Arrow Episode Recap, Season 2 Episode 20: Seeing Red

Josh recaps Season 2 Episode 20 of Arrow, titled Seeing Red, where Roy goes on a rampage, and Oliver and Sara don’t exactly see eye to eye on how to deal with him! Following the recap, both Josh and Violet share their thoughts on the episode.

Don’t need the Arrow episode recap for Seeing Red? Click here to jump directly to Violet’s thoughts on the episode!
To see Josh’s thoughts on this week’s Arrow episode, titled Seeing Red, click here to get directly there!

Episode Recap of Arrow, Season 2 Episode 20: Seeing Red

So, this week on Arrow, Felicity deals with Roy, after Oliver brought him back to the “Arrow-Cave”. Diggle offers to go get some dinner (aww how sweet! Is anyone else getting the vibe that there might be some mild sparks between Felicity and Diggle for the past few episodes?). Roy ends up disappearing after Diggle leaves, and reappears scaring the heck out of Felicity. Luckily, Diggle comes back, and while Roy just pushes through the two of them, Diggle was there to at least play some interference. Roy leaves the club as Diggle tries to chase him down, but Roy manages to disappear.

Meanwhile, Oliver and Sara are having a “mini vacay” as the kids nowadays say. They are having a romantic night/morning in a hotel, and Oliver seems ready to commit! He asks Sara to move in with him. Before Oliver can explain himself, their cell phones start ringing, and Oliver and Sara return to the Arrow cave. Felicity and Diggle explain what happened with nut-so Roy.

Moira, at home, is having an interview for her mayoral campaign, and she is playing up her familial bonds. With perfect timing, Thea comes in, huffy and puffy about not wanting her mom to have her campaign rally at Verdant, Thea’s bar/club. Moira decides to pull the “we have a binding contract” card, and Thea storms off. Moira’s campaign manager tries to cut the interview short, to reduce the damage Thea is stirring up. Her campaign manager gives Moira some advice–be mayor or a parent, not both.

Sara and Oliver head out that night, searching for Roy. Felicity radios to them that there is a report of a man in a red hoodie causing trouble. Oliver and Sara find the location, but Roy seems long gone. Meanwhile, Sin has found Roy, who is still “zombified”. Sin tries to talk to him, but has no luck. Unfortunately, some other dudes take notice of Roy, and come to put him in his place. I say “unfortunately” because Roy gives them a good beat down. Roy smacks Sin before taking off, luckily Sin isn’t severely hurt.

Oliver and Sara head back to Verdant, and Thea isn’t happy to see her liar-of-a-brother, and demands to know why Diggle has been put on guard duty for her. He tells her it is because of Slade, but she doesn’t seemed too concerned with Slade. Sin then pays a visit to find Thea, but runs into Sara at Verdant instead. Sara demands to know what happened to her, and Sin explains it was Roy.

Back with Moira, she pays a visit to Sebastian Blood, and informs him that she is dropping out of the mayoral race at her campaign rally. He demands to know why, and Moira tells him that the reason is Thea. Sebastian ensures he will “change this city”.

Oliver, Felicity, and Sara manage to pick up Roy’s trail, and Sara seems to be on the more lethal approach to deal with Roy, while Oliver is against that. Sin gives Sara a call at this point, and provides a location for Roy. Sara and Oliver pay him a visit.

Fighting on a creepy roof top, Roy is able to make quick work of both Oliver and Sara. Oliver tries to talk sense into Roy, but it doesn’t go well. So unwell in fact, that Roy decides to bust up Oliver’s leg. Roy makes a leap off the building, and is confronted by some cops. Roy fatally stabs one, as Oliver watches from above, unable to stop Roy.

Oliver’s injuries seem pretty severe, and Sara takes Oliver to a doctor. Luckily, Oliver’s night job has helped this doctor maintain his supplies, and he seems nice enough to help out. X-Raying Oliver’s leg shows not only the extent of his current injury, but interestingly shows the subtle injuries that Oliver has endured which are just inherent from jumping off buildings.

Back with Thea, Diggle tries to talk Thea down about her mother issues. Thea catches Roy on TV though, as he injures the cops. In the Arrow Cave, Sarah and Oliver bicker further over how to handle Roy, Sara insisting Roy is “too far gone”. Sara takes it upon herself to hunt down Roy. She grabs a pistol–she means business it seems.

Thea pays a visit to Sin, and Sin tells her about Roy being injected with “some drug”. Flashing over to Roy, Thea seems to have found Roy, and she apologizes to him. Thea then says she should be killed for what she has done to Roy–then we see it, or lack of it–Thea was a figment of his imagination, much like Shado for Slade.

Back at Verdant, Moira’s campaign manager tells Oliver about Moira’s plans. The big deal about this scene other than Oliver’s trying to convince Moira to stay in the race is Moira acknowledging she knows about Oliver’s night job. She doesn’t come out and say it, but she certainly explains that she knows.

Moira’s rally begins, and she makes her speech. Her speech seems to lean towards resigning. After seeing Thea show up to the rally, she changes her mind, and stays in the race. Thea then takes the podium. Oliver and Diggle realize what her plan is–draw out Roy.

Oliver hobbles down to the Arrow Cave, and he has Felicity dope him up with Lidocane for pain. He suits up, and heads out to find Roy. It looks like he won’t need to go far, as Roy storms into Verdant. Roy begins fighting, and Thea tries to talk him down. He begins to strangle Thea, and Sara shows up–armed with her pistol. Sara shoots him in the leg, and Roy pleads for death. Oliver shows up, and impales Roy with several with arrows laced with “Tibetan pit fighter venom”, which manage to make Roy go “night-night”.

Back in the Arrow Cave, Oliver explains they will “take care” of Roy, but he doesn’t seem to have a solid plan as to how yet. Sara tells Oliver she was ready to kill Roy. She then seems to melt down some–and tells Oliver she wanted to kill Roy. Sara then breaks Oliver’s heart–and leaves. Sin chases her down before she hops on her bike. when asked where she is going, she simply responds, “to see an old friend”.

The Queen family get into their limo after the commotion settles. Thea is still angry with both Oliver and Moira regarding the lies about her father. Moira seems to have one more thing to tell Oliver and Thea about Malcolm, but it will never be heard. Driving home, the car is suddenly hit by another vehicle.

Oliver wakes up outside the limo, and Slade has both Moira and Thea on their knees. Slade then forces to Oliver to pick one to die, much like back on the island. Oliver refuses to pick. Moira then bravely stands up and volunteers herself. Slade commends her bravery and almost seems to let her off the hook. She doesn’t get off so easily however, and Slade impales her with a sword. The balls in tears and Oliver falls to his side, in a near catatonic state.

This week’s flashbacks interestingly don’t take place on the island, but even further back. Oliver is with Laurel, and being a little mopey, and Laurel can tell (Oliver’s wigs looks terrible in these old scenes, argh!) Moira comes in, and knows that something is up–more than what Oliver told Laurel. Oliver admits he got a girl pregnant. A girl that isn’t Laurel. Oliver sure was a playboy wasn’t he?

Later in the episode, the flashback continues, and they are still discussing the pregnancy. Moira hints that the woman could be fishing for money. Oliver says she is a “good person”, and asks for advice on how to handle the situation.

Still later, a young woman has come to meet Moira. Turns out this is the pregnant woman. Moira has a proposal. She offers the woman two million dollars to disappear. She grudgingly accepts the offer. Moira tells her to tell Oliver that she lost the baby, and she leaves town. This was a weird scene. It was coming from a caring mother, but the cold, calculated feeling that the scene had as Moira “shoo’ed” the woman away was jarring. I wonder–will we be seeing this child in the future at all? Or the woman again?

The final scene of the flashbacks has Oliver hanging up with the girl. Oliver tells Moira that she lost the baby, and he proclaims that he is the luckiest guy on the planet, but he seems a little “off”, as if he maybe would have wanted to be a father.

Scenes from Arrow, Season 2 Episode 21: City of Blood

Here are scenes from the next Arrow episode, titled City of Blood:

What did you think of Season 2 Episode 20 of Arrow, titled Seeing Red? Share your thoughts in the comments below!