Episode Report Card Monty Ashley: C- | 56 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT Laurel Gets Over It
By Monty Ashley | Season 2 | Episode 14 | Aired on 02.26.2014
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.This week's villain is William Tockman, otherwise known as the Clock King. He specializes in complicated heists during which he micromanages his minions by telling them exactly how many seconds they have to perform basic tasks. It later turns out that he has a rare disease that only exists in comic books, and he's stealing money to support his sister, who has cystic fibrosis. It's so sad when one family has diseases both fictional and real, isn't it? He steals the legendary skeleton key from Kord Industries, which gives him the ability to open any bank vault. He also breaks into the secret Arrowlair network and blows up all the computers, which is kind of a jerk move.
Speaking of jerk moves, Laurel is a huge jerk for the entire episode. First she refuses to go to this big party that Oliver throws to welcome Sara back to Starling City. Then she reluctantly agrees to host a family party in the hope of getting her parents back together, but when Oliver shows up, she throws a fit about him and Sara being together. He yells at her and she eventually decides to hug Sara and go to a meeting to deal with her problems with alcohol and drugs. So I guess she's no longer furious at Sara for not dying horribly in a shipwreck.
Felicity spends a lot of the episode feeling down because Sara Lance is on the team, and she can do everything. She's a great fighter and even has science skills. But Felicity has the last laugh when she gets shot in the shoulder while shoving Sara out of the way of a bullet. Because the Clock King gets bored with his precise chronology part of the way through the episode, and he just starts shooting at people. It's weird to see someone just jettison his whole concept like that. Anyway, Felicity blows up his cell phone and saves the day. She also saves the money Oliver raised from selling 800,000 shares of Queen Consolidated stock, which I assume means there's no longer a battle over control of the company.
The flashback subplot just establishes that Sara was asked to take care of Sin by Sin's father, who crash-landed on the island. And then at the end of the episode, Moira introduces Oliver to Slade Wilson, who she was meeting with. So now Slade's out in the open and things will presumably get crazy in short order. That'll be fun!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously on Arrow: Nothing for a few weeks because The CW was afraid of scheduling up against the Olympics. If you really want to know what happened before this episode, I advise you to go read the recaps I have lovingly crafted for your enjoyment.
A suit-wearing man wearing a Bluetooth earpiece walks into a lobby of an office building. He's receiving instructions from a mysterious man in front of six computer screens. To save time, I'm just going to call him the Clock King. Normally I like wait until the show gives a character a name, but that takes forever in this episode. Clock King, incidentally, is played by Robert Knepper, who was T-Bag on Prison Break. I like him! Clock King tells the man that security will change in six seconds, and he's sent into an elevator along with another guy who also seems to be taking instruction via an earpiece. They swap briefcases while Clock King says things like "Timing is everything."
When they get out of the elevator, they're wearing jumpsuits to look like janitors. They walk down the hall as Clock King tells them, "maintain a pace of 1.3 meters per second." That's admirably specific, but it's not helpful. No one can follow that instruction. And he's making it sound like he's timed the entire thing ahead of time, but, again, he's watching everything via security cameras. So instead of just knowing that someone will come around the corner in two seconds, he can see it happening. His minions beat up some employees and steal a Kord Enterprises briefcase. Then he sends them down a staircase. He says to wait for five seconds, but they get impatient. It seems like working for the Clock King would require the ability to stand still for an arbitrary number of seconds, but they decide they don't trust him, so they immediately run into a security guard, who they shoot. Now there are alarms and the whole operation has generally gone kerflooey. Clock King checks one of his many watches and tells them, "Exit the east lobby in 22 seconds."
They run out the door and immediately get into a shootout with the cops, which include Quentin Lance. No one gets hit, so the minions run away and escape through a crowd of picketers. Quentin gives chase but just finds a discarded jumpsuit, suggesting that the minions vanished into the convenient crowd. Not a perfect mission, but I guess they got away.
In the Arrowlair, Oliver and Diggle fight Sara with bo staffs. Diggle and Oliver are shirtless, and Sara is in a bra. The practice ends when Diggle clocks her across the forehead. Good for him! I worry that Diggle is losing his place on the team, since both Oliver and Sara are better at fighting than him. And Roy is still out there with super-strength, although he's not doing much with it. Felicity walks up and looks sad and left out while they all compare scars. Sara calls her cute for trying to participate with her story of losing her wisdom teeth. That's literally her only scar? I feel like I've led a pretty quiet life, but I've at least got the remnant of a sledding accident I could tell you about. Oliver is throwing Sara a "Welcome back" party tonight, even though Laurel is still angry at her for not being dead. Sara and Oliver decide they shouldn't tell anyone they're hooking up, possibly because they just enjoy lying to their friends and family so much.