Arrow Review – Season 2, Episode 20: Seeing Red

Comic book fans know that poor Roy Harper got crapped on pretty badly by various writers over the years. He was a junkie, got limbs cut off, had his daughter get killed and had to live down the code name Speedy for, like, forever. Think the TV writers are going any easier on him? Um, no, as this episode shows him firmly in the dangerous grasp of mirakuru. Can Team Arrow find him before he’s irredeemable? That’s what you’ll find out if you read on. Be warned, as there are some serious “Oh crap!” moments (and thus, heavy duty spoilers) along the way!

Not So Quick Summary: Still somewhat the worse for wear after Slade tried using him (possibly successfully) to create an army of super thugs, Roy is still on a slab at the Arrow Lair. Except when Diggle is about to go for sushi, Felicity turns around and finds that he’s very much awake. Roy flips over a heavy table, shoves his way past Diggle, knocking him down, and he’s gone.

And where are Oliver and Sara? Getting it on in an expensive hotel room, one he probably can’t afford now that the family fortune is in serious jeopardy. The two heroes are in the midst of an awkward conversation about moving in together when both of their phones go off. They rush back and are briefed about Roy before heading out to find him.

Moira Queen is in the middle of an interview about her mayoral campaign, which is going well since she’s ahead in the polls. Things turn sour when Thea bursts in to inform her mom that she can’t have a rally at Verdant. Moira reminds her that they have a contract, which is possibly not the smoothest way to handle the situation. Moira’s campaign manager thinks she can be a candidate or a mother, but not both, and that she can’t spilt her focus.

Team Arrow is out seeking Roy when Felicity gets a lead (patent pending): four guys who were assaulted by a “roided out” dude in a red hoodie. Roy’s moved on to find Sin, but when some of her friends show concern for her safety, he wrecks them and smacks her before running off again.

Back at Verdant, Thea tells off Oliver (again!) and Sin tells Sara about Roy. Moira is busy telling Blood she’s dropping out of the race, and when he presses her for an explanation, she says she needs to be there for her daughter. Blood assures her that she’s doing the right thing and makes a creepy proclamation that a new day is coming for Starling City.

As you might expect, Ollie and Sara clash over how to handle Roy. That’s a nice way of saying she thinks they should kill him. As luck would have him, he’s in Canary’s old loft. Fighting him doesn’t work, so Arrow unmasks and tries talking to him and … oh my gosh, did he just break Oliver’s leg. The cops outside try taking Roy in, but all that gets them is a trip to the hospital.

A doctor grateful for Arrow’s help in the past helps patch him up, but he’s hurt pretty badly. At Verdant, Diggle, who’s been assigned to shadow Thea because of Ollie’s fear that Roy will come looking for her, tries talking her into giving Moira a second chance. Quite the optimist, that one. Unfortunately, Thea sees a news report about Roy’s rampage (the news is always on at Verdant) and sets off to find him.

Has Team Arrow agreed on a plan of action? Perish the thought. Canary leaves with a gun in her waistband and thoughts of a headshot, chiding Arrow for wanting to try saving someone who’s so far gone. Felicity tries convincing her boss that Sara will come around.

Sin and Thea have a conversation where the former fills the latter in on the mirakuru (she knows it only as “some drug,” but you get the idea). He’s in bad shape, hallucinating out in the street and hearing voices telling him to kill Thea.

Campaign manager Mark tells Oliver his mom is dropping out of the race. You know what that means: he does his best to talk her into staying the path, and she reveals that … she already knows he’s Arrow! She has for a while, actually, and she couldn’t be more proud. Okay then.

At the rally, there’s a tense moment or two before Moira tells her supporters she’s in it to win it. Thea says a few words too, but Oliver knows she’s doing it to draw Roy out. He gets Felicity to shoot him up with far more than the recommended dose of painkillers so he can function on his injured wheel. Good thing too, because Roy shows up and tears through security at Verdant. Thea tries talking her down and ends up lifted off the ground in a mirakuru-fueled chokehold. Canary shows up with a gun, but Sin intervenes and keeps her from getting a clear shot. Canary shoots Roy in the leg instead, and Arrow shows up with multiple sedative arrows that manage to knock Roy out.

At the Arrow Lair, Felicity wonders how long they can keep dosing Roy with venom (which does sound dangerous), but Oliver says they’ll do it until the mirakuru cure is complete. That doesn’t mean everything is hunky dory though: Sara informs him that she was ready to and wanted to kill Roy, because the instinct is just too ingrained. Even though Ollie promises to help her regain her soul, she’s decided to leave, dropping the classic passive aggressive breakup line, “I just care about you too much to be with you.” That’s for all you folks who think Season 2 hasn’t had enough soap opera. Sara has one last talk with Sin, who calls her a good person, before saying goodbye and stating that she’s going to visit an old friend. Maybe she’s going to ask the League of Assassins for help?

The Queen family has a heart-to-heart-to-heart chat in a limo leaving Verdant, and Moira is jus about to tell her kids a secret about Malcolm Merlyn when the car is suddenly t-boned. When they come to, Slade has them all tied up. He and Oliver argue about Shado, leading Mira to the horrible realization that they were on the island together. Slade tries to get Oliver to choose which one of his loved ones will die, but he won’t do it. Moira sacrifices herself instead, and even though Slade admires her courage, that doesn’t stop him from stabbing her through the chest with his blade. Wow. Ominously, Slade says “there is still one more person who has to die before this is over.”

Meanwhile, in the Past: Today’s flashbacks are not from the island, but from a pre-boat voyage time in the Queen mansion. Laurel senses that something is bothering Oliver, but only after she leaves does he tell Moira what it is: he knocked up a girl, and it’s not Laurel. Or Sara. Because “Old Oliver Was A Jerk.” After whining to his mom about how unfair life is (#FirstWorldProblems), she does the only thing she figures is wise, meaning that she invites the baby mama over and offers her $2 million to tell Ollie she lost the baby and never contact him again. That’s pretty much Rich Mothering 101, right? Hopefully that’s not the last thing Ollie remembers about his now late mom.

Final Thought: Just when you thought this episode was cruising along and dealing only with Roy, it rose up and delivered multiple shots to the gut. Now the deck is really stacked against Team Arrow, as Ollie is injured and grieving, Sara is seemingly gone and Roy is out of commission. With the season finale coming up in just a few weeks, it should be drama central down the stretch.