Zee puts on a play about high seas swashbucklers, and Oliver and a new rival compete for center stage.
Tropes:
- Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: Zee's response to Green Arrow saving her from the Cavalier is:"Ew! EWWW! Get off! Who asked you to save anybody?!"
- Crazy-Prepared: Green Arrow defeats Cavalier with a barrage of heckler arrows: arrows that make "boo" noises as they float down and destroy his fragile artist's soul.Green Arrow: "Always knew they'd come in handy someday."
- Disproportionate Retribution: Mortimer wants to kill Zee for upstaging him at a school play back when they were kids.
- Hypocritical Heartwarming: Green Arrow refuses to stand aside when confronted."I will always protect my friends!...Even friends I hate, like Zee Zatara."
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's been self-centered and petty for the whole episode, but when Oliver realizes that Zee's about to be killed by his rival, he drops all his issues with her and runs off to become Green Arrow.
- Karma Houdini: Were it not for the fact that everyone but Oliver and Zee thought the Cavalier was All Part of the Show, then Mortimer would've been expelled and/or arrested for attempted murder after his defeat. Instead, not only does he get a standing ovation from the audience but he and Oliver become buddies due to their shared hatred of Zee.
- Neutral Female: Maybe it's appropriate for the play's setting, but Zee and Karen do nothing while Green Arrow and Cavalier fight all over the stage.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Oliver hates Mortimer for upstaging him. Mortimer actually does deserve to be hated as Oliver finds out when he's trashing the star's dressing room in petty revenge: Mortimer actually auditioned to have a chance to kill Zee when she wasn't expecting it because she outperformed him in their play back in elementary school.
- The Show Must Go On: When her romance-on-the-high-seas production has been turned into Die Hard: The School Play, Zee frantically orders Karen to close the curtains, then changes her tune because the chaos draws cheers and applause so she orders the curtains raised back up.
- The Show Must Go Wrong: Being an episode about a school play made this inevitable. But this ends up working in Mortimer, Oliver, and even Zee's favor in the end.
- Take the Third Option: Foiled at killing Zee and Oliver, Mortimer feels satisfaction at gaining applause and Oliver's praise for his performance, and having fun joining Oliver at lobbing critiques (and insults) about Zee.
