ARROW: Tremors Recap

It is the week of Roy Harper, guys!

For those of you who don’t know, Roy Harper/Speedy is the Red Arrow, Green Arrow’s sidekick (as far as I can tell; I’m a Marvel girl. Literally: Captain Marvel owns my soul in her awesomely warm Kree fingers). So really, this was fate, except that on the show, Thea’s nickname is Speedy, not Roy’s. So I’m very curious to watch this plot unfold. Either way, it’s the week of Roy Harper and shooting us all in the feelings, so let’s move forward!

We open on Iron Heights Prison, former home of Green Lincoln* and other interesting villains. A man is sent through the metal detector, which goes off because of a bum knee. Or so he says. Personally, I think the seriously scary blades he smuggled in set it off, but tomato, tomahto. Anyway, he tells his cellmate to be at a certain address at midnight and then pulls metal out of his arm and I don’t know what happens after that for a minute or so because GROSS, DUDE. GROSS. WHY. I tune back in right as cellmate, who is the Bronze Tiger (Michael Jai White), gives a guard a red smile.

I’m pretty sure this is not a good guy.

On to Greener Pastures, where Oliver as the Arrow is trying to train Roy, who wants nothing to do with any of that Zen slapping water crap. Whereas Shado made Oliver slap water to gain strength, Roy’s already got that (and some sass. His joke about getting attacked by a dog dish is hilarious because this has actually happened to me and I got seriously bruised by tripping over the stupid thing), so Oliver’s trying to teach him control. It doesn’t go well because Roy had anger issues to start, something Felicity and John point out while the award-winning Salmon Ladder returns. He tells them about Slade, and Felicity worries about his past-tense use of “was” when he mentions that Slade was a friend. The island was not a place for lasting friendships.

Felicity gets a message that something has gone down at Iron Heights, which she points out she hacked because of the security issues (she asks if Oliver’s judging, Oliver just says he’s proud and that melting sound you hear is all of the Olicity shippers on the floor, stress-eating pints of mint-chip). Oliver goes back to training Roy and we move on to the other storylines that I’m just going to sum up here because a scene-by-scene recap seems really intense.

First up: Queen Mansion! Thea’s hanging out because things are weird with Roy, and Moira is dressed up fancy because she’s going out to dinner with Walter. Thea is of course excited that her parents might get back together, but she’s bound to be disappointed. Walter has invited Moira out with a partner to pitch the idea of her running for mayor, as they worry that Blood’s policies will bankrupt Starling City within eight months. You know what else might bankrupt Starling City? Being complicit in a plot to cause a giant earthquake to swallow your city’s working class. JUST THROWING THAT OUT THERE, FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION. But with Moira’s criminal past, she’d fit right in at Congress, so I approve this storyline.

The storyline that makes me a little more nervous is Laurel’s, in which Lance tells her he misses her and they agree to have dinner. Only, quell surprise, he lures her to an AA meeting instead and Laurel is understandably pissed at being deceived. Look, I wouldn’t want to join an AA group with my dad in it either. There’s a reason that the first step of twelve isn’t to atone. You have to build up to that. I understand where he’s coming from, but it’s incredibly misguided, and I don’t blame her for going to Verdant and causing a scene in front of Thea, Oliver, and Felicity (who is rocking another adorable coat), especially after she visits her old buddy Joanna and Joanna informs her that she might get disbarred. Things are incredibly bad for Laurel Lance right now, to the point where Oliver hops on his cell phone and tells a mysterious person that Laurel needs him/her right now. I’m sure we’re supposed to think he’s calling Lance.

I never thought he was calling Lance. My heart skipped a beat or three.

Back to the main storyline, which is Team Arrow (and Roy!) against the Bronze Tiger, who’s been hired by a mysterious baddie. I don’t know anything about this dude other than he’s evil and his head is shaped like an egg. He also looks like an off-brand version of Locke from Lost. He hires the Bronze Tiger (Felicity: “And real tigers aren’t bronze.” I want to subscribe to her newsletter about how much of the superhero world doesn’t make sense.) to go break into Malcolm Merlyn’s house and steal the prototype of the earthquake machine. Roy convinces Oliver to take him along and ultimately goes all ragey on some random henchman, which means they get away with the machine. I really appreciate that the episode took the time to make Oliver confront his lost friend via a photo-shopped photograph of Tommy. I really needed that sock to the feelings, Show. Thanks for that.

But not all hope is lost because Felicity is magical and tracks down the location of the hand-off. Roy, who has kind of gone all Edward on the Bella that is Thea and has nearly hurt her while warning her to leave her to leave town, tags along, which is a good thing. The baddie ultimately sets off the earthquake machine in a locked container, which Oliver’s explodey arrows can’t open. He unmasks and convinces Roy to be strong and think of saving Thea, which of course gives Roy the strength to punch through the shipping container and lets Oliver blow up the earthquake machine. So now Roy knows who Oliver is and gets admittance to the Foundry, where he meets John and Felicity (who calls them Team Arrow!).

Meanwhile, in a jail cell, the Bronze Tiger looks up to see a figure on the other side of the bars. Amanda “The Wall” Waller is back! Yes! So excited! She says she has a job offer for him. Not for a team, like Arrow…but more of a squad. I DON’T KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS BECAUSE I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH DC CANON BUT IT FEELS SIGNIFICANT, GUYS.

So really, it’s working out for everybody. Except for Laurel, in her trashed apartment. She stumbles in, drunk and out of control, and all but passes out on her living room floor. The last thing she sees is her sister, and the last thing she hears is me screaming from sheer and total joy.

On the island, Sara tells Oliver that it’s not his fault Shado died (seriously, dude, let her own her own death) and he doesn’t have to tell Slade that. They return to the cave to find some trajectory drawings on the wall and realize that Slade is gonna try to blow up the freighter. Oliver convinces him not to by telling him that Shado loves him and wouldn’t want him to do that, thereby gaining him some control. In other news, I am still 100% furious that the show shot Shado in the head to further the pain of not one but two dudes, and am planning to let them know that at every opportunity. So there.

* Green Lincoln sometimes goes by Count Vertigo, his less cool nickname. We here at Nice Girls miss him chomping on the scenery with abandon.