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Recap / Arrow S 1 E 17 The Huntress Returns

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On the island, Oliver and Slade work to stop Fyers and his missiles. Oliver, disguised as a man from Fyers’ camp, escorts Slade onto the base. They plan to blow up a launcher, but Oliver decides instead to take the circuit board as leverage. They radio Fyers and ask for a way off the island in exchange for the circuit board.

Diggle shows Oliver camera footage of Helena Bertinelli murdering Gus Sabatoni, her father’s attorney, after he failed to provider her father’s whereabouts. Helena threatens Oliver’s family to force him into helping her. While working, Thea offers Roy Harper a job at the club, Verdant, with Tommy’s approval. After Thea scolds Roy for never showing up, she is surrounded by a group of guys intimidating her. Roy speeds to her rescue.

During the club’s booming opening, Helena takes Tommy hostage and harms him until Oliver takes her side. Since there is a decoy van when Bertinelli is being transported, Oliver and Helena split up the pursuit. The police catch on, and Detective McKenna Hall arrests Helena. Detective Lance and McKenna try to persuade her to give them the Vigilante’s name. She outs Oliver, but they don’t believe her because she makes it look like a sardonic taunt. Oliver busts her out. He hands her a passport and plane ticket, but she sticks around.

While Oliver is busy apologizing to McKenna, Felicity leaves him a voicemail about a crossbow being stolen from a sporting goods store. Helena forces Felicity to give her her father’s safe house address. Helena invades, but is halted by Oliver. McKenna arrives on scene and is shot by Helena. Recovering in the hospital, McKenna reveals she’s moving to Coast City for physical therapy.

Laurel invites her father to breakfast, failing to mention that her mother is also coming. Dinah suggests that Sarah could be on one of the numerous islands surrounding the island Oliver was on. Laurel believes they should look into it to be sure, but Quentin is initially hesitant. Later, Dinah meets Quentin at the station; he’s ready to listen.

Tropes applying to this Episode:

  • After Action Patch Up: Different from the usual in that Roy is being patched up by a third party in the hospital, but there's the obligatory Shirtless Scene and Relationship Upgrade.
  • Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age: Zigzagged; Helena uses crossbows for the assault on the safehouse, but when Oliver appears she picks up a shotgun to counter his superior archery skills.
  • Anger Born of Worry: When Felicity walks into the Arrowcave, Oliver barks at her to Get Out! because Helena is there and is using threats against his friends as leverage.
  • An Offer You Can't Refuse: Oliver is surprised when Huntress turns up at his house to ask him to team up with her. Given that this would involve slaughtering their way through the US Marshalls guarding her father, Oliver refuses but Huntress makes it clear she's entirely willing to apply more pressure. "Fortunately, you have a family too."
  • Arrow Catch: How Helena avoids being killed by Oliver. She's been practicing that move just in case.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: Apart from Helena and Oliver, there's also Roy and Thea snarking away at each other.
  • Cassandra Truth:
    • Huntress, of all people. She flatly reveals the Hood's identity to the police, and they simply refuse to believe her... because Ollie was smart enough to get himself ruled out as the vigilante earlier in the year, and Huntress disguises it as a taunt towards Quentin and McKenna.
    • Helena also warns McKenna to break off things with Oliver before she gets hurt (also counts as an Implied Death Threat given her ongoing jealousy).
  • Condescending Compassion: Roy regards Thea as doing this and is not impressed by the charity she's offering him, such as a legitimate job at Verdant.
  • Cut Himself Shaving: Lampshaded when Tommy has to explain away the injury Helena gave him.
  • Decoy Convoy: Two identical vans are used to transport Helena's father to his court hearing, so Oliver and Helena have to split up. Turns out one's a decoy and the other is full of SWAT officers. Though it's not explained why both vans wouldn't be a Trojan Horse.
  • Hostage MacGuffin: On Lian Yu, Oliver and Slade don't have enough time to blow up the missile launcher, so they steal the circuit board. He then calls Fyers on the radio and claims that he wants a way off the island in exchange for its return.
  • I Can Explain: Oliver offers to explain to his best friend how and why he became the Vigilante, but Tommy cuts him off, saying he wouldn't believe a word of it anyway.
  • Inadvertent Entrance Cue: When Quentin demands the vigilante's name, Helena replies, "The Hood." Cue power cut and the police station filling with tear gas as the Hood turns up to rescue her.
  • I Shall Taunt You: Helena throws her fling with Oliver in McKenna's face, and makes a point of mentioning how Oliver slept with both Lance daughters as well. Quentin can be seen struggling to contain his rage.
  • Kinda Busy Here: Oliver is having sex with McKenna when Felicity calls to warn him that Helena is still around.
  • Kiss of Distraction: Roy gets stabbed saving Thea from an Attempted Rape. In the hospital it turns out he's Afraid of Needles, so Thea kisses him as the doctor is injecting him. Given the circumstances it also counts as a Smooch of Victory.
  • The Missus and the Ex: For Oliver, again, involving Helena, again. Only this time Helena is the ex, and Ollie is Dating Catwoman with Detective Hall, who is on the task force hunting the Hood.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Helena in her stripper outfit, ending in a Male Gaze view of her straddling a motorcycle in stiletto boots.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • McKenna moves in with her sister in Coast City. Coast City is famous as the home of Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern.
    • Helena's stripper outfit at the beginning resembles Huntress's comic outfit with the cross on the chest.
    • Roy is Afraid of Needles, gee I wonder why?
    • An article about the assassination of the Bialyan president is seen on a screen at one point. Like Markovia and Corto Maltese, Bialya is a fictional country in the DCU.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
    • Huntress has taken on board what Oliver taught her about finding weaknesses and applying leverage on those points to get what you want. Like taking Tommy hostage and threatening to break his fingers unless Oliver agrees to help her.
    • Oliver is just telling Huntress that he can't find her father when Felicity walks in bragging that she can do it by hacking into the FBI's security system, so Huntress knows to go looking for Felicity later.
    • Oliver rescues Helena from the police station and gives her a ticket out of the country. Instead she stays to continue her vendetta, killing several US Marshalls and crippling Oliver's girlfriend.
  • Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: Diggle uses exactly this phrase to describe Helena.
  • Put on a Bus: McKenna, who moves in with her sister at Coast City for physical therapy after being shot and breaks up with Oliver.
  • Right Behind Me: Felicity calls to warn Oliver that his Psycho Ex-Girlfriend (using those exact words) is still in town, only to turn and find the Huntress behind her.
  • Rescue Romance
    • Roy Harper gets stabbed saving Thea from a couple of rapists in the Glades. When he gets nervous about being injected by the doctor, she gives him a Kiss of Distraction with overt romantic subtext.
    • Helena says that Oliver coming to rescue her means that he still has feels for her. Although Oliver never admits this to her, it's obvious that he does given his reluctance to arrow her.
  • Sarcastic Confession: When asks who the Hood is, Huntress replies, "Oliver Queen" but then goes on to make it look like a spiteful comment regarding Hall dating Oliver.
  • Secret-Keeper:
    • Dramatic tension is provided by the fear that Helena will reveal the Hood's Secret Identity to the police, though when it comes down to it she doesn't. And although threatening otherwise, she only applies 'leverage' to his friends who are also Secret Keepers, thus avoiding the police attention that would come if she went after his family.
    • Tommy finds that Keeping Secrets Sucks, as Laurel knows something is up with him but he can't tell her what. This helps him reconcile with Oliver, whom he realises was in the same position with him.
  • She Is Not My Girlfriend:
    • Averted. When Felicity enters the Arrowcave, Helena gets a dangerous smile and asks Oliver exactly how many girlfriends he has. Oliver simply ignores the question.
    • While in the hospital, Roy denies that Thea is his friend. The kiss she gives him tells a different story.
  • Shipper on Deck: Thea is quite happy a beautiful ex-girlfriend of her brother has come to visit, and eagerly takes Oliver's suggestion that she leave to call Tommy about arranging a job for Roy.
  • Tranquilizer Dart: Quentin tries to stop the Hood escaping with the Huntress, only for Oliver to throw a tranq dart into his neck.
  • Trojan Prisoner: Oliver Dressing as the Enemy brings in a captive Slade.
    Mercenary: You killed a few of my friends, you son-of-a-bitch!
    Slade: And I'm gonna to kill a few more. (takes two pistols out from behind his back and guns them down)
  • What the Hell, Hero?
    Diggle: Oliver, if you didn't still have feelings for this girl, you would have thought of a different solution than letting her extort you into killing someone.
    Oliver: So what do you want me to do? You want me to kill her?
    Diggle: I think you would have a long time ago if she looked like me instead of the T-Mobile girl.
  • What You Are in the Dark: Helena could have given up the identity of the Hood for at least a more comfortable prison, yet despite not being particularly fond of Oliver by that stage, she doesn't.

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