Oliver, Diggle and Roy head to Corto Maltese in order to bring Thea home. Meanwhile, Laurel starts on her path to being a hero, and Felicity starts her new job with Ray Palmer.
Tropes Present In This Episode:
- Age Lift: Ted Grant is depicted around the same age as Laurel/Dinah, when in the comics, he was old enough to be her father, had a surrogate father-like relationship with her, and was even previously romantically involved with her mother.
- Ambiguously Evil: Ray Palmer looks through schematics of top secret advanced weaponry on the files that Felicity recovered...then looks off camera with a Kubrick Stare.
- Ask a Stupid Question...: Oliver realises there's something strange about how Thea is acting and asks Roy if she had a boyfriend in Corto Maltese, only for Roy to point out he'd be the last person that Thea would reveal that to.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted with Laurel who gets some major bruising to her face that's still there in later episodes.
- Bilingual Bonus: Oliver's brief conversation with Thea's gardener is mostly in non-subtitled Spanish.
- Book Ends: The beginning and ending of Thea's training on Corto Maltese has her with boiling water poured on her hand. At the beginning, it's tea by Merlyn and she begs him to stop; at the end, a random tourist spills his coffee and she doesn't even flinch.
- Busman's Holiday: Invoked by Lyla. Knowing Oliver is going to Corto Maltese, she asks Diggle to find out why Agent Shaw hasn't reported in, so that way Diggle can bodyguard Oliver without feeling guilty about leaving his wife and child. Oliver in turn has no problem helping out Diggle again.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends with Nyssa showing up in the Arrowcave, demanding to know where Sara is.
- Combat Pragmatist: Just because Oliver prefers a bow doesn't mean he can't use a gun when needed, and he does so when he runs out of arrows.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Oliver says he's going to get Thea back from Corto Maltese, Roy grabs his bow to follow him. When Ollie asks what he's doing, Roy goes on a long speech about how Thea left because of him, and he needs to help bring her back...until Ollie clarifies:Oliver: No, what are you...doing? (indicates bow) You can't travel with that.
Roy: Oh. I've actually...never been on a plane before. - Continuity Nod
- Milo Armitage was the man who sent his agents to purchase the stolen A.R.G.U.S. files.
- Ray brings up the incident where "some wacko" blew up Queen Consolidated's Applied Science Division warehouse.
- Contrived Coincidence: Though in completely different circumstances, both Oliver and Thea both had their Training from Hell on islands. Diggle even gives it a Lampshade Hanging.Diggle: What's with your family and islands?
- Dissonant Serenity: Oliver is surprised when Thea takes a cup of hot coffee spilled on her hand without flinching.
- Exact Words: After she gets beaten up trying to take on a domestic abuser, Laurel promises her father she'll never do anything like that again. As in trying to be a vigilante without the proper fight training again.
- Excuse Me While I Multi Task: Ray Palmer watches with amusement as Felicity (who is supposed to be working on a job for him) juggles phone calls from both Laurel and Diggle who want her hacking expertise.
- Foreshadowing
- Felicity discovers information about "The Streak" in Central City, and heads off to see Barry at the end of the episode, setting up her appearance in the following episode of The Flash.
- Thea notices there is something off about Roy, and he mentions having trouble sleeping.
- Heroic Wannabe: Laurel doesn't have the years of Training from Hell that Oliver and Sara had. While she's shown herself capable of taking down larger men in the past, those people she usually took by surprise. She's no match for a larger man who can see her coming, even armed with a baseball bat. When she asks Oliver to Teach Me How To Fight, he point-blank refuses given that it's something Sara would never have wanted for her.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: After running out of makeshift arrows, Oliver makes use of Diggle's sidearm to take care of three mercenaries. He even Lampshades this by pointing out he never said he didn't know how to use guns.
- I Let You Win: While Thea does excellently in her duel with Malcolm at the end of the episode, she figures out pretty quickly that he let her win.
- Ironic Echo: Both Thea (to Malcolm) and Roy (to Oliver) say "I have a good teacher."
- It Works Better with Bullets: A variation as Diggle doesn't have to be told the gun Shaw gave him is empty, having worked out from other clues that he's gone Rogue Agent.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Roy tells Thea that's all he ever wanted for her. If she's happy in Corto Maltese, she should stay.
- Improvised Weapon: Diggle and Oliver make a makeshift bow-and-arrow ensemble with the materials in their hotel room.
- Internal Reveal: Oliver tells Thea how Robert Queen killed himself so that Oliver could survive.
- It's a Long Story: Felicity gives this trope to explain why she has to interrupt her work for Ray to help Team Arrow.Ray: Why am I under the impression that you have a lot of stories, all of which are long?
- Invoked again when Felicity has to beg a few days off because she has a friend who was struck by lightning.
- Keeping Secrets Sucks
- Oliver is willing to tell Thea everything—from what happened during the five years he was 'dead' to his work as the Arrow—if that's what it takes to bring Thea back. Diggle argues against it, as revealing even more deception by her brother would destroy whatever trust Thea has left. Turns out Thea doesn't mind Oliver keeping secrets about himself—it's the fact that he kept secret things about her own life that bothers her. The irony of course is that now it's Thea keeping a secret; that her biological father is still alive.
- After Laurel ends up in hospital Quentin begs her to tell him what's been bothering her, but she still refuses to reveal that Sara is dead.
- The Killjoy: At the start of the episode, Oliver just responds with a Death Glare whenever a member of Team Arrow makes a joke, as he's still uptight over Sara's death and Thea's disappearance. He seems better once he gets to Corto Maltese, apparently just from seeing his sister again.
- MacGuffin: The A.R.G.U.S. Actual, a complete record not only of A.R.G.U.S. agents but also "affiliated soft targets", e.g. family members. Diggle does not have to be told who is on that list.
- Missed Him by That Much: When Oliver knocks on the door of the house where 'Mia' is staying, there's a Reveal Shot of Malcolm Merlyn waiting behind the door with his bow drawn in case Oliver tries to force his way in. Fortunately a gardener sends him off to the cafe where Thea is working.
- Mythology Gag
- Mark Shaw was the 70s Manhunter.
- Thea uses the alias Mia in Corto Maltese, referencing the character she was based on, Mia Dearden.
- Ted Grant's gym where he teaches boxing is "Wildcat's Gym". In the main DCU, Ted Grant's superhero name is Wildcat.
- The files that Felicity recovered are weapons labeled O.M.A.C..
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Lyla sends Diggle with an A.R.G.U.S. transcoder to authenticate his identity to Agent Shaw, who steals it off him to decode the A.R.G.U.S. Actual.
- Not Named in Opening Credits: Katrina Law (Nyssa), who appears at the end of the episode.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Ray refers to "some whacko" blowing up QC's Applied Sciences building last year. Felicity not only took part in the raid but thought up the idea in the first place.Felicity: I'm suuuurrre they had their reasons...
- Off-the-Shelf FX: The knife that Shaw draws on Diggle is clearly a rubber tanto of the kind sold in martial arts stores for training purposes.
- Papa Wolf:
- Fathers around the world likely cheered when Diggle suggests going for the Glock when his daughter discovers boys.
- Quentin does a more subtle version when he sends in an anonymous tip that the man who beat up Laurel has outstanding warrants on him. He discovered the information during an AA meeting so couldn't do anything officially.
- Percussive Therapy: Subverted when Laurel's attempt to go Batter Up! on a wife-beater ends up with her in hospital instead. However she still has her rage, so joins Grant's boxing gym to learn how to fight better, given that his own students have similar issues.
- Pet the Dog: Malcolm allows Thea to win their sword duel so she can return to Starling City with Oliver.
- Properly Paranoid: A carload of mercenaries turn up and attack Team Arrow just as they're about to intervene in the buy. Turns out Shaw hired them as a precaution.
- Red Herring: In the last episode, Oliver found a piece of broken bottle on the roof where Sara was killed. It turns out there were some winos drinking there, but Sara told them to clear off so they didn't see anything.
- Relative Button: After seeing that Lyla (and by implication Baby Sara) is on the list of A.R.G.U.S. agents and their associates that Shaw is selling, Diggle hauls him from his vehicle and gives him one hell of a beatdown.
- A Shared Suffering = Teach Me How To Fight
- Thea's grief over her mother's death is similar to Malcolm's grief over his wife's death. Thea went to Malcolm knowing he would teach her how not to feel hurt and pain.
- Ted Grant recognizes that Laurel has the same anger as the street youths that he teaches boxing to, and hands her a flyer. When Oliver refuses to train her, she goes to him.
- Shout-Out:
- The A.R.G.U.S. Actual appears to be inspired by the NOC list in the first Mission: Impossible movie.
- Felicity's assistant is named Conway, after Marvel and DC writer Gerry Conway who among other things killed Gwen Stacy and co-created Firestorm.
- Tempting Fate: Before going to speak to him, Diggle assures Oliver that Agent Shaw is a Friendly, only to have Shaw draw a knife on him.
- Took a Level in Badass: Laurel is hoping to. She's stated she's taken self-defense classes in the past, but when she decides to take up Sara's legacy of heroics by going after the abusive boyfriend of a woman in her meeting, even armed with a baseball bat the guy overpowers her and puts her in the hospital. After Oliver refuses to help her, she goes to Wildcat Gym to get Ted Grant to teach her how to fight. Thea, on the other hand, has been a little more successful.
- Training from Hell: Malcolm's first lesson to Thea is how to handle pain, involving pouring boiling water on her hand. The second lesson is beating the crap out of her until she pulls out one of his swords to defend herself. So far as training goes, it's a kind of polar opposite of Oliver's training: He began with "beat him up" (from Slade) and then went to slapping water (from Shado) that was likely lukewarm if not cold, while she began with hot water poured on her hand and ended with a beatdown.
- Turn Coat: Agent Shaw betrays A.R.G.U.S. because he's sick of the horrible things Waller has made him do. Diggle doesn't look happy when Lyla has to leave at the end of the episode to attend to Waller's bidding.
- You, Get Me Coffee: Felicity assumes she's going to be Ray Palmer's assistant, so she goes on a long rant about how she will not, under any circumstances, get him lattes or any other form of caffeinated beverage. Once she's done, Ray introduces her personal assistant, who will be getting her coffee.Ray: Or are you just anti-latte in general?
