Arrow Recap S2E15: The Promise

Oliver and Slade have finally come face to face, and look to be gearing up for one heck of a showdown after the handshake heard around the world. I just hope it lives up to my expectations.

Oliver asks Slade what he’s doing here, and he;s just made a sizable contribution to his mother’s campaign. He gets a little handsy with her as he alludes to how similar they are and plot the best course. Wade’s come bearing a gift of rum, and Oliver eye balls the glasses as Slade toasts to friendship. Slade asks after a model yacht, and Oliver refuses to talk about the island.

Past. Oliver trains and shoots arrows at his tree targets, does some shirtless pull-ups, and hauls butt  across baring landscapes all while hitting bulls eyes. Slade thinks that Shado would be proud, but Ollie points out that the trees don’t move or shoot back.

Shade goes over the best course of action on the ship, while Sara whips up a stinky concoction. Oliver asks her about the Mirakuru, it could be a miracle drug, but its something Ivo should not possess. Slade thinks that they should burn it, and they do.

Sara wonders what will happen after they’ve taken the freighter. She knows that Slade wants to kill Ivo for killing Shado, but Sara knows that given the chance Ivo will make Slade believe that its Oliver’s fault that Shado died, that he chose between her and Shado, and Shado paid the price. Sara tries to convince Oliver to kill Ivo before he has a chance, for all of their sakes. If Slade loses it again, they’re all dead.

Slade has dug up a bottle of rum, they drink to the last day on the island. Oliver gives Sara a message for his family if he doesn’t survive. That he was young and dumb, but that he grew up, and wasn’t that same kid. Sara tells him to tell her family that she died on the boat, to let them remember who she was. Slade has no messages for anyone.

Oliver sees Shado in a dream. She knows she dead, she says because he chose Sara. She asks why didn’t you choose me, as she stabs at him over and over. He awakens from his nightmare. It’s time to done the green hood and take on the freighter. Slade grabs the two colored mask from a trunk. All systems are a go.

The trio go traipsing through the forest. On the freighter some of the prisoners play dice to pass the time. They start to get a little rowdy when Ivo sends down a guard for one of the prisoners. The news isn’t good for another patient of Ivo’s, her illness progresses. The prisoner is strapped down to a chair, and although he offers the doctor a fortune, Ivo has no need for money, he’s is only interested in his eye.

Oliver shots his first arrow, but it goes wildly off course. He blames it on a breeze rather than nerves, his second shot is right on target. The fire distracts Ivo, and saves the prisoners eye. He sends men to check the scene. Slade tells Oliver when they came to the island they were strangers, and now they are brothers. Oliver goes to distract the men, and trips over a root. They catch him, and take him to the freighter. He finds himself in a cell. Oliver finds the preacher’s mouse on his stomach. The mouse likes him. One of the other inmates has a lot of hate for Sara, even after Oliver points out that Sara was a prisoner too. Luckily for Oliver his visit is short, and he’s taken to see the doctor. Unlucky for him, he winds up in the chair. Ivo prepares to inject Oliver with truth serum, and Oliver plans to sing like a canary before he can.

Now, Moira tries to get to know Slade better, asks if there’s a special someone. Slade says that there was, but she passed away. Oliver tells him that sometimes you have to move on, but Slade doesn’t believe so. Slade asks for a tour of their art collectio, and Oliver tries to cut the visit short, but Moira won’t have any part of it, she’s all about accommodating her guest. She leaves the room, and Oliver makes a stab at Slade, but he catches him before he can land his blow. And worse of all, Thea comes home.Thea asks if Oliver and their mother have made up, but it’s bad timing. Thea introduces herself to Slade, and Moira comes to take them on a tour. Thea tells Slade how when she was in school she was obsessed with art, and her art history teacher made her bring all of her class to her house, and she was mortified.

Ivo ask Oliver personal questions. Asks if the bondfire was a trap. Oliver tells him that it wasn’t a trap, but a distraction. He asks where Sara and Slade are, and Oliver tells him that they’re on the freighter in the engine room, that they had a raft.

The stinky stuff that Sara was concocting was a natural source to counteract the drugs she knew that Ivo would use on him. The guards lead what they think is a drugged up Oliver, but he’s anything but, and he dispatches them easily.

Slade and Sara use the parachute, and jump off a cliff, heading towards the freighter. Sara, Slade and Oliver meet up. Sara gives Oliver his bow and hood. Slade warns Oliver not to kill Ivo, he wants the man himself.

Thea gives a tour of the art. Slade admires a piece of art. Oliver is distracted as he tries to call Felicity. Her phone rings while Sara and Roy ignore it. Felicity answers it, and thinks that they’ve been butt dialed, but when she puts it on speaker phone, Sara instantly recognizes Slade’s voice and warns that he will kill Oliver and his family. Dig asks if she’s sure its Slade, and asks for a big gun. She tells them that he has Mirakuru in him, and Roy admits that he does too. The trio prepare to take on Slade and put him down at all costs.

Past. The freighter’s prison is all but rioting as Sara releases the prisoners. They’re mistrustful of Sara, especially the one who spoke to Oliver earlier. He grabs Sara by the throat, pinning her to the ground. Guards shoot at Slade, but they’re little more than a distraction as he rips them apart with his hands. Sara gets a helping hand from the man of god, wielding a pipe. He follows her away from the madness.  Oliver plans his attack plan. Ivo calls his wife Jessica. She’s the one who is sick, and she doesn’t seem to remember him, only that he went away. Oliver finds Ivo, holds him at arrow point, but its not so easy to kill a man. Ivo killed Shado, but only because Oliver chose Sara, and that is why he feels guilt. He does feel guilt, but it doesn’t mean that he won’t kill him. Ivo isn’t worried about what Oliver will do, but rather what Slade will do, who just happens to have overheard everything. Slade doesn’t want to believe his ears, but Ivo just fuels the fire. Oliver can’t tell him that he’s lying exactly, and Slade goes on the offense, with Oliver as the target. Ivo gets away, and Oliver get pinned against the ceiling. Luckily the freighter runs into trouble, and as the boat is rocked, Oliver gets away. Oliver fights his way through the gunmen. Sara and the preacher are pinned down when Oliver comes to the rescue. Oliver tells Sara that Slade knows the truth now. Sara tells him that they have to get off the ship, that its over. They jump overboard, but Oliver doesn’t quite make it. Slade pulls him back on, and he puts him into a cage. The ship’s captain tries to stop Slade, but Slade crushes his head, taking the ship over. No one is willing to stand up to him after his little display.

Sara heads to the house, Dig gets into position and Felicity monitors them from the lair. Sara makes her way in all gymnast style, and reminds Roy that he’s there to get Moira and Thea out, but not to engage Slade, he has no hope in winning that fight. At Queen castle, Sara gets into the house. Slade finishes his tour. Roy comes looking for Thea, Slade introduces himself to Roy and they compare handshakes. Sara comes down announcing herself, and Slade is surprised to see her. Slade remarks that she’s a very lucky girl. Oliver asks Slade what he would like to do now, and stuck between Roy, Sara and Oliver, Slade chooses to leave peacefully. Oliver offers to walk him to the car, and he can’t exactly turn him down. Diggle has Slade in his sights when someone takes him out. Oliver finally puts the pieces together that Slade was behind the skull mask. Slade has allies, like Oliver does in Diggle. He tells him that Dig is alive for now. Again Oliver asks what he wants. He’s here to fulfill a promise made five years earlier.

The Freighter survivors make it to shore, but there’s no sign of Oliver. Slade opens Oliver’s cage, needing him to see something. Ivo begs for his life. He wants to help him understand how the Mirakuru works. Slade first shows Oliver that the Mirakuru was never burned, that they burned a box of dirt. Slade gives Ivo a gun, tells him to show him how he killed Shado. Oliver was trying to save Sara, he never thought Ivo would kill Shado. Slade doesn’t care about Oliver’s words, or apparently that Shado was banging Oliver too. He also doesn’t care that he told Oliver that they were brothers. He asks Ivo if he pointed the gun at Shado as he is Oliver, he tells him he did, and Slade cuts his hand off. He tells Oliver that he will not die until he has suffered as Slade has, until he knows complete despair, that he promises.

Oliver returns to the house, and he makes his leave too. Moira thinks Oliver’s behavior was unbecoming, and tells him that if that is the way that he plans to act to not come by the house. Maybe he should just let Slade rip her apart. Slade watches from his little control tower. The entire time he was walking around touching things he was planting cameras. He watches it all without the eye patch, that normally covers a is a gaping hole like the one in his soul, gross.