Synopsis:
Felicity realizes from Oliver's past encounters with the female vigilante that she has been following Laurel. With this information, Oliver manages to ambush her and discovers that she is Sara, Laurel's sister who was believed to have drowned. Meanwhile, weapons shipments are being intercepted by a gang leader calling himself "The Mayor", who assaults a gun rally hosted by Oliver and Blood. This allows Felicity to identify the Mayor and subsequently track him down. Oliver recruits Sara to assist him in capturing The Mayor. Afterwards, a corrupt police officer brings The Mayor to an unknown location, where Blood injects him with a green substance that ultimately kills him. Meanwhile, Laurel develops a drinking problem and refuses help from her father and Oliver. In response, Oliver asks Sara to reveal herself to her family, knowing it will cost him Laurel's friendship. In flashbacks, Oliver is questioned about the bodies of the Japanese soldiers, but when he refuses to answer questions he is taken to an interrogation room where he first learns that Sara is alive.
A superb episode, that begins with a threat to become "cliche villain of the week" - only to reveal twist after twist after twist.
Firstly, the all-important human story, as Laurel's grief moves from anger to despair. It's really great to see a main character in a TV series suffering from psychological trauma of what they've experienced.
Secondly - Sarah! My eldest called this out a few scenes before it was revealed, and it was still a surprise that the writers went in that direction. It was a really good reveal, but even more so because we have the mirrored sense of secrets and guilt that we've already followed Oliver Queen through.
And if that wasn't surprise enough, we have the reveal that not only did she not die on the island, but that she was used to imprison/torture Oliver as well??
Oh - and we had the really interesting developing bond between Queen and Alderman Blood - only to find, at the very, another twist and reveal - Blood is the head of some mad vigilante group!
I had feared that the second series was going to descend into cliche and caricatures - but that's already been knocked on the head.
A stand-out episode.
PS - Wasn't Sarah originally dark-haired?
Felicity realizes from Oliver's past encounters with the female vigilante that she has been following Laurel. With this information, Oliver manages to ambush her and discovers that she is Sara, Laurel's sister who was believed to have drowned. Meanwhile, weapons shipments are being intercepted by a gang leader calling himself "The Mayor", who assaults a gun rally hosted by Oliver and Blood. This allows Felicity to identify the Mayor and subsequently track him down. Oliver recruits Sara to assist him in capturing The Mayor. Afterwards, a corrupt police officer brings The Mayor to an unknown location, where Blood injects him with a green substance that ultimately kills him. Meanwhile, Laurel develops a drinking problem and refuses help from her father and Oliver. In response, Oliver asks Sara to reveal herself to her family, knowing it will cost him Laurel's friendship. In flashbacks, Oliver is questioned about the bodies of the Japanese soldiers, but when he refuses to answer questions he is taken to an interrogation room where he first learns that Sara is alive.
A superb episode, that begins with a threat to become "cliche villain of the week" - only to reveal twist after twist after twist.
Firstly, the all-important human story, as Laurel's grief moves from anger to despair. It's really great to see a main character in a TV series suffering from psychological trauma of what they've experienced.
Secondly - Sarah! My eldest called this out a few scenes before it was revealed, and it was still a surprise that the writers went in that direction. It was a really good reveal, but even more so because we have the mirrored sense of secrets and guilt that we've already followed Oliver Queen through.
And if that wasn't surprise enough, we have the reveal that not only did she not die on the island, but that she was used to imprison/torture Oliver as well??
Oh - and we had the really interesting developing bond between Queen and Alderman Blood - only to find, at the very, another twist and reveal - Blood is the head of some mad vigilante group!
I had feared that the second series was going to descend into cliche and caricatures - but that's already been knocked on the head.
A stand-out episode.
PS - Wasn't Sarah originally dark-haired?
