Recap / Arrow S 2 E 23 Unthinkable

Back to Recap Page.

Tropes that apply to this Episode

• Actually Pretty Funny: After Nyssa tells Det. Lance that she would rather die than see Sara get hurt, Lance replies with "Yeah, well, here's hoping". Nyssa gives what seems to be a genuinely amused smirk as she turns away.
• The Alcatraz: Lian Yu was already one before, and it's revealed in this episode that A.R.G.U.S. now uses it as such. Slade is dropped there after his capture.
• All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Slade's Mirakuru soldiers destroy the Foundry, and the episode opens with them storming the makeshift backup lair in the clock tower.
  Felicity: Proximity alarm. I rigged the tower with sensors just in case Slade's goons came here to kill us. Slade's goons are here to kill us.
• Anti-Climax: After all the times Oliver's mentioned killing Slade, you'd expect some underdog story where Oliver overpowers Slade. The killing in question came after Oliver got the shit beaten out of him by Slade and only because a lucky explosion pinned Slade under metal bars.
• Answer Cut: When Felicity asks how Oliver learned to fly a plane if he spent five years on the island, we have a flashback to Past!Oliver waking up in a room in Hong Kong.
• Asshole Victim: While Slade and Blood are portrayed with some sympathy, Isabel's unrepentant villainy means it's likely few in the audience were sorry when Nyssa killed her.
• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Nyssa is the one to take care of Isabel.
• Bait-and-Switch: Oliver slams Slade up against a wall and takes aim... with a rope arrow.
• Batman Gambit:
  • Turns out that Slade was counting on Waller bombing the city in order to finish the job he started, and was planning on evacuating his troops first.
  • Oliver makes Slade believe Felicity is the woman he loves, allowing her to get close to Slade and inject him with the Mirakuru cure.
• Big Damn Gunship: After Team Arrow zipline from the clocktower, Lyla Michaels turns up in an ARGUS Blackhawk and blows the goons up with a handheld rocket launcher. Diggle clearly approves.
• Big Damn Heroes: Anatoli makes the decision to launch the torpedo just when Slade is about to shoot Oliver.
• Blatant Lies:
  • When Roy asks Felicity what happened to him, she says he was out cold the entire time since returning from Bludhaven, to make sure he doesn't kick himself over what he did under the influence of Mirakuru.
  • Later Roy is willing to run away with Thea, but he swears to her that he has nothing to do with the Arrow. Then he has to leave to help Team Arrow with the tunnel fight, and while he's away Thea finds a quiver in his stuff while packing. Unfortunately this is one lie too many for her.
• Blood from the Mouth:
  • Slade, during both the past and present showdowns with Oliver.
  • Quentin, when he starts to succumb to his internal injuries.
• Bleed 'Em and Weep: After giving Malcolm an attempted murder by gunshot, Thea drops the gun and begins to cry. Subverted in that she didn't kill him.
• Bluff the Eavesdropper: Oliver confesses his love to Felicity so that Slade will overhear and kidnap her.
• Book Ends: Just as the first season ended with a lingering shot on the legs of Fyers' benefactor, so this season ends with a lingering shot on Amanda Waller's legs as she welcomes Oliver to Hong Kong. Doubles as a hint, confirmed a few episodes into the third season, that she's Fyers' mysterious benefactor.
• Break the Cutie: Thea is so disillusioned with the people she once loved and trusted, and so angry over being weak, that she willingly places herself under Malcolm Merlyn's care, believing he can make her stronger.
• Break Them by Talking: Slade tells Oliver that his true nature is that of a killer. Oliver ultimately rejects this by not only declaring that he's become a hero, but also thanking Slade for helping him do so.
• Brought Down to Badass: Even after being cured of the Mirakuru, Roy proves he can handle a bow and injection arrows after he gets the cure, and Slade is still able to give Oliver a run for his money in a one-on-one battle.
• Brought Down to Normal: Everyone injected with Mirakuru, finally.
• Bulletproof Vest: Malcolm wears one even as the Dark Archer. Also, Slade's bulletproof vest is proven to be arrowproof.
• Call-Back:
  • Slade invokes this when he reminds Oliver of the first words he ever said to him.
    Slade: Twitch, and I will open your throat.
  • Nyssa introduces herself to Felicity the same way she did to Oliver back in her first appearance.
  • Sara's "death" aboard the sinking Amazo plays out the same way as her "death" aboard the sinking Queen's Gambit in the Pilot.
• Continuity Nod: After he ties Slade to a column, Oliver is hopping on one leg, his other still being injured from his fight with Roy in the clocktower.
• Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind:
  • During the melee in the tunnel, Nyssa saves Sara and a moment later Quentin saves Nyssa (despite having every reason to want her dead).
  • Slade's minion is about to Neck Snap Laurel when Sara shoots him with a tranq pistol.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Slade brings up this trope, saying none of this would've happened if he had just killed Oliver when he first met him.
• Damsel out of Distress: As soon as Laurel's captor is depowered, she kicks his ass.
• Deal with the Devil: Sara gets Nyssa to bring help, in exchange for her returning to the League of Assassins. Sara doesn't appear to be bothered by this, telling her father that she's finally deciding her own fate for once.
• Death by Transceiver: Quentin and his fellow officers listen in horror to the final transmissions of a police checkpoint as it's overrun. Later Waller tries to radio the ARGUS men guarding the tunnel only to find they're already dead.
• Deliberately Distressed Damsel: Felicity, as part of the Batman Gambit.
• Do You Trust Me?: Roy says this to Thea, and tragically she decides that she can't trust him.
• Dramatic Irony: Slade's Revenge Before Reason has only caused him to end up right where he started, imprisoned on Lian-Yu.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Unlike season 1, Team Arrow gets to be on the winning end: Slade and his minions are depowered and defeated, with the former thrown into an A.R.G.U.S. prison on the island, Sara safely rejoins the League of Assassins, Lyla and Diggle are going to be parents, and the potential of Oliver/Felicity is as strong as ever, especially post-fake love confession. There's still the matter of Lance's internal hemorrhaging, Thea leaving Starling City in the care of Malcolm Merlyn, and all the tragedy and hardships leading up to this point, but this as good as it could probably be under the circumstances for Ollie and company.
• Enemy Mine: Both Team Arrow's alliance with the League of Assassins, and Diggle and Lyla freeing the Suicide Squad to stop Waller's drone attack.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Played for laughs in a Deleted Scene; when Diggle frees the Suicide Squad, he goes to open Harley Quinn's cell but is stopped by Deadshot who has a "No. Just… No" Reaction.
• Evil Costume Switch: Downplayed; but Thea is dressed in black when she gets into the car with Malcolm Merlyn.
• Evil Is Petty: There's no discernible reason for Waller to reveal that Lyla is pregnant when she does, especially since she seems to know that Diggle doesn't know yet and clearly enjoys ruining that moment, apparently as payback for Lyla's treason.
• Evil Versus Evil: Sara calls in the League of Assassins to fight Slade's soldiers.
  Sara: To fight the unthinkable, you have to be willing to do the unthinkable.
• Eye Scream: We finally get to see Oliver stab out Slade's eye.
• Face–Heel Turn: Thea accepts Malcolm's offer.
• The Fettered: Nyssa and even Quentin is not impressed by Oliver trying to stick to Thou Shalt Not Kill now that he has a cure available.
• Foreshadowing:
  • "Poor Sara. How many times are you going to watch her die?"
  • "Hey, about that jacket, don't get any ideas."
  • Oliver leading the League of Assassins.
• Get It Over With:
  • Thea says this trope word for word, thinking Malcolm will kill her in retaliation for her attempted patricide.
  • Isabel doesn't care if Oliver kills her or not, as she's achieved the revenge she wanted. Nyssa obliges.
  • Island!Slade's Shado hallucination incites him to just go ahead and kill Oliver, in response to his "I Know You Are in There Somewhere" Fight.
• Godzilla Threshold: The situation in Starling City is so bad that the League of Assassins is required for help.
• Gory Discretion Shot: When Slade's eye is stabbed.
• Hannibal Lecture: Malcolm tells Thea that Roy is no different from the other people who have lied to her. She insists on returning to him, threatening to shoot Malcolm if he follows, but when she finds out Roy is also lying it drives her back to her father.
• Has a Type: Slade notes that Felicity doesn't seem to be one of the strong women that Oliver normally prefers, though he can see the attraction on getting a close look at her.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Slade on the Amazo is continuing to inject prisoners with Mirakuru in bizarre imitation of Ivo's Mad Science experiments.
• Idiot Ball: Oliver's plan would not have worked if Slade had tied up Felicity like he did with his prisoners in "Seeing Red".
• I Have Your Wife: Intending to kill the person that Oliver loves the most, Slade sends a goon to kidnap Laurel out of the police station. Then when Oliver makes his fake love confession to Felicity, Slade kidnaps her as well, not knowing she's a Play-Along Prisoner.
• Imagine Spot: A Deleted Scene has Oliver saving his mother by using a concealed knife to cut his bonds, then wresting Slade's gun off him and shooting him. Cut to Diggle asking if he's OK, showing it's all in his imagination.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Subverted when Laurel and her dad agree they need an AA meeting. Turns out he needs a hospital instead.
• Interesting Situation Duel: Island!Oliver battling Slade as the Amazo sinks around them.
• Internal Reveal: Thea discovers that Roy works with the Arrow.
• Invulnerable Knuckles: Roy discovers he's been Brought Down to Normal when he punches one of Slade's goons in his Deathstroke mask, then winces in pain.
• Killed Mid-Sentence: Isabel, in the middle of some Evil Gloating.
• The Kindnapper: Laurel walks in on Sara telling someone that her sister can't be involved. Next moment she's knocked unconscious by a tranq dart, presumably fired by Nyssa.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Roy doesn't remember anything between his leaving for Bludhaven and waking up cured of Mirakuru.
• The Last Straw: Thea rejects her father's protection, until she discovers that as well as Moira and Oliver lying to her, Roy lied about not knowing the Arrow, when she finds a quiver while packing up their things to run away together. She leaves a "Dear John" Letter on the quiver telling him she is never coming back.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
  • The "Previously On Arrow" recap at the start of the episode is purely Oliver & Slade's relationship, and is framed as Oliver thinking back on how the two of them got to this point.
  • Taken further in a Deleted Scene, where the recap features Oliver breaking free of his bonds, shooting Slade, and saving his mother's life. Then the scene cuts to a wistful Oliver clearly wishing that was what had happened.
• Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: While on the beach on Lian-Yu a Meaningful Look from Felicity is enough to make Diggle excuse himself so she can have a quiet word with Oliver about his not-a-love-confession.
• Love Confession: Oliver takes Felicity to his home out of concern for her safety after Laurel is kidnapped, and tells her that Slade grabbed the wrong love of his life. It was actually a ploy to get Felicity close enough to depower Slade (who promptly abducts her) but Felicity notes at the end that Oliver sold it very well. Oliver just smiles in response and makes no effort to walk back on his confession.
• Match Cut: Although Oliver's fighting ability has greatly improved, the scene of Island!Oliver fighting Slade often cuts to them doing something similar during their final battle in Starling City.
• Mythology Gag: Sara gives Laurel her leather jacket before leaving, in a nod to how Laurel is Black Canary in the comics. Though Quentin promptly tells her not to get any ideas.
• Neck Snap: Nyssa pulls this on Isabel.
• No-Sell: Oliver punches Slade in the face. Slade isn't fazed.
• Not Brainwashed: Slade doesn't end his vendetta against Oliver even after being cured, insisting that "The Mirakuru isn't what made me hate you!"
• One Dose Fits All: The cure appears to work instantaneously, without even time to spread through the system.
• Once More, with Clarity:
  • Turns out that once all the furniture and belongings in the Queen mansion were packed up, Oliver could easily see one of the miniature cameras that Slade planted there. He uses this knowledge to Bluff the Imposter. We're also shown Oliver pressing the cure syringe into Felicity's hand while making his Love Confession and asking if she understands.
  • Quentin Lance's hemorrhaging is accompanied by a flashback to the moment he was wounded.
• Put Down Your Gun and Step Away: In the dénoument of the episode, with Slade's blade at Felicity's throat. Oliver complies.
• Relative Button: On the Amazo, Slade is trapped with Oliver holding an arrow in one hand and the cure in the other. When Slade threatens to kill Oliver's mother even if he is cured, Oliver jabs the arrow into his eye and leaves him on the sinking ship. He greatly regrets this decision in the present day, even though once cured Slade seems just as eager to take his revenge.
• The Reveal:
  • Lyla is pregnant with Diggle's child.
  • Although there's been plenty of foreshadowing, it's finally confirmed that Oliver did not spend the entire five years marooned on Lian-Yu, when he wakes up in Hong Kong in the custody of Amanda Waller.
• Rousing Speech: Quentin gives one to the officers under his command.
• Sealed Room in the Middle of Nowhere: Slade ends up in an ARGUS cell on Lian-Yu.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Why Lyla helps Team Arrow even after Waller decides to bomb the city, and why she and Diggle stop that from happening.
• Secret Test of Character: Malcolm actually wanted Thea to try and shoot him dead, just to confirm that she'd inherited his killer instincts.
• Ship Tease: For Oliver/Felicity, as Oliver's gambit with the Mirakuru cure isn't shown until after it pays off. So the first time we see Oliver "confess" his love to Felicity, it seems like it could be true, and even afterward when they're on the island together, he just smiles at her and fails to take it back.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Oliver, in answer to Slade's breaking him by talking, tells him that he allowed him to become a hero, and thanks his former friend.
• So Proud of You: A rather dark one, as Malcolm says he couldn't be more proud of Thea for having the willpower to try to kill him, unlike Tommy.
• Storming the Castle: Team Arrow and the League of Assassins assault the Queen Consolidated offices that Slade and Isabel are using as a headquarters.
• Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred!: In their Final Battle, Slade says that the only way Oliver can win is to kill him, finally proving Slade correct—that Oliver, is indeed, a murderer. However, in the end, Oliver manages to subdue Slade without killing him.
• That Woman Is Dead: Thea decides she can no longer be Thea Queen, and joins her biological father to become Thea Merlyn.
  "I thought I could still be Thea Queen. But Thea Queen was trusting. And I don't trust you. Or anyone. Not anymore. Thea Queen was also weak. And no matter what it takes, I will be strong."
• Time-Delayed Death: Maybe Quentin, after an internal hemorrhage due to being thrown against a table by a Mirakuru soldier hours earlier.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Oliver works out that the hallucination of Shado that Slade is seeing is nothing like the kind woman they both fell in love with.
• Trailers Always Spoil: Roy becoming Arsenal, the cure working, the League of Assassins coming to help, Slade holding Laurel and Felicity hostage, Ravager being beat by Sara and Nyssa, and pretty much every big exciting moment of the episode was already shown previously. Both Sara and Slade's apparent deaths were shown in the previews, albeit in a blink-and-miss way; granted, those we knew about already.
• Trash the Set: The Foundry is completely trashed by the Mirakuru soldiers, while in the flashbacks, the Amazo — which has been a major setting all season — is destroyed by a torpedo.
• Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Played straight — when Oliver starts his Batman Gambit to depower Slade, he doesn't tell Felicity his plan until after "confessing" his love for her, and even then he doesn't actually tell her but rather hands her a syringe with the cure and simply asks if she understands. Justified Trope because he already knew that Slade had the place bugged and was playing Bluff the Eavesdropper.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Deathstroke pulls this when Team Arrow and the League of Assassins get to Queen Consolidated.
• Villainous Breakdown: Slade's Mask of Sanity completely collapses after Felicity injects him with the cure, leading to him ranting and raving at Oliver during their entire final battle; afterward, when Oliver has imprisoned Slade on Lian Yu and thanks him for helping him to become a hero, Slade flies into more raving, which is the last thing we see him doing.
• V-Formation Team Shot: Team Arrow and the League moving into the tunnel in arrow formation.
• We Will Meet Again: Slade is not deterred by The Alcatraz he's been placed in, and promises to one day fulfil his revenge.
  "I KEEP MY PROMISES, KID. I KEEP MY PROMISES!"
• Walk-In Chime-In
  Diggle: Slade has at least 50 or so of those human weapons. We'll need a whole army if we plan on hitting 'em with the cure.
  Nyssa: I know. (Diggle and Lyla draw their guns as seven Assassins enter the Arrowcave) Which is why an army is what I've brought.
• Wham Episode: Isabel is killed, while the other Mirakuru soldiers are defeated and Slade is imprisoned. Sara returns to the League of Assassins. Quentin collapses from internal injuries. Diggle learns Lyla is pregnant. Thea joins Malcolm. Finally, the flashbacks reveal that after sinking the Amazo, Oliver ended up in Hong Kong in Amanda Waller's custody.
• Wham Line:
  • Slade: "She is quite lovely...your Felicity."
  • Oliver: "Because you're in Purgatory."
  • Waller: "Welcome to Hong Kong."
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The Mirakuru soldier holding Laurel captive disappears after he and Slade are both injected.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame:
  • Thea's reaction when Malcolm tells her he's proud of her for shooting him.
  • In a villainous variant, Oliver sincerely thanking Slade for helping him become a hero.
• You're Insane!: Upon being told that Malcolm is proud of her for shooting him, Thea says he's "sick". He admits she's probably right.