The penultimate episode of Arrow season 2, titled “Streets of Fire,” aired tonight. Read our recap and discuss the episode with fellow fans.
Chaos reigns
Oliver pulls himself free of rubble and calls out to Laurel, who is trapped and quickly losing air. She finds Oliver’s bow and quiver, though, and Oliver coaches her through shooting an explosive arrow, which creates an escape hole. She and Oliver then head to the surface.
Meanwhile, Diggle and Isabel fight. Isabel is looking for Felicity — and she finds her when Felicity runs her down with a van. Diggle jumps in the van, and when Isabel starts getting up, they drive off.
At SCPD, the Mirakuru soldier is decimating police officers. Though no amount of gunfire can stop him, the grenades Lance sets off do.
Mayor Blood assures the governor he has things under control. The D.A. then confronts him, but Blood assures her that they’ll get through this together.
At the train station, Thea is attacked by a Mirakuru solder but then saved by explosive arrows from the bow of Malcolm Merlyn.
Reinstated
Felicity and Diggle meet Oliver and Laurel. Felicity says that S.T.A.R. Labs finished the cure and sent it over via courier. However, the courier’s car was attacked. Laurel heads back to SCPD while Team Arrow looks for the courier. Slade, though, was listening in and sends a man after the cure.
At SCPD, Lance informs everyone that Blood is behind the attack so won’t be calling in the National Guard. And with the chief of police dead, their only option is to call the Arrow. Lance is reinstated as detective and put in charge.
On the streets, Laurel flees a masked man. Canary appears and gets her to safety. Laurel calls Sara by name and hugs her.
At the mayor’s office, a Mirakuru soldier kills Blood’s staff and attacks the D.A. Blood orders him stop, but the soldier kills her; he doesn’t take orders from Blood.
Irredeemable
Lance calls the Arrow and offers SCPD’s help. Oliver asks for time. Moments later, Team Arrow’s van is flipped by masked men. Diggle gets an unconscious Felicity out while Oliver blows the van up with an explosive arrow, taking out the masked men in the process.
Meanwhile, Thea runs from Malcolm, who calls after her. He heard about Moira and needed to make sure Thea was all right. Thea wants nothing from him, but he offers to take her to safety.
At Queen Consolidated, Slade and Isabel watch the city burn. Blood arrives and confronts Slade. He didn’t sign up for the deaths of so many innocents. He realizes Oliver was right about Slade, who is razing the city because Oliver loves it.
In a lovely scene, Laurel asks Sara where she’s been. Sara says it doesn’t matter. Laurel thinks family brought her back. Sara pulls off her mask and wig and says Laurel knows nothing about the person Sara is now. Laurel calls her a hero. Sara believes herself irredeemable, but Laurel says she wouldn’t be known by a beautiful name like Canary if that were true.
Honoring the dead
Felicity calls the courier and tells him to honk his horn. This, though, draws the masked man, who kills him, steals the cure, and returns it to Slade.
Out of options, Team Arrow holes up in the clock tower. While Diggle retrieves Roy from the foundry, Oliver and Felicity share a moment. Oliver says he has failed the city, but Felicity tells him to honor the dead by fighting. “I do know two things,” she tells him. “You are not alone, and I believe in you.” She hugs him, and he hugs back.
Across town, Sara and Laurel hear cries for help. An apartment has gone up in flames with a young girl trapped inside. Canary rescues the girl then flees, while Laurel looks after her proudly.
Back at the train station, a masked man attacks Malcolm, who fights him off to protect Thea.
Doing what is necessary
Blood calls Oliver, saying that he wants to save the city. He offers Oliver the Mirakuru cure, which he stole from Slade.
Diggle brings Roy to the clock tower before he and Oliver meet Blood. Blood reminisces about making the skull mask to conquer his fears. He says he wanted to help people and hands over the cure. Later, Isabel finds Blood, who reveals he gave the cure to Oliver. Isabel kills him.
At SCPD, Sara meets her family and overhears an officer calling Canary a hero.
By any means necessary
Oliver and Diggle bring the cure back to the clock tower, but Oliver can’t bring himself to inject Roy. However, in a Batman Begins-esque twist, Team Arrow learns a military convoy is blocking all paths out of Starling.
Oliver realizes this is A.R.G.U.S. and calls Amanda Waller. She plans to contain Slade’s followers by any means necessary — including a drone that will level the city. She gives Oliver until dawn. Oliver then injects Roy with the cure.
Back at the train station, Malcolm says Thea’s eyes are just like his: filled with pain and anger from losing loved ones. Thea is all he has left, and she still has a father. Thea, though, rejects the offer by shooting Malcolm.
Meanwhile, on the island…
Oliver realizes Slade must have Sara, so he wants Anatoli to get the sub close enough to swim to the freighter. He tells Anatoli to use the final torpedo to destroy the freighter if he and Sara aren’t back in an hour. Before Oliver goes, Anatoli tells Oliver he has made a friend for life.
On the freighter, Oliver frees Sara from her cage. She refuses to leave Oliver, who wants to get the cure to help Slade, so they head to Ivo’s quarters together. As Oliver picks up his bow and quiver, Slade appears, cure in hand.
