Recap / Arrow S 3 E 7 Draw Back Your Bow

Team Arrow has to deal with a new archer in the form of a crazed Arrow-obsessed stalker calling herself Cupid.

Tropes:

• Action Girl: Tatsu, of the Lady of War type.
• Ask a Stupid Question...: The Arrow does some Trespassing to Talk with Cutter's therapist. As he's leaving...
  Dr. Pressnall: If you'll permit a professional observation... you could use a little therapy yourself.
  The Arrow: What gives you that impression?
  Dr. Pressnall: You mean, apart from the mask and the Robin Hood costume?
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Chase and Thea engage in the requisite Snark-to-Snark Combat before Chase kisses her.
  Chase: You have to admit, I did save your ass.
  Thea: God, your modesty, it's...it's so refreshing.
  Chase: You know, you're really cute when you're sarcastic.
• Boxed Crook: After finally capturing Cupid, Oliver hands her over to the Suicide Squad in hopes that she can at least do some good.
• Brick Joke
  • After Tatsu is reunited with her husband, Oliver goes to do the laundry.
  • Palmer jokes that the businessman and his wife he's meeting for dinner are so boring he'll be slitting his wrists with a butter knife if Felicity doesn't come along to liven things up. Felicity points out that a butter knife won't work, but there are sure to be steak knives as well. When they get there, Palmer wordlessly holds up a butter knife on the table, and when Felicity has to step outside to help Team Arrow jokes that he had the steak knives taken away.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Even though Felicity's impending romance with Ray Palmer is messing with Oliver's head, he won't tell Felicity his true feelings. Felicity in turn is still angry over being dumped at the start of the season, and is annoyed that it's Diggle and not Oliver approaching her to hash things out. Then while at Mission Control Felicity overhears Oliver telling Cupid he knows what it's like to want to be with someone, yet you can't, but the Arrow has to be alone. She takes that as Oliver saying he can never be with her and responds to Ray's advances instead, just when Oliver has finally decided to go and talk to her.
• Chained to a Railway: Oliver and Cupid fall through a grating into the subway, where Cupid manacles Oliver to the tracks, planning to die along with him. Oliver dislocates his thumb to pull his hand free of the cuffs and hauls them both off the track Just in Time.
• Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: Averted when the Arrow and Arsenal finally go into action. Oliver had proposed the moniker in the previous episode, and is now using it to refer to Roy in the field.
• Commonality Connection: Maseo tells Oliver he can't come with him to the docks as he will stick out as a gaijin. When Tatsu explains that "gaijin" means outsider, Oliver points out that the same applies to Tatsu and Maseo, who are Japanese expatriates in Hong Kong. The comment clearly strikes a cord with Tatsu, as her exile isn't any more voluntary than Oliver's is.
• Contrived Coincidence:
  • When Ollie goes to his former office unannounced to speak with Felicity, he walks in right when she and Ray share a brief kiss.
  • Related to Has a Type below - that the two billionaires Felicity is attracted to do the Salmon Ladder - shirtless - as a part of their workout routine. The Salmon Ladder is not a hugely common exercise. It makes sense that Oliver, who spends a lot of his time climbing up buildings and fighting with a fairly dynamic style, would incorporate an exercise that engages his upper body and core muscles and maintains plyometric strength. Indeed, we see that the Muscle Up, which forms part of the Salmon Ladder's technique, was a key part of his Training Montage when preparing to assault the Amazo. But why Ray, a tech billionaire, would feel the need to do it at all, never mind install one in his office/lab, seems a little less credible, and more a contrived way to establish that Felicity Has a Type.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Tatsu tells Oliver her family had to leave Japan after they angered some powerful people.
• Dead Guy on Display: Cupid kills Isaac Stanzler from the previous episode, and dumps his body in a green Arrow costume as a message to the Arrow.
• Deadly Hug: The computer specialist is expecting Sex for Services, but Cupid stabs him instead.
• Death by Secret Identity: A variation when the computer specialist uses statistical analysis to work out the rough location of the Arrow's base, by cross-referencing the time a crime is reported by how long it takes him to get there. Cupid offs him and goes looking for the Arrow at Verdant, which is right in the epicenter.
• Desk Sweep of Rage: Oliver sees Felicity kissing Ray, returns to the Arrowcave and suddenly does this trope in a fit of jealous rage. However when Roy Harper (who is having his own issues at the time) sees this, Oliver realises he needs to set a better example and invites Roy to share a late dinner with Diggle's family, so at least neither of them have to be alone.
• Distracted by the Luxury: Felicity's reaction to the couture dress includes Perverted Sniffing and saying they're going to be good friends. She thinks the $10 million diamond necklace is a bit much, but is disappointed when she has to give it back.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Felicity has trouble hearing what Ray is talking about when he's on the salmon ladder, and it's not because of the clanging.
• Dramatic Dislocation: Ollie dislocates his thumb to slip his handcuff and escape the oncoming subway train.
• Dramatic Irony: Maseo asks Tatsu and Oliver where they were and casually mentions that Waller pulled him off the docks case, not realizing that Oliver and Tatsu had gone searching for him on the docks and thought he was dead.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Oliver and Tatsu are not there yet, but Oliver's willingness to put his life on the line to find out what happened to her husband is a start.
• Foreshadowing: For "The Climb".
  Diggle: We both know that was the wrong choice.
  Felicity: And did Oliver say that?
  Diggle: Oh yeah, because Oliver's just great at expressing his emotions. He would rather go ten rounds with the League of Assassins than ever say that.
• Has a Type:
  • Felicity walks into Ray's office while he's shirtless and doing a salmon ladder.
  Felicity: Oh god. I have a type. [stunned look]
  • Cupid's black leather getup makes one wonder if she took note of the Canary and the Huntress when trying to make herself look attractive to the Arrow. If Cutter hadn't been so obviously crazy, she might have gotten somewhere. She wouldn't have been the first murderess Oliver had fallen for.
• Hidden Badass: Oliver gets a surprise when he's being beaten up by a Triad thug, only to have his butt saved by a Japanese housewife cutting through the lot of them like rice paper.
• Grand Romantic Gesture: A horrifying example of one. Oliver hunts down Cupid's apartment to find that she's left rose petals, romantic candles and hearts everywhere. The gesture is so over the top and the apartment is papered with newspaper clippings that it's more of a Room Full of Crazy.
• Idiot Ball: Early on, Oliver and Diggle both assume that Cupid's arrowheads are supposed to be shaped like spades, and it was only after their first encounter with Cupid (in her Stalker Shrine that is filled with love-shaped imagery) that either of them realize they're looking at them upside down and they're actually supposed to be heart-shaped. This is despite the fact that the arrowheads are bright pink. Considering how common pink hearts are (just look at Valentine's Day) that really should have been the first place their minds went to. It might be justified by the fact that Oliver's mind is extremely weapon-oriented, especially after the death of Sara, but even that is a stretch. Or by the fact that he first saw it at night when it was covered in Isaac's blood.
  • Given the recent history both Oliver and Diggle (pre-Lyla) have had in the romance department, and the effects it has had on both of them, plus the fact that Captain Lance, on finding the first victim, says to Oliver, "Shaped like a spade. What's that all about?", Oliver and Diggle can be forgiven for jumping to the wrong conclusion. Hindsight is 20/20.
• Idle Rich: A mild example with Oliver, who never learned how to do the laundry.
• If I Can't Have You…: Cupid ultimately decides to kill herself and the Arrow rather than face his rejection. She actually says this trope word for word.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy
  Oliver: What do you want me to say? Yes...it bothers me that she is out to dinner with Palmer. Yes, it bothers me that apparently she is just moving on with her life, but I made a decision! She did, too. And I just...I want her to be happy.
  Diggle: If that were true...you'd be with her, man.
• Lady in Red: Cupid at Verdant (it matches her hair).
• Love Makes You Crazy: And Cupid has no problem with that.
  Cupid: If I'm out of my mind, it's because that's what love is. Our own little slice of insanity.
• Murder-Suicide: Cupid handcuffs Oliver to a railroad track as a train approaches, planning to die with him. When Oliver escapes and saves her, it only cements her belief that he loves her.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Cupid held Joseph Gravano hostage at a Sherwood Florist greenhouse, the place where Black Canary worked her day job.
  • In the flashbacks, we see Tatsu — the DC heroine Katana — using her namesake weapon.
  • Diggle tells Oliver that Cupid is even nuttier than the last girl they had in the Suicide Squad.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Six months ago when Team Arrow were racing to retrieve the Mirakuru antidote, Oliver insisted they stop to save a woman being choked to death by a Mirakuru soldier. She developed a murderous obsession with the Arrow as a result.
• No-Sell: Cupid tries to shoot Oliver after he rejects her. He just shrugs his head to the side and shoots her bow out of her hands. He doesn't even have to move far.
• Percussive Therapy: On seeing that Ray Palmer has renamed Queen Consolidated to Palmer Technologies (and seeing his evident interest in Felicity), Oliver hits Cupid's arrowhead several times with a hammer. It actually turns out to be relevant to the case, as he finds a message hidden inside the arrowhead.
• Poor Communication Kills: Well it nearly kills Oliver and does kill some Triad mooks. Turns out the reason Maeso didn't call home is that Waller put A.R.G.U.S into Lock Down after some agents were killed. Tatsu and Oliver hear about the dead agents and think Maeso is one of them—they get a pleasant shock on returning home to find he's still alive.
• Precision-Guided Boomerang: Captain Boomerang uses one for a kill. See below.
• Psycho Supporter: As Diggle says, "she's a fan".
• Punny Name: Sherwood Florist greenhouse. As in Sherwood Forrest, where that other hooded outlaw who liked arrows hung out with his Merry Men.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: In this case black leather with red hair.
• Refuge in Audacity: Thea is annoyed when Chase tells everyone else auditioning to go home, but he turns up at Verdant to take over when the DJ she hired turns out to be awful, negotiates favorable terms on the spot, gets everyone dancing like she wants and then turns down the cash for the night's work in preference to stealing a kiss from her—which Thea doesn't seem to mind.
• Relationship Upgrade: Ray/Felicity have a Big Damn Kiss.
• Rescue Romance: Deconstructed as Carrie Cutter develops an obsession with the Arrow after he saves her life from one of Slade's Mirakuru soldiers.
• Rhetorical Question Blunder: When Maeso insists on visiting his contact at the docks alone, Oliver gripes, "What am I supposed to do?"
  Maeso: Your laundry, apparently.
• Shipper on Deck: Diggle tries his best to get Oliver and Felicity to start talking to each other, to no avail.
• Ship Tease:
  • Felicity/Ray takes off running, from her Eating the Eye Candy to them going on a Not a Date and ending in a kiss at just the right time to kill off Olicity when Oliver witnesses it.
  • Thea has a smile after Chase steals a kiss from her.
• Shoot the Rope: Oliver finds Cupid holding a Mafia guy hostage with a noose around his neck, and strapped to a bomb vest. He goes to shoot the rope only for Cupid to reveal the rope is laced with a tripwire that will set off the bomb. Oliver does it anyway, tears off the vest and throws it into the air where it's detonated with another arrow.
• Shout-Out: The title references the chorus to the Sam Cooke song "Cupid".
• Short-Distance Phone Call: Cupid can be seen watching Oliver in her Stalker Shrine from a building nearby as she talks to him on the mobile she left for him.
• The Snark Knight: Being a quintessential Yamato Nadeshiko doesn't stop Tatsu from getting in barbs at her unwanted houseguest.

  Tatsu: (dumping Oliver's laundry in front of him) I'm not your mother or your wife or your maid.

  Oliver: Okay, all right, you don't like me, I get it.

  Tatsu: At least you're perceptive.

  Oliver: I thought that in the last week, we did the whole candle meditation thing, and maybe we had a moment.

  Tatsu: Moment's over.

  • When Oliver volunteers to go to the docks to find Maeso, Tatsu insists on coming with him.
    Oliver: No offense... but you're just... Maseo's wife.
    Tatsu: And you... just a billionaire who doesn't know how to use laundry machine.
  • While they're on stakeout at the docks, Oliver gets impatient and suggests barging in.
    Tastu: In this place, at this hour? That's a very efficient way to get yourself killed. Feel free. (Oliver laughs)
• Special Edition Title: The arrowhead in the opening title screen is one of Carrie's heart-shaped ones.
• The Stinger: The episode ends with the appearance of Captain Boomerang, setting up next week's crossover with The Flash.
• Stalker with a Crush: A Yandere version. Cupid shows up at various crime scenes connected to The Arrow from last episode.
• Terms of Endangerment: Oliver is not amused by Cupid calling him "Lover", as they're not. She's more than willing to change that.
• Unobtainium: Ray mentions he's looking for "dwarf star alloy" in that mine he bought.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Oliver and Felicity's relationship comes back to the forefront, as Oliver finally admits that as much as he tried to let go of Felicity, he still has feelings for her. Meanwhile, Felicity believes Oliver has doubled down on his belief they can never be, as Oliver gives Cupid the same spiel on why they can't be together (as a way to talk some sense into her) as he did to Felicity.
• Wham Shot: Ray Palmer looking at plans for his "A.T.O.M. Suit".
• Yandere: Cupid
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Cupid kills her computer specialist after he tracks down the location of the Arrow's base. That said, it was also related to the fact that he was hitting on her when she had another person in mind already.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Cupid is holding a mafia boss hostage with an explosive vest strapped to him. After the Arrow saves his life...
  Mafia boss: Never thought I'd be happy to see you! (Oliver slugs him)