Arrow Episode Guide: “Crucible” (Season 2, Episode 4)

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Original Airdate: 10/30/2013
Written by: Andrew Kreisberg & Wendy Mericle
Directed by: Eagle Eglisson

Starring: Stephen Amell (as Oliver Queen/Arrow), Katie Cassidy (as Laurel Lance), David Ramsey (as John Diggle), Willa Holland (as Thea Queen), Emily Bett Rickards (as Felicity Smoak), Colton Haynes (as Roy Harper), Manu Bennett (as Slade Wilson/Deathstroke), Susanna Thompson (as Moira Queen), Paul Blackthorne (as Quentin Lance)

Guest Stars: Kevin Alejandro (as Sebastian Blood), Caity Lotz (as Black Canary/Sara Lance), Summer Glau (as Isabel Rochev), Audrey Marie Anderson (as Lyla Michaels), Bex Taylor-Klaus (as Sin), Jimmy Jean-Louis (as the Captain), Cle Bennett (as “the Mayor”/Xavier Reed), Dylan Bruce (as Adam Donner), Jesse Hutch (as Officer Daily), David Nykl (as Anatoli Knyazev/The Russian)

First Appearances: The Captain, “The Mayor”/Xavier Reed, Officer Daily, Anatoli Knyazev/The Russian

Trivia:

– David Nykl is credited only as “The Russian,” but his character’s name is actually Anatoli Knyazev. In the comics, he is known as the KGBeast.
– Jesse Hutch played two different high school characters on Smallville, and both of them ended up getting killed off.
– Jimmy Jean-Louis (The Captain) is very well known for his role on NBC’s Heroes.
– Scenes from the Arrow pilot were re-staged for this episode so Caity Lotz would be replacing Jacqueline Macinnes-Wood, who played Sara in the series pilot.
– The identity of the Black Canary should have been a secret, but CW President Mark Pedowitz accidentally gave it away in an interview during the summer.

Summary:

At Queen Consolidated’s investor party, Felicity suggests that Canary may be following Laurel, not Oliver. Oliver spots her, chases her, and finds that she’s Sara Lance. Diggle meets with Lyla Michaels about the serious weapons stolen from Camp Kirby by “the Mayor,” a man wanting to rule the Glades. With Felicity’s help to track the weapons, Oliver secures some, but “the Mayor” roams free. Despite Isabel’s disapproval, Oliver hosts a “cash for guns” event, where Roy introduces Thea to Sin, who’s wounded when “the Mayor” and his henchmen open fire.

At the hospital, Roy and Thea look after Sin. Oliver, after paying Sin’s medical bill, runs into Sara and attempts to convince her to tell her family she’s alive since they’re not doing well. After her dinner date with Donner, Laurel is pulled over for DUI and later ignores her father’s and Oliver’s interventions. As Lance attends an AA meeting, Laurel downs prescription pills.

Felicity discovers that “the Mayor’s” name is Xavier Reed, and that he’ll go after tonight’s convoy of assault weapons. Oliver recruits Canary; together they stop “the Mayor” without killing him. But, Brother (Sebastian) Blood’s injection into “the Mayor” doesn’t end so well for him later on.

In the flashbacks, the ship captain questions Oliver and shoots him for being incompliant. Oliver’s cell neighbor mentions that the wound is a test to see if he’s strong enough to survive. Upon his return, the Captain is pleased that Oliver ripped out the bullet and asks if Oliver found the gravesite with misshapen bones. Oliver’s silence tells him everything. Later, Oliver is dragged away for torture and finds Sara towering over him.

Quotes:

Laurel: Please do not ask me if I’m okay, because I am sick to death of everyone asking me that.
Oliver: I would never do that.
Laurel: Good.
Oliver: You okay?
Laurel: The Dollmaker was just your garden-variety traumatic experience. After the quake and Tommy, I should be used to that by now.
Oliver: I’ve had a few of those. You never get used to them.

Arrow: Why are you following Laurel Lance?
Canary: I could ask the same thing of you. I guess some things never change. You and her. Always and forever.
Arrow: Who are you?
Canary: Once you know, your life will never be the same.
Arrow: I can take it.
Canary: Not this time, Ollie.

Felicity (to Oliver): Do you have any happy stories?

Diggle: Somebody once told me that secrets have weight. The more you keep, the harder it is to keep moving.
Oliver: You see how hard I work out.

Laurel (to Oliver): You’ve got to be kidding me. My dad went to you? He spent the last six years cursing your name and now you’re what, gossip buddies?

Sebastian (to Oliver):  Sooner or later we all go through a crucible. I’m guessing yours was that island. Most believe there are two types of people who go into a crucible: the ones who grow stronger from the experience and survive it, and the ones who die. But there’s a third type: the ones who learn to love the fire, who choose to stay in their crucible because it’s easier to embrace the pain when it’s all you know anymore.

Oliver: What’s your plan, Sara? Because right now you’re just, well, you’re whipping across rooftops and keeping watch on your family like some sort of ghost.
Sara: We’re both ghosts. We died on that island.
Oliver: No, we didn’t. We both lived. And I get that you have been in pain so long that it probably just feels normal now, but you can let it go and come home. I mean, I know that the earthquake brought you here, but your family kept you here. You have to tell them, Sara. They need you.

Episode Guide entry by Stephanie Hall

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