“Crucible” is episode four of season two of Arrow.
This episode opens in the Queen mansion where there is a party going on. Felicity is apologising to Isabel Rochev, saying that Oliver is late and it couldn’t be helped. Isabel wants to know where Oliver is. Shooting arrows at men equipped with fully automatic weapons. The scene cuts to and fro between Oliver and the mansion. Felicity says she is in direct contact with Oliver, putting an earpiece in and saying she will check on him. And getting gunfire in her ear as she does. Oliver tries questioning one of the men as to where they got the guns but doesn’t get an answer. Oliver tells Diggle that the gangbangers have M4A1 assault rifles. Which, according to Digg, are military grade. Presumably stolen. Oliver wants to know where they were stolen from. Digg says he can look into that after the party. What party?
Oliver arrives at the mansion and Isabel isn’t happy he is late. They are trying to attract investors to his failing company and showing up fashionably late doesn’t cut it. And asks if that’s blood on Oliver’s face. Felicity reassures Isabel that it isn’t Oliver’s blood, realises how that sounds and backtracks.
Laurel is also there, as is Alderman Blood. When the subject of ending gun violence in the Glades comes up, Blood tells Oliver that they know who is bringing in the guns. The Mayor. Not the actual mayor, who was killed by the Hoods back in “City of Heroes” (looks like they don’t have a replacement yet), but a gang lord who calls himself the Mayor and rules the Glades through the barrel of a gun. Said Mayor is currently shooting up a mannequin in when one of the gangbangers Oliver went up against arrives. Without his gun. The Mayor is not happy and wants to kill the man for losing his weapon. Another gangbanger asks for leniency, as the man is his cousin, he brought him in. So the Mayor shoots him instead. Probably not what he was looking for.
Oliver goes over to Laurel and she tells him not to ask if she was okay. For, in the previous episode, “Broken Dolls”, she was taken by the Dollmaker and nearly killed. Would have been, if not for Oliver, although she doesn’t know it was him. Laurel says that the Dollmaker is just your garden variety traumatic experience. She should be used to it by now. Oliver tells her you never get used to it. Felicity, who has had a thought, pulls Oliver aside. The mystery woman in black has shown up where Oliver was, so they thought she was obsessed with him. However, Laurel was present both times. So perhaps she’s following Laurel.
Later, Laurel is at home and the woman is watching for outside. Then an arrow impacts the wall next to her. She runs, but Oliver has set up a trap to catch her, and also has protection against her sonic device. He wants to know who she is, and she tells him that, once he knows, his life will never be the same. Olly. Clearly, she knows exactly who the vigilante is. So Oliver removes her mask – which is attached to a blonde wig. Underneath is Sara Lance. Clearly not dead. She detonates the sonic device and leaves.
Back at base, Felicity and Digg are speaking to Oliver, because he told everyone that Sara died when the Queen’s Gambit went down. After all, she was sucked out into the sea. Oliver had assumed she had drowned. Then, a year later, saw her again. So, Oliver knew Sara didn’t drown, but also believed she died at a later date. Oliver doesn’t know where Sara has been and was sure she was dead. He thinks her family are better off not knowing this. Oliver changes the subject to the Mayor; Digg is looking into the guns.
On the island, in the previous episode, Oliver and Slade had run towards the plane when the shelling started. Oliver was knocked out by a blast and captured. It looked as if Slade had been set on fire. On the ship, Oliver is told by a man that he will tell him everything, then be killed. Or he can be tortured, tell him everything, then be killed. The man shoots Oliver, non-fatally, before he leaves. Oliver is later given a kit to fix the wound himself. Another prisoner, a Russian, tells him it’s a test of strength.
Digg’s military source is Lyla Michaels. A crate of weapons went missing 2 months ago. Its GPS tracking system appears to have been disabled. Lyla wants to know what Digg’s interest is. He says they went to Afghanistan to stop the place being overrun by warlords and weapons. Shouldn’t they do the same for their cities?
Alderman Blood meets with Oliver, and Isabel. Who introduces herself as Oliver’s superior. He corrects that to partner. She tells him on paper. Oliver has an idea that might help in the Glades, sponsoring a cash for guns deal. Oliver doesn’t want his family name involved. Isabel later tells Oliver that Queen Consolidated won’t sponsor it. They spent $50K on an investment party where no-one invested. Oliver says he will sponsor it personally. She tells him he is running out of money himself too.
Digg and Felicity tell Oliver about the guns. The good news is that the GPS tracker was designed by Queen Consolidated. There’s a flaw in the design that allows it to be remotely activated. So they do. The Mayor notices the tracker is active again and smashes it – surely it would have made more sense to dump the thing? – but too late. Oliver arrives and gets the weapons, but the Mayor escapes.
Laurel, following a meal with her boss, is pulled over by the police. When Lance arrives, the other officer having calling him, it seems that Laurel was well over the legal limit. Lance thinks that Laurel is getting a drinking problem. She doesn’t; her father was the one with the problem. Lance is so concerned he shows up to Oliver’s club to ask for help. As Oliver is inside with Sara. Who Lance still thinks is dead. She came back after the earthquake to check on her family, but doesn’t want them to know she’s alive. What Lance wants Oliver to do is speak to Laurel, as a friend, because he’s worried his daughter is turning out like himself.
Laurel doesn’t think she has a problem. It looks like that isn’t true. Oliver asks Blood for advice about two friends of his, sisters. The man on the ship is looking for the bodies Oliver and the others found on the island in “Identity”. There’s something special about these bodies, but what? There’s another article on the news about the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator, which is nearing completion. And there’s another new player in the city, one with unknown aims.