- "Sooner or later, we all go through a crucible. I'm guessing yours was that island. Most believe there are two types of people who go intro a crucible; the ones who grow stronger from the experience and survive it, and the ones who die. But there's a third type: the ones who learn to love the fire. They choose to stay in their crucible because it's easier to embrace the pain when it's all you know anymore. That's why I'm on the clock to help this city. Before it becomes used to living like this."
- —Sebastian Blood giving advice to Oliver Queen
"Crucible" is the fourth episode of the second season of Arrow, and the twenty-seventh episode overall. It aired on October 30, 2013.
Synopsis
Oliver discovers a man who goes by the name "The Mayor" is bringing illegal guns into the Glades, so he sponsors a "Cash for Guns" event to help clean up the city. Unfortunately, The Mayor crashes the event with his gang and seriously injures Sin. The Canary is furious when she learns her friend is in the hospital and sets out for revenge. Meanwhile, Felicity stuns Oliver with a bit of information about the Canary, Donner asks Laurel to dinner, and John reconnects with an old friend.
Plot
Oliver is late to a party at his house due to chasing after people with guns. He then showed up to the party, upsetting Isabel Rochev.
He and Felicity begin to talk of guns when Blood and Laurel walk up and told him about "The Mayor". "The Mayor" proceeds to kill one of his employees.
Felicity realizes from Oliver's past encounters with the female vigilante that she has been following Laurel. With this information, Oliver manages to ambush her and discovers that she is Sara, Laurel's sister who was believed to have drowned.
Sara fills Sin in about her family in Starling as she worries that Oliver would tell that she was alive. Sin reveals that the friendship is due to Sara saving her.
Diggle approaches Lyla for information and they flirt a bit in between.
In the effort to stop the guns, Oliver and Blood host a rally. Thea meets Sin who interrupts her time with Roy.
Oliver talks with Blood across from the drive. It was then assaulted by "The Mayor" who claimed to speak for the people of the glades. Oliver saves Blood and noticed Thea and Roy. Roy then noticed that Sin was hit so he asked Thea to get help. The assault allows Felicity to identify the Mayor, and subsequently track him down. Oliver recruits Sara, who was watching from outside the hospital where Sin was taken, to assist him in the fight with "The Mayor". As a response of her friend being hit, Sara agreed immediately.
Meanwhile, Laurel develops a drinking problem, and refuses help from her father after receiving a DUI. Her father approaches Oliver. Sara happens to overhear the entire conversation. In response, Oliver talks to Laurel who doesn't want help.
After Sin woke up, Roy and Thea sat with her. Sara looked nearby and walked into Oliver who said he paid for Sin's medical records. Oliver then asks her to tell her family that she was alive, knowing it will cost him Laurel's friendship.
Quentin heads to an AA meeting as Laurel takes some pills and drinks.
Afterward, a corrupt police officer brings "The Mayor" to an unknown location, where Blood injects him with a green substance that ultimately kills him.
In flashbacks, Oliver is questioned about his friends on the Island and the bodies of the Japanese soldiers, but when he refuses to answer questions, he is shot. He learns that being shot is a test as they left behind tools to stitch himself up. The next time he was woken up, the guy noticed his poor job of stitching himself up. He still refused to answer but his face showed that it was the right place. Later he is then taken to an interrogation room where he first learns that Sara is alive.
Production
Preparation ran from August 2 until August 13, 2013. Shooting ran from August 14 until August 23, 2013.[1]
Trivia
- This is the first episode of the series to not feature Manu Bennett (Slade Wilson) after being promoted to a series regular.
- Sebastian Blood sarcastically asks if "Another party at your stately manor" is Oliver's idea of help, invoking the 1960s Batman series, the voiceover on which constantly referred to the "stately Wayne manor".
- Shortly before Sebastian thanks Oliver for funding the gun rally, the news in the background can be heard talking about the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator protests, foreshadowing its role on The Flash.
- When Sara arrives at the hospital to check up on Sin, she is wearing a Starling City Rockets cap.
Gallery
Promos
References
| Arrow season 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "City of Heroes" • "Identity" • "Broken Dolls" • "Crucible" • "League of Assassins" • "Keep Your Enemies Closer" • "State v. Queen" • "The Scientist" • "Three Ghosts" • "Blast Radius" • "Blind Spot" • "Tremors" • "Heir to the Demon" • "Time of Death" • "The Promise" • "Suicide Squad" • "Birds of Prey" • "Deathstroke" • "The Man Under the Hood" • "Seeing Red" • "City of Blood" • "Streets of Fire" • "Unthinkable" | ||||