“Identity” is episode two of season two of Arrow.
This episode opens at night and two motorbikes pull out in pursuit of a FEMA van. The two men in the van radio for help and Roy overhears this on a scanner. He sets off in a car with his headlights off and approaches the van from the front, turning on his headlights as he does and causing one of the bikers to crash. The other biker plays chicken with Roy and would have come off second best – car beast bike – if he didn’t have an automatic weapon. Roy crashes. China White is in the road ahead of the van and she throws two weapons through the windscreen, killing the driver and passenger. Roy, meanwhile, finds a whole bunch of cops around him.
At the club, Diggle asks if Oliver’s ready. He is, but doesn’t know where to begin. Last year he had a list and justice was as simple as crossing names off it. Digg tells him that there’s no shortage of crime in the city. Thea approaches and tells her brother she didn’t see him come in. He replies that he had a secret entrance installed when he ran the club. Then says he’s kidding. No, he isn’t. Then Thea gets a phone call about Roy.
Laurel is questioning Roy about the Hood and why Roy has one of his arrows. Roy says that he thinks the Hood prefers green ones. Laurel tells Roy she used to feel the same way about the Hood, but he’s no green angel. He causes chaos and death and makes the situation worse. Given that half the city fell into a hole, Roy thinks the situation is already worse. Roy is trying to make it better, and he’s not the only one. He’s seen them. Seen her. For, at the end of the previous episode, “City of Heroes”, Roy confronted some muggers. It might have gone badly for him except a blond-haired woman in black wearing a mask turned up and beat the muggers up.
Oliver and Thea are waiting and Laurel tells them that Roy totalled his car playing Hood Junior. He says that at least it wasn’t his car. Laurel isn’t pressing charges as long as Roy stops looking for trouble. Thea doesn’t see that happening. Oliver talks to Roy when Thea has gone, although not giving Roy quite the lecture he probably expected. Oliver does tell him that he could end up in hospital or worse. Roy will take worse; better dead than in the hospital. Roy explains that the medicine FEMA sends to the hospital keeps being hijacked and it could be forced to close. The doctors, nurses and cops aren’t doing anything, so who else but Roy? Well, looks like Oliver may have found his next crime to rectify.
Oliver and Digg head to the hospital. Outside is a demonstration by Alderman Sebastian Blood, saying how nobody cares about the Glades. When Oliver comes up. Blood riles up the crowd about how the Queens built the earthquake machine that destroyed the Glades. Oliver doesn’t get very far apologising.
At Queen Consolidated, Felicity is telling Oliver she doesn’t want a new job as his executive assistant. She isn’t a secretary. Oliver tells her that they all need secret identities. As CEO – with the help of Walter, Oliver raised the money to stop Isabel Rochev from getting more than 50% of the company – he can’t travel down 18 floors every time he and Felicity need to discuss what they do at night. Felicity demonstrates that she still says things without thinking them through first. Diggle tells her it could be worse – his secret identity is as a black driver.
Oliver wants Felicity to find out how the hijackers are picking their targets. She tells him that a delivery of 100,000 units of medical grade opiates is leaving in 20 minutes. Bikers turn up at the depot and shoot some of the drivers before Oliver takes them down. He tells the driver to make the deliver, but China White kills him. She has brought a friend, one who is apparently eager to kill Oliver. And has metal claws that he deflects arrows with. During Oliver’s fight with this new person, the police turn up shooting and Oliver gets winged.
Oliver is upset because thanks to the police he now can’t make things better as either himself or the vigilante. Digg has been having personal problems, because Deadshot is still out there. Thea is unhappy with Roy; she actually wanted Laurel to arrest him. She gives him a choice, along with two weeks severance and the same Buddhist rock that Oliver gave Thea. Oliver also has a meeting with the alderman, and suggests, when Blood says that not every problem can be solved with money, holding a benefit and his elitist friends can attend. Blood decides that this could make a difference.
Five years ago, back on the island, Oliver is having problems over beating to death with a rock one of the men who captured Shado. The other men are dead too; Slade wants to know why they have come. One has a map of the island chain, similar to the recon shots Slade was given, and a photo. He also tells Shado to talk to Oliver before Oliver tears himself apart over what he did. Slade also advises Oliver on how his love life could get him killed.
Laurel is determined to catch the Hood now – and the police seem more interested in catching Oliver than anyone else. So Oliver goes and has a chat with her, as the vigilante, and she gives her reasons why. There’s a bit of a cliff-hanger leading into the next episode, “Broken Dolls”.