“City of Heroes” is episode one of season two of Arrow.
The episode opens with Oliver running through some trees when he hears an aeroplane above. On the plane are Felicity and Diggle; Felicity is not enjoying the flight. So, this isn’t the past. Lian Yu appears in front of them through the clouds and Digg gets out two parachutes. Felicity thought the parachutes were just in case. They are – in case they made it to the island. They are parachuting down to the island. Felicity does not enjoy that either. On the beach is a familiar black and white mask on a stake with an arrow through it.
As the two go through the trees there is a click as Felicity stands on something. That tends not to be a good sign. She’s trodden on a landmine. Definitely not good. Digg tells her he will disarm it but Oliver, who is in the trees above them, says that won’t work. He tells Digg to back off, fires an arrow and swings down on a rope to sweep Felicity off the mine.
The two have spent weeks tracking Oliver down. Although he is happy to see them, Oliver doesn’t want to go back. In the season one finale, “Sacrifice”, Malcolm Merlyn had successfully destroyed much of the Glades – because he had two of the devices he needed and only one was disarmed. Laurel’s offices were destroyed in the process and, whilst rescuing her, Tommy was killed. Oliver says that his father’s mission was a fool’s crusade and he failed – the Hood couldn’t stop Merlyn.
Digg tells him that he isn’t needed as the Hood, he’s needed as Oliver Queen. Moira is in prison – she confessed on live television to being involved in the Undertaking – and her trial is coming up. Thea is out on her own. Diggle tells Oliver that his family needs him. As does the family business. Felicity says that Queen Consolidated is ripe for a hostile takeover, and company is planning to do so. They’ve gutted every company they’ve taken over and 30,000 Queen employees will lose their jobs. Including Felicity.
Back in Starling City, the place is a mess with many wrecked buildings. Digg tells Oliver that there are some vigilantes copying the Hood. Oliver wants to head home to see Thea, but she isn’t at home. She’s at Oliver’s club. With Roy. Who is going out at night beating up drug dealers. To stand up for what’s right, as the Hood did. Thea tells him that the vigilante hasn’t been seen since the earthquake so he was probably buried alive too and not coming back. At which point Oliver walks in.
Oliver had claimed to be away in Europe and has been out of content. It’s also not his club now – it’s Thea’s. She’s not old enough to drink but she’s old enough to run a bar. That seems a tad illogical. Thea has not been to see her mother in Iron Heights. She considers Moira to be a murderer. Oliver is impressed with how professional Thea is about the club. On the news there is an item about the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator in Central City being completed by Christmas before the newscaster – a Bethany Snow – moving on to an article about Oliver being back.
Laurel is now working for the DA and she and her new boss are at an event with the mayor. When said event gets interrupted by four hooded men with automatic weapons who gun down the mayor and several cops. Laurel punches one of them in the face – she’s previously demonstrated that she shouldn’t be underestimated – and another holds a gun to her head but doesn’t shoot. After the attack, Lance speaks to his daughter about it but gets told that questioning witnesses is the job of detectives. It seems Lance has been demoted to officer. Oliver arrives to check up on Laurel too.
Oliver also tells Digg that he doesn’t like being played – Diggle came to the island because of the Hoods. Digg does not deny this, saying that the Hoods don’t have Oliver’s restraint or honour. That the city still needs a vigilante. Oliver tells him it now has four. The leader of the Hoods is not happy that they gunned down the mayor on live TV yet the stories shown are still about Oliver Queen. They need to take the fight to the people who wrecked their lives. It was Queen Consolidated’s Applied Sciences division that built the earthquake device, so the Queens have to pay.
Oliver arrives at Queen Consolidated’s conference room, where Isabel Rochev, the VP of the company staging a hostile takeover, is waiting for him. She tells him that she controls 45% of the company, as does Oliver, and the other 10% will be released by the directors in two days. Oliver says he will buy that first; she asks him with what. Then the Hoods enter the room and start shooting, and Digg returns fire. Oliver has to get himself and Felicity out – by jumping out of a window.
Oliver didn’t want to show everyone what he is capable of by taking down the Hoods. He still doesn’t want to take up the hood again. Oliver feels guilty over the people he killed, and Tommy being dead. What he hasn’t considered is that the Hoods are after the Queens – and there are other Queens than Oliver.
Five years ago, on the island, it’s five months since Fyers and his men were killed. The surface-to-air missile launched to take down a passenger jet was instead directed at Fyers’ camp. Just because a missile is intended to take down an aircraft doesn’t mean it won’t make a mess of the ground. Oliver, Shado and Slade are in the crashed plane when Fyers’ proximity detector goes off. With Fyers and his men dead, an animal is suggested. On the screen are three humanoid figures. Oliver says they are not animals. Thank you, Captain Obvious.
Foreshadowing for an upcoming series, a name that will soon be changed and a new player in Starling City.