Oliver tries to reach out to his half-sister Emiko but his overtures are put on hold when somebody with a grudge to bare against the Queen family tries to coerce him to resign from the SCPC, and Black Siren finds her own past coming to haunt her when an old acquaintance from Earth-2 comes to Star City. Meanwhile Curtis is aghast that Diggle has recruited more of Team Arrow's old enemies to be the next incarnation of the Suicide Squad — the Ghost Initiative
- All Just a Dream: Diaz escapes, freeing the rest of the Ghost Initiative and apparently murders Curtis, before trying to contact Dante....then it is all revealed to be a virtual reality simulation Curtis put him through in order to extract information.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Sam Hackett attacks the SCPD precinct.
- Black Comedy: Lyla and Diggle screening the criminals to be on the Squad and treat it just like any other job interview. It's as hilarious as it sounds.Lyla: What would you say is a challenge you've had to overcome?
Cutter: The love of my life left me. For a blonde. - Boxed Crook: Along with Diaz from the previous episode, Diggle has decided to recruit more of Team Arrow's old enemies: Carrie Cutter, China White, and Joe Wilson to work for ARGUS as the new incarnation of the Suicide Squad — the Ghost Initiative.
- The Bus Came Back: Black Siren came back having not been seen since "Unmasked".
- Carrie Cutter, China White, and Joe Wilson.
- Call-Back: Joe recalls his apprehension during Elseworlds, angrily telling John that he would've killed him if not for his friends.
- Continuity Nod: Felicity mentions that Earth-1 Laurel was alcoholic and wonders if Black Siren has the same problem, she doesn't.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Sam Hackett takes the police precinct hostage and threatens to kill everyone in the building unless one of the cops shoots Oliver.
- Dramatic Irony: Oliver's interview about honoring Robert's legacy is intersected with his ill-fated meeting with Emiko.
- Friendship Moment:
- During their interview on a talk show, Oliver remarks that Laurel's father would have been proud of her.
- After being told about the full story behind the death of Earth-2's Quentin, Felicity tells Black Siren that what happened isn't her fault, and promises to have her back in dealing with the stalker. Laurel is visibly touched.
- Guile Hero: Curtis thoroughly outwits Diaz by playing to his ego; the simulation features Diaz escaping and killing Curtis because of foolish mistakes that Diaz takes advantage of, and Diaz falls for every bit of it.
- Guilt by Association: Despite Oliver not being responsible for his fathers mistakes, Emiko still doesn't trust him solely due to carrying the name Queen.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: A big percentage of Star City wishes for Oliver to resign from duty.
- I Am Not My Father: In recognition of Robert's many mistakes, Oliver is now out to be a better man than his father was, coming clean about hiding the circumstances of Dave Hackett's death and doing everything he can to reach out to Emiko.
- I Did What I Had to Do: How Diggle and Lyla justify the Ghost Initiative. Curtis is unimpressed.
- Immediate Sequel: The episode picks up immediately after last episode.
- Immune to Drugs: Diaz has a resistance to drugs and steroids given how many times he took them to enhance his strength. He even lampshades how stupid it was for A.R.G.U.S to give him a sedative and assume they'd work. However in a subversion, Curtis anticipated this so he gave Diaz a virtual reality simulation to keep his mind busy while the sedative took affect.
- Incompatible Orientation: Cupid, in yet another instance of falling for a man who doesn't return her affections, takes an immediate shine to Curtis. He quickly informs her that she's not his type.
- Insane Troll Logic: Diaz tells the rest of the would-be Suicide Squad that A.R.G.U.S. needs them alive. The same people who implanted bombs in all of their skulls with full intent to detonate if they step out of line. One can only imagine that the only reason no one called him on it is because Diaz is the only real person in the simulation.
- Internal Reveal: Curtis learns about Diaz's involvement in the Ghost Initiative.
- It's All My Fault: As a result of her Parting-Words Regret, Laurel has been blaming herself for her father's death for most of her life. Explains quite a lot about her, really.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: When Oliver is concerned about his public image, Dinah says that she also gets tons of hate mail, even before anybody knew anything about her, possibly alluding to the part of the fanbase that hates her.
- Loophole Abuse: A real life case, as the team always being called Ghost Initiative rather than Suicide Squad is apparently the show’s way around Warner Brothers making them stop using the team now that it exists in the DCEU. It gets a lampshade when Curtis points out that Ghost Initiative is just a cooler name for the Suicide Squ—, but Lyla cut him off.
- Mistaken Identity: Black Siren assumes that the Collins harassing her is from Earth-2, in truth he's actually from Earth-1 who has a history of anti-vigilante activity, stalking, and alcoholic offenses.
- Neck Snap: How Diaz "kills" Curtis in the simulation. Justified, given Diaz's enhanced strength and his use of a truncheon.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When Oliver learns the identity of the kidnapper is Sam Hackett, son of the bodyguard his father murdered, he realizes that Hackett has been searching for answers about his father's fate for months and snapped when he learned that Oliver had known all this time and not said anything. He blames himself for not telling Sam the truth years ago.
- Nothing Personal: What Diaz tells Curtis, referring to their last encounter.
- Oh, Crap!: Sam Hackett takes the precinct hostage—but once his weapon is disabled, he's just an unarmed criminal surrounded by dozens of cops. He gets taken down in less than a second.
- Parting-Words Regret: The exact way Quentin Lance of Earth-2 died is revealed. After drowning in work for ages, he came home to celebrate Laurel's thirteenth birthday party but forgot to pick up the cake. She threw a tantrum and screamed that she hated him. After he left, he was rammed off the road by a drunk driver, Brett Collins.
- Red Herring: The Brett Collins who antagonizes Laurel is revealed to be from Earth-1 in the end, and he is also not the stalker, as Dinah gets a note after his apprehension.
- Revenge: Brett Collins was the drunk driver who killed Earth-2 Quentin; when Black Siren got her cry tried to kill him. He didn't but died years later on his porch from unknown causes.
- Revenge Before Reason: Even after Oliver gives a heartfelt apology for lying about how Sam's father died, Sam still wants to kill him, and is ready to force the cops to do it under threat of death.
- Revenge by Proxy: The crew member Robert shot to save Oliver had a son — Sam. And now he wants revenge.
- Sadistic Choice: Sam tells the cops to either kill Oliver or he'll kill all of them.
- Save the Villain: After Dinah shuts down Hackett's power source, Oliver saves him from an officer who would have shot him for revenge.
- Sins of the Father: Oliver catches a lot of flak for his father's failings, with Emiko wanting nothing to do with him and Sam Hackett wanting to kill him.
- Start of Darkness: A flashback shows that after getting her sonic scream, Earth-2 Laurel used it on the drunk driver who killed her father, setting her on her criminal path.
- Take a Third Option: Curtis comes up with his virtual reality simulation in hopes Diggle will call off the Suicide Squad. He's none too happy when Diggle decides to use the Squad anyway.
- That Wasn't a Request: Curtis finds himself being forced to check if the bombs are compatibles with the Squad's body types — Diggle curtly points out it's an order.
- Terrible Interviewees Montage: Given that the applicants are criminals with mental issues who aren't particularly enthusiastic about being implanted with explosive devices to ensure their loyalty, they're all terrible by default.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: This episode seems to strongly hint at this being the cause for Laurel's Start of Darkness, as her self-loathing as a result of her father's death and her Parting-Words Regret led her to commit her first murder. Presumably It Gets Easier kicked in after that.
- Tragic Villain: Sam Hackett, who is being driven by the grief of losing his father and being lied to for years.
- Wham Shot: Another threatening note is left at the end of the episode, this time for Dinah, promising to "kill you all"; the stalker problem is far from over.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Curtis rightfully calls out Lyla and Diggle for reforming the Ghost Initiative, leaving him in the dark about Dante, and especially bringing in Diaz after all the trouble Team Arrow went through to send him to jail. After they extracted the info about Dante, he is not happy to hear that the Ghost Initiative will continue going forward.
- What You Are in the Dark: When Sam tells the cops to kill Oliver or he'll kill all of them, only one of them aims a gun at Oliver, and ultimately he can't bring himself to pull the trigger.
