Arrow - Recap: Anyone With Boobs...

Episode 17 of Season 2 of Arrow, “Birds of Prey,” brought Helena Bertinelli (Jessica De Gouw) back into the mix. All we need is another one of Oliver’s (Stephen Amell) psycho exes roaming about the streets of Starling City to boggle his mind with boobies. That was Felicity’s (Emily Bett Rickards) thought process that I jacked there. No need to worry, though. Season 2 Helena had all of the likability sucked right out of her from the get-go, and she arrived on the scene of her father Frank’s court date as a pure supervillainess. While Laurel (Katie Cassidy) and Sara (Caity Lotz) attempted to gain control of a sticky hostage situation, Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) lost control of his strength yet again, crippling a club patron before feigning falling victim to, what else, boobies. Run far away, Thea Queen (Willa Holland). Run straight to… *gulp* Deathstroke (Manu Bennett). Here is the Recap and Review of Season 2 Episode 17 of Arrow, “Birds of Prey”!

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Episode 17 of Season 2 opened with the apprehension of Frank Bertinelli, one of the first major mobsters to cross paths with “Hood Guy” back in Season 1. I’m sure Mr. Bertinelli loathed that his own reputation as a dastardly crime lord had been overshadowed for some time by his sweet little girl, former skier and newly formed supervillainess, the Huntress. Basically, taking Frank into custody and trying him for his crimes created even bigger problems for the folks of Starling City, as there was simply no way Helena, who’d been scouring the globe for her father, would not jump at the opportunity to run back to town to slaughter him herself.

Roy Harper, do you think you have what it takes to not go blind with seething rage yet? Ollie and Sara decided to take Roy into the field as soon as Felicity pegged a rented car to Helena’s fiancé… who’d been dead for several years. If you recall, Helena’s issue with her father mostly stemmed from the fact that he’d been the man to murder her one true love. Yeah, there’s no coming back from that. Perhaps more importantly, my favorite Roy Harper scene ever occurred during Episode 17 when Helena’s decoy driver fired a gun point blank into Roy’s hand which resulted in nothing more than an icky splat and some shock. Roy, of course, nearly popped the terrified man’s head like a cherry until Oliver wrangled him back in by continuing to use Thea as his anchor. Hmm… is this how Arrow is going to transfer the “Speedy” moniker from Thea to Roy? By having Ollie refer to Roy as Speedy to piss him off while he’s fuming mad? At this point, Oliver didn’t trust around anybody, let alone his sister. Thus, he ordered Roy to dump Thea while the other members of Team Arrow stood by silently. Ugh, and just after Roy gifted her a massive silver cuff from Tiffany’s. A Black Canary in your chardonnay, Roy.

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Laurel’s AA meetings seemed to be going well! In fact, the Universe seemed to answer her prayers when just after she shared in her group meeting that she deeply missed practicing law, Assistant DA Adam Donner phoned her to rehire her. Apparently, he’d hashed out all of her legal issues for her and requested her special assistance as the prosecutor of Bertinelli’s case. This, of course, sounded like a huge task for someone who literally just hopped back on the wagon, but Laurel was desperate to get back to business. Sara, realizing that it wasn’t solely Laurel’s sobriety that was at risk, did her best to attempt to convince Laurel not to take the case with the possibility of a psychopathic she-beast stalking the rooftops of Starling City for a clean shot at anyone remotely associated with Frank Bertinelli. Laurel adamantly refused, sending Sara into a bit of a private tailspin that immediately put a target on the Huntress’ back. If this other ex of Ollie was about to endanger her sister, Sara was prepared to annihilate her. Felicity and Diggle (David Ramsey) were secretly down for the Huntress ass-kicking at the hands of Black Canary, though Oliver was intent on keeping Sara chained inside the Arrow Cave.

Oliver, under the guise of a friend simply looking to support a newly sober Laurel, accompanied her to court, only to then witness the worst case scenario happen right before his eyes. Frank Bertinelli was oddly taken in through the front doors, something that immediately caught Laurel’s attention. Boom! There she was, Helena Huntress, in all her Season 1 Episodes 7-8 glory. Because she hesitated to land a crossbow bolt in her father’s heart just a second too long, the police were given enough time to swarm the scene in an attack that was clearly planned. Luckily for Helena, she managed to think ahead as well and brought in her own team of thugs to overwhelm her father’s protection. Ollie and Laurel got separated in the process, somehow landing Oliver outside and Laurel deeper within the courthouse. By the time Helena and her men began taking hostages, it was clear that Sara’s worst fears were being recognized. Officer Lance (Paul Blackthorne), for what its worth, landed quite the punch across Donner’s cheek when he realized that his daughter was part of some elaborate and dangerous game.

In no time, Black Canary was on the scene to rescue Laurel from amidst the chaos. While Laurel managed to avoid the hostage situation, she was still trapped alone among the attackers for a while there. Good thing Sara had her trusty voice changer on hand to cover up her signature tone. Seriously, all it takes on Arrow to hide someone’s identity is an eye mask and a wig. Plus, Black Canary’s wig is literally, like, merely two shades lighter than Sara’s hair, and Laurel still couldn’t peg this “friend of the good guys” as her sister. Hiding behind a desk in a nearby office, Sara and Laurel had a great moment when Laurel nearly relapsed under the stress, grabbing a bottle of whiskey from some employee’s shelf. Apparently, the thought of being duped into reclaiming her position as a lawyer coupled with the looming threat of another one of Oliver’s exes was too much for her. Luckily, Sara coaxed her back to the route of sobriety, pleading with Laurel to prove just how strong she is. Unfortunately, that moment was the last these two shared together for a while. Eventually, Sara and Helena came to blows in a clash that ended with Sara being tossed from a window and down to the street below. Laurel was promptly added to the pool of hostages ripe for the executing.

Laurel and Helena have met before, if you remember. There was one double date there that I’m pretty sure went awkwardly, though mention of the death of Tommy seemed to cause Helena to flinch as a human would for just a moment. Could they bond over dead true loves? Nah.

Once you let the darkness inside, it never comes out.

Dark, Helena. Though Laurel had attempted to use Tommy to cleverly tug at Helena’s previously severed heartstrings, it was Helena who seemed to clue Laurel in on their actual common ground.

Meanwhile, Roy was stuck dealing with pushy patrons at Verdant, nearly ripping one’s arm from his socket upon landing on the receiving end of the tool’s sassy attitude. Roy tried breaking up with Thea immediately afterwards, but nobody breaks up with Thea Queen, especially not Roy Harper whose bizarre behavior clearly indicated the need for a shoulder to lean on. Thea’s pretty little shoulder was whipped away, however, when Roy took it upon himself to hook up with Thea’s barmaid bimbo in the back liquor closet. Obviously, Thea recognized that Roy had done this purposely to push her away, but the act was actually enough to do so.

The resulting situation to bring Laurel to safety was fairly simple. Helena was not about to let her father go into custody again, so she finagled her way in disguise from the courthouse in an effort to make a trade with Oliver and his buddies; Laurel Lance for Frank Bertinelli. Once again, the Huntress hesitated just one moment too long and an unplanned sneak attack from the police at the meeting location resulted in everybody spreading out among the barrage of bullets. It’s important to note that there’s a new police head on board now, and he’s not about to cut vigilantes any slack. As he put, if they’re in a mask, they get shot. Thus, everyone was running amuck at this point, eventually giving Sara a shot at redemption in one last battle with Helena. Black Canary held back last time. This final battle, though, was another story. Sara would have strangled Helena to death had Laurel not stepped in to remind her that she’s not a murderer. Funny enough, it was only Frank Bertinelli who died in the crossfire. For a moment there, it seemed like Helena was truly devastated that her father had died. Though, we quickly learned that she was mostly upset that she wasn’t the one to actually do it. Mostly…

Before closing the recap for Episode 17, it’s time to check in on Slade’s freight ship flashback sequence! Oliver received plenty of electro-torture this week. Sara, meanwhile, led her group of escapees to the abandoned plane. There, she and Slade exchanged words over the radio system. If she wanted Oliver alive, she’d have to trade a Mr. Hendricks, the only man who could fix Slade’s boat’s engine. The group managed to tie down the reluctant former prisoner, but not before Slade could force a giant tattoo on Oliver aboard the ship, the same tattoo Shado once wore on her own skin. A forced tattoo sounds like truly terrible torture, though that one wasn’t so bad. It could have been something much worse like Yosemite Sam or incorrect Chinese lettering.

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To end the recap, Helena was taken down to the police station where she had one last very human talk with Ollie before heading off to jail. She thought her father’s death would free her, but she still felt utterly alone in the big bad world. Oliver reminded her that she is not. This was our first real look back at that Season 1 chemistry between the two, so it was a good way for Helena to go out, though I will admit that I secretly wanted her to fly the coop. Meanwhile, Laurel weaseled her way back into an actual position by blackmailing the DA using the whole “hostage pawn” situation that she was unknowingly just a part of.

Once you let the darkness inside, it never comes out.

I’m going to start using that excuse when I blackmail people. Lastly, Thea sobbed to Oliver regarding how everyone, save for him (Haaa!), seems to lie to her constantly. In the end, she left Verdant in tears to walk home all by her lonesome. Thea Queen was picked up for a drive by none other than the super suave Slade Wilson.

What did you think of Arrow Season 2 Episode 17, “Birds of Prey”? Did you appreciate the Huntress catfights with Black Canary? When will Thea learn the truth?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Arrow Season 2 Episode 17, “Birds of Prey”!

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