Arrow S03E02 Recap: Sara

Felicity is getting ready to set up a complicated hack job when they come to their lair and find Sara dead on the table. Laurel didn't know where else to bring her. Roy holds Felicity, both of them in shock. It's not fair for Sara to be dead she says, they just got her back. Oliver pulls Laurel into his arms.

Past. Oliver gets a target. He doesn't want to be a hitman, but Amanda Waller needs him for a reason. The man targeted turns, and Oliver knows him. It's Tommy.

Laurel sits in the empty bar thinking about Sara. She had a stuffed shark when she was little, and held it when she felt scared. Now that she's dead all Laurel can think of is to find that animal and reunite her. Oliver promises to find the person responsible. Laurel plans to help him find who killed her sister. When she thought Sara died at sea, there was only the ocean to scream at. Oliver thinks that Laurel should be with her family, that her father will need her now more than ever, but Laurel can't tell him. With his bad heart the news could kill him. She leaves, a bar is the last place she should be right now. Oliver calls to Thea, but gets her voicemail. He knows she's still traveling, but he really needs to hear her voice. Felicity didn't get anything off the cameras, Oliver heads to the scene of the crime.

On the rooftop, Oliver tries to reconstruct what happened, visualizing the murder. Diggle heard what happened and came to check on Oliver. Oliver tells Diggle what happened, and how. He tells him that he doesn't need to do this right now, he doesn't need to just put his head down and dig in. Diggle plans to be by his side to take down whoever did this to Sara. Felicity calls him, Quentin Lance wants to talk. Felicity hopes its not about Sara. Lance has news about another archer in town. He's been dropping bodies, and unlike our Arrow, he's a killer. Lance warns him to watch his back.

The Archer chases another victim. He doesn't get far before he finds himself with an arrow in his chest.

Sara's items are laid out on the table, bagged up as evidence. Felicity notices how small Sara's hands were. She always envisioned her as some Amazonian Warrior. Felicity gets a call from her work, she didn't show up, but she tells them that there was a death in the family. Oliver and Diggle discuss the possible culprits, most of whom would be in the League of Assassins. Felicity updates the pair on the Archer's latest victims. There's a possible witness that Oliver is headed to check out. Oliver wants Diggle to look into ARGUS for information.

Past. Oliver cannot take out the target. The target is his best friend, one that he cannot take out. It was a test, and he failed. When he checked his email it set off a signal, dead men don't use email. Whether its him pulling the trigger or someone else, Amanda Waller wants him dead, so that he can't flash Oliver's picture around Hong Kong.

Felicity catches Roy on her computer and she freaks about him tweeting. Roy was looking for Thea, he doesn't think that she's where she claims she is. Roy shows Felicity a note from Thea, and she tells him that he needs to show Oliver the note. Her phone alerts her to someone she needs to kill. Felicity heads to Queen Consolidated. She approaches Ray to see if he did it on purpose to see if she would notice. She gets it that he's rich, but she also points out that he is the creepiest form of stalker. She asks what he's doing to the offices. He's trying to liven up the place. She tells him to stop sending her flowers, and emailing her, and texting her. She refuses to work for him, though she technically already does since he bought the store she works at. He claims he didn't, but he kinda did. He bought the company she works for. He tells her that she can either take the big salary in the big office, or stay in the horrible uniform. She quits. He knows that most girls would be impressed with the length that he's gone for her, but she isn't most girls. He also knows that he pisses a lot of people off daily, and he knows that her hurt is about something deeper. He offers to be a sympathetic shoulder, and tells her that it gets better. Felicity flees to the elevator before the tears really come.

Arrow heads to the newest crime scene looking for his witness. He spots the man, who takes off running. Arrow catches him easy enough. The guy tells him that the guy wears a mask. At ARGUS Diggle has a large list of archers, but only one wears a mask: Simon Lacroix. He sends all the data to Felicity. Laurel looks over her shoulder as Felicity tracks down Lacroix.

Lacroix is busy trying to add another body to his count when Arrow catches up to him. Laurel wants to see what's happening so Felicity pulls up traffic camera feed so they can watch the motorcycle showdown. Lacroix takes a few shots at Arrow, and both end up downing their bikes. They've made plenty of ruckus. Arrow takes an arrow to the shoulder, as sirens close in. Lacroix gets away to Laurel's anger.

Oliver comes back to the lair. He had Lacroix and he's mad that he got away. Roy is out canvassing the area. Felicity is running traces hoping to find him again, but they all know that they aren't likely to find him by his phone calls again. They move to find the connection between victims.

Past. Oliver thinks of ways that he can save Tommy. He wants to get a body from the morgue and make it look like it was Tommy, but in the Hong Kong morgue that's not likely to happen. He's told that he has a better shot at winning the lottery and paying Amanda off. There has to be another way, he won't kill Tommy. There is, but it involves Amanda finding someone else to kill Tommy. Yay for him, not so much for Tommy.

Tommy calls from Hong Kong to his father. He didn't tells his father that he was going to take the jet and he doesn't know how long he'll be gone. He tells his father to go back to banging his pilates instructor while he searches for his best friend.

Laurel is told that she cannot go in to see Kelso by two officers. Kelso is a witness in her case, and she plans to see him, and if they have a problem with that they can call her father. Laurel introduces herself to Kelso, she has a few questions.

Oliver grows impatient, wanting to know why it's taking so long. Felicity has a NSA logarithm running. Its too long still for Oliver, he needs Felicity A game. She doesn't have it. Their friend was shot with Arrows, and she fell from a rooftop. Now her body is n a freezer upstairs because they don't know what to do with it. She doesn't understand why he isn't more broken up about this. He can't afford to be. Everyone is looking at him to make the right decisions, to lead. If he grieves, no one else gets to. Felicity points out that he's still human, and that sometimes its easier to live under the hood. He isn't. Earlier he was looking at Sara, and he realized that one of these days its going to be him. The life that he's chosen, there is no other way. Felicity isn't going to wait to die. Sara has taught her that life is precious and she wants more of life than this.

Laurel starts with the why would someone want to kill him. He has no clue. Contrary to belief murder by strangers are low, and murder by strangers with a bow are even lower. She threatens that if he doesn't give her something useful that she'll charge him with obstruction. He doesn't take her threat well, and threatens to go over her head. She slams his injured arm down on his metal bed. Burke and Croftman were also shot dead with arrows, and she wants to know why. He confesses that they were all working on a deal to build an oil pipeline for Amertech. Before he can say anything more, he's shot by an arrow through his window. Laurel gets a good look at Lacroix on an adjacent rooftop.

Oliver places another call to Thea with no response. He really wants to just talk to her. Roy overhears his call. Diggle reports that Lila has teams out looking for Lacroix. Felicity is still out getting air, but Oliver just needs Thea to call him back. Roy tells him that that isn't going to happen. Roy shows Oliver the note Thea left him. They were planning on running away together, but he needed to help Oliver first. When he came back she was gone. He didn't say anything because he knew that it was his fault that she left.

Laurel calls Felicity she needs to speak to her. Lance comes running to check on his daughter, and she tries to lie about why she was there, but he knows that the district attorney's office did not send her. She lied to his officers, but he's not letting her lie to him. He tells her that she doesn't need to take these kinds of risks that Sara is doing it for the both of them. Felicity returns her call, Laurel is heading her way.

With the Amertech connection, Felicity is able to find plenty. Amertech was paying for a big deal, and the competition likely hired Lacroix, which doesn't explain Sara, unless she brought her work home with her. Felicity finds the next likely target, and its at Queen Consolidated's little shindig. Laurel thinks that she's coming with Oliver, but he points out that she was reckless and it nearly cost her. He's handling it. She refuses to stay put. Sara was trained by some of the best and she was put down, Laurel will be no match. Laurel doesn't care about anything but getting Lacroix. Oliver will get him this time, he promises.

Over at Queen Consolidated, Ray is announced. He thanks everyone for coming out. Their city has been through a lot, and now the city needs the influential people in the room. Ray pledges half his net worth, and to take a salary of $1 for the year. He asks everyone to join him in the investment, not just with their money but their time as well. He asks to help make Star City their future. A arrow slinging man in black busts through the window to take one of the party goers. Luckily the Arrow and Arsenal are there to fight him off. He takes off out of the window he crashed through and Arrow goes after him. On a lower floor, Arrow searches. He finds the masked man who holds him at bow point. Its a bow off. Arrow tells him to lower his bow and he gets to live. He tells Arrow that won't happen. The two sling bows at each other, and Arrow hits his mark. Laurel shows up holding a gun pointed at LaCroix. LaCroix tells her that it wasn't him. He's very proud of his work, and he was elsewhere, but Laurel doesn't believe him. Arrow tries to reason with her, but she can't be reasoned with, he asks her not to pull the trigger, but she does. The gun is empty. He gets Laurel out of there as sirens sound.

Oliver tells Laurel the truth, that LaCroix's alibi checks out. He was out murdering that night, but not Sara. She almost murdered the wrong man. Oliver plans to find Sara's killer, but he doesn't know when that will finally be, but that her father deserves to know.

Laurel goes to see her father who is on the phone about LaCroix. He ends his call. Laurel looks shaken. She tells him that she's there about the previous night at the hospital. She lied. His alarm for his heart medication goes off, interrupting them. She doesn't make the confession she planned to, only telling him that she's sorry for lying.

The others lay Sara to rest. She's home. Felicity throws the first handful of dirt on the grave. It's a Jewish custom, she knows Sara wasn't Jewish, but it feels right. Oliver follows suit throwing dirt onto the grave, but Laurel can't do it. She doesn't feel that it is right. Sara should get a fresh grave. It isn't far, no one will ever know who she really was. Laurel cries into Oliver's arms. Diggle promises that people will know. He tells her that they've named their baby Sara, they will never forget.

Past. A masked Oliver has a new prisoner. Tommy tells him that he doesn't know who he is, and asks him if he knows who Tommy is, who his father is. Oliver knows exactly who he is and who his father is. He tells him that a simple hack allowed him to set the whole thing up, knowing that someone would come looking for Oliver. He warns if his father Merlin doesn't pay the ransom then he will be killed. Sirens sound, and Oliver's partner comes in as a police officer to rescue Tommy as Oliver slips away.

Now. Oliver is sure that they're going to catch who killed Sara. Diggle knows he will, but until he does, he's back on the team. Now, he has to go get Thea. It's time she came home. Oliver admits that he doesn't want to die young. Diggle tells him not to.

Laurel holds onto Sara's things, looking over her leather jacket.

Diggle tucks in his own Sara.

Roy looks at a picture of Thea and himself.

Felicity takes the job with Ray. She's decided she wants more out of life.

On Corto Maltese, a man watches a training session. It Merlin, and he's just watched Thea defeat her two opponents.