History Recap / ArrowS3E1TheCalm

* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: In possibly a ShoutOut to ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', Roy pulls Black Widow's twirling takedown on a mook.

* WorstAid: Oliver takes Felicity to the Arrowcave instead of a hospital, even though she's been knocked unconscious from an explosion and could have internal injuries. This is despite the fact that he's at the restaurant as Oliver Queen and not the Arrow.

* FamousLastWords: Sara asks her unseen killer, "What are you doing here?" right before she's shot.

* ThePlotReaper: Dramawise, Sara dies so that Laurel can take on the mantle of the ComicBook/BlackCanary.

* GoodCostumeSwitch: Sara is working for the League of Assassins again but still wears her Black Canary outfit instead of the Dark Archer outfit used by their soldiers.

** The Japanese housewife who wakes Past!Oliver up will turn out to be [[ComicBook/{{Katana}} important as well]].

* CartwrightCurse: Felicity and Oliver get a RelationshipUpgrade only to have the restaurant they are in be blown up. Felicity survives, but the relationship ends by saddened mutual agreement shortly after. His curse strikes again when Sara is killed. The trope is Lampshaded beautifully at the beginning of the episode.
-->'''Oliver:''' Last girlfriend? She's in the League of Assassins. My girlfriend before that [[Recap/ArrowS1E17TheHuntressReturns shot my girlfriend before that]]. Not exactly a catch at the moment.
* ComputerEqualsMonitor: The sign that the Freon has worked to deactivate the IncrediblyObviousBomb is shown by its timer stopping.
* ContinuityCameo: Barry Allen calls Oliver near the end of the episode to have a talk while he is standing on the roof of a building in Starling City, bridging [[Recap/TheFlash2014S1E1Pilot his pilot episode in his own series]] with this one.
* ContinuityNod: At the end of the episode, Oliver receives a call... from [[Series/TheFlash2014 Barry Allen]], which leads right into the discussion they have in the Pilot for the spin-off.

* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: In possibly a ShoutOut to ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}, Roy pulls Black Widow's twirling takedown on a mook.

** Laurel gives one to her father for continuing to work in the field with the Arrow when he has a heart condition. Quentin admits that he is MarriedToTheJob and doesn't know how to be anything else other than a cop.

* SoHappyTogether: The episode starts with Team Arrow working as a well-oiled machine, with crime down and the Vigilante Taskforce officially disbanded in recognition of the Arrow's efforts. Oliver is starting a relationship with Felicity, and Diggle and Lyla are expecting a baby daughter. It ends with Oliver and Felicity breaking up, and Sara's death.

* {{Leitmotif}}: Count Vertigo likes whistling "In the Hall of the Mountain King".
* LipLockSunBlock: A light shows up between Oliver and Felicity after they kiss.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: She didn't know it, but the guy Felicity was giving tech support to (and awkwardly flirting with) was Ray Palmer, and he is going to use said help to orchestrate his takeover of Queen Consolidated.

** Just so the audience knows that Sara has been KilledOffForReal, she's shot with arrows three times in the chest, then falls off the roof of a building smacking her head on a dumpster and lying on the ground [[DiesWideOpen with her eyes open]].

* OvershadowedByAwesome: Oliver tries to get back Queen Consolidated with a very heartfelt and well-done speech. Unfortunately, Ray Palmer is even better, and has facts and competence on his side. Afterward even Oliver agrees that he'd probably do a better job than he did.

* SoHappyTogether: The episode starts with Team Arrow working as a well-oiled machine, with crime down and the Vigilante Taskforce officially disbanded in recognition of the Arrow's efforts. Oliver is starting a relationship with Felicity, and Diggle and Lyla are expecting a baby daughter. It ends with Oliver and Felicity breaking up and Sara's death.

* CostumeEvolution: Roy is now wearing his Arsenal outfit instead of just a red hoodie.

-->'''Palmer:''' Traffic was terrible, which is why I took my helicopter. I parked it on your roof, hope that's not a problem.

* AStormIsComing: Implied with the episode title "The Calm", as in "the calm before the storm". The episode starts off with everything seemingly well with Team Arrow, and ends with an event that will have serious long-term repercussions for them.

* TheUnReveal: We don't see who kills Sara, only that they're using a voice changer, but she appears to recognize them.

* IWasJustPassingThrough: Sara is implied to be in town on League of Assassins business (she asks Laurel not to let her cop father know she's in town) but has no problem turning up to help Oliver take down Count Vertigo.