‘Arrow’ 3.02 Episode Recap and Review: Sara

Laurel brings Sara to the foundry, not knowing where else to bring the body of the sister whom most of the rest of the world already believes to be dead. The loss of Sara devastates the entire team. No one has much time to grieve. The archer believed to have killed Sara is still at large and is now taking out new victims.

There aren’t a lot of killers who use the bow and arrow, and the League of Assassins doesn’t target their own, so ARGUS is able to figure out the identity of the new guy in town pretty quickly. His name is Simon Lacroix, the Komodo, and he’s the only non-League archer who wears a black mask (as far as we know). Felicity is able to track him through his cellphone, but it’s a one-time only deal, and Simon is able to evade Oliver after a brief bout of jousting motorcycles (you guys, I laughed so hard).

Simon’s most recent intended victim survived the attack with relatively minor injuries, and Laurel is able to bluff her way past his posted police guard to get to the bottom of what’s going on. Kelso, the vic, admits that he and two other recently deceased businessmen were working on a deal to build a pipeline for Ameritek. He has more to say, but evidently the windows in the hospital aren’t arrow-proof and Simon is able to finish what he started earlier without ever setting foot in the building.

Meanwhile, Ray Palmer is planning to give a benefit at Queen Consolidated. There’s one more name involved in the Ameritek deal, and he’s on the guest list. Palmer’s shindig gets one heck of a floor show when Simon breaks in through the window, followed shortly by Roy and Oliver. Ollie finally traps him a few floors down, but has to talk Laurel out of taking the assassin out herself. Ollie’s speechifying does no good, but his foresight in taking the bullets out of Laurel’s gun seems to have worked a treat. Laurel would have killed the wrong man, though. Lacroix wasn’t even in Starling when Sara was killed.

The trail of Sara’s real killer is now cold, and Oliver tells Laurel that Quentin deserves to know what happened to his other daughter. Laurel tries to break the news to her father, but chickens out when Papa Lance’s heart starts giving him trouble again. Team Arrow holds a secret funeral for Sara, burying her in her own preexisting grave. Digg and Lyla decide to honor her memory by naming their new baby girl after their friend. Digg also wants to rejoin Team Arrow until they’re able to bring Sara’s killer to justice.

Sara’s death is the catalyst for more changes within the team. Oliver finally realizes that he doesn’t want to die hiding in the lair as a result of his secret life. Felicity wants more, as well, and goes to Ray to accept his job offer (and possibly more). Finally, Laurel is looking at Sara’s Black Canary jacket with a determined, “I have a plan” expression.

The last few minutes of the episode give us a teaser of what’s to come (don’t they always?). Somewhere in Corto Maltese, Malcolm Merlyn is watching a young protégé beat the dickens out of some sparring partners. The victor removes her mask to show the audience that Thea Queen-Merlyn has spent the off-season becoming a badass.

In flashbacks, Oliver is asked by Waller to take out his first target. Once he has the gun set up, he realizes that the target in question is Tommy. Oliver and his keeper devise a plan to convince Tommy that Oliver really is dead and to stop looking for him, therefore eliminating the need to Tommy to be, well, eliminated.

Oh, this was a rough episode. Wonderful, but rough. Showing Team Arrow deal with the loss of one of their own really gave the main cast the opportunity to stretch those pathos muscles, and some fantastic moments came out of it, in my humble opinion. I have to admit that I loved Oliver’s “heavy is the head that wears the crown” moment.

Also, I’m going to end up liking Ray Palmer. I don’t want to, but it’s going to happen. Knowing Arrow, it’s going to happen very soon, as Oliver seems to be coming to the realization that there is life outside the lair. From the comic books, we already know that Ray’s a Person of Interest, and internet rumors have made no bones about his being a potential love interest for Felicity (neither has Ray, for that matter). We’re only two episodes into the season. I can’t wait to see how this all shakes out.

Best Quote (yes, I went with a serious one. It does happen from time to time.):

Oliver: “John, I don’t want to die down here.”

Digg: “So don’t, Oliver”

Things to Ponder:

• Let me start with the obvious: How did Laurel manage to carry Sara all the way down to the lair on her own??
• How long before we can have another flashback involving Tommy?

Photo Credit: The CW