‘Arrow’ 2.14 Episode Recap and Review: Time of Death
There’s a new bad guy in town in the form of William Tockman (the Clock King, as he’s dubbed by the Starling City media and DC Comics). He sends two minions into a major research corporation (surprisingly NOT Queen Consolidated) to pull off an extremely well-planned heist of the “skeleton key,” a code-breaking device that can magically hack into anything, up to and including bank vaults. One of the minions goes off-script, causing the heist to turn into a shoot-out that draws the attention of Quentin Lance, and therefore puts the whole shebang on the Arrow-team’s radar. Tockman is not happy about the operation’s end, and uses a minute hand to stab the bejeezus out of the offending henchman.
Meanwhile, Ollie is throwing a “Welcome Back” party for Sara at Casa de Queen. Laurel refuses to come, but Ollie calls her anyway, just in case. Papa Lance appreciates the gesture and takes the opportunity to apologize for pretty much everything he ever said back in season one. Quentin is called away to deal with the body of the aforementioned henchman, but not before he manages to have an uplifting, hand-holding moment with his ex-wife.
Sara and Ollie see Lance go, then head for the crime scene themselves. The body leads the team to figure out the Clock King’s next move, a bank robbery using the skeleton key. Felicity gives them the location, but Tockman is able to divide and conquer, hacking into their comm channel and sending a metro bus directly into the path of an oncoming train (which, if you think about it, is an impressive feat of timing more than anything else). Ollie stops the bus and Sara tracks down Tockman’s van. The bad guys get away, but Sara manages to get a blood sample. Sara’s analysis leads the gang to Tockman’s identity. Felicity can’t help but feel a little left out that the Amazing Sara is good with the science and tech as well as the fighting. Bless Digg for noticing.
Ollie and Sara go to Tockman’s, only to find the van empty but for what looks like a wireless router. Unsurprisingly, it’s a trap. Through the router (or whatever it’s supposed to be in Arrow-world), Tockman is able to upload a virus directly to the Arrow-network and make all of Felicity’s computers explode. (Not a metaphor. Improbably, the computers actually explode. Sparks and all.)
Ollie tells Felicity to have Walter liquidate 800,000 shares of Queen Consolidated and place the cash in Ollie’s account in Starling National Bank as a trap for Tockman. (Oliver has evidently forgotten that he owns Queen Consolidated by the barest skin of his teeth, and that “liquidating” translates to “selling his shares.”) While that’s processing and Felicity is up to her elbows in scorched computer bits, Ollie is going to attend a Lance Family Dinner that Laurel has finally agreed to hold. It seems that Papa Lance thinks that he has a chance to reconcile with his wife now that all of the family is back together (or at least they will be once Laurel gets on the ball).
Dinner is super awkward. Dinah is already seeing someone in Central City and has no plans to move back or get back together with Quentin. Things go even more pear-shaped when Laurel wakes up enough to read Ollie and Sara’s body language and figures out that they’re together. Laurel pitches a fit, screams at everyone, then walks out, telling them to lock up when they leave. Ollie follows her out and finally, finally calls her on the carpet for her behavior. He basically tells her that she hasn’t taken responsibility for a single thing in six years that that he’s done helping her.
Sara and Ollie get back from the Dinner of Doom to find that Felicity has disappeared, leaving just Digg at the Arrow-cave. Before they can ponder too long, Felicity calls to tell them that Tockman has taken the bait at Starling National – a fact that she knows because she’s currently there and waiting for him. The rest of the Team Arrow gets there post haste. Tockman has one team physically breaking in while he remotely manipulates the gas mains from a nearby location. Ollie goes after the minions, while Diggle runs down to the basement to manually take care of the gas problem. Felicity is able to use Tockman’s signal to trace him, so she and Sara head in his direction. Felicity tackles Sara to the ground, saving her and taking a bullet to the shoulder. She uses Tockman’s own virus to make his cell phone explode in his pocket, knocking him out cold and effectively defeating the bad guy.
Back at the Arrow-cave, Sara sews up Felicity’s shoulder, giving her her first real scar, just like the rest of the team. Digg has had a little chat with Ollie about where Felicity’s head has been in regards to Sara’s joining the crew, so he tells her that she’s always going to be an irreplaceable part of the team. (Hush, it was an adorable moment).
Thea hires Sara as Verdant’s new bartender, a job she evidently had back in college. Laurel comes in not to drink, but to talk to Sara. It seems that Ollie’s talk actually got through to her. The two reconcile and hug it out before Laurel leaves to attend Quentin’s AA meeting.
Meanwhile, Thea has texted Ollie with a 911 request to come home. Nothing’s actually wrong. Thea just wanted Ollie to talk to Mo again. Mo, however, is in the middle of a meeting with someone that she wants Ollie to meet: Slade Wilson.
Okay, I admit it. I’m a sucker for the shy girl’s unrequited love trope. Call it a remnant of my awkward adolescence. What can I say? I read Mansfield Park many, many times. At any rate, Arrow likes to play this trope, and they play it extremely well. My props to Arrow for going down this road and not making Felicity whine about it, but rather pick herself up and keep going.
So can anyone tell me why we randomly got Sin’s backstory this episode? We haven’t seen her in a while and all she actually did this episode was hug Sara twice. How does that merit dedicating the entirety of the island flashback to her? Not that I don’t appreciate new information and all, but this just seemed out of place and somewhat jarring. Maybe she’ll be much more important in upcoming episodes.
Best Quote:
Ollie: “When you come back from the dead, you get a party. It’s a Queen family tradition.”
Ollie: “Aspirin?”
Digg: “Oxycodone.”
Things to Ponder:
- Slade and Ollie have finally met in Starling City! What’s making Slade show his hand now?
- Sneaky DC reference: Oblivion Bar, home base of the Shadowpact.
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