Violet recaps Season 2 Episode 4 of Arrow, titled Crucible, where Oliver tries to solve the gun problem that the Glades has been having, and we find out the identity of the masked woman better known as Black Canary! Following the recap, both Violet and Josh provide their thoughts on the episode.
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Arrow, Season 2 Episode 4: Crucible Recap Overview
Need a quick Arrow episode recap of Season 2 Episode 4 titled Crucible? Here is a summary of events for the episode. Each event is linked to the more detailed Arrow episode recap for Crucible if you need more information!
- Oliver learns that there’s a gun problem in the Glades, thanks to a ganglord who calls himself “The Mayor”
- Felicity realizes the masked woman has been following Laurel. Oliver meets up with Black Canary and discovers that she is Laurel’s sister, Sara. Oliver knew Sara did not drown, but thought she died later. In a flashback, Oliver is held captive and shot.
- Lana informs Diggle about a GPS tracker on the Mayor’s guns. Oliver wants to sponsor a “Cash for Guns” event. Laurel gets pulled over for drunk driving.
- Felicity reactivates the GPS tracking on the guns. Arrow shows up at the Mayor’s lair and confiscates the guns under heavy gunfire.
- Sara doesn’t want Oliver to tell her family she’s alive. Officer Lance asks Oliver to talk to Laurel. He does, but it doesn’t go well. In the flashback, Oliver removes the bullet from himself.
- The Mayor and his gang shoot up the Cash for Guns event, where Oliver saves Alderman Blood, and Sin is shot.
- Felicity figures out a weapons convoy is coming through Starling City that night. Arrow and Black Canary intercept it, and capture the Mayor.
- Blood thanks Oliver for saving his life. Sin wakes up in the hospital. Sara seems to agree with Oliver that she should let her family know she’s alive. Meanwhile, Lance and Laurel are going through tough times.
- In the flashback, Oliver’s captors take him to Sara. In the present, a masked man plans to form an army, and has the Mayor injected with something, but he dies. The man removes his mask – it’s Alderman Blood.
Arrow Episode Recap: Crucible, the Details
The Mayor Plans to Rule the Glades
This episode of Arrow, titled Crucible, starts off at a party at the Queen mansion, and Oliver is late, due to some “business” he is attending to – catching some criminals and confiscating their guns. When he finally arrives at the party, Isabel is not happy about his tardiness, because this party was to attract investors. As Oliver tells Felicity about what happened, Alderman Blood and Laurel overhear the word “guns,” which Blood says are an increasing problem in the Glades. Laurel informs Oliver that a local ganglord who calls himself “The Mayor” has been arming the gangs. The Mayor’s goal? To create chaos, so he can rule the Glades with guns.
Meanwhile, a gang member returns to the Mayor without his gun because the Vigilante took it. A man steps in, asking for leniency for his cousin, saying that he was the one who brought him. The Mayor shoots the man dead instead of his cousin.
The Masked Woman Reveals Her Identity
Back at the party, Laurel seems to be drinking a little too much. Oliver checks to see if she’s okay. Felicity interrupts to share an epiphany with Oliver: the masked woman is following Laurel, not Oliver.
After the party, Oliver catches Black Canary outside of Laurel’s apartment. Arrow asks why she is following Laurel, and she seems to know him, calling him Ollie. He removes her mask, and then his hood. It’s Sara, Laurel’s sister. She tells him she’ll give him some time to let it sink in, then escapes.
Later at the Arrow Cave, Oliver explains to Diggle that he thought Sara had drowned when the Queen’s Gambit capsized, but then he saw her about a year later. However, he doesn’t know where she’s been all these years, because he thought she was dead — again. But he refuses to provide details, and says that her family is better off not knowing what happened. Oliver says he has to take care of some business at the office, and Diggle informs him that he’s in contact with his military sources, trying to find out how the Mayor is getting the illegal army weaponry.
Flashback to the ship Oliver was taken to. He’s locked in a cell, and a man tries to ask him questions, but Oliver doesn’t answer. The man shoots him.
Cash for Guns
Back to the present, Sin brings Sara some food at her lair. Sin is surprised to hear that Sara has family in Starling City, and what their occupations are. Sara tells Sin she doesn’t want her family to know she’s still alive because she’s not what they remember.
Digg meets with Lana, who informs him about some crates of guns that went missing, which had GPS trackers on them. She gives him the remote, but tells him that the GPS must have been deactivated. She also subtly lets him know she’s single too.
At Queen Consolidated, Alderman Blood pays a visit to Oliver and Isabel. Oliver tells Blood that he wants to sponsor a “Cash for Guns” event, and that he doesn’t want his family’s name involved. Isabel isn’t interested in sinking Queen Consolidated money into the event, so Oliver says he’ll pay for it himself. She reminds him that his trust fund isn’t what it used to be, and that both of their first obligations are to the company.
Laurel goes to dinner with her boss, Adam, and drinks a little too much wine. It seems like he’s hitting on her, so she abruptly leaves. On the drive home, she gets pulled over for driving drunk.
GPS Tracking
Back at the Arrow Cave, Digg informs Oliver what he found out from Lana about the guns. Although the Mayor deactivated the GPS, Felicity has discovered that Queen Consolidated designed the GPS tracking system — and that there’s a design flaw that will allow them to turn the GPS tracking back on. They do, and Oliver heads to the location.
Arrow shows up at the Mayor’s lair, and is attacked with gunfire, which he jumps around to avoid, while shooting arrows at the shooters. Oliver secures the crate of weapons, while the Mayor and his guys run off.
Lance Family Issues; Flashback Oliver Removes the Bullet
Officer Lance shows up to take over for the officer who pulled Laurel over. She blew 0.6 over the legal limit. She insists that this was one mistake that can’t be compared to his drinking problem, and asks him to cut her some slack. She chooses to take a cab home rather than let him give her a ride.
Sara meets up with Oliver at Verdant. He tells her he didn’t tell her family she was alive. They thought each other were dead. She asks what happened to Slade, and he responds by asking her where she’s been. She says, “Everywhere.” She started hearing about a masked vigilante in Starling City a year ago, and she knew it was him. She came back because of the earthquake, to make sure her family was safe. Someone knocks on the club doors – it’s Lance. He tells Oliver about Laurel, and confesses about his drinking problem after Sara disappeared. Meanwhile, Sara eavesdrops, and tears up. Lance asks Oliver to be a friend to Laurel, and he agrees to talk to Laurel. Lance leaves, and when Oliver goes back inside, Sara is gone.
Flashback to the ship. Apparently the captors shoot all of the captives to see if they are strong enough to survive. They have left some tools for Oliver to remove the bullet. He takes the wrench and pulls the bullet out of his stomach.
Back to the present, Oliver catches up with Laurel. She figures out her dad asked Oliver to talk to her. She thinks her dad is the one with the problem, not her.
Another flashback to the ship, Oliver’s captor returns. Oliver shows him the bullet, and the captor says now they can talk. He tells Oliver that he and his crew have been looking for a grave site for two years, and asks Oliver if he found it, where the bodies are, and if the bones are misshapen. Oliver doesn’t answer. The captor gets on his walkie talkie and says, “This is the right island.”
The Mayor Attacks Cash for Guns
Roy turns his guns in at the Cash for Guns event. Thea is pleased that Roy seems to have given up his crime fighting. Sin interrupts their moment. Meanwhile, Oliver is standing off to the side monitoring the event, and Alderman Blood comes over to talk to him. Oliver confides that he is trying to help two sisters going through a tough time that don’t seem to want his help. Blood comments that sooner or later, everyone goes through a crucible, and they either survive and grow stronger, or they die. But some choose to stay and embrace the pain because it’s all they know anymore, and that’s why he wants to help the city, before it becomes used to living like this.
Just then, the Mayor and his gang drive up in a truck. They Mayor says that what happens in the Glades only happens if he allows it. Alderman Blood tries to stand up to the Mayor, but the Mayor and his gang start shooting everyone. Oliver pulls Blood out of the way just in time. However, Sin gets hit.
Arrow and Black Canary Work Together to Save the Day
Back at the Arrow Cave, Oliver, Felicity, and Digg are watching the news report about the shooting. Felicity “borrows” the FBI’s facial recognition software to get info on the Mayor, whose real name is Xavier Reed. He has a foster brother in the military who is assigned to a weapons convoy, which is scheduled to come through Starling City that night.
Roy visits Sin in the hospital. She is unconscious. Thea decides to stay with Roy in case Sin wakes up, and comments that Roy saved her life, and that she guesses he can’t stop being a hero.
Arrow and Black Canary show up as the weapons convoy meets up with the Mayor. They’re able to jump around and avoid the gunfire, as Oliver shoots the men with his arrows, and Black Canary uses a long staff. It seems they immobilize everyone except the Mayor, who fires a grenade launcher at them. Oliver shoots an arrow, which stops the trajectory of the grenade, which explodes before it gets to them. The blast blows them to the ground, but Oliver grabs Black Canary’s staff and takes out a few more guys, as Black Canary grabs Arrow’s bow and shoots the Mayor’s brother with an arrow. They trade and get their own weapons back. Black Canary sneaks up behind the Mayor and holds her staff to his throat. Oliver tells her she has to let him live. Her calls her a name, and she hurts him and throws him to the ground.
Blood Thanks Oliver, Oliver and Sara Have a Heart to Heart
At his office, Oliver watches a news broadcast about the success of the Cash for Guns event, for which the identity of the anonymous donor is still unknown. Alderman Blood stops by to thank Oliver for saving his life. Oliver suggests that Blood run for mayor, but Blood has other ways in mind for saving the city.
At the hospital, Sin wakes up. Sara, who is wearing a hat, passes by Sin’s room and sees she’s okay. Oliver runs into Sara in the hall and informs her he took care of Sin’s medical expenses. He asks her what her plan is, and tells her she has to tell her family she’s alive. He realizes that if her family knew the truth, that he lied about her dying on the Queen’s Gambit, they would never talk to him, but it would be worth it. Meanwhile, Lance is at a support group talking about how he’s worried about Laurel, who we see is taking pills and washing them down with wine. Sara takes Oliver’s hand and seems to agree with him.
Alderman Blood May Not Be Such a Good Guy After All
Flashback to the ship. Oliver’s captor takes him out of his cell and brings him to another room, telling him his days of screaming are just beginning. Sara walks into the room.
In the present, a police officer brings the Mayor to an abandoned building and removes the bag that was over his head. A man wearing a creepy mask steps forward. He talks about needing an army to free the city from its chains, and a man injects the Mayor with some green substance. Blood drips from the corner of his eye, and he dies. The man removes his mask, and it’s Alderman Blood. He tells the police officer to bring him another, to which the officer replies, “Yes, Brother Blood.”
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 2 Episode 4 of Arrow: Crucible
Yep, Josh has been saying it ever since Black Canary came into the picture that it had to be Laurel’s sister, Sara. Of course, this was based on some “insider information” that in the comics, Black Canary is Laurel. It became obvious pretty quickly that Laurel could not be Black Canary, so who did that leave? Her sister. Speaking of which, do her lips annoy anyone else? Her lips are so thick that there’s always a small hole in the middle of her lips. It’s like she can’t entirely close her mouth. At times, it seems like she doesn’t even attempt to close her mouth, always leaving it partially open. But, I digress…
One thing Arrow does well is bring up and implement themes, without necessarily hitting you over the head with them. This episode’s theme was a crucible. Although it was a bit of a stretch and seemed a little out of the blue when Blood and Oliver were were talking about this, and how Oliver randomly decided to somewhat confide in Blood. But anyway, once we learn the three different possible aspects of those who go through a crucible, it becomes clear by the end that Sara has been employing that third option. She’s been living in pain all these years, and doesn’t know how else to live. It seemed at the end that she agreed with Oliver about telling her family she’s alive, but when? Will this happen next episode? What will Laurel and Officer Lance say? Will this help pull them out of their funks, or cause them to sink deeper? And what will their reaction toward Oliver be?
Alderman Blood did seem pretty suspicious this whole time. What’s all this about “Brother Blood”? Sounds like he’s the leader of a cult or something. Even though he’s an obvious bad guy to the audience, he may not think of himself that way, as he was talking about building an army that will “free the city from its chains.” So he probably thinks what he’s doing is a good thing, because he wants to help the city.
All in all, yet another great episode of Arrow, combining lots of action, emotions, and a good storyline. Curious to see what happened between Sara and Oliver on that ship in the flashback!
Josh’s Thoughts: Arrow, Season 2 Episode 4: Crucible
I had my suspicions on Black Canary! I knew she was Oliver’s supposedly drowned sister. I had been waiting for her return hearing about her death in season 1. It was pretty obvious that she would be making her return. I have a feeling we may see a rekindling of her and Oliver’s relationship. That is, unless Oliver did something to her back on the island that really messed her up. Clearly she has gone through some rough times given that she is bent on protecting “helpless” women.
I am curious to see the dynamic of Oliver’s relationship in the past with Sara. From what we see of Oliver this episode, he is not happy about how things were left it seems. I have a feeling we will see more of why through the flashbacks.
The other “surprise”, the dark side of Sebastian Blood, was not much of a surprise as well. Given how much of a halo this guy was trying to put on his head, he had to be dirty. I am curious how big of a villain this guy plans to be though. Will he be the season long villain or is he going to meet his end quicker than that?
What I am curious about with Sebastian, is what his motivations for working with Oliver are. What does he think he will get out of Queen Consolidated considering how broke they are? It is odd to me how opposed Blood was to Oliver and then he makes a complete 180 because Queen shows some compassion to help the needy. I have a feeling that given what we know about Blood now, is he after something from Oliver Queen.
Scenes from Arrow, Season 2 Episode 5: League of Assassins
Here are scenes from the next Arrow episode, titled League of Assassins:
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