving her family alone. Lance has to keep the knowledge of Sara being alive in order to protect the rest of her family.
Thea and Oliver return to the prison to tell Moira that no what secret she has, they will still love her. With the support of her family, she reconsiders taking the plea.
Sara has gone and Oliver has seen what secrets can do to a person. Over vodka, he begins to open up to Digg of what had happened during the 5 years he was gone.
“The five years I was gone, I wasn’t always on the island” – Oliver
Flashback: Oliver
Oliver is thrown into the same room were Sara learned Dr. Ivo’s plan. She appears above him and kicks him in the gut when tries to speak. She then walks away into the shadows.
Until next week…
Trick arrows used in this episode:
Grapple Arrow
1 Comment