Arrow Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 23 - Unthinkable

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

The good news is STAR Labs' cure for Mirakuru works, as a fully-recovered Roy Harper proves.  The bad news is that Amanda Waller is calling in an airstrike to destroy Starling City.  And the only back-up Oliver Queen has to save his hometown are kill-happy members of the League of Assassins.  As John Diggle and Lyla Michaels race to ARGUS HQ to try and buy the rest of Team Arrow more time, Oliver Queen will have to make several unthinkable choices.  For Slade Wilson has promised to kill the woman he loves... whoever she might be.

In the flashbacks, Oliver Queen confronts Slade Wilson for the first time.  Will Oliver choose to save his former friend?  Or will circumstances force his hand to take another path?


Influences

Green Arrow Year One (The flashback sequences), Green Arrow: Quiver (The trailer for The Flash), Green Arrow: Heading Into The Light (Green Arrow and his allies fighting a running battle as supervillains destroy his city), Green Arrow: Road To Jericho (Deathstroke takes the woman Oliver Queen loves as a hostage) and David Goyer's SuperMax (a high-security super-villain prison, contained on an island like Alcatraz).


Artistry

Both of the battles between Slade and Oliver - the one five years ago and the one in the present - are inter-cut beautifully.  The fight choreography is amazing and well-shot by the cameramen - a welcome change from other action shows where the cameras are right in the actors' faces and the action is too poorly lit to see anything.


Trivia

As in 221 and 222, this episode does not begin with the standard "My name is Oliver Queen" introduction.

The group of soldiers Amanda Waller sent to take control of The Giordano tunnel out of Starling City is referred to as Easy Company.  This was also the name of a fictional WWII US Army infantry unit, headed by Sgt. Rock in the comic Our Army At War.  The commander of this Easy Company is Sgt. Gomez.

The Giordano Tunnel is named after Dick Giordano - an artist and inker at DC Comics, who later became Vice President and Executive Editor.  He won the 1970 Shazam award for Best Inker for his work with Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams on the Green Lantern/Green Arrow series that majorly redefined the character of Oliver Queen.  Among his many creative works, he also drew a Black Canary mini-series, two issues of Birds of Prey and one Green Arrow annual.

When Diggle and Lyla break into ARGUS HQ, it is 52 minutes until the time of impact for Waller's drone - another New 52 reference!

Deadshot makes use of Amanda Waller's nickname from the comics - "The Wall".

The trailer for The Flash TV series contains a callback to Green Arrow: Quiver by Kevin Smith.  That story revealed that Oliver Queen and Barry Allen used to amuse themselves by "racing" Ollie's arrows against Barry's super-speed, with Barry having to catch Ollie's arrow before it hit its target.

The "Super-Max" prison that Ollie leaves Slade locked in is a reference to a movie script by Man of Steel writer David S. Goyer.  Originally titled SuperMax, the title was changed to Green Arrow: Escape From SuperMax and would have detailed Green Arrow being framed for murder, locked in an inescapable prison for super-villains and having to escape to clear his name.  The design for the prison was inspired by Alcatraz - an island prison - which seems similar to the jail that ARGUS seems to have created to house Slade Wilson and - presumably - other super-criminals that cannot be kept in a normal jail.

Unlike previous episodes, Roy Harper seems to be competent with a bow in this episode.


Technobabble

Oliver has a number of "Injection Arrows" which can be custom-fitted with any liquid - in this case, the Mirakuru cure.


Dialogue Triumphs

Thea: If you're going to kill me, just.... get it over with.
Merlyn: Kill you?  Why?  Because you shot me?  I'm glad you did!
Thea: ... you're sick!
Merlyn: Perhaps.

Sara: To fight the unthinkable, you have to be willing to do the unthinkable.

Ollie: How are you feeling?
Roy: Ready to serve up some payback.
Ollie: Then remember your training.  Remember everything you've learned.
*Ollie hands Roy a box.  It contains a mask, like Ollie's but red instead of green*
Roy: Are.. are you for real?
Ollie: Someone... a friend... once told me that if you survive a crucible, you grow the stronger for it.   This is to remind you of that.

Quentin: Look, I know you said you're trying another way and I respect that.  But Slade Wilson and his men - they're monsters!  And monsters, they need to be destroyed!  You've killed before.  Tonight, I suggest you get back in the habit.
*Quentin leaves the room*
Felicity: He's wrong.
Ollie: He's right.  I've lost everything because I'm fighting Slade Wilson with one hand tied behind my back.  The man murdered my mother.  I have to kill him.
Felicity: You told me you had a choice.  That years ago you could have cured Slade but you chose to kill him instead.  This isn't happening because you're not willing to be a killer.  It's happening because you were one.
Ollie: You're right.  That's how this started.  That's how it has to end.  The only move he's left for me is to kill him.  I can't cure him!  I can't capture him! I can't even out-think him!
Felicity: Then don't!  Make him out-think you.

Ollie: Slade took Laurel because he wants to kill the woman I love.
Felicity: I know!  So -
Ollie: - so he took the wrong woman.
Felicity: ... oh.
Ollie: ... I love you.  (pauses) Do you understand?
Felicity: ...yes.

Deadshot: What the hell is this?  Early parole?
Diggle: Waller's looking to bomb Starling City.  We need your help to stop her.
Deadshot: As much as I'd love to show The Wall what we think of her, there's still the little matter of "tick tick BOOM!" Okay?  We've all got minature bombs on our spines!
Lyla: You'll have to trust us.
Diggle: And Lawton?  No dropping bodies.
Deadshot: Yeah, sure... take the fun out of it.

Ollie: It's over, Slade!  Your army is broken!
Slade: And I pity them.  But once again, you miss the point.  I have the one you love.  You're going to meet me where I say.  Otherwise I am going to kill her.
Ollie: Yeah, you do what you have to.  I'm done playing your games!
Slade: You are done when I say you are done! I was surprised I thought you had a thing for stronger women.  But now that I've met her I can see the appeal.  She is quite lovely... your Felicity.

Slade: When her body lies at your feet... her blood wet against your skin...THEN you will know how I feel!
Ollie: I already know how you feel.  I know what it's like to hate.  To want revenge.  And now I know how it feels to see my enemy so distracted that he doesn't see the real danger is right in front of him.
*Felicity stabs Slade with a syringe full of the Mirakuru cure*

Nyssa: I know the power of a father's love and I would die before I let anything happen to your daughter.
Quentin: Well, here's hoping.

Thea: Roy - I'm sorry.  I made a mistake.  I thought I could still be with you.  I thought I could still be Thea Queen.  But Thea Queen was trusting.  And I don't trust you.  Or anyone.  Not anymore.  Thea Queen was also weak and no matter what it takes I will be strong.  Don't try to find me. You won't.  Even I don't know where I'm going.  I only know one thing.  I am never coming back.

Slade: Where am I?
Ollie: As far away from the world as I could get you.  Where you can't hurt anyone ever again.
Slade: That's your weakness, kid.  You don't have the guts to kill me.
Ollie: No.  But I have the strength to let you live.
Slade: Oh, you're a killer.  I know.  I created you.  You've killed plenty.
Ollie: Yes, I have.  You helped turn me into a killer when I needed to be one.  And I'm alive today because of you.  I made it home, because of you.  And I got to see my family again.  But over the past year I've needed to be more.  And I faltered.  But then I stopped you.  Without killing.  You helped me become a hero, Slade.  Thank you.
Slade: *pounding on the bars* You think I won't get out of here?!  You think I won't kill those you care for?!
Ollie: No, I don't.  Because you're in Purgatory.
Slade: *pouning on the bars* I keep my promises, kid!  I keep my promises!


Continuity

We see Lyla Michaels for the first time since 216.  She flies to Starling City to save Diggle in an ARGUS helicopter, armed with a bazooka.

It is revealed that Thea did shoot Malcolm Merlyn at the end of 222.  It is further revealed that Merlyn was wearing a Kevlar vest.

Merlyn refers to the events of 123 where Tommy pulled a gun on him but did not fire it.

Felicity lies about Roy having been out-cold since his kidnapping in 219, avoiding talking about the events of 220.
Nyssa al Ghul - last seen in 213-  shows up with six members of the League of Assassins.  They agree to help protect Starling City in exchange for Sara rejoining them.

Felicity graduated from MIT in 2009.  No word on what her precise degree was in or what level it was at.

Ollie refers to what Sebastian Blood told him about crucibles in 204.  After some hesitation, he refers to Blood as a friend.

Nyssa seems to kill Isabel Rochev.  It is unclear, however, if Rochev was given the Mirakuru cure before Nyssa delivered what was seemingly a death blow.

Despite Ollie's instructions to sink the Amazo after waiting one hour, Anatoly waits two hours before launching his last torpedo.

Thea tells Roy about how Sin told her about how he was injected with "some drug" as Roy begins to tell her the truth.  This happened back in 220.

Sara is washed out to sea again as the Amazo sinks, in the exact same way she was washed overboard as The Queen's Gambit sank in The Pilot.

Waller reveals that Lyla Michaels is pregnant with John Diggle's child.  The gender of the child is not revealed and Diggle doesn't choose to reveal this information to Ollie and Felicity later.

Flashbacks during Ollie's confrontation of Slade reveal that Ollie found the hidden cameras Slade placed in Queen Manor during 215 and that he passed Felicity a syringe full of the Mirakuru cure while confessing his love in front of one of these cameras earlier in this episode, hoping that Slade would miss the slight-of-hand due to his fixation on killing Ollie's true love.

We find out that Ollie defeated Slade five years earlier after Slade became trapped under a piece of the Amazo as it was sinking.  He taunted Ollie, who had the Mirakuru cure in one hand and an arrow in the over, and told Ollie that even if he was cured he would still kill Ollie's loved ones.  Ollie drove the arrow into Slade's eye by hand.

Sara leaves with Nyssa and the other assassins on the ship The Nordic Pearl.  She gives Laurel the leather jacket from her Canary costume, saying that she thinks it will look good on her.

Quentin collapses shortly after Sara leaves.  A flashback suggests he suffered some kind of internal injury during his fight with Slade's men earlier in the episode when Laurel was kidnapped.  He complains about a pain in his stomach before he collapses and that he can't breathe afterward.  His lower abdomen also shows signs of bruising.

Thea discovered a bow and quiver that Roy had hidden in his room while packing.  This spurs her to leave Roy and leave Starling City with Merlyn.  She leaves Roy a Dear John letter saying she is leaving town and never coming back, saying nothing about Merlyn's return.

Slade is imprisoned in a new facility built by ARGUS on Purgatory island.  Diggle calls it Super-Max.

Ollie knows how to fly a plane.


Location

In the flashbacks, it is revealed that Ollie was taken to Hong Kong after being rescued from the sinking Amazo.


The Fridge Factor

Rochev goes down far too easily and her death - if she truly is dead - is rather anti-climactic.

Laurel doesn't do anything apart from be a hostage for the entire episode.  This only serves to make the scene at the end where Sara gives Laurel her leather jacket and says she thinks she can fill it even more painful to watch.


The Bottom Line

A great conclusion to a great season.  With the possible exception of Detective Lance, there are no fridgings and no unnecessary melodrama heading into Season Three.  October cannot come soon enough.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 22 - Streets Of Fire

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

Slade Wilson's army of Mirakuru-enhanced convicts have been turned loose upon Starling City.  A cure is on the way, but the courier delivering it has become trapped in the chaos.  And even with Quentin Lance placed in charge of the police department and The Canary back in town, it is hard to see how Oliver Queen and the rest of Team Arrow might save the city.  Meanwhile, Thea Queen is saved by a most unlikely ally - Malcolm Merlyn, who is alive and well and seeking to reconcile with his daughter.

In the flashback, Oliver plots how to board the Amazo, rescue Sara and recover Ivo's cure so he can save Slade.


Influences

Green Arrow Year One (The flashback sequences), Green Arrow: Heading Into The Light (Green Arrow and his allies fighting a running battle as supervillains destroy his city) and many Judd Winick stories which attempted to set Deathstroke up as an arch-enemy for Oliver Queen.


Goofs

How did Ollie get separated from his quiver and bow after triggering the cave-in?

Wouldn't it make more sense for Diggle to carry the injured Felicity and for Ollie to carry his own bow, as they make their escape after their van is flipped by Slade's men?


Performances

Every member of the cast is given one moment to shine and most of them get at least one good speech.  The exceptions to this are David Ramsey as John Diggle (who isn't much for speeches) and Summer Glau as Isabel Rochev/Ravager (whose speech gets cut short - see Dialogue Triumphs below).


Artistry

There is a reoccurring theme in the direction and cinematography, with close-ups on Oliver's hands and how he reacts to displays of physical affection, from how his offer of a handshake to Anatoly is turned into a hug to his slowly hugging Felicity back when she offers him a hug along with her words of encouragement.


Trivia

This episode shares its name with a Bruce Springsteen song.  The song is told from the viewpoint of a man - a self-described loser who feels alone and hopeless, which is a fair assessment of Ollie's mindset through much of this episode.

The penultimate episode of Arrow's first season - 122 - also took its name from a Bruce Springsteen song -  Darkness On The Edge of Town.  Both this song and Streets of Fire were on the same 1978 album, which was also named Darkness On The Edge Of Town.

The episode also shares a name with the 1984 cult-classic film Streets of Fire.  There's seemingly no connection between the two, save that the movie was named also named after the Bruce Springsteen song and was meant to use the song on its soundtrack.  Sadly, The Boss denied permission when he found out the studio planned to have another artist cover the song.

The theme song of Streets of Fire - Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young - does hold a few lines that seem to fit this episode.  Chief among these are a number of lyrics that could describe Sara and how she views herself in relation to Ollie  (I'm not an angel) and the final chorus could be Ollie's mantra. (The things they say and the things they do.  Nothing's gonna stop us if our aim is true. )

As in 221, this episode does not begin with the standard "My name is Oliver Queen" introduction.

Oliver's current bow is a compound bow.  Curiously, Oliver Queen in the comics preferred recurve or long bows over compounds.

One of the addresses Quentin directs his men towards is the corner of 5th and Adams.  This is a reference to legendary Green Arrow artist Neal Adams, who designed Oliver Queen's Robin Hood costume.

Quentin Lance's radio call-sign is Delta Charlie 52.  Or DC 52.  As in DC Comics and 52, which is a number of some significance in the DC Comics universe.


Technobabble

Oliver's explosive arrows have metallic heads that are larger than a standard-size arrowhead.


Dialogue Triumphs

Isabel Rochev: (To Diggle) You want to save me some time and energy?  Then tell me where I can find Felicity Smoak.  I have been aching to put a bullet in her smug little face, ever since the day-
(There is a flash of light as Felicity, behind the wheel of Ollie's van, hits Isabel at full-speed.)
Felicity: Huh.  I really thought the airbags were going to go off.

Ollie: I meant what I said.  If we're not back in an hour, you sink the freighter and get yourself home.
Anatoly Knyazev: I think maybe I prefer Bahamas.

(After being informed Mayor Blood won't call in the National Guard and the Police Chief is dead)
Quentin Lane: Well...There's only one more guy we can call.  You're not going to like it.
Lt. Pike: The vigilante.
Quentin Lance:  (shakes his head) The Arrow. (pauses) Lieutenant... I know it's breaking the law.  But what we're up against isn't about The Law.  It's about survival.  We've got masks tearing our city to pieces and we're going to need a mask to stop them.
Lt. Pike: ... make the call.

Slade Wilson: They say Nero sang as he watched Rome burn.  Now I understand why.

Sebastian Blood: What the hell is going on?  One of your juiced-up jack-boots just killed my entire office staff!  And snapped the District Attorney's neck!
Slade Wilson: ... and?

Laurel: Sara?  Where have you been?
Sara: Doesn't matter.
Laurel: Why did you come back?
Sara: I don't know.  There isn't anything here for me.
Laurel: Your family is here.
Sara: You don't know, Laurel.  About me. About who I am and who I've become.
Laurel: I know you're a hero.
Sara: I'm not a hero, Laurel.  I'm the furthest thing from it. I am Ta-er al-Asfer. That was my new name.  Because the woman that I was... the girl that I was... is gone.
Laurel: I'm not going to pretend that I've been through anything that you have.  One thing that I've learned in the past year is that these things... they don't break us.  They make us who we are.
Sara: What I am... is irredeemable.
Laurel: What was that word you said before?
Sara: Ta-er al-Asfer
Laurel: What does that mean?
Sara: It means "The Canary"
Laurel: If you're so far gone... and so irredeemable... then why would they know you by such a beautiful name?

Felicity: What's happening now isn't your fault.
Ollie: Yes it is.  I have failed this city.  Yao Fei.  Shado.  Tommy.  My father.  My Mother.  All that I have ever wanted to do is honor those people.
Felicity: You honor the dead by fighting.  And you are not done fighting!  Malcolm Merlyn?  The Count?  The Clock King?  The Triad?  Everyone who was trying to hurt this city, you stopped them!  And you will stop Slade!
Ollie: I don't know how.
Felicity: Neither do I.  But I do know two things.  You are not alone.  And I believe in you.

(After Sara saves a child from a burning building and runs off)
Mother: Who was that?
Laurel: That's The Canary.

Sebastian Blood: As a young boy, I was plagued by nightmares.  Every night I would wake up in a cold sweat, frightened and alone.  It was my father's face that haunted me.  (holds up his skull mask) And this is how I saw him.  The embodiment of desperation and despair.  I made this mask to conquer my fears.  And to remind myself why I fight.  Every day.  To give this city's most desperate a chance.

Sebastian Blood: I hope you can beat him with this.  For all of our sakes.  And when this is over, I promise you... I will do everything in my power to rebuild Starling City. And I won't just make it the way it was.  I will make it better.  Like I always planned.
Ollie: You really think... after everything that's happened... after what you've done... that they'll still let you be mayor?!
Sebastian Blood: Why not?  No one knows that I've done anything except try to save this city.  And if you tell anyone about my mask, I will tell them about yours.
Ollie: Do what you have to, Sebastian.

(Thea has a gun pulled on Malcolm)
Malcolm: If you're going to use that, you'll want to click the safety off.
(Thea does so)
Thea: I'll shoot you.  I will!
Malcolm: I can see it in your eyes.... my eyes.  They're just like mine.  Both of them filled with pain and anger, because those we loved were ripped from us.  I lost my name.  My wife.  Tommy...
Thea: Shut up!
Malcolm: You're all I have left in this world.  And you've lost everything too, Thea.  But you still have a father.  You still have...
(Thea fires the gun twice)


Continuity

People enhanced by Mirakuru can withstand the force of a car hitting them with no ill-effect.  However, three grenades or one of Oliver's explosive arrows is enough to kill them.  They are strong enough that they can easily push/slide a parked car.

Slade has at least 50 men working under him.

Anatoly Knyazev affirms his friendship with Oliver and promises him anything should they survive this - an offer Ollie took advantage of most recently in 206.  He also promises to teach Oliver Russian, which we've known Ollie could speak since the Pilot.

Quentin Lance is promoted to Detective once again.

Malcolm Merlyn is seen for the first time since 208.  His reason for coming to Starling City has nothing to do with the current chaos and everything to do with him wanting to speak to his daughter now that Moira Queen is dead.

D.A. Kate Spencer - last seen in 219 - is killed by Slade's men.

Sara once again refers to her name in the League of Assassins - Ta-er al-Asfer a.k.a. The Canary - which was first mentioned in 205.

Blood is killed by Isabel Rochev at the episode's end.


The Winick Factor

Much of Season Two's idea of Deathstroke being set up as The Arrow's greatest enemy can be traced back to the Green Arrow comics of Judd Winick.  It is worth noting that, unlike Winick, the writing team of Arrow took care to establish a history between the two characters and craft reasonable motivations for Slade to have a grudge against Ollie beyond "I'm a villain.  You're a hero.  We must kung fu fight!"


The Bottom Line

A solid hour of action that doesn't let up for a moment, with not one but three cliffhangers!  The season finale can't come fast enough!

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 19 - The Man Under The Hood

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

What remains of Team Arrow launches a daring midnight raid to destroy Queen Consolidated's Applied Science building.  It's a small victory and a Pyrrhic one, as Deathstroke seeks other means to create his army of Mirakuru-infused soldiers from a STAR Labs holding facility.  At the same time, Ollie tries to make amends with Thea - not only to save their relationship but what remains of the Queen family fortune.  And all the while Laurel Lance weighs the knowledge she has been given and ponders what she will do know that she knows Oliver Queen is The Arrow.

In the flashbacks, Ivo bargains for a quick death as he offers Ollie what he wants most - a cure for Mirakuru.


Influences

Green Arrow: Year One (the island sequences), Dennis O'Neil's Justice League of America #75 (the idea of Ollie losing his company and fortune to a corrupt business partner), Green Arrow: Into The Woods (Isbela Rochev taking over Oliver Queen's company and her motivations for doing so) and countless Batman comics where Commission Gordon is given a chance to learn Batman's secret identity but refuses to do so.


Goofs

Something occurred to me with this episode - where is Walter Steele in all of this?  Granting that he's now working for a bank instead of Queen Consolidated, you'd think he'd be involved in trying to stop Isabel Rochev's takeover and help save the Queen Trust Fund if only for the sake of his step-kids.  There may not be much he can do but you'd think he'd merit a mention!

Felicity and Diggle say they went to Roy's apartment and found it cleaned out.  What happened to the house Roy was living in back in Season One?  (Possibly destroyed during the Earthquake and he moved into an apartment afterward?)

Ivo claims he was able to create a cure for the effects of Mirakuru... despite never having access to the original formula.

Kate Spencer says it best when she warns Laurel to be careful in her continued attempts to blackmail her "because it will not always be this easy."  Laurel should not have any leverage over her father's case, much less any leverage period as a rookie assistant D.A. with only a few months experience with most of that under a recently fired/disgraced assistant D.A. who willingly withheld evidence from the defense during a major murder trial!  That's ignoring the completely legitimate issues that caused Laurel to be fired only a few months earlier regarding her substance abuse problems and her discredited claims that a popular Mayoral candidate was a murderer.  It should be ludicrously easy for Kate Spencer to paint Laurel as a classic disgruntled employee attempting to abuse her position at best and a drug-crazed lunatic at worst.


Performances

Willa Holland knocks it out of the park with her speech about how betrayed she feels.

Summer Glau is genuinely creepy as Isabel Rochev here, letting her mask crack for a moment as she reveals the obsessive woman who is determined to take everything she thought her "true love" wanted her to have.  The whole scene prompts memories of Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction.

And yet it is Paul Blackthorne who steals the show with his brief turn delivering "The Commissioner Gordon speech" about why he doesn't want to know who The Arrow is and his importance as a symbol.


Artistry

The opening heist scene as Team Arrow blows up Queen Consolidated's Applied Sciences building is well-played on all fronts.  Ditto Deathstroke's assault on the Arrow Cave before the first commercial break.

The lighting/make-up during the flashback scenes with Ollie talking to Ivo leave him looking like The Starling City vigilante from Season One.

The music as Ollie goes to stop Slade from giving his blood to his minions is particularly haunting, sounding like a combination of broken machinery and an out-of-sync heartbeat.


Trivia

The Robert Queen/Isabel Rochev affair mirrors Green Arrow: Into The Woods.  In that story, Isabel Rochev was a slave in a Siberian diamond mind owned by Queen Industries, who caught the eye of Robert Queen while on a business trip.  Somehow, she got it into her head that Robert Queen loved her and intended to leave his wife and son to make her "his queen".

Caitlin and Cisco - the two STAR Lab employees doing inventory when Deathstroke raids their warehouse - are Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon - two characters who will be reoccurring figures on the upcoming The Flash TV series.  Their names correspond to the secret identities of the super-villain Killer Frost and the superhero Vibe.  Indeed, Cisco actually asks if Caitlin is "getting a bad vibe" off of something at one point.

As Caitlin and Cisco are fleeing Slade, Caitlin unlocks the cage containing equipment that used to belong to a Dr. Arthur Light, whom she describes as "a psycho" who was fired from STAR Labs two years earlier.  This is a reference to the supervillain Dr. Light, who used light-based technology to commit his crimes.  Like Deathstroke, Dr. Light was a frequent foe of both the Teen Titans and Green Arrow.

Cisco attacks Deathstroke with a gun that seems to unleash some kind of sonic blast.  This could be the catalyst for his own future superpowers.

Reference is made to an Iris who has been visiting Barry Allen while he was in his coma.  This is a reference to Iris West - Barry Allen's on-again/off-again girlfriend in the comics and future wife in some stories.

The director of STAR Labs is Dr. Harrison Wells.  This is close to Garrison Slate - the founder of STAR Labs in the comics.

Another reference to Bludhaven - apparently Roy went there after leaving Starling City.



Technobabble

Felicity makes use of William Tockman's Skeleton Key.

Slade steals an experimental bio-transfuser from STAR Labs.  It can deliver blood from one single subject into multiple subjects at once.  It requires a massive amount of power, making it possible to track it by looking for an appropriate power spike.  

Ollie uses an explosive arrow in his fight with Slade.

Ivo says he was never able to replicate the formula for Mirakuru but he was able to create a "cure" to counteract and reverse the physiological effects of the drug.


Dialogue Triumphs

Anatoly: They say living well is the best revenge. *chuckles*  I prefer torture.

Thea: I tried to kiss my half-brother before my real father killed him!  That's how screwed up I am!  And you know the sad part?  I was actually starting to be in a good place.  I had the club.  I had Roy.  I had a brother who wasn't lying to me.  And for the first time in my crazy life, everything didn't seem so completely and totally messed up.  I thought I was going to be okay... I'm so stupid!
Ollie: You're not stupid...
Thea: No, what I am is the daughter of two mass-murderers.  Not one, but two!  So let's face it, Ollie... I was never going to be okay.  It's not in my genes.

Quentin:  There was a time I would have thrown in my badge to find out his name.  You know that.  But then I realized I didn't care who he was.  In fact, I didn't even want to know who he was.
Laurel: Why not?!
Quentin: Because I knew if I knew who he really was that he would become a person.  Maybe he's got family.  Friends.  People that care about him.  Some other life.  And then he couldn't be what I needed to him to be. What this city needs him to be.  See, The Arrow... the man...The man under the hood isn't important.  Can you imagine what it's like to be him?  What he has to live with day in, day out?  What that's got to be like?  The least I can do is sit here and do a little bit of time for him.

Ollie: Thea, whatever dad's faults were... he loved us.  All of us.  Because we were his family.  You were his daughter and some stupid blood test wasn't going to change that.  He chose us.  He chose you.  He made a decision to be your father even though he didn't have to be.  So what does that tell you?
Thea: It tells me that he was a liar.  Just like both of you.


Dialogue Disasters

The first scene in the Arrow Cave features some of the most painfully rendered exposition in the history of the show, as Ollie, Felicity, Sara and Diggle all tell each other precisely why they just did what they did in the opening scene.

Kate Spencer: How's your father?
Laurel: He'll be better once you drop all charges and sign his release papers.
Kate Spencer: He is facing eighteen months!
Laurel: Yes, but he is not going to stay here another day unless you want me to resign and embark on an exciting new career as a criminal defense attorney, whose sole ambition will be to sue the district attorney's office for wrongful arrest and reckless endangerment!
Kate Spencer: Your father will be released on his own recognizance within the hour.  And reinstated tomorrow.


Continuity

Felicity makes reference to William Tockman from 214.  She also makes use of one of his devices to break into the Queen Consolidated Applied Sciences building.

Felicity notes the Queen Consolidated Applied Science Building is the same building where they met Barry Allen in 208.

The doctor who treats Sara at the hospital following Slade's attack notes the last time he saw someone with that many scars, he was examining an Iraq war veteran.

Thea makes reference to how she almost kissed Tommy Merlyn while drunk in 106.

Felicity knows Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon as Barry Allen was moved to STAR Labs in Central City after his condition deteriorated.

Reference is made to Barry's semi-girlfriend, Iris West.  Felicity was not aware of Iris' existence.

Isbael Rochev was trained in combat by Slade Wilson.

Isabel Rochev confirms that she had an affair with Robert Queen but claims to have been his soul-mate.  She further claims that the only thing that stopped him from running away with her was Thea breaking her arm after falling off a horse the day they were going to fly off together.  The incident apparently changed Robert Queen's mind and he fired Rochev the next day and never spoke to her again.

Rochev also confirms that Robert Queen knew about Moira's affair with Malcolm Merlyn and that Thea was not his daughter but he ultimately decided it didn't matter.

Quentin Lance is attacked in prison by a convict he helped collar.  Laurel is able to parley with the D.A. to get the charges against him dismissed and arrange for him to be reinstated to the SCPD.

Roy Harper's fate is revealed.  Slade and Rochev captured him at a shelter in Bludhaven and used him to start transfusing Mirakuru-infused blood to his soldiers.  He is saved by Ollie and Diggle but is left incredibly weak.

Slade is fast enough to parry arrows with a katana.

Diggle shows up in time to save Ollie from being shot by Rochev, downing her with his own gun.  This leads Slade to give Rochev a transfusion of his own Mirakuru-infused blood at the episode's end.

Ollie steals a Mirakuru vial from Slade to use to create Ivo's cure for Roy.  He confesses to the rest of Team Arrow that he didn't mention the cure before because he was ashamed to admit it existed because he chose to kill Slade rather than try to cure him five years earlier.

On the island, Ollie killed Ivo so that Sara didn't have to.

Felicity takes the Mirakuru sample to Cisco and Caitlin.  


The Fridge Factor

Laurel's extrapolating Sara's secret identity after all this time does little but make her look like an even bigger idiot than she's been all season since it took a doctor telling Laurel about all her sister's scars to let her put two and two together, even after being told Ollie's secret identity.


The Bottom Line

The episode starts strongly and then limps towards the finish line.  The action sequences are strong but Laurel's subplot drains the episode of much of its momentum.  Every time things with Slade and Rochev start to heat up, we cut back to Laurel very slowly figuring things out or very slowly figuring out what she's going to do.  The introduction of Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow also distracts away from what should be a gripping climax heading into the season finale.  In the end, this episode attempts too much and succeeds at too little.    

Wild Speculations On The Casting Of A Third Dinah on 'Arrow'

SOURCE: CW's 'Arrow' Casts 'The Pact's' Caity Lotz as Black Canary

As the alter-ego of Dinah Drake, the actress will play a love interest for the hero.

The Pact" star Caity Lotz is set to play the Black Canary on The CW's "Arrow,"TheWrap has learned.

While the Black Canary will start out as a recurring role, Lotz is expected to eventually become a series regular, as her character will be groomed as a love interest for Arrow (Stephen Amell)


I was going to avoid commenting on this until the Arrow panel at San Diego Comic Con tomorrow. I read the above article yesterday and found it highly suspect. Ignoring what a grand slam it would be to actress Katie Cassidy, whom it had already been hinted would be taking on the Black Canary role in time, the rest of the article's facts seem way off-base with what has been reported before in regards to Summer Glau and her role on the show.

The Wrap article describes Summer Glau's character, Isabel Rochev, as "a Queen family friend and also a speculative love interest for Arrow." This flies in the face of every other bloody article about Glau's new role. More, the character of Isabel Rochev in the comics was a vicious corporate raider out to take over Queen Industries after having an affair with Oliver Queen's father, Robert. What little had been said about the character by the show's producers indicated that Glau would be a straight-forward villain in the same vein, plaguing the Queen family without a hint of romancing Ollie.

However, since The Mary Sue - who I've always found to be generally reliable about this sort of thing - is now running with this story, I thought I owed it to the public to speak on this matter in my capacity of one of the Internet's foremost Arrowheads and Black Canary experts by proxy. Because even though we'll probably get some kind of explanation for this tomorrow, there's nothing to stop us from making wild guesses today.

Here now, in no particular order of likeliness, are some possible explanations.


1. It's the Dinah Lance of Earth 2 and this will open up a whole new world for Ollie... literally.

2. Dinah Drake is Ollie and Laurel's daughter from the future, traveled back in time to ensure her birth given the likely strife between Ollie and Laurel as Season 2 opens. The romance rumors are totally false, unless Judd Winick has secretly begun ghost-writing the show.

3. "Dinah Drake" is hired by Laurel as a body double in much the same way Diggle sometimes acts as a second Arrow for Ollie. To Laurel's annoyance, The Hood starts to fall for her double.

4. Dinah Drake is Laurel's grandmother, who was fighting Nazis as Black Canary back in the 1940s. Ollie starts romancing her after an accident involving a contraceptive and a time machine.

5. Some mad scientist obsessed with Laurel Lance created an imperfect clone with Laurel's memories. The clone adopts the name Dinah Drake in honor of her mother and becomes Black Canary while Laurel starts fighting crime in a modified costumed with a hoodie as The Scarlet Canary.


Got your own crazy theory? Let's hear them in the comments!