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Season One

    Episode 1: Pilot 

  • Oliver taking down his first target's guards while storming his penthouse, ducking in and out of their gunfire like the wind, then finally taking on Constantine Drakon and killing him with an arrow to the chest.
  • The moment where you see the wireless transceiver attached to the arrow stuck in Adam Hunt's wall and realize that Oliver's "missed shot" wasn't missed at all.

    Episode 2: Honor Thy Father 

  • Diggle taking down two Triad assassins and then mixing it up with China White. She outclasses him, but he still held his own for a while.

    Episode 3: Lone Gunman 

  • Seeing Laurel kicking ass was a refreshing change, with hopes high for seeing her take on her own superheroine mantle.
  • Arrow versus Deadshot: Ollie sends an arrow right through Deadshot's eye. And out-draws a wrist-mounted machine gun beforehand!
    • Or not...Deadshot was aiming for DIGGLE with his last volley!

    Episode 5: Damaged 

  • Arrow taking out the Gun Smuggler at the end, cutting down mook after mook, disarming him with an arrow shot in midair, and finishing him with a Pre-Mortem One-Liner to boot: "YOU HAVE FAILED THIS CITY!"
  • Yao Fei's flashback smackdown with Billy Wintergreen.
    • Likewise, their rematch in "Year's End", though he loses this time. It's not quite the same one-on-one fight, since Wintergreen had a few henchmen with him.
    • Credit should also go to Oliver, who doesn't give up Yao Fei even under tourture. Keep in mind that Oliver was, for the most part, still the same man as pre-island Oliver, he had no training, it was the first time he had been tortured, and Yao Fei had not done much for Oliver at this time, yet he never caved. Doubles as Heartwarming.

    Episode 6: Legacies 

  • Diggle playing Oliver to get him invested in the Royal Flush Gang case. He arranges for the police officer who was injured in the last robbery to be transferred to a better hospital, paid for by Oliver, then tells Oliver a lie about his next target attempting suicide to get him to come to the hospital, where he meets the officer's wife. When Oliver calls him on it, Dig retorts that he's working with Oliver, not for him, and is the kind of man to help those who truly need it. An excellent reminder that Diggle is more than just Oliver's bodyguard, he's his conscience.

    Episode 9: Year's End 

  • Arrow vs Dark Archer.

    Episode 10: Burned 

  • Thea of all people gets a moment when she calls Moira out on her self-centered and distant behavior ever since Walter's disappearance, finishing with this line:
    "Maybe you should start acting like my mother, so I don't have to act like yours.''
  • Oliver's He's Back! moment, getting over the PTSD he's been suffering from ever since his fight with Dark Archer and stopping Firefly from killing his final target. Especially notable is that at the beginning of the episode, it's established he's lost his Improbable Aiming Skills, but he makes his entrance here by shooting Firefly's lighter out of the air as it's thrown at the fire chief, knocking it clear away.

    Episode 11: Trust But Verify 

  • "You forgot one thing...I'm the one with the Grenade Launcher." Dig, you are the man.

    Episode 12: Vertigo 

  • Oliver taking on the Count and all his men and winning, despite still suffering the aftereffects from an overdose of the titular drug.
  • The scene before that makes it better. Diggle tries to stop him from going by proving that the drugs will screw with his aim, and challenges him to hit a tennis ball he holds up near his face. Ollie aims, realizes he can't aim at all, and puts the bow away. Diggle is relieved, then Oliver just says, "You should remember one thing: I don't need the bow." Then he suits up and leaves an exasperated Diggle behind. That's right, he took down Vertigo WITHOUT HIS TRADEMARK ARROWS. That's how awesome he is.
  • Oliver making it very clear to a Vertigo dealer that he'd better start talking or else:
    Oliver: *Points an arrow at the dealer* "Whoever you fear, FEAR ME MORE!"

    Episode 13: Betrayal 

  • The raid on Cyrus Vanch's mansion:
    Vanch: "He's going up against trained men with their fingers on the trigger of guns that fire up to 600 rounds per minute. Now I'm no Einstein, but that is a lot of bullets."
    *Gilligan Cut to Ollie taking out the first round of guards*
    Vanch: "And even if he were to take them out, I have two sharpshooters on the roof."
    *Ollie takes out the snipers*
    Vanch: "But even if he were to get by them, what's he gonna do against the veritable army of sons of bitches I've got waiting for him?"
    Vanch: "Now, as I said, I'm no Einstein, but I can count to 24. And in case you're wondering, I was, so I studied up on my news footage. 24 is the exact number of arrows he carries in his quiver and flechettes around his forearm."
    *Ollie enters the building to find his quiver empty when he runs straight into a *Click* Hello.*
    Vanch: "Lose the bow, Merida. Ventilate him."
    *Quentin busts in and starts shooting*
    Lance: "My daughter! My little girl!"
  • It's especially awesome since Vanch is a genuine Magnificent Bastard for planning ahead with the Vigilante, but just when Vanch looks on smugly, Lance breaks in and tears the careful plan to shreds.
  • This exchange:
    The Hood: "I'm the vigilante. You're the cop."
    Quentin: "Doesn't mean I have to read the bastard his rights." (knocks Vanch out cold)
  • The end scene. This line sums it up:
    The Hood: "MOIRA QUEEN! YOU HAVE FAILED THIS CITY!"
  • What could be Island!Ollie's first real Moment of Awesome (well, second if you count him not betraying Yao Fei in spite of being tortured by freakin' Wintergreen): At this time, he has no fighting technique yet, is tied to a chair, and has just been beaten by Slade Wilson, who is about to kill him so that Oliver won't betray him. Ollie dislocates his shoulder to free himself and punches Slade, who isn't affected at all, since Ollie doesn't know how to fight yet. It allows Ollie to earn Slade's respect and teachings.

    Episode 14: The Odyssey 

  • When Oliver stands on a land mine and is cornered by some of Fyers' Mooks, Slade seemingly abandons him... only to come back and take the soldiers by surprise, killing them and tossing one on top of the mine so it doesn't explode when Ollie gets off.
  • We continue to see Oliver go from spoiled playboy in over his head to the beginnings of a true hero — Slade is planning on calling in an airstrike on the island once they get on the resupply plane to escape. However, Oliver refuses to leave without Yao Fei, and gives a speech about why. And then later, giving a brief "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Billy Wintergreen.
  • Slade's one man assault on the camp to save Oliver, followed by Slade vs Wintergreen, ending in Slade stabbing him in the eye.
  • Oliver taking out a soldier using the disarming method Slade demonstrated earlier, then knocking him out with a pistol whip.

    Episode 16: Dead to Rights 

  • The battle between China White and Oliver.
  • Malcolm personally dispatching two mooks sent to kill him.

    Episode 17: The Huntress Returns 

  • Roy Harper saving Thea from a pair of muggers. And pulling off some Le Parkour while at it.
  • Oliver breaking into the police station to save Helena...and then telling her to Get Out! of his city.
  • Helena pulling off an Arrow Catch.
  • In the flashback, Oliver's plan to use the missile launcher's circuit board as leverage.

    Episode 18: Salvation 

  • Team Green Arrow deduces that the killer of the week is using the subway network. Felicity, in particular, is happy to have redeemed herself (in her eyes, even if Ollie doesn't think she could have done any better than she did, crackerjack IT genius that she is).
  • Oliver breaking down every office door on a seven-floor building, then roof-hopping several buildings in search of the guy is too awesome to not mention.
  • Shado taking out several of Fyers' goons, and beating him unconscious, with her bare hands, ten blows in the space of a second. Crosses into Funny Moments when Slade pauses to look, a mix of You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me! and Distracted by the Sexy on his face.
  • Roy holding the flechette that Ollie used to save him while the lights in the club go red. Epic foreshadowing is epic.

    Episode 19: Unfinished Business 

  • After force-feeding Oliver concentrated Vertigo,, the villain mocks Oliver, and says he doubts Oliver could aim a single arrow. So he fires three. One which hits the bad guy dead in the heart.]]
  • Diggle pulling a Big Damn Heroes moment, and kicking multitudes of Mook ass. Even finishing one off with a defibrillator shock to the head.
    Diggle: Clear.

    Episode 20: Home Invasion 

  • When Laurel's apartment is invaded by Mr. Blank, she pulls out a shotgun on him.
  • Oliver's second fight with Mr. Blank, ended by stabbing him in the neck with a fireplace poker.

    Episode 21: The Undertaking 

  • Oliver storming a Bludhaven compound in full One-Man Army mode to rescue Walter.
  • Earlier, bursting into an underground casino and wiping the floor with half a dozen Mooks in order to save Felicity.

    Episode 22: Darkness on the Edge of Town 

  • Diggle's impromptu rescue of Felicity who just got caught after she finished hacking into Malcolm Merlyn's mainframe. Also doubles as a Funny Moment.
  • Merlyn catching The Hood's arrow, and delivering him another ass beating.

    Episode 23: Sacrifice 

  • Island!Ollie topping the missile from destroying the plane, blowing up Fyer's camp and later putting an arrow in Fyers' throat.
  • Moira outing Merlyn's plans and evil actions all over the news.
  • Oliver and Diggle tag teaming Dark Archer. He still gets the better of them.
  • Roy whooping the asses of some random muggers. And Thea cracking the last one with a bottle.
    • Bonus points for Thea: she threw the bottle from offscreen! Apparently, Ollie's not the only one in the family with Improbable Aiming Skills.
    • Afterwards, Roy stopping to help some people trapped inside a bus, following right after a Now or Never Kiss with Thea.
  • Dark Archer catching Oliver's arrow again...only this one explodes.
  • Oliver shanking himself with an arrow to put Merlyn down for good.
    • Moments after, Merlyn revealing he had a second earthquake machine.
  • Tommy rushing into a collapsing building to save Laurel. He doesn't make it out, however...

Season Two

    Episode 1: City of Heroes 

  • Island!Ollie showing some good moves while sparring against Slade.
  • Laurel disarming one of the copycat Hoods.
  • Felicity nailing one of the copycats with a piece of wood in an attempt to distract them from killing Ollie.
  • Roy beating two copycats at Verdant, even if they do manage to kidnap Thea.
  • The return of Arrow. Ollie appears in costume in only one scene in this episode, but what a scene: he singlehandedly defeats all four copycats without killing them to save Thea. Seems that this other way works well for now.
  • A non-fighting one: Walter showing up, as CFO of Starling's National Bank, to buy Queen Consolidated's remaining shares, ensuring that Isabel Rochev doesn't take control of the company.
  • Prototype Black Canary saving Roy from four thugs after he stopped them from harassing a Big Belly Burger employee.
  • Finally, when Ollie says he doesn't want to be called the Hood, Diggle asks him what he does want to be called. He holds up a green arrow and the camera focuses on it, then cuts to the title card. It's not at all subtle, but it's just awesome!

    Episode 2: Identity 

  • There's the opening scene, with Roy taking on the Triad by himself. He totals his car, bangs himself up and gets arrested, but he took out one of the bikers and held off the other.
  • Ollie's Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: "Bad luck for [the motorcycle gang]. I have something to say about it."
  • Arrow vs. China White and Bronze Tiger.
  • Later, Arrow and Diggle vs. White and Tiger; Ollie shows that you don't need a kill shot to take someone out, and Dig reminds us that he can hold his own against China. And when she attempts a Break Them by Talking rant against Arrow, saying that he'll never be seen as anything but a criminal, he shoots her down beautifully:
    "As long as this city is safe, it doesn't matter."
  • Felicity sending the whole SCPD task force on a wild goose chase after the Arrow by hacking into their video feeds with year-old surveillance.
  • A minor one for both characters involved is Roy hearing something suspicious behind him and accurately throwing his flechette, only for the Arrow to casually catch it, then tell Roy that you don't need to beat up bad guys to be a hero, offering to let him be a spy and scout in the Glades.
  • Finally, though it was a pretty cruel move, Laurel setting up a police sting to catch the Arrow]] was admittedly impressive for her.

    Episode 3: Broken Dolls 

  • Black Canary, pinned under a pile of metal rods, kills the Dollmaker and disappears in the space of a few spoken words. And before that, her Big Damn Heroes/Dynamic Entry at the very start of the episode, crashing down through the ceiling and wielding her sonic device against the cops to stop them from capturing Oliver.
  • The Reveal at the end where it would appear that Black Canary (and by extension Malcolm, going by what he said last season and by the messenger's Dark Archer outfit) was trained by none other then The Demon's Head himself, Ra's al Ghul.
  • Finally, our vigilante is called the Arrow for the first time in-universe! And Lance gets to coin the new name.

    Episode 4: Crucible 

  • Arrow and Black Canary (who thought Oliver would have told her family that she was alive) fighting side by side in a true Battle Couple moment against the hired goons of "The Mayor", and it finishes with them using each other's own weapons right after Oliver had taken out a grenade with his arrow.

    Episode 5: League of Assassins 

  • The various fights against Al-Owal and the League.
    • Round 1: Ollie and Sara barely defeat Al-Owal, before he gets away.
    • Round 2: The Arrow and the Canary barely escaping with their lives against three members of the League.
    • Round 3: Sara faces Al-Owal and his two minions in the clock tower, which she has booby-trapped Skyfall-style. She ends up defeating them with the Arrow and Quentin's help; the latter kills a ninja with his spare gun, she kills Al-Owal, and they spare the last one to send Ra's al Ghul]] a message: Leave the Lance family alone.
      • Sara's line before snapping Al-Owal's neck:
    Al-Owal: You think because you are the beloved you will be granted your freedom?
    Sara: There is only one freedom. Let me grant you yours.
  • Al-Owal performs an Arrow Catch... with an arrow shot at him from behind.
  • Quentin deserves credit for deducing that Sara is the Black Canary after only talking to her for a few minutes. No wonder he was a detective.

    Episode 6: Keep Your Enemies Closer 

  • Ollie and Diggle not only breaking into a Russian gulag, but breaking back out. Credit for an assist goes to Felicity, who designed the compact explosive hidden in a red star to look like a piece of Soviet kitsch.
  • Diggle proving just how honorable he is by letting Deadshot go despite having a clear shot at him, because that was the deal he made.
  • A world-class hitman and a special forces Battle Butler decide to work together to escape from the worst prison in Russia. Cue the ass-kicking.

    Episode 7: State v. Queen 

  • Malcolm's Wham Shot of an entrance, leading to The Reveal he wasn't dead AND he still hadn't lost his aim. Not to mention him casually telling Moira that he bought off the jury to her trial, releasing her from being in jail — oh, and The Reveal that Thea is his daughter.
  • Even though it breaks his one rule, Oliver, not as Arrow, putting an end to Count Vertigo by shooting him in the chest with three arrows, the force of which sends him falling to his death.
  • On Lian Yu, Slade and Shado coming to the rescue of Ollie and Sara, in spite of Slade's injuries.

    Episode 8: The Scientist 

  • Thanks to one mention of Nanda Parbat, Moira manages to contact the League of Assassins and inform them that Malcolm is still alive, ensuring he'll be too busy running away from Ra's al Ghul to reveal to Thea that he is her father. To truly emphasize how awesome this is: upon hearing Moira speak the name Ra's al Ghul, the smug smirk that seems to be Malcolm's default facial expression vanishes and all he can ask is how Moira knows that name. He says they're not finished, but he leaves instead of doing what he came to do.
    Moira Queen: I am through being afraid of you.
  • Barry trying his hand at guessing things about the Arrow...and actually is pretty Awesome by Analysis. Alongside Felicity of all people, who gets more and more edgy. And then he starts to describe her.
    Barry: So you've seen him, right? The Vigilante? I read that he saved you. What was he like?
    Felicity: (beat) Green.
    Barry: Green. That's interesting, right? I mean, why green? Black would be better for stealth and urban camouflage. Me, personally? I think that he trained in some sort of like, forest or jungle environment. And the green is a nod to that.
    Barry: Police reports show that he uses carbon arrows but if he switched to an aluminum-carbon composite he would have far better penetration.
    Barry: Do you wanna know something else? I think that he has partners. Definitely someone with a background in computer sciences.
    Felicity: (Guiltily moves towards her computer babies)
  • The Arrow's fights against Cyrus Gold/the Acolyte, who's been injected with the Mirakuru serum, giving him superhuman strength and durability. Ollie loses both fights, but he really holds his own. Also, he reveals that he has defeated another Mirakuru user — presumably Slade — while on the island.
  • Felicity coming up with a plan to save Oliver from an unknown substance and being discovered by the public when Diggle, second best Team Arrow tactician couldn't. Drafting Barry Allen to help figure out the solution that has been injected into Oliver, by revealing their secret to him. Since she's the only one who really spent any time with Barry, she both knows he's pro-Vigilante and has a strong enough relationship with him that even if he wasn't, he probably still wouldn't reveal her secret, ipso facto (thank you, Count) not being able to reveal Oliver's.

    Episode 9: Three Ghosts 

  • Barry going right up to Oliver: "And you don't have to thank me, but you should thank her instead of being kind of a jerk." Especially considering that the first thing that Ollie did upon waking up is strangle him and threaten to kill him.
    • To repeat: Barry (at this point an untrained Muggle) squaring up to a master fighter who's already killed a lot of people and telling him to be more respectful of his partners. And Oliver listens. Barry may not have powers yet, but he's already got the courage of a hero.
    • Barry shows off more Awesomeness by Analysis, managing to figure out what's wrong with Ollie and cure him in a matter of minutes. He then reveals that he went to the trouble of getting the oils off Ollie's neck so they can recreate fingerprints of his attacker.
  • Oliver getting over his survivor's guilt thanks to an hallucination of Tommy, who encourages him to get up and fight, and defeating Cyrus Gold by shooting the centrifuge full of Mirakuru, that spills on him and probably kills him.
    • And before he does that Oliver fights Gold and pretty much demolishes him in close combat, and this is the guy who kicked him into a ceiling not long ago.
  • The comic-based Deathstroke, Slade Wilson, complete with eyepatch, superpowers and some white hair, is in town, is the man behind Brother Blood, and wants to make Ollie suffer before killing him.
  • Also, superpowered Slade making a demonstration of his new abilities combined to his skills, easily killing three of Ivo's men and breaking a rifle.
  • The particle accelerator goes haywire in a storm, killing the power in the process; Barry gets up to close the skylight in his very wet lab to brace for the storm. And then things start going strange: the chemicals start responding to something; time seems to slow. He looks up, and in a great flash of yellow light, he gets struck by impossible lightning. There is something oddly satisfying in finally seeing the creation of Barry's super powers, and despite how traumatic it may be, you know awesome is soon to follow.
  • Barry making this for Oliver. And when Oliver wears it for the first time (seen here)...
    Oliver: How do I look?
    Felicity: Like a hero.

    Episode 10: Blast Radius 

  • Felicity has no hesitation about getting in Oliver's personal space when he pisses her off even though he outweighs her and is taller. At one point, Diggle intervenes because it looks like they might actually get into a physical fight.
    Oliver: People are dying. So I would like you to pull your head out of Central City and get back in the game.
    Felicity: Sure. Right after you get yours out of your ass.
    Oliver: Excuse me?
  • Actually, just about every Felicity/Oliver moment in this episode is pretty awesome for Felicity. She's taken a level in being a classy badass and is standing up to Oliver and his atrocious mood. Even better, she's still doing her job like a pro the entire time. One of the best moments? She coordinates communications between Diggle and Oliver, finds out that Oliver is standing in a bomb-rigged room, picks up his train of thought to find a solution, begins a panic-fueled ramble, stops herself, snarks at Oliver, and finds a way to deactivate the bomb. Then she promptly heads downtown to dismantle another bomb and almost gets shot.
    Oliver: Shrapnel left behind a surprise. Said he packed the drywall with explosives but the trigger needs to be...
    Felicity: Would need to be hooked up to some sort of power supply. That's assuming that the detonator is connected to the store's electricity and not something independent like a car battery... I know. Not helpful. Are you sure you want me doing this? My head might not exactly be in the game.
    Oliver: Felicity!
  • Felicity has discovered the origins of the bombs and is tracking down who might be responsible:
    Felicity: I analyzed the bomb remnants we got from Lance. The design's identical to the bombs used by an anti-government militia group called the Movement. Lucky for us, they have a very active and hackable message board.
  • Oliver stops Shrapnel cold with one well-placed arrow to the wire connecting his trigger to the cellular transmitter.
  • A minor one is Island!Sara not hesitating a second to use a big tree branch to stop Slade on Mirakuru from strangling Oliver, in spite of having seen first-hand what he could do and being one of the most knowledgeable people alive on Mirakuru.

    Episode 11: Blind Spot 

  • Laurel and the Arrow breaking into the Starling Archives, then fleeing when the police arrive too soon.
  • Roy and Sin holding a stakeout for a Serial Killer who cuts up prostitutes, and Roy giving him a beating, even if he does go too far.
  • Laurel saving the Arrow by gunning down the Man in the Skull Mask except it's Officer Daily. By the way, the latter deserves a cookie for a smart use of the environment that allowed him to get the Arrow in an armlock.
  • Slade, finally in his full Deathstroke outfit, killing Blood's three bodyguards in a matter of seconds, then threatening Blood with the same if he screws up again.

    Episode 12: Tremors 

  • Felicity casually admitting to hacking into a prison's computer network and being complimented by Oliver.
  • The fight between Bronze Tiger and the Arrow in Merlyn's garage.
  • Roy punching through a container that can withstand Oliver's explosive arrows.

    Episode 13: Heir to the Demon 

  • Nyssa (alias "Miss Raatko") managing to get the best of several trained Customs and Immigration officers (in high heels no less), then casually walking out as the PA voiceover says "Welcome to Starling City".
  • Felicity shows her smartness when she approaches Moira Queen directly (doubles as a moment of funny):
    Felicity: I flagged a large wire transfer you made. When I mentioned it to Walter, he said he would talk to you about it. I could tell in his face he wouldn't. British people are really bad liars.
  • And then, she flat-out verbally sends a shot across Moira's bow, then shows how fast she is on the uptake as she unravels Moira's secret — even though Moira could become a very powerful political figure who could deep-six Felicity's career if she ever loses Ollie's backing:
    Felicity: So I looked into it myself because...full disclosure? I don't trust you.
  • Moira shows her own intuition:
    Moira: If you won't keep my secret for Oliver's sake, you should keep it for your own. I see the way you look at him. If you tell him this, you will rip his world apart. And a part of him will always blame you. Oh, he'll hate me for sure. But he'll hate you, too.
  • Oliver picking up on Felicity's distress to the point that he runs her down to figure out what the hell is going on.
  • The Arrow and the Canary chasing down the van containing Nyssa, a subordinate, and the captive Dinah Lance, particularly when the Canary again wields her sonic device to shatter the glass in the windows. The bad guys get away, but points for effort.
  • The Arrow and the Canary are facing an Assassin, and he is giving them some trouble. Who takes him down?
    Quentin: What, they didn't teach you about right crosses in assassin school?
  • The ending fight between the Arrow and Nyssa — special mention for when the latter manages to shoot out Oliver's quiver and break his arrows.
    • Oliver stopping Nyssa's knife attack and defeating her with a chokehold. Oliver beat the Daughter of the Demon in single combat and it was only Sara's presence that stopped him from killing her.

    Episode 14: Time of Death 

    Episode 15: The Promise 

  • The birth of both the Arrow and Deathstroke, as Oliver undergoes a Training Montage and hoods up while Slade masks up for the assault on the Amazo.
  • Oliver's first successful attempt at shooting a trick arrow, lighting a bonfire from afar in a Call-Back/Call-Forward to the first scene of the Pilot.
  • The entire battle sequence with our heroes, the prisoners, and Ivo's men aboard the ship. It is every bit as epic as an action scene in a blockbuster movie.
  • Slade gets his first chronological one as a villain when he takes over the Amazo by killing its captain and cuts off Ivo's hand. He puts the cherry on top with two words:
    "Any objections?"
  • Present-day Slade gets another villainous one, as he trolls Oliver during Moira's tour of the mansion, all the while planting spy cameras with Oliver none the wiser. He tops it off by anticipating that Diggle would be set up as a sniper, and having him taken out — non-lethally, even, since he wants Oliver and his allies to suffer first.

    Episode 16: Suicide Squad 

  • Two words: Harley Quinn. Out of all the characters the show cameos, it cameos Harley Quinn. This is in many ways awesome: it's a nod to the comics, a nod to Batman, even a nod to the video games as her one line is voiced by none other than Tara Strong, the official voice actress for Harley in the Batman: Arkham Series. And it all but confirms that Batman exists in the Arrow-Verse.
    • It's awesome for one other very simple reason — there had been speculation that, due to Fox's Gotham series using the Batman license, Arrow may not be able to use characters like Nightwing that fall under said license. Harley's cameo confirms that those characters are still on the table.
  • The Squad in general. Despite not working together for very long, they all apply their skills and perform their roles flawlessly (save for Shrapnel), and work together surprisingly well.

    Episode 17: Birds of Prey 

  • The Canary laying waste to the mook who had just grabbed Laurel in the courthouse.
  • Oliver managing to shoot at and shatter Helena's crossbow from approximately fifty feet away.
  • Quentin knocking out the deranged SWAT captain who tried to gun down all the vigilantes, especially since Sara and Laurel were in danger from him.
  • Both fights between the Canary and the Huntress. Had Laurel not intervened the second time, Helena would've paid for her crimes with her life.

    Episode 18: Deathstroke 

  • This episode is basically Slade playing Oliver like a damn fiddle left and right. One moment that particularly stands out for him is stopping a prison bus and recruiting the prisoners for his army — while Oliver is distracted fighting through an army of mooks (an awesome moment for him) trying to reach Thea, only to find she's not there.
  • Slade's final masterstroke to break Oliver? Paying Laurel a visit, not to hurt her, but to let her know Oliver is the Arrow. Why expend the energy when a few words will do to destroy their relationship?
  • Another villainous one comes with Isabel Rochev taking over Queen Consolidated, calmly revealing her knowledge of Oliver's secret identity, and proving to already be something of a Dark Action Girl, able to hold her own against him at least for a bit.
  • Thea gets one for calling out Oliver and Moira on keeping her true parentage from her]], even if Slade did lie to her about how long Oliver knew it.

    Episode 19: The Man Under the Hood 

  • Deathstroke's Curb-Stomp Battle against Team Arrow.
  • Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon, characters from the upcoming Flash spinoff, get one by being the first people to even remotely slow down present-day Deathstroke thanks to a weapon made by Arthur Light. It only works once, and Slade still ends up getting the machine he came for, but it remains impressive.
  • Laurel proves she has Brass Balls when she gets her father released from prison by promising her boss, the District Attorney, that she'll make it her life's goal to sue the District Attorney's office for wrongful arrests and reckless endangerment.
  • At the climax, Slade cutting Oliver's rapidly shot arrows in mid-air.
  • Isabel again showing her Dark Action Girl credentials and giving Oliver some trouble, though he does overpower her — only for Slade to take over the attack.
  • Ollie finally surprises Slade and puts him down (albeit very momentarily) thanks to hidden projectiles on his bow.
  • Diggle saving Oliver by shooting Isabel is rather cathartic after her actions in this and the previous episode, though it does lead to her getting the Mirakuru.

    Episode 20: Seeing Red 

  • For all her flaws, Moira Queen proves once and for all that she is a woman you do not want to mess with, as she will do anything to protect her children. That includes staring down Slade Wilson and outright demanding no harm come to her children when he kidnaps the Queen family and tries to force Oliver into the same Sadistic Choice that got Shado killed on the island. Moira being Moira, she will not have Oliver live with that choice, so she stands up, stares Slade right in the eye, and gets stabbed in the heart. Crosses over with Tear Jerker.
    • Also notable for completely avoiding any feeling of Stuffed into the Fridge. Moira had plenty of Character Development in her time on the show, making it hard to feel like there was much untapped potential, and she goes out completely on her own terms, saving her family, like her every action up to this point was designed to do.

    Episode 21: City of Blood 

  • Diggle kidnaps one of Slade's men, who's initially defiant and says he's not afraid of a beating. Then Felicity steps up, announces "I'll be your interrogator this evening," and gets him to sing in seconds by hitting him where it really hurts and sending his secret bank accounts to charity.
    Felicity: Looks like you just approved a wire transfer of $1 million to a charity here in Starling City. Very generous. What should I do with the rest?
    Diggle: Greenpeace.
    Felicity: Great cause! (Big grin) And they really appreciate the support.
    Clinton: You bitch!
  • Laurel revealing that she knows Oliver is the Arrow, and challenging his self-pity over Moira's death by pointing out that Starling City needs him alive to fight for its people as the Arrow, and that Oliver's plan of walking to his death at Slade's hands not only won't get Slade to call off his plan, but would destroy Thea coming so soon after Moira's death. He gets angry and refuses to listen, until she delivers the killer — Sebastian Blood is working for Slade, and this time, she has proof of his evildoing. You can see the moment Oliver shakes off his Heroic BSoD and realizes he's not done yet.
    • Laurel and Quentin bugging Blood's computer to see what he was up to, and finding some evidence. Namely, a consolation letter for Moira's death written the day before it occurred.

    Episode 22: Streets of Fire 

  • Diggle going toe to toe with a superhuman Isabel in the beginning. Sure he lost, but he held his own against a super soldier/assassin.
  • Felicity saving Dig's day with the van. Doubles as a moment of funny due to her amusingly Adorkable one-liner about the airbags.
  • Quentin managing to get in close to the masked Mirakuru soldier with hand grenades, then escape the blast radius.
  • Laurel firing Oliver's explosive arrow at the right spot to clear a path, with only his verbal instructions to help.
  • Quentin finally succeeding in getting the police to trust the Arrow, and getting back his detective shield in the process. Doubles as a Heartwarming Moment.
  • Malcolm Merlyn, in full Dark Archer/League of Assassins garb, pulling off a surprise re-entry and managing to get the better of a Mirakuru soldier who was about to strangle Thea.
  • Shortly after, when the soldier is still refusing to go down and has grabbed Malcolm in a crushing bear hug:
    Soldier: You're out of arrows.
    Malcolm: You're not!
  • Sara saving a little girl from a house fire.
  • Sebastian Blood proving he really does care about Starling City over everything else when Slade's true plan causes him to turn against the maniac and steal the Mirakuru cure from under his nose to give to Oliver.

    Episode 23: Unthinkable 

  • Oliver and Felicity pulling off an amazing Batman Gambit to fool Slade into letting Felicity get close enough to inject him with the Mirakuru cure. And keep in mind, it was Felicity who did the injection; the same Felicity who very rarely goes out into the field and is usually behind a computer, up against Deathstroke, a psychotic mercenary with Super-Strength who can cut her head off with his katana at any moment.
  • And before that, Felicity's speech to Oliver pulling him out from his darkest hour.
    Felicity: "You honor the dead by fighting....And you are not done fighting! Malcolm Merlyn, The Count, The Clock King, The Triad, everyone who has tried to hurt this city — you stopped them. And you will stop Slade."
    Oliver: "I don't know how."
    Felicity: "Neither do I, but I do know two things: You are not alone...and I believe in you."
  • Even without the Mirakuru in him, Slade still gives Oliver a serious run for his money. And bonus point in comparison to the rest of his men: all the other soldiers and Isabel were immediately incapacitated by the pain from the injection, but Slade pushes through it to duke it out one on one with Oliver, only losing consciousness after being restrained.
  • In what may be the show's best use of flashbacks to date, Oliver's final battle with Slade in the present keeps switching back and forth with their showdown aboard the sinking Amazo five years prior. And both fights are exactly the quality we've come to expect from this show.
  • The Canary and Nyssa proving what an effective Battle Couple they are against the Mirakuru soldiers and Isabel.
  • Quentin going Papa Wolf on Nyssa being anywhere near his daughter, yet still saving her from a Mirakuru soldier during the battle in the tunnel.
    • And him going through all this, fighting and moving and leading the police, all the while suffering from possibly fatal internal bleeding, that could very well have been very painful with him just covering it up.
  • For that matter, the sight of Oliver leading his allies in an Unflinching Walk down the tunnel towards the soldiers, then charging into combat. To say nothing of the fight itself.
    • Roy Harper especially during this scene, fresh off the Mirakuru cure, using the archery training Oliver gave him when teaching him control and the natural fighting skills he learned from dealing with the Mirakuru; thus, we're introduced to Arsenal.
  • Amanda Waller proving she's no mere bureaucrat by singlehandedly holding a Mexican Standoff against Diggle, Lyla, and Deadshot.
  • Ollie having Slade imprisoned in his least favorite place: The island.

Season Three

    Episode 1: The Calm 

  • Finally seeing Roy in full Arsenal garb.
    • Thug: "What are you waiting for?" Roy makes a Dynamic Entry. Arrow: "My partner."
  • Captain Lance officially dismantling the anti-vigilante taskforce and publicly thanking the Arrow. Laurel gets credit for this one too, as it was her idea.
  • The new Vertigo is significantly more badass than the original, managing to hold his own against the Arrow even after he's overcome the drug's effects.
  • Sara's Dynamic Entry, reappearing during the episode's climax to help Oliver take down Vertigo and his Mooks. Pity it's her last awesome moment until Season Four.
  • Barry Allen's cameo (leading into a great crossover scene in his own pilot episode).

    Episode 2: Sara 

  • Oliver and Komodo's duel on their motorcycles. Each of them is besting each other and when Oliver manages to rip the fuel line of the latter's motorcycle, Komodo does a quick arrow to Oliver's arm, ending the fight. If it wasn't for the arrow, he would have won the fight against Komodo.
  • Later, their fight at QC, with Ollie performing an Arrow Catch before shooting the arrow right back at his opponent.
  • The end of the episode where Thea kicks two guys' asses at Kendo after only 5 months (or less) training.

    Episode 3: Corto Maltese 

  • Oliver and Diggle MacGyvering bows and arrows from stuff in their hotel room.
  • When the enemy reinforcements show up, Diggle tosses Oliver a gun. Oliver proceeds to curbstomp the hired soldiers.
  • Thea not reacting at all to coffee splashing on her hand.
  • Felicity makes clear to Ray upfront that she's done being people's secretary. Then he reveals she's being made an executive, and has her own assistant. It's practically an Awesome Moment of Crowning.
  • Laurel's first shot at taking up her sister's mantle. She had to know it would probably go badly — trying anyway took guts.

    Episode 4: The Magician 

  • Malcolm's escape from the monastery, including dodging an arrow from just a few feet away.
  • The three-way battle between Oliver, Nyssa and Malcolm. Badass points go to all three for this, but especially Nyssa, who basically takes on Green Arrow and the Dark Archer at the same time and gives as good as she gets.
  • Nyssa decking Oliver after he let Malcolm escape. He even admits he had that coming.
  • In the flashbacks, Oliver blackmailing Amanda Waller into leaving Maseo's family alone.
  • Ra's al Ghul's first appearance at the episode's end makes one thing clear; everything that we've heard about this man has been underselling exactly how intimidating he really is.

    Episode 5: The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak 

  • The opening triple training montage. Bonus points to Thea for being the only one to impress their mentor.
  • Bet you never thought you'd see a reference to Death of the Endless on this show. Well, just check out Felicity's college look.
  • Donna Smoak diving into full Mama Bear mode despite being tied to a chair when the villain is pointing a gun at Felicity.
    Donna: Hey! You wanna wave that gun at me, fine, but don't you dare threaten my daughter.
    Cooper: And here I thought you were all nails and hair.
    Donna: Try a single mom who's worked 60-hour weeks in six-inch heels for tips in order to raise that genius child you see right there. I may not understand all this cyber-whatever, but I know without that gun, you wouldn't last ''ten seconds'' against my girl.
  • The Arrow turning a set of automated motion sensing turrets against each other.
  • Roy saves a convoy of armored trucks by shooting an arrow through an RPG to disable it. Even he's stunned that it worked.
  • Felicity taking down her evil ex-boyfriend in two hits when he tries using her as a hostage, disarming him in the process and pistol-whipping him. Guy didn't last ten seconds even with his gun!
    • Makes sense when you consider that the last person who held her hostage was motherfuckin' Deathstroke and she got out just fine (okay, she had the cure, but still). Cooper was at least ten steps below him.

    Episode 6: Guilty 

  • Three words: boxing glove arrow. And they managed to make perfect sense to use it in battle.
  • On that note, Ted actually managed to give Ollie a pretty good fight prior to said boxing arrow.

    Episode 7: Draw Back Your Bow 

  • The reveal of Ray Palmer's Atom suit.
  • During Oliver's second fight with Cupid, he shoots her bow out of her hands with a shot that breaks it in half.
    • And then, to get out of the cuff she put on him, dislocating his thumb.
  • Tatsu slicing her way through a bunch of gun-toting Triad goons with a katana. Both Oliver and the audience likely have the same expression.

    Episode 8: The Brave and the Bold 

    Episode 9: The Climb 

  • When the Arrow pays Thea a visit, she first plays the coward and then attacks him and uses the opportunity to escape over a railing in about a minute's time. Oliver is visibly confused and also impressed.
  • The climactic duel — Ra's al Ghul demolishes Oliver; it's essentially watching a child fight a master. He even gets in an awesome Blasé Boast before they start:
    Oliver: You're unarmed.
    Ra's al Ghul: I'll take your blades when you're finished with them.
    • He also says Oliver should be proud for lasting longer against Ra's than most other people he's fought (which he also states number in the thousands).

    Episode 10: Left Behind 

  • Malcolm Merlyn breaks into Arrow Headquarters to drop off evidence that Oliver is dead. Felicity's response? Walk right up to the guy who Oliver himself always had trouble with, and look him in the eye as she accuses him of being responsible for it.
  • During Merlyn's first visit to the lair, he and Diggle get back-to-back moments:
    (Diggle pulls a gun on Merlyn)
    Merlyn: Could you put that away? Guns don't scare so much as annoy me.
    (Diggle calmly pulls out a second gun and points that at Merlyn too)
  • Brick no-selling a headshot from Diggle.
  • Laurel taking her dead sister's equipment and making her first appearance as Black Canary is kept realistic enough to be awesome.
    Mook: Who are you?

    Episode 11: Midnight City 

  • For the villains, Brick and his gang invade the police precinct. It ends with Brick beating up EVERYONE in his way.
  • Felicity's "No More Holding Back" Speech as she realizes why it's still important to keep up the fight.
  • Roy and Laurel, despite still being inexperienced, manage to do a lot better during their second rescue of the aldermen, succeeding this time.
    • Bonus points to Laurel for not only getting the drop on Brick, but escaping the fight by jumping through a window onto a rope-ladder dangling from a helicopter while still being almost completely untrained.
  • Maseo and Tatsu taking down the three or four League members who had tracked down them and Oliver. Then Maseo wounds himself so that Ra's will think Oliver did all the killing, and won't suspect Maseo.
  • The running fight with China White's Mooks in the nightclub.

    Episode 12: Uprising 

  • Felicity proving to be the Only Sane Woman in this episode by not only keeping in mind what a bastard Malcolm is, but epically calling out Ollie when he says that he'll be teaming up with Malcolm.
    • Diggle delivers the news to Malcolm, adding that as soon as they start compromising their values like he's asking it'll be the start of Team Arrow becoming just another set of killers like him.
  • Team Arrow rouses the entire population of the Glades to fight back against Brick's gang, and the group of regular people actually wins the day, capped by the Arrow making his grand return and telling them he'll never leave them again.
    Black Canary: Daniel Brickwell...

    Episode 13: Canaries 

  • Laurel getting over her hangups about replacing Sara and hiding her death to her father, and laying a beatdown on Zytle afterwards.
  • Quentin guessing that Laurel is the Black Canary. Unfortunately, he didn't know the exact reason why Laurel felt the need to replace Sara.
  • Roy and Malcolm pulling a Big Damn Heroes to save Thea from Chase, the DJ Assassin.
    • Thea being able to correctly deduce that he was trying to poison her.

    Episode 14: The Return 

  • In the flashbacks, Oliver knocking out China White, leading to her arrest.
    • A villainous one from that same scene, China calmly standing her ground as a firefight ensues around her.
  • Thea SHOOTING Slade Wilson. Girl has gone far since season one.,

    Episode 15: Nanda Parbat 

  • Thea Cutting the Knot and just handing Malcolm over to the League of Assassins.
  • Laurel actually facing off against Malcom prepared, having brought her father's gun!
  • Nyssa making quick work of Malcolm when she finds him. It helps that she has two swords, whilst he is only armed with a nightstick.
  • Oliver actually taking Nyssa, the Heir to the Demon captive.
  • Ra's al Ghul gives Malcolm a lecture on how no magician, however talented, can escape death.
    Ra's: Accept your death with honor, Al Sa-Her. Or at least with dignity.
  • Oliver has gained Ra's respect. So much so that he wants Oliver to become his successor. Almost doubles as an Awesome Moment of Crowning.
  • Finally getting to see Ray Palmer suit up in his Atom Armor and fly around the city like Iron Man. SO. MUCH. AWESOME.

    Episode 16: The Offer 

  • When Nyssa calls out her father, she attempts to strike him with her sword. He catches it and barely flinches.
  • The fight in the precinct between Murmur and his gang versus Team Arrow and Nyssa.
  • Roy beating Nyssa in a fight in his civilian identity.
    • Arsenal lived up to his name this episode, using everything as a weapon, from arrows, to a bow in meelee fights, escrima sticks, and a tranq gun. Guy's adaptable.

    Episode 17: Suicidal Tendencies  

  • Diggle and Team X , outgunned and out numbered still managed to rescues a hospital full of hostages.
  • Arrow vs Atom, armor vs arrows technology vs training. Arrow wins by fighting smarter.
  • Deadshot's last stand providing cover for his team and making sure that Diggle and Lyla get back home to their daughter.

    Episode 18: Public Enemy  
  • The police, after their near constant uselessness for most of the series, hound Team Arrow through most of the episode to the point that Team Arrow just barely manages to escape from them.
  • Roy sacrificing himself to save Oliver, by 'revealing' himself as the Arrow.

    Episode 19: Broken Arrow  
  • Roy fighting off three armed, hardened inmates while handcuffed. And winning.
  • Ray and Oliver working together via remote control to take down Deathbolt. And when the link is broken, Ray finishes the fight on his own.
  • Roy faking his death, with help from a ARGUS contact of Diggle's, in order to protect Oliver.
  • Thea's "fight" against Ra's Al Ghul. While still a Curb-Stomp Battle, she does about as well against him as Oliver did when he dueled him, showing just how far she has come since being a basically helpless party girl for most of the series.

    Episode 20: The Fallen  
  • Malcolm takes out four members of the League all on his own on the group's way to escape with Oliver.
  • Diggle stating exactly what he thinks the League really is: A group of scared cowards hiding from their lives. Said to an Assassin.
  • Oliver asserting his new status as Heir when the group gets caught trying to sneak him out:
    "Hold! I am Al Sah-him, Warith al Ghul, Heir to the Demon, and you will obey!"

    Episode 21: Al Sah-him  
  • Laurel using the Canary Cry that Cisco built for her for the first time on screen and by doing so she finally begins to resemble her comic book counterpart.
  • As much of a tearjerker as it is, watching Oliver and his team go all out against each other.
  • How Team Arrow double-crosses the prisoner exchange hiding guns on Felicity that Lyla grabs when "hugging" her, giving them the drop on the League.
  • Thea finally getting her own Big Damn Heroes moment showing up to shoot an arrow into Oliver's arm in order to stop him killing Diggle.

    Episode 22: This Is Your Sword 
  • Diggle and Laurel trapping some goons on a corner so they can beat them all up.
  • The fact that the episode shows Laurel at her most competent ever since she became Black Canary.
  • The team’s attack on the League’s bomber, where they demolish their opposition and destroy the plane.
  • Felicity throwing a tablet at the throat of a league member with pinpoint accuracy. Even if it took Malcolm to finish the guy off it still counts.
  • Ray’s Big Damn Heroes moment when he shows up and go toe-to-toe with the bomber.
  • Tatsu, in full Katana gear, whoops tons of asses. Her fight with Maseo also deserves to be mentioned, though it eventually becomes Tear Jerker after she was forced to kill him.
  • Maseo cutting off Shrieve's Motive Rant by shooting him in the shoulder.

    Episode 23: My Name is Oliver Queen 
  • When everyone wakes up from the Alpha-Omega virus (which Malcolm innoculated them for when no one was looking) and they point out that they're still chained to the floor, he just smiles.
    Malcolm: All we need to do is wait.
    Laurel: Wait for what?
    Malcolm: The thunder...
    [thunder rolls as a yellow streak zooms into the fortress]
  • Oliver finally dropping the facade:
    Ra's al Ghul: Your name is Al Sah-Him! You are Warith al Ghul!
    Oliver: (drawing his sword) My name... [Dramatic Pause] is Oliver Queen!
  • Thea officially making her debut as Speedy in Roy's old outfit.
  • Oliver's Final Battle with Ra's, which ends with Oliver killing him the same way Ra's defeated him in "The Climb", grabbing his own sword and running him through with it.
  • The Atom flies in to save Oliver after he falls over a dam. Then it turns out it's actually Felicity in the suit, as Ray had to keep working on a cure for the virus.
  • Oliver giving the biggest middle finger possible to Ra's al Ghul by making Malcolm (who Ra's certainly wouldn't consider worthy) the new Ra's. And meanwhile, Nyssa is still perfectly positioned to take him out and claim her proper birthright when the time comes.

Season Four

    Episode 1: Green Arrow 
  • Team Arrow (consisting of Diggle, Laurel & Thea) get points for managing to last six months against The Ghosts without Oliver. Their opening attack at the beginning of the episode may have ended with them outnumbered and outgunned, but they still get points for managing to take down the truck to start with.
  • Turns out Oliver is quite skilled in domestic life skills, as Felicity describes his cooking skills as a never-ending episode of MasterChef.
  • When Felicity confesses that she secretly helped out Team Arrow through internet access, Oliver wondered how she was able to do so when they traveled to places without internet access. Felicity's answer? She's that good.
  • Oliver decides to take back the city from Damian Darhk and his goons by declaring himself as Green Arrow, the icon of hope that Star City desperately needed.
  • Damien Dahrk showing his stuff as the show's new Big Bad right in his first fight by magically stopping three arrows Oliver shoots at him, then beating the living crap out of him and almost killing him with his powers.

    Episode 2: The Candidate 
  • Team Arrow demonstrating just what a team they are in the opening sequence as they mow through HIVE goons in order to disarm a bomb.
    • Especially Laurel utilizing her baton and one of Oliver's trick arrows as a zipline.
  • Despite nearly being burnt to death, Anarky still mustered enough strength to escape from the ambulance after killing two paramedics. He even left the anarchy symbol to prove that his ideals of chaos are nowhere near dead.
  • Felicity's Refuge in Audacity plan to avoid firing any of Ray's employees, announcing that Curtis has a revolutionary new technology that will surely get the company in the black ready to announce in six months...and using those six months to actually come up with something.

    Episode 3: Restoration 
  • The episode nips the inter-team conflicts that dragged Season 3 down in the bud, as Felicity forces Oliver and Diggle to hash out their issues on the spot, ultimately leading to their friendship being restored.
  • The return of Team Arrow's classic trio dynamic!
  • Nyssa destroying the Lazarus Pit so she can kill Merlyn off for real when the time comes. That takes serious guts.

    Episode 4: Beyond Redemption 
  • Arrow Cave 3.0 is absolutely gorgeous.
  • Laurel's new and improved Canary Cry:
    Laurel: New frequency. Same cry.
  • Captain Lance's Patrick Stewart Speech to Liza Warner, causing her to have a Heel Realization and turn herself in.
  • Oliver's Rousing Speech to his campaign staff.

    Episode 5: Haunted 
  • Though it crosses into nightmare fuel territory a little bit, Sara's soulless self is terrifyingly badass in her search for Thea. She quickly dispatches thug after thug going through woman after woman in her search for her killer, showcasing an impressive sort of ruthless efficiency. She also manages to escape Team Arrow not once, but twice and give them a hell of a fight back the third time around, nearly knocking out Thea, Laurel and Oliver before Oliver dispatches her with a tranq arrow. Scary yes, but still in its own way, awesome.
  • John Constantine, Oliver, and Laurel breaking into The Underworld and successfully busting out Sara's soul.

    Episode 6: Lost Souls 
  • The episode features what's probably our only chance to see the team's three women all fighting together, and really makes the most of it as they take on an army of HIVE soldiers, all working together beautifully.
    • It's also especially heartwarming/awesome to see Laurel and Sara finally fighting side-by-side, forming a second Sibling Team alongside Oliver and Thea.
  • Ray managed to stay alive throughout six months of being shrunken down, and he actually provided Felicity a way to help him escape from his Tailor-Made Prison.

    Episode 7: Brotherhood 
  • Laurel quickly taking out five ghosts in quick succession.
  • Thea's fight with Andy, which goes into an elevator and then out onto a different floor, all in The Oner.
  • Oliver's Rousing Speech at the end, which dovetails into a Shut Up, Hannibal! with how he is staring at Damien Darhk the entire time.
  • Ray getting back in action and kicking ass in the ATOM suit!

    Episode 8: Legends of Yesterday 

     Episode 9: Dark Waters 
  • Oliver sending Dhark into the closest we've seen yet to a Villainous Breakdown by hosting a press conference in which he reveals Darhk's and H.I.V.E.'s existence to Star City - complete with a photograph of Darhk. Darhk is so pissed, he blows up the TV that he's watching it on with his powers.
  • Oliver outgambiting Darhk by having Merlyn (disguised as Green Arrow) and Laurel swoop in at the last minute to save his friends.
  • Damien Darhk beating the shit out of Malcom. Come on, who here can say that he didn't enjoy it at least a bit?
    • Bonus Points for the Force Choke! Seriously, if it wasn't for Oliver's interference, Malcolm would've finally died right there.
  • Merlyn gets points for countering Damien Darhk's arrow catch the same way Oliver countered HIS arrow catch back in season one. Boom.
    • Merlyn actually dominates the fight any moment where Darhk isn't able to trap him with his powers. Along with the above mentioned arrow catch trick, Merlyn also manages to inflict the most damage anyone has yet to HIVE's blond magician. He fires two arrows at once that not only knock Darhk down, but pin him there dazed, long enough for Merlyn to walk over, pin a massive explosive arrow next to Darhk, smirk, and leave Darhk to be blown up.
    • Also during the fight, Oliver tackles Darhk to free Merlyn from the magical choke. What does Darhk do? Immediately being to whale on Oliver, destroying Oliver's element of surprise, and just punching the experienced vigilante in the face over and over. Squishy Wizard Darhk is not.

     Episode 10: Blood Debts 
  • Darhk kicking Oliver's ass yet again, telekinetically taking arrows from Oliver's quiver and throwing them into him. Considering what a Jerkass Oliver has been during the episode, this was rather cathartic.
  • Anarky managing to hold his own against Thea and Oliver at the same time.

     Episode 11: A.W.O.L. 
  • Felicity gets a nickname: Overwatch.
    • Furthermore, Oliver says he "was going to go with Oracle, but it's taken."
  • When Oliver calls Felicity about some alarms, she turns them off before he's even finished his sentence. And note that this is before she gets her groove back.
  • And when she does get her groove back, she not only effortlessly hacks ARGUS, she stops Lyla from being able to access the building's secure vault even with Lyla having the access codes and a secure computer, and coordinates the team to secure the vault and rescue John, Andy and Lyla. Overwatch indeed.
  • Andy saving the day and taking the first step towards redemption in the process.

     Episode 12: Unchained 
  • Nyssa breaks out of captivity with an approximately one-centimeter knife, and her supporters take Nanda Parbat in one night.
  • The return of Roy was handled well with his running and the gang surprised to see him back.
  • The ending as the Calculator shows up to meet Felicity who delivers the Wham Line to end all Wham Lines for the show:
    Felicity: Oh my God...Dad?
  • After getting her energy up by knowing the component she needs, Felicity stuns Curtis by wheeling around the cluttered lab like she's been doing it her whole life. He promptly lets her know that kind of confidence is what she needs to hold onto to restore the board's faith in her.
  • Curtis puts up a surprisingly good fight against Roy until the team bails him out, showing the start of what will become Mr. Terrific.

     Episode 13: Sins of the Fathers 
  • Oliver gives an epic Curb-Stomp Battle to Malcolm Merlyn, a far cry from their respective positions back in Season 1. Oliver's actions this whole episode show his intelligence, skill and most importantly determination to keep people, even Nyssa and Malcolm from dying-he captures Nyssa, manipulates Malcolm into a duel with her by counting on Malcolm's ego that he can beat Nyssa and then admits he has an even crazier plan-using his status (in the eyes of the League) as Nyssa's husband to fight the duel in her place. He even reminds Malcolm it's been a while since they fought over Malcolm's arrogance.
  • After nearly the entire series post Season 2 giving Malcolm Karma Houdini status, he finally gets his paid due. He loses his hand, loses the league, and now owes Oliver. Plus, with his financial powers gone, he has nothing left. And with Nyssa dissolving the League as soon as she becomes the new Ra's, all the trouble he went to was literally for nothing. While he's not dead... He probably wishes he was.
  • Felicity refusing to get sucked in by her father, and turning him in to the cops once he fails the test she set up for his sincerity. She closes by refuting his earlier claim that their bending the law to achieve their goals makes them the same.

    Episode 14: Code of Silence 
  • The Oner of Quentin and Laurel escaping the collapsing building.
  • Darhk shows his powers extend even further than it seemed by killing a guy on the other side of the world.
  • Oliver privately gloating to Dahrk's wife about stopping her plan to blow up the building. Followed by smoking her in the debate offscreen, likely because she didn't actually prepare any material.

    Episode 15: Taken 
  • The episode features Vixen making the jump to live action, and possibly looking even more impressive than in cartoon form.
  • Vixen attacking some criminals.
    Goon: Face us like a man!
    Vixen: How about I kick your ass as a woman?
  • Damien Darhk taking on Oliver and Vixen at the same time and more than holding his own!
  • Much like Deadshot's PTSD last season, the show takes a remarkably mature and thoughtful look at the issues surrounding Oliver's newfound fatherhood, and ultimately has the guts to give the moral that sometimes it really is for the best for a biological parent to stay out of their kid's life. It's an approach that appears far too little in stories like this, and is handled perfectly.
  • Thea, after finding out that Malcolm kidnapped Oliver's son William for Damien Darhk out of petty vengeance for helping Nyssa destroy the League, finally tells Merlyn OFF and cuts his corrosive influence out of her life.

    Episode 18: Eleven-Fifty-Nine 
  • For all the controversy about her actual death, Laurel was five kinds of awesome throughout most of this episode. Thea suggests that they go out and help Oliver, Diggle, and Andy because Diggle's safety procedures have made the Arrowcave safe. Laurel says it's safer with them in it. She's right because soon after, Malcolm and three goons show up. While Thea goes after Malcolm, Laurel manages to take out three fully trained league members by herself without suffering a single scratch. She then tells Dahrk off in prison, before deciding to take the DA position offered to her earlier (because even with less than three years under her belt, she's that good of a prosecutor in the Arrowverse) She then heads over to the prison, where she takes out even more mooks. Yeah, Dahrk kills her, but at least the entire episode was one Dying Moment of Awesome for her.

    Episode 22: Lost in the Flood 
  • While the action of this season was all in all quite mediocre up to this point, the chase sequence between Spartan, Green Arrow and H.I.V.E.'s men is nothing short of awesome.
  • Team Arrow's three-on-one fight with Anarky. To his credit, he has the upper hand throughout.
  • Felicity, Noah, and Curtis' hacking duel with Cooper. When he hacks their systems and sends a power surge their way, they send it back, causing his console to explode and blow him across the room.

    Episode 23: Schism 
  • Oliver's Rousing Speech to the people of Star City. Not only does it stop the rioting, but it inspires them to fight with Team Arrow against Darhk's army of Ghosts.
    • Speaking of which, there's the epic shot of the Ghosts and the Team Arrow/citizen army charging each other and engaging in an epic brawl.
    • Oliver and Darhk's Final Battle, which ends with Oliver killing him the same way he killed Laurel.
  • Felicity and Curtis first redirecting the inbound nuke away from Star City, then managing to send all the others into orbit.

Season Five

     Episode 1: Legacy 
  • The scene where Oliver escapes and kills the crooked cop beating him. Not only is it awesome in itself, it mirrors an almost identical scene from the pilot, signaling Oliver's return to his old Pay Evil unto Evil badass self.
  • The entire fight scene in the rigged building. It ends with Oliver gliding through the explosion and hitching a ride on Church's helicopter with his trick arrow. After falling of said helicopter, he saves himself with a parachute trick arrow.

     Episode 2: The Recruits 
  • Curtis giving a well deserved "Reason You Suck" Speech to Oliver about how he acted towards him and the other recruits and temporarily quitting. Remember, this is CURTIS we are talking about; a young man who is not the most physically intimidating talking down Oliver Queen, the GREEN ARROW.

     Episode 3: A Matter of Trust 
  • The new Team Arrow's first outing together, the recruits working together flawlessly to take down Samson's drug crew.
    • Meanwhile, Oliver getting around Samson's supposed invulnerability by severing his tendons — even pain-proof, he still needs muscles to move.
  • Oliver, as Mayor, defending himself and Thea from critiques of his administration by standing by Thea's decision to appoint Quentin as Deputy Mayor.
    • Thea cornering the reporter who earlier manipulated her, and promises that if it ever happens again, Thea will ruin her career.

     Episode 4: Penance 
  • The recruits somehow get it into their heads that they can take on Oliver. Oliver corrects this by curbstomping all three of them in seconds with no effort.
  • Oliver and Diggle's escape, culminating in them being rescued by Lyla in a freaking plane!

     Episode 5: Human Target 
  • Oliver finally defeats Tobias and all his men with the recruits, Human Target, and Diggle.
  • Prometheus kills Tobias and his entire police squad protecting him with incredible ease.

     Episode 6: So It Begins 
  • Give Prometheus some credit for presentation — he leads Oliver and Diggle to an abandoned warehouse lit by a number of torches. Then an explosion goes off, and lights off some fluid on the floor, revealing the words "So It Begins" in flames on the floor.
  • The team dealing with a panicking crowd that thinks Prometheus is attacking them, including a couple of yahoos randomly shooting into the dark. It really shows how much the team has come together.
    • During the above, Oliver disarms one of the shooters by firing an arrow into the barrel of his gun.
  • Artemis holding her own against Prometheus long enough for Oliver to show up and drive him off. She even manages to wound him, slashing his arm.
    • And of course, their escape with the parachute arrow, right before the train blows up.

     Episode 7: Vigilante 
  • Vigilante at one point shoots Artemis' arrow, causing it to explode into splinters. And in beautiful slow motion, too.
  • Oliver can shoot an arrow faster than Vigilante can shoot someone. With the gun against their head. And it's a machine gun.
  • The episode does not take the easy route and leaves Vigilante's identity a mystery; this now means there are two fully masked individuals in season 5 who could literally be anyone. Pretty ballsy, considering the last Arrowverse show to do similar was The Flash (2014), with Zoom.

     Episode 8: Invasion! 

     Episode 9: What We Leave Behind 
  • So how do you manage to single handedly end one of the darkest episodes of the season with a happy note? BRINGING BACK LAUREL LANCE. Sadly subverted in the following episode, but it was still a good moment up till then.
  • After the Arrowverse has had an issue for so long with its heroes keeping secrets from each other that inevitably form a huge rift when they get out, Prometheus actually forms his whole plan on it happening yet again. What happens instead? Oliver immediately admits to the entire team how he was tricked into killing Billy, resulting in Felicity assuring him that she places the blame squarely on Prometheus, and the others insisting on sticking by his side against his orders. This would not have happened in seasons three or four.
  • In the more traditional sense, the entirety of Oliver vs Prometheus in this episode:
    • The fight opens with Oliver shooting an arrow. Previous villains would've no sell-ed the shot, or just caught it. Prometheus cuts it in half lengthwise with a throwing star.
    • The fight choreography was even better than usual, the pair staying close together and truly brawling.
    • Wild Dog comes in and knocks Prometheus' sword away with one bullet- from across the room.
  • The season 1 flashbacks are really awesome since they make the viewers feel nostalgic about the early days of Arrow.
    • In one, corrupt executive Justin Claybourne is showing his wares to some men when the lights go out. Arrows fly to take out the guards and cause a lab table to erupt into flames, framing Oliver in costume standing still.
    Arrow: Justin Claybourne! You have failed this city!
    • Oliver gives Claybourne four days to cut the prices on his drug to be affordable. When Claybourne makes the mistake of asking what happens if he doesn't, Oliver puts an arrow into his leg.
    Oliver: I'll aim higher.

     Episode 10: Who Are You? 
  • The fact that Prometheus was able to take down Black Siren after breaking into STAR Labs has to be one. Considering the fact that Black Siren could level a building and defeat the Flash in combat, Prometheus has more training and was able to wipe the floor easily with her.
  • Felicity's training, showing that she could last long despite what others think of her.
    • Heck, her right to be suspicious of Black Siren is a nice one, being the Only Sane Man, like Mon-El would be, sees through the facade and sees to it that she looks into Laurel.
    • Even better, she and Curtis find a way to level the playing field with Black Siren, managing to diminish her powers, giving Felicity the chance to knock out Black Siren following a Pre Ass Kicking One Liner.

     Episode 11: Second Chances 

     Episode 13: Spectre of The Gun 
  • For the first time we see Oliver handle a situation as mayor of Star City instead of as the Green Arrow . Throughout the episode he demonstrates the ability to be firm but still gentle, managing to find a middle ground on gun control in Star City and finally managing to talk the shooter out of not only shooting up the hospital but also out of killing himself. And this is all done without him putting on the costume!

     Episode 14: The Sin-Eater 
  • Oliver escaping ACU by pretending to stand down, then unleashing a volley of hidden flares from within his bow, and disappearing from sight during the chaos.
  • The final fight between the trio and Team Arrow at the cemetery. Oliver as usual steals the spotlight, taking down the reinforcements with explosive arrows, but Curtis also gets one, fighting against Cupid AND Warner at the SAME TIME.
    • Then Captain Pike and the ACU arrive as the Big Damn Heroes, backing up the Team instead of arresting them, quickly putting an end to the fight.
  • On a final note, Quentin Lance stops blaming himself for Liza's actions and gives her a scathing "The Reason You Suck" Speech to her for using his actions to justify her own.

     Episode 15: Fighting Fire With Fire 
  • Prometheus vs. Vigilante! Vigilante manages to catch a throwing star that he really had no way of knowing was coming, followed by the two getting into a pitched hand to hand fight with Vigilante getting shoved off a rooftop, only for him to walk away from that and come back later. Followed by the reveal of Prometheus' identity in the middle of the episode as opposed to an ending cliffhangover to give the rest of his behavior in his identity a sinister Dramatic Irony.
  • Vigilante is on a tear throughout the whole episode, going after Oliver (Oliver himself gets a moment of awesome for standing up to Vigilante as an unarmed civilian) and withstanding a lot of punishment in the process-Dinah's Canary Cry, the rooftop battle with Prometheus, and a fight with half of Team Arrow in the climax, in which he takes down Wild Dog and Diggle and gets two exploding T-Spheres in the face before managing to escape.

    Episode 16: Checkmate 
  • The amazing fight between Oliver and Prometheus/Adrian. Right before they are about to throw down, the two take a moment to just stare at each other, to take in the fact that now, with everything out in the open, they can be free act according to how they really feel about each other. Then Oliver drops his bow, silently challenging his enemy to go with him the old-fashioned way. Prometheus complies by getting rid of his sword, and, with a look of utter and complete rage and hatred on his face, charging right at him. What follows is easily one of the most brutal fights in the series; the two men discard finesse for barrages of punches, kicks, and knees, and using each other as tackling dummies. It is the perfect depiction of a fight between two men who absolutely hate each other's guts and would love nothing more than to see the other suffer.

    Episode 17: Kapiushon 
  • While the present is absolutely horrible for Oliver, the flashbacks show his first true triumph as the Hood, as he works with the Bratva to take down Kovar for good. This culminates in a brutal No-Holds-Barred Beatdown between the two of them, complete with Oliver pulling a hurricana on Kovar, and finally finishing him with a stab of a knife.

    Episode 18: Disbanded 
  • Digg calling Oliver out on his crap throughout the episode is both awesome and heartwarming, but especially his You Are Better Than You Think You Are speech:
    Digg: You can tell me that you're a serial killer, or that you're crazy, or you're whatever Chase has shoved into your head, but I'm not believing that, even if you do. And that is because I know the kind of man you are Oliver. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I know! And you don't need to punish yourself, or isolate yourself. But what you need to do is stop pushing me away. Because I am NOT going anywhere Oliver! Do you get that!?!
  • Thanks to the efforts of Oliver's friends, by the end of the episode Adrian is finally outed as Prometheus, something even he didn't plan for, forcing him to go into hiding. He may not be defeated, but losing his Villain with Good Publicity status is a very crippling blow, and it's at long last a major victory for the heroes.

    Episode 20: Underneath 
  • Olivers endurance throughout this entire episode. He is impaled on a metal rod, inhales a small but still debilatating amount of methane gas and on top of that carrying Felicity on his back. He then manages to climb a latter with Felicity still on his back and jump with her and then managing to pull her up when she loses her grip. Oliver indeed is a man Made of Iron.

    Episode 22: Missing 
  • Chase has captured ALL of Oliver's team and is holding his son as a hostage. So how does Oliver respond? By making a different team made up of not just Malcolm Merlyn and Nyssa Al Ghul.... but SLADE. WILSON.
  • Oliver FINALLY calling out Merlyn for kidnapping his son last season. Even if it's late, it's nice to see Oliver being furious about it considering it was never brought up in Season 4.
    • Malcolm in turn calls out Oliver on how he's still allowing his past mistakes and regrets to weigh him down, and causing him to push away everyone close to him, and how he has to learn to live in the present if he ever wants to move on.

    Episode 23: Lian Yu 
  • Oliver and Slade pulling a Batman Gambit on Prometheus' team twice.
    • The first time was when Talia and Evelyn successfully lured them into a trap. Captain Boomerang, revealed to be The Mole for Chase all along, gives Slade the choice of siding with Chase. Slade pretends to accept and asks Evelyn to put a gun to his head. In a twist, Oliver uses the disarming technique Slade taught him 10 years ago on Evelyn and manages to stop Talia from killing Samantha by stopping her arrow with a fletchette. Slade, on the other hand, immediately tells Boomerang (who immediately assumes that Slade wants to be on the winning side) that "Assumption is the mother of all failures!" before beating the shit out of him.
    • The second is when Slade feigned allegiance again by knocking out Oliver and bringing him to Chase, just so Oliver can track down his other friends and get close to Chase. It's clear that Chase is no longer ten steps ahead.
  • The fight scenes, oh my the fight scenes. While Oliver fights Adrian, Talia's followers are annihilated by Slade, Nyssa, John, and Rene. Black Siren and Black Canary have their own impressive hand-to-hand bout before their cries knock each other down as well.
    • Siren gets back to her feet first, and is about to finish Dinah off, when Quentin comes up behind her and knocks her out.
    Dinah: You didn't have to do that.
    Quentin: Oh yes I did. For a lot of reasons.
  • Speaking of Quentin, this is a man who has lost his daughters more times than the amount of daughters he has, and especially has been through Hell and back regarding the loss of Laurel. To see him come to terms with her death (and, in a way, losing both his daughters, who were both Canaries) by way of calling Dinah by the codename Black Canary is equal parts heartwarming, tearjerker and just straight-up awesome. The man has been through a lot.
  • Ten years, five seasons, and months of being tormented by Adrian Chase, and Oliver finally overcomes the survivor's guilt that has been the reason for many of his bad choices and personal angst.
    Oliver: That's who I was. That's who I was before! That's not who I am now. You can blame me for your father's death for the rest of your life. I am done blaming myself for mine.
  • Talia and Nyssa having one hell of a fair sword duel which Nyssa wins and Slade drops in to help Nyssa against Talia's followers. Nyssa also shows good Character Development by calling out Talia on how her and her father treated her over Oliver killing her father and knocks out her sister rather than killing her. Girl has come a long way.
  • In a rather roundabout way that's equal parts Tearjerker and Heartwarming Malcolm's sacrifice showing that YES he did care about Thea in the end. Willing to take a landmine for her along with taking out several League assassins and Captain Boomerang himself. The Magician played his final and greatest trick.
  • In the flashback after defeating Kovar, Oliver realises there's no way he'll reach the beacon in time to light it while the fishing boat is present and so makes a ridiculously long-range precision shot with an arrow in order to ignite it.

Season Six

    Episode 1: Fallout 
  • Oliver saving John from the mercenaries. The fight choreagraphy is absolutely splendid.

    Episode 2: Tribute 
  • After years of the DC Extended Universe putting restrictions on what exactly the Arrowverse can and can't do, and the Arrowverse making increasingly bold jabs toward its own use of more DC characters, the show that started it all finally takes a step that not even Supergirl has yet and references Bruce Wayne and Gotham City by name.
  • Felicity and Curtis being able to prove that the photo of Oliver as the Green Arrow truly was digitally doctored, clearing Oliver's name.

    Episode 3: Next Of Kin 
  • The fight between Onyx and Diggle out- and inside the car is shot splendidly.
  • Diggle overcomes his fear at not being a good leader and accepts himself as the new Green Arrow.
    Reynolds: Who are you?
    Diggle: I'm the Green Arrow.
  • The awesome cross bow named “The Green Monster” for Diggle to use to compensate for not having Oliver’s archery skills Felicity and Curtis outdid themselves with that one.

    Episode 4: Reversal 
  • A villainous one for Black Siren: Vaporizing one of Diggle's crossbow bolts mid-air with her Canary cry.
  • Diggle actually towards the end managing to get the upper hand on Black Siren and kicking her ass.
  • How does the episode end? With Oliver getting a call from one Slade Wilson asking for help. It's about to be just like old times Ollie!

    Episode 5: Deathstroke Returns 
  • Like the episode title says...Deathstroke returns in all his glory. Let's count the ways...
    • The reason he came to Oliver for help? He wished to avoid unnecessary complications by simply bribing the prison Warden and using the fact that Oliver is a famous American to get on his good side. Reestablishing him as the Pragmatic Anti-Hero and not the insane madman who tried to destroy a while city as one of his old contacts likes to remind him.
      • And what does that old contact call him? The Terminator.
    • After learning that a gang called the Jackals has taken his son, Slade effortlessly infiltrates their facility offscreen and begins to carve and shoot himself at least a dozen armed men.
      • This needs to be seen to believe as Slade, katana in one hand and a semi-automatic machine gun in the other, does One-Man Army through the Jackals' base in a glorious single-shot. The Jackals' bullets do next to slow Deathstroke, the closest being one goon's lucky head-shot...and Deathstroke kills him as he's getting up.
    • Just what kick-started the plot proves that being a Badass is In the Blood when it comes to Slade's kids. While stranded on Lian Yu, Joe changed his name to Kane Wolfman and joined Australian Intelligence just like his father. After being arrested for arms dealing, the Jackals break him out, seemingly for his secrets, only for the the final shot of the episode sees The Reveal of the Jackals leader: Joe Wilson.

    Episode 6: Promises Kept 
  • Oliver and Slade vs Joe Wilson and the Jackals. The Jackals are completely and utterly outclassed. Oliver mows them all down easily with just a handgun, while Slade, despite being emotionally compromised, easily defeats his son during their climatic fight.
    • Just as Joe is about to land the killing blow on his father, who has completely lost the will to fight back by this point, Oliver shoots the blade out of his hand. Retirement hasn't slowed him down at all.

    Episode 8: Crisis On Earth-X Part 2 

    Episode 10: Divided 
  • The entire warehouse battle. From Oliver taking down a good dozen of Diaz's men in a single long shot, to Diggle coming to the rescue with a remote controlled T-Sphere, ending with a brutal fight between Oliver and Vigilante.

    Episode 11: We Fall 
  • A villainous one for Cayden James. His Reign of Terror might be terrifying, but he manages to do in one episode that usually takes months for the Big Bad to achieve — bringing Star City to it's knees. At the end Oliver sends him $10 million because he simply has no other option on how to stop him.
  • Dinah using her sonic scream to stop a train in its tracks! Both Rene and Curtis can't help but cheer loudly.
    Episode 13: The Devils Greatest Trick 
  • The reveal that Ricardo Diaz has been behind everything from the start. Leaking the photo of Oliver as the Green Arrow, orchestrating Cayden James, the FBI coming after Oliver, and the splintering of Team Arrow and all under the guise as just another mook working for Cayden James. As quoted from the film that this episode gets its title for, "The Greatest Trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist".
  • Oliver disarming James of the detonator with a flechette to his arm as soon as the latter lowers his guard.
  • One for Dinah. Fueled by rage over Black Siren killing Vincent she manages to gain the upper hand in both confrontations a far cry from where Laurel was the one who came out on top everytime they fought.
  • Another villainous one for Anatoly: Being able to get the drop on Curtis and Rene, taking the latters weapon and making the two look like amateurs.

     Episode 14: Collision Course 
  • The tragic circumstances aside, the overall battle royal between Team Arrow and the Outsiders is an frantic action-packed thriller of a scene.
  • Wild Dog facing Green Arrow alone to give Mr. Terrific time to get to Black Canary. Despite clearly being outmatched by his former mentor and repeatedly getting trounced, Rene refuses to give and actually manages to delay Green Arrow long enough for Terrific to reach Canary before finally losing.
  • Dinah (with a little help from Curtis) finding the strength NOT to kill Black Siren after everything she has done.
  • Black Siren decides she's fed up with constantly hiding in the shadows and decides to go public... as the amnesic Laurel Lance of Earth-1, thought to be deceased daughter of Quentin. This way nobody from either Team Arrow or the New Recruits can come after her without raising very awkward question and compromising their positions.

     Episode 16: The Thanatos Guild 
  • Nyssa faces off against the remainder of the League.
    Nyssa: I will love to slit your throat.
    Athena: We have that commonality.
    Nyssa: Except unlike you, I have a taste for the contemporary. Such as plastic explosives. (holds up timer just before they go off)
  • Athena actually shows herself capable of taking Nyssa to the limit.
    Athena: You've had the same footwork since you were eight years old.
  • You can never go wrong with Team Arrow vs Ninjas.
  • The team is down on the floor as Athena and her ninjas ask them to surrender. Thea hits a panel to activate the traps Malcolm set up and send arrows to cut down all of Athena's men with Athena herself injured and force to flee.

     Episode 17: Brothers in Arms 
  • Despite all the bad blood between them, Oliver and Diggle still kick the collective asses of Diaz's men, ending it with blowing all the Vertigo straight to hell.
  • Oliver’s Badass Boast to Hill and Armand (who he now knows are working for Diaz) when they reveal they know he’s the Green Arrow.
    Oliver: If I was the Green Arrow… I don’t think you would want to be in this room right now. I don’t think either of you would.
     Episode 18: Fundamentals 
  • While he was just a vertigo-induced illusion, there's something to be said for how we were treated to Adrian Chase giving Oliver Breaking Speech after breaking speech, he even had enough of a haunting presence from beyond the grave for his hallucination to talk Oliver into storming SCPD by himself.
  • Oliver storming the SCPD in his season one Arrow outfight and kicking the crap out of a bunch of corrupt cops.
     Episode 19: The Dragon 
  • The entire episode is one for Ricardo Diaz. Essentially, almost everything you saw him accomplish as the season went along, he pulls off again in the span of a single episode.
     Episode 20: Shifting Allegiances 
  • Oliver faces off against Ricardo Diaz and would have actually won has Díaz not cheated.
     Episode 21: Docket No Eleven Nineteen Forty One Seventy Three 
  • Black Siren refusing to go along with Diaz and following along with "Tommy Merlyn" being the Green Arrow, followed by directly grinning at the TV camera. She all but outright told Diaz in no uncertain terms to go screw himself.
    • She tops off the badass by attempting to take out Diaz herself and would have succeeded, if Diaz didn't happen to have a power nullifier on him.
     Episode 23: Life Sentence 
  • Team Arrow with the help of Agent Watson exposing Diaz and everyone on his payroll.
  • The battle between Oliver and Diaz is also this with the combination of music and slow mo shots.
  • Ricardo Diaz gets props for being one of the only Arrow villians to not only survive but escape and still be a decent threat by the end of the season even with most of his connections taken away.

Season 7

     Episode 1: Inmate 4587 
  • A bunch of inmates try to jump Oliver in the showers only for Oliver to kick almost everyone of their asses.
  • Felicity tackling Diaz himself and getting in some good hits. Even he seems surprised by how much of a fighter she is.
  • After learning that Felicity is okay after Diaz attacked her and William Oliver goes out to the hard knocks out Brick in two moves than proceeds to beat the ever loving shit out of the inimate that relayed Diaz message that his family was dead and tells him this.
    Oliver: You should have killed me
    • He may not be in the suit but the Arrow is back! And so is Roy!

     Episode 2: Longbow Hunters 
  • Diggle's Curbstomp Battle against Diaz!
  • Dinah and Laurel combining their respective Canary Cries to overpower Silencer's shield.
  • In order to get Brick's help to get info on Diaz, Oliver is told to use a shiv to take care of Yorke, a prison guard who has been a bit of trouble for most in the prison. Well, Oliver uses the shiv, but not to kill him. Instead he makes it look like Yorke stabbed him, getting him fired and following Brick's orders to the letter. Even Brick is impressed.

    Episode 3: Crossing Lines 
  • Oliver having stabbed himself in the gut in the previous episode is not at a hundred percent throughout the episode and yet he still manages to foil an attempt on his life by Ben Turner. Beat him, make his way into Bricks fight club where he defeats Sampson by breaking both of his arms. He then proceeds to make his way up to the balcony Brick is on, take out the corrupt guards and even stabs one of them to get himself moved to Level 2 in the prison so he can locate “the Demon”. One again he did all of this while still harboring a wound that hasn’t even had time to properly heal yet. Handicapped Badass at its finest.

    Episode 4: Level 2 
  • General one for Felicity through out the entire episode: her husband and child are away from her, and come hell or high water, she WILL get them back. If this episode hasn't granted Over-watch Determinator status, nothing will.
  • Felicity tricking the Silencer into leading them to Diaz.
  • Felicity being able to give a KNOWN SUPER VILLAIN Pause is pretty awesome, though admittedly a massive red flag warning.

    Episode 5: The Demon 
  • Talia breaking into Ollie's cell. One for both of them, though more for Ollie than Talia; neither of them are 100 percent at the moment and each is the only fighter who can take the other, though this plays more in Ollie's favor as he is the one who won their little spat when she broke in.
  • Ollie and Talia vs a hallway of guards, all armed and in riot gear. Watching them just walk through them is a sight to behold, having some of the best choreography on the show. The last time Ollie and Talia met was as enemies, yet they can still synch up incredibly well.
  • Curtis proving that his 6 months of inactivity have not dulled his badassery in the slightest. By the time the Argus squad including Diggle break into the meeting area, he has dropped the would-be terrorist and disarmed the Bio-Chemical Bomb.
  • And what was Talia doing in prison in the first place? Batman easily took down the person Team Arrow had so much trouble with all by himself.
    Episode 7: The Slabside Redemption 
  • Ricardo's Rousing Speech to the inmates. The fact that it's laced with genuine charisma and empathy makes it so darn effective.
  • Oliver and Turner teaming up to tear through the rioting prisoners and save the captive guards.
  • Oliver defeating a Super Serum-powered Diaz with a Heroic Second Wind and a nicely-placed stab to his lung before head butting him into unconsciousness.
    • Making it even more cathartic, whose cell does Oliver lock him in? His own.
    Episode 8: Unmasked 
  • Oliver makes an awesome comeback not just as the Green Arrow but as unmasked Green Arrow no less.
  • Dinah’s Loophole Abuse around Mayor Pollards anti vigilante act by deptuizing Oliver as a member of the SCPD.

     Episode 16: Star City 2040 
  • Mia proves she's her father's daughter with her incredible fighting skills, including taking down a dozen guys by herself.
  • Mia then grabs a thrown bow to fire an arrow that nails the trigger before it sets off the bombs.
  • The gang are trying to find the bomb trigger at a big masked party. Realizing at last how he's been on the wrong side, Renee tells them that "we need to show them who were are. Heroes." Cue Roy and Dinah throwing off their cloaks in full costume to fight through the crowd.

Season 8

     Episode 10: Fadeout 
  • The flashback scene in which Oliver fights John Byrne's men. There are several really long shots without any cuts and the choreography is probably the best in the entire series.
  • Diggle’s final scene in the series is this incarnate. As his family prepares to leave for Metropolis, John looks up to the sky and sees a crashing object. As he investigates the wreckage, John finds a box, opens it and the contents start glowing green. Diggle’s work in Star City may be over, but his journey as a hero isn’t.

Other

    Other 
  • By portraying Sara and Nyssa's relationship in Season 2, Arrow has become the first serious outside-of-comics superhero show or movie to depict an openly gay relationship onscreen, which is a pretty awesome move for them. The announcement that the Flash spin-off is going to include Pied Piper is also a win too.
  • The way that Deadshot's PTSD was portrayed is one for the writers, for daring to tackle such a serious subject and depict it accurately. Bonus points for his actor for conveying just how he felt.
  • Slade Wilson's comeback in the Arrowverse. It's because NO ONE suspected him to come again, at all, after Manu Bennett's own backlash regarding his quick defeat by Thea.
  • A clip from Season 6 reveals Oliver name dropping Bruce Wayne and Gotham City. It lead to something.

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