History Recap / ArrowS4E1GreenArrow

* AbsenteeActor: John Barrowman is credited but does not appear.

* RealityEnsues:
** With the short life expectancy of the past three mayors, Star City is having a tough time finding a new one willing to take up the mantle.
** Three consecutive annual terrorist attacks and the rampant crime rate mean that people are leaving the city in droves, no-one's coming into the city even to visit anymore, and overall the city is practically dying.
** Even with supernatural powers and badassery, Damien Darhk remains susceptible to a surprise attack from behind.

* NotSoDifferent: When Oliver brings up that Thea is overly violent, Diggle notes that ''he'' used to be [[SerialKillerKiller exactly the same way]] when he started out in Season One.

-->'''Diggle:''' Oliver, after everything you did for me, man, I couldn't fathom why you didn't trust me. But then I realized you couldn't. It's not who you are. You don't trust. You don't love. You were able to fool [[ComicBook/RasAlGhul Ra's]] and join the League because inside you were [[NotSoDifferent every bit as dark as they are]].

* FamousLastWords: The DA comments that she thought the coffee tasted funny, before succumbing to the poison put into it.

* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: Thea is ''loving'' being Speedy, though she prefers to be called Red Arrow.

* InsistentTerminology: Thea demands the others call her Red Arrow. No-one does, so she's stuck with "Speedy."
-->'''Diggle:''' A "red arrow" just means that you can't make a left turn.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Captain Lance stops the DA from confronting Damien Darhk when normally he'd be the first to charge in recklessly. This shows he knows exactly how dangerous Darhk is.

** Oliver notices Felicity being "uncharacteristically quiet" when Thea and Laurel ask for help.

** Averted with Captain Lance, who is clearly still clinging to resurfaced years-old grudges and is not happy Oliver is back in town.
** However Quentin's interactions with Laurel show that they have reconciled their split from last year. This makes a lot of sense when it's revealed in the next episode that Darhk is threatening Laurel to keep Quentin in line, so it's in her father's interest to keep her as close as possible.

** Diggle has finally got a superhero costume, using a helmet rather than a hood to conceal his face. He also has a pistol that [[NothingUpMySleeve deploys from a sleeve]] and can fire bullets or tranq rounds.

* DoubleMeaning: Oliver does a lot of worrying about the "darkness" and the need to fight it with light, in an episode where the BigBad is revealed to be [[MeaningfulName a man called Darhk]].

* DoubleMeaning: Oliver does a lot of worrying about the "darkness" and the need to fight it with light, in an episode where the BigBad is revealed to be a man called Darhk.

* SuperheroParadox: Captain Lance blames Oliver for the Star City's current troubles noting the whole city's been in hell ever since he put on his mask (ignoring that whole city was in shambles even before the Hood ever arrived on the scene).

* BloodKnight: While the rest of Team Arrow goes into combat completely deadpan and only talk when they need to, Thea goes in with an excited expression, swinging into the fight hanging from a truck door, and excitedly declaring how awesome it all is before and after, as well as seeing no problem [[CasualDangerDialogue arguing over her codename in the middle of a gunfight]].

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Waller takes Flashback-Ollie to a bar for a drink, making it look as if her experience with General Shrieve has caused her to unwind a bit. The drink is drugged and the bar is full of ARGUS agents who kidnap Oliver and dump him right back on the island hellhole Waller rescued him from.

** Oliver mentions that he's [[WesternAnimation/{{Vixen}} seen people with mystical powers before]].

** The Hood outfit Oliver wears in Central City is a noticeable contrast to the Cisco-designed costumes he wears now.

** Flashback-Olliver is just wearing [[CivvieSpandex jeans and a green vest with Yao Fei's hood]] for his vigilante activities.

* BetaOutfit: Hoping to wrap the crisis up quickly, Oliver refuses to put on the Arrow costume again, and just wears a balaclava. Captain Lance seems to [[PaperThinDisguise recognise him regardless]].

** Averted with Captain Lance, who is clearly still clinging to resurfaced years-old grudges and is not happy Oliver is back in town. He has however put aside his dispute with Laurel.

* DivingSave: Subverted; a man gets a LaserSight on his chest only for Thea to tackle him to the ground...only to find [[YouAreTooLate the bullet has already killed him]].

* BetaOutfit:
** Hoping to wrap the crisis up quickly, Oliver refuses to put on the Arrow costume again, and just wears a balaclava. Captain Lance seems to [[PaperThinDisguise recognise him regardless]].
** The Hood outfit Oliver wears in Central City is a noticeable contrast to the Cisco-designed outfits he wears now.

** Diggle has finally got a superhero costume, using a helmet rather than a hood to conceal his face. He also has a combination pistol/tranq that [[NothingUpMySleeve deploys from a sleeve]].

** Felicity notes that Oliver has had his Shado dragon tattoo removed, showing he's moved on from the issues of guilt and grief over her death.

* BetaOutfit: Hoping to wrap the crisis up quickly, Oliver refuses to put on the Arrow costume again, and just wears a balaclava. Captain Lance seems to recognise him regardless.

* ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind: Diggle saves Oliver just before the latter is about to be killed by Damien Darhk.

* BetaOutfit: Hoping to wrap the crisis up quickly, Oliver refuses to put on the Arrow costume again, and just wears a balaclava.