Birds of Prey (Arrow)

"Birds of Prey" is the seventeenth episode of the second season of Arrow, and the fortieth episode overall. It aired on March 26, 2014.

Sypnosis
When Frank Bertinelli is arrested, Oliver knows it's only a matter of time before his daughter, Helena, AKA The Huntress, returns to town. To make matters worse, Laurel is picked to try Frank's case, putting her right in the path of Helena. Oliver tells Sara he will handle his ex-girlfriend, but when Helena takes hostages at the courthouse, including Laurel, the Canary will stop at nothing to save her sister. When The Huntress and Canary meet, an epic battle begins. Meanwhile, Roy realizes he needs to keep Thea safe, but doesn't like the way he is forced to go about it.

Plot
the Arrow and the Canary are watching over Quentin as he closes in on a drug dealer. When things get heated up, they end up pitching in to help, but aren't able to prevent Quentin from being shot. Sara viciously attacks the man who shot him, and throws him out a window. Quentin reprimands her for doing so.

Frank Bertinelli is brought into custody during the raid, and the sense is that his daughter, Helena, will be arriving soon to kill him. Felicity has been tracking Helena the past year, with Helena killing members of the mafia in search of her father.

Back in a flashback, Slade is torturing Oliver on the barge. The boat's engine is damaged and Slade is greatly upset.

Back in the present, Laurel is in an AA meeting. She states that she feels that she can't make it "out there" by herself, and that this was her second meeting of the day. She then receives a text from Adam Donner. Adam calls Laurel to his office and asks her to return to work. He wants her to prosecute Frank Bertinelli.

Felicity sees that a car has been rented under Helena's fiancé's name. Oliver, Sara, and Roy track down the car. It turns out to be a decoy, but the Arrow only stops Roy from killing the guy (who shot Roy in the hand) by calling him "Speedy".

Roy and Oliver talk about the fact he's still very dangerous. Oliver wants Roy to stay away from Thea, but Roy does not think he can. Felicity turns on the TV and they see Laurel is prosecuting Frank.

Sara drops by to see Laurel at work. She references Helena and says she's worried for her safety.

Back on the island, Sara and the men who escaped the ship with her returned to their former hideout. Slade contacts her from the barge via radio and tells her the ship won't sail. He says if she wants Oliver to live, she needs to send back the ship's mechanic, Hendrick Von Arnim.

Back in the present, Sara is worried Oliver won't kill Helena in order to save Laurel. He feels a responsibility for creating Helena, but says he loves Laurel just like Sara does and won't let anything happen to her.

Oliver pays Laurel a visit at the courthouse. Frank is brought through the front door much to Laurel's surprise. A smoke bomb is fired into the room and Helena shows up. Quickly the room fills with cops. It was a set-up by Adam to capture Helena. We see that Helena had paid gunman in the crowd. Oliver pushes Laurel to an adjacent room, taking Frank outside. Once out there, he reveals to Quentin that Laurel is still in there.

Helena ends up taking hostages. She demands her father and threatens if he is not brought to her, she'll start executing hostages.

Quentin calls the Arrow. Unfortunately, Oliver is standing right next to him. After Quentin looks at Oliver in shock, Oliver brushes it off by "showing" Quentin that it's his mother called (though in reality, it was Quentin). Oliver then calls Felicity and asks her to bring him his "work clothes".

Sara arrives at the courthouse as the Canary and helps fight off a few of Helena's goons to help save Laurel.

Roy tells Thea they need to break up. She won't let him, pointing out that the day before he gave her an expensive gift, and that he is only going through a lot of stress.

While they're hold-up in a room, Laurel makes a grab for a bottle of booze. Laurel says the entire trial was a sham and that her sister was right that she wasn't ready to come back. Not realizing who she's talking to, Laurel tells the Canary how strong her sister is. Sara, (under the Canary disguise) convinces her not to drink the liquor. The Canary gets a message from the Arrow that they have a way out. Laurel won't leave without the rest of the hostages and wants the Canary to help her. Oliver doesn't want Sara to engage Helena, telling her "you're not a killer".

This leads to a flashback to the island. Slade puts Oliver on the radio and says this is Sara's last chance. Sara tries to say Hendrick drowned, but Slade knows she's lying. Slade gives her one hour before he'll electrocute Oliver to death. Hendrick points a gun at Sara and says he won't go back to the ship.

Helena and Sara fight. During the battle Laurel moves in to help free the hostages. However, Helena manages to shove Sara out a window and is about to kill her before the Arrow shows up and shoots the weapon out of Helena's hand. Helena then captures Laurel. Over the phone, Helena tells Oliver she'll trade Laurel for her father.

Laurel attempts to talk to Helena, saying she knows what it's like to lose someone. She tells her about Tommy dying and her plunge into addiction. Helena responds that "once you let the darkness inside, it never comes out".

The police then lead an assault on the building. However, Helena managed to escape in a police uniform with Laurel still as her hostage.

Back on the island, Anatoly Knyazev attempts to distract Hendriks. Sara manages to knock Hendricks out with a pipe while he was facing Anatoly.

The Arrow and Sara meet Helena in a secret location. They have Frank and she has Laurel. Just before Helena is able to kill her father a member of the police tactical team opens fire. This causes everybody to scatter. Helena and Sara end up in another fight. Quentin saves the Arrow from being shot by the tactical team leader. Sara is about to kill Helena, but Laurel talks her out of it. Helena walks over and finds her father has been killed, but not by her. She appears to be in shock.

Oliver meets with Helena in custody. He tells her he's "trying to be better" than he used to be. She feels alone, now that both her father and fiancé are dead, and that she doesn't feel any different.

Back on the barge, Slade gives Oliver the same tattoo that Shado wore on her back. Sara then calls to say she'll bring Hendrick to the ship.

District Attorney Kate Spencer tells Laurel that Adam did not have the authorization to rehire her, and that he lost his job as ADA. Laurel responds by saying if she's not hired back she'll expose the fact one of their ADA's was behind the hostage situation. Kate is surprised by the fact that Laurel has resorted to blackmail to get her job back, but rehires her. Laurel then defends herself by restating what Helena had said to her before ("Once you let the darkness inside, it never comes out").

Oliver finds Thea in tears. She says she caught Roy kissing another girl. Thea thinks he was doing it to push her away and doesn't understand why. She's upset that nobody in her life is capable of telling the truth, foremost among them being their mother. Thea thinks Oliver is the only one who doesn't keep secrets from her, much to Oliver's sadness.

As Thea walks alone, a car pulls up next to her. Slade Wilson opens the door and asks her to come with him, as the streets are dangerous. This concludes the episode.

Trivia

 * In the DC comics, Birds of Prey is a secret group that consists of Oracle, Black Canary and The Huntress.
 * In this episode, Oliver calls Roy "Speedy", which is the nickname for his sister Thea. In the DC comics, one of Roy's superhero alias is Speedy.
 * After the flashback where Sara knocks Hendricks out, the police is discussing that they pinged Laurel Lance's cellphone near "Gail st. and Simone". Gail Simone is a comic book writer probably best known for penning DC's Birds of Prey.

Production
Preparation ran from January 20 until January 28, 2014. Shooting ran from January 29 until February 7, 2014.