Ellie Bishop: No kidding. At least Quentin is a pretty good dad when he's not drinking. Can't really say, never saw the show.
Guest: Glad you enjoyed it. Eh, I personally never found him all that interesting, to each their own. Glad to hear it.
Verdant
Night
"I guess it's not real until the media comes up with a nickname," Sara noted as she and Oliver sat at the bar, watching a news report on the bank robbery with the caption 'Clock King strikes again'.
Oliver only nodded absently, deep in thought. Sara looked over at him silently for a moment before speaking.
"This isn't about what happened tonight, is it?" she asked and, after a moment, Oliver spoke.
"No. It's about Felicity," he admitted with a sigh. "Before, when I looked at her, I saw my friend. Now…"
"Now all you see is the woman who invaded your family's privacy and tried to blackmail your mother," Sara said knowingly and he nodded. "Ollie, I'm not sure what I would do in your position. But you chose to keep her on the team. You're gonna have to find a way to work with her as long as she is."
Oliver knew she was right. He didn't regret his decision to keep Felicity around. Even if he thought Felicity would expose him if he let her go (which he didn't), keeping her around was better for everyone with Emiko still out there. The question was, how could he put his faith in her if he couldn't trust her? Oliver didn't have the answer to that.
Roy's house
Same time
Roy walked towards his door as someone banged on it. Opening it, he was surprised to see who was on the other side.
"Thea?" he asked as he stared at his ex-girlfriend, noting she was visibly upset. "You okay?"
"Is your girlfriend around?" Thea asked, deceptively calm as she dodged his question.
"No, she got called into work. Why?" Roy asked uncertainly.
Ignoring his question, Thea stepped inside, and, to his surprise, slapped him.
"Okay, are you on drugs again?" Roy demanded as he held his cheek.
"Is this some kind of sick joke? Is this supposed to be funny?" Thea demanded as Roy heard her voice crack with emotion.
"Thea, what is going on?" Roy asked, realizing something had happened.
"As if you don't know. But fine, I'll humor you," Thea said as she went digging into her purse. "After the party, I went upstairs to my room to change. I found this on my bed."
Thea pulled out a photograph and held it up so Roy could see. He instantly knew why Thea was so upset. It was of him and Jade, whoever had snapped the picture had done it while they were in the middle of a kiss.
"And so naturally, you assumed I left it there," Roy said sarcastically.
"Well, we didn't exactly part on good terms, did we?" Thea pointed out.
"As I recall it, that was because of your refusal to accept me for who I am," Roy shot back, instantly regretting the words once they left his mouth. "I'm sorry, that wasn't fair. Thea, I promise you I did not leave that picture for you to find. I didn't even know that picture was taken."
"Well if you didn't put it in my room, who did?" Thea asked and Roy didn't have an answer.
Arrow lair
Same time
"What do we know?" Oliver asked as he and Sara walked into the lair.
"He hacked into our frequency, somehow gained remote access, but I upgraded our firewall. Now he won't be able to talk into our comms even if he had a bazooka," Felicity said and Oliver raised an eyebrow at her choice of words. "You know; computer-science wise."
"In the meantime, I think I might know a way to track him," Sara said and they looked over as she used a swab to transfer some of the blood on her baton onto a glass slide. "I hit him with this. Should help us narrow it down a bit."
"I can run in to the lab," Felicity offered as Sara put the slide under a microscope.
"I spent a year on the freighter studying genetic blood anomalies. I kind of know my way around a microscope," Sara said as Felicity.
"Oh," Felicity said, not displeased, just surprised.
"There's some significant cell damage and the platelet count is extremely low," Sara said as she stepped away from the microscope. "Felicity, can I use your computer?"
"Um, sure?" Felicity said as more of a question than a statement as Sara sat down, beginning to look into something.
"Macgregor's Syndrome," Sara said after she found what she was looking for. "It's a genetic defect that creates fluid build-up in the lungs, which leads to oxygen deprivation and multi system organ failure. It's terminal."
"But the syndrome may give us a way to ID him," Felicity said, an idea coming to her as she turned around, beginning to type at another computer. "People with Macgregor's are extremely rare, and people with Macgregor's and a degree in computer science are even more rare."
After a moment, she had an ID.
"William Tockman. Former encryption engineer at, wait for it- Kord Enterprises," Felicity said.
"What's the point? He'll be dead before he can spend all the money," Diggle said confused.
"Because he's not stealing it for himself," Felicity said as more information popped up. "He's using it for his family. His sister, specifically. She's got cystic fibrosis and needs a lung transplant."
"Do you have an address?" Oliver demanded.
"Tockman's last known residence was at 52 Nelson Way."
Starling City
Later
Oliver and Sara pulled up in an alley on separate motorcycles. Getting off, Oliver looked around, his hair standing on end as he saw all the graffiti on the sides of the buildings.
"This doesn't look very residential," Oliver noted as Sara spotted something.
"There," Sara said, pointing to a van parked at the edge of alley. "That's Tockman's ride."
Cautiously, the pair approached it. Oliver notched an arrow as Sara moved towards the door. She yanked it open and Oliver prepared to start questioning Tockman. However, he lowered his bow in surprise as he stared at what was inside.
"Tockman's not here Felicity. There's just a router," Oliver said as he stared at the almost empty van.
Arrow lair
Same time
"I'm on it," Felicity said as she began typing back at the lair. "The router is transmitting the same OFDM signal Tockman used at the bank."
"Can you trace it?"
"As we speak. It's leading back…to our network," Felicity paled as she saw the trace lead back to Verdant. ""Tockman's piggybacking off my hack. It's a trap. He-he's trying to break into our network."
"I'm not trying, I am," Felicity almost jumped at the sound of Tockman's voice coming through the Comms. "Where are you? Are you home? Are you safe? Somewhere you think you're safe? Somewhere without windows for anyone to creep through? Underground, perhaps? You think no one can get to you? You think no one can touch you in the safety of your hidey hole?"
"Felicity-" Oliver started.
"But I can," Tockman finished.
Suddenly, the computers lit up in an explosion of sparks. Felicity could barely process this before Diggle grabbed her and got her to safety as everything electronic lite up in an explosion of sparks.
Roy's house
Same time
Roy sat, staring at the file folder in his hands, gripping it so tightly he was half surprised that his hands weren't tearing it to pieces. After Thea had left, Roy had gone into his bedroom, his mind on the picture. He had been stunned to find a file folder on his bed, even more surprising was what had been in the folder.
Putting it down, Roy pulled out his cell phone and made a call.
"Hey, can you meet at my place? I need your help."
Arrow lair
Later
"What happened?" Oliver asked as he and Sara walked down into the darkened lair.
"Tockman used the skeleton key to penetrate our firewall," Felicity as she was pulling out pieces of hardware from the mainframe, trying to assess the damage. "And recode our security. Basically, he told our system to commit suicide. And it did." Felicity sighed. "Bravo Clock King."
"Sara stopped Tockman's men before they could get away with the cash. So Tockman is going to be looking for another score. Maybe we should give him one," Oliver said after a moment of thought and the others turned to him confused. "Felicity, call Walter and have him liquidate 500,000 shares of Q.C. stock. Put it in cash in my vault at Starling National, and ask him to do it tonight. Then grab your laptop and come on."
"Okay. And where are we going?" Felicity confused as he gave her a grim look.
"Somewhere where I am going to try and trust you again."
Roy's house
Same time
Roy opened his door, revealing Quentin on the other side.
"Hey, you alright? You sounded pretty freaked out when you called," Quentin said as he walked into the room.
"Because I am," Roy said with a shaky breath. "After Sara's party tonight, Thea went up to her room and fond a picture of me and Jade on her bed."
"Your new girlfriend," Quentin noted and Roy nodded.
"She came here, thinking I put it there. She left and I found this on my bed," Roy said as he picked up the file folder off the couch.
"And what is it?" Quentin asked as Roy handed it to him.
"The report on my father's death," Roy said and Quentin looked at him in surprise.
"You never talk much about your father," Quentin noted.
"Not much to say. He was a soldier in the military; he died when I was eight from friendly fire. Or at least that's what I'd thought until today," Roy said as Quentin opened the file. "According to that file, my dad was on an operation when he was killed by an unknown sniper."
"Roy…we don't know where this file came from, or who gave it to you," Quentin said as he looked up from the file.
"Which is why I called you. Someone is messing me with me, with this file and Thea and Jade. I need your help to figure out who," Roy said.
Starlin National Bank
Later
As soon as Tockman's men entered the bank, Oliver jumped down, firing an arrow. It exploded into iron cables that wrapped around the legs of one of them. He went down to the ground, losing his gun as Oliver engaged the other. Within seconds, Oliver had knocked the man on the ground. Seeing the other one going for his gun, Oliver notched an arrow and fired. The arrow hit the man in the hand, pinning it to the floor and he cried out in pain. Seemingly unnoticed by Oliver, the other man got to his feet, about to strike Oliver when, without turning around, Oliver brought his hand up in a fist and slugged the man. He went down, out cold.
In front of the bank vault, Felicity was plugged into the network, trying to locate Tockman. Oliver had figured that, if she was on a separate network, she might be able to track Tockman. As she was doing so, she noticed a problem.
"Um, guys? He shut down the gas main release. If it's not reactivated, it'll cause an explosion big enough to take out a city block," Felicity said.
"I'm on it," Diggle said as he moved towards it.
Felicity began typing, entering the city network. When Tockman had accessed the gas main, he had made a mistake. His signal was easily trackable now.
"Okay, Sara, Oliver, he's in a building to the left of the bank. Go now!" she ordered.
With a cry of rage, Tockman began gathering his equipment and began heading for the exit. Hearing footsteps, he hid behind a pillar, holding a gun tightly. The Canary entered the room, looking around for him. As her back was turned to him, Tockman jumped out and fired. Sara, having known he was there, dodged the bullets, pulled her baton apart, and threw one half. The staff struck him in the hand, making him drop the gun. Sara then moved in, striking him across the face. He went down, out cold as Sara stared at him blankly.
"I got the gas main working again. It's over," Diggle sad over the Comms.
"Yeah…it is," Sara agreed tonelessly.
Verdant
Morning
"Can't believe its morning already," Sara told Oliver as she began mixing drinks.
"It's been a long night," Oliver agreed.
"So…any closer to trusting Felicity again?" Sara asked after a moment.
"We'll see. So…why are you mixing drinks?" Oliver asked and she smirked.
"Because I am the new bartender," Sara said glibly. "I bartended in college, and, uh, well, it's kind of hard to get a job when international assassin is the highlight of your résumé."
"Bartender by day, vigilante by night. I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere," Oliver chuckled, kissing her on the forehead. "I need to get home. It's been a long day."
"Say hi to your mom for me. And apologize about last night," Sara said and he nodded as he walked out.
Starling City
Same time
Slade was buttoning his suit jacket as Jade walked in.
"Well?" he asked.
"I put the picture on Thea's bed and I made sure the file was put on Roy's. How'd you know he wouldn't notice me sneaking in if Thea was there?" Jade inquired.
"Matters of the heart tend to blind men. Thea Queen is Mr. Harper's blind spot," Slade said as he turned around to face his daughter. "As are you, it seems. He suspects nothing?"
"He's in the dark," Jade assured him and Slade nodded, pleased.
"Good. Then it's time to begin the next phase," Slade said.
Queen Mansion
Later in the morning
After showering, Oliver walked down the stairs, meeting his mother in the hall.
"Are you alright? I didn't hear you come in last night," Moira said, noticing he looked like he hadn't slept.
"Dealing with the newest would be bank robber. I'm sure you'll hear it on the news later," Oliver said as he noticed Moira was dressed like she was when she was CEO. "Going out?"
"No actually. Someone reached out to Walter, said they were interested in discussing financial support for my campaign. I'm going to have a meeting with them here at the house," Moira explained before someone rang the doorbell. "That must be them now."
Oliver and Moira approached the door and Moira opened it. Blood drained from the faces of mother and son as they saw who it was.
"Mrs. Queen, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Slade Wilson," Slade said with a charming smile.
I'll be blunt, 2x14 is easily the worst episode of season two. And it's not even about the horrible Laurel addiction Arc, although that certainly made the episode a lot worse. No, what really hurt this episode was the forced and contrived Felicity drama.
Felicity being insecure over Sara joining the team made no sense whatsoever. Sara and Felicity have very different strengths, Felicity did not expect Sara to shove her out of the way and start hacking something. Felicity's place on the team was not threatened in the slightest by Sara joining. It made it come off that Felicity wants to be the only girl on the team and in Oliver's life, which is not just ridiculous, but untrue, as we see in later seasons. And don't even get me started on the contradictions and stupidity of Felicity 'saving' Sara.
2x14 was less an episode of Arrow and more like Guggenheim's weird fanfiction. The only good thing to come of it was that cliffhanger.