Arrow season 3, episode 13, “Canaries,” aired tonight. Read our recap and discuss the episode with fellow fans.
We open with the Arrow and Arsenal chasing down a crook. Black Canary intercepts the target and takes him down. The Arrow is not happy about it, but she’s not interested in being lectured.
In the foundry, Oliver is furious about Laurel being out on the streets — and Diggle having given her permission. Diggle reminds Oliver that Laurel is her own person and doesn’t need anyone’s permission. Their conversation is cut short when Malcolm Merlyn enters and convinces Oliver to tell Thea the truth so they can face Ra’s as a unified front.
Meanwhile, Werner Zytle, aka Vertigo 2.0, stages an escape from police custody by blackmailing a journalist to dose a guard with vertigo. When he loses it, Zytle escapes in the chaos; Laurel, present as ADA, knocks the guard out, but it’s too late.
After Thea and DJ Assassin Chase share an exchange, Oliver takes Thea down to Verdant’s basement and reveals his secret. She’s surprised but unexpectedly not angry. She thanks him and hugs him, clearly surprising Oliver as well.
At the apartment, the siblings talk; Oliver tells Thea that he and Malcolm know about each other and the three of them need to work together. However, Thea feels betrayed and wants nothing to do with her biological father. Smart girl.
Later, Team Arrow watches the Zytle footage, and Oliver has some harsh words for Laurel about being addicted to not missing Sara while in costume. This crosses a line, and Laurel retorts that if anyone is using a mask to escape their problems it’s Oliver.
The Arrow and Arsenal head to the home of journalist who’d drugged the guard. They find him with a bomb strapped to his chest. Zytle threatened to kill his wife unless he killed the Arrow, so he detonates the bomb. The Arrow and Arsenal take synchronized jumps out the window but don’t stick the landing. Ouch.
The next day, Lance brings Laurel some files related to Zytle and mentions what Sin said about Black Canary not being Sara, but Laurel plays dumb.
Meanwhile, Roy and Thea chat at Verdant. She says she doesn’t want to work with Malcolm, but Oliver interrupts them. He has a lead — he’d put a tracker on Laurel (seriously, Oliver?), and she’d suited up to go after Zytle.
Black Canary takes down some goons before Zytle doses her with vertigo. She hallucinates Sara, who calls her an imposter and beats the hell out of her. Zytle, as the Sara hallucination, is about to kill Black Canary when the Arrow and Arsenal arrive. Zytle escapes and the Arrow and Arsenal have to attend to Black Canary.
In the foundry, Laurel continues to hallucinate Sara, who asks why she had to die. While the team looks after her, Thea comes down. Oliver yells at her, and Roy stands up for her. Thea leaves, and Oliver is furious, but Felicity tells Oliver that he was gone and they had to keep going. They can’t just go back to the way things were now that he’s back.
Outside Verdant, Thea bumps into Chase and propositions him. Roy watches as the two walk off.
Inside, Diggle tells Oliver that even though this started as his venture, it’s become something that can survive without him and he’ll need to figure out how to deal with that.
Downstairs, Laurel comes to and tells Felicity about her hallucination. Felicity tells her that she should stop trying to be Sara and be herself. The two hug.
At the apartment post-hookup, Chase pours wine. Thea is about to take a sip when she remembers that assassins use red wine to hide cyanide. The two fight as DJ Assassin reveals himself as a League member. He gets the upper hand on Thea, but Arsenal appears. He and Chase go at it until Malcolm arrives. Chase, refusing to reveal anything, takes poison.
When Felicity gets a lead on Zytle’s location, Oliver prepares to suit up. But when Roy can’t be reached, he asks Laurel to come with. The two arrive at a lab, where Zytle is forcing chemists to cook vertigo. Zytle sets a massive fire, so while the Arrow rescues hostages, Black Canary goes after Zytle.
She gets vertigo’d again and sees Sara. She also sees her father, who demands to know why she never told him about Sara. Black Canary, though, beats her hallucinations by accepting she’s her own hero. She knocks Zytle down and beats him unconscious. Her final vision is of Sara smiling proudly at her.
Later, Laurel visits her father. He’s realized she’s the in the costume, but she says she needs to tell him something about Sara. Lance realizes the truth and breaks down. Father and daughter and audience cry together.
Back at the apartment, Thea says she never asked to be pulled into any of the League’s machinations. However, she’s accepted that she needs to work with Malcolm. Malcolm says the siblings need to face their fears, and there is only one place to do so: Lian Yu.
Five years ago
Maseo says he and Tatsu are taking Akio on the ferry to Shanghai before disappearing. Oliver should get in touch with his family, as that will make it harder for Waller to assassinate him. Oliver calls his mother and starts leaving her a message, but he’s cut off by A.R.G.U.S. agents. He flees but is eventually captured.
Despite being waterboarded, he refuses to give up Maseo. In response, Waller tells him his message was deleted and threatens Thea, so Oliver tells her.
Eventually, Maseo is brought in, and Oliver apologizes for giving in. Maseo, though, says he’d lied about the ferry. But when he’d heard Oliver had been captured, he came back. Oliver and Maseo are knocked out and when they come to, Waller reveals they’re entering Starling City.
Watch a promo for next week’s episode
