S02.E10: Blast Radius

[Actionmage]

Oliver must tackle a new threat to the city when bombs start to go off in Starling City. Felicity discovers the person setting them off is Mark Sheffer, a man who goes by the nickname Shrapnel. Arrow discovers Shrapnel’s next target is Sebastian Blood’s “Unity Rally” and tries to talk the alderman out of hosting it, but he refuses. Arrow sets off to stop the bombing, but Shrapnel tricks him and traps him in a bomb-laced antique store where he is unable to move without setting off the device. While Felicity helps Oliver, Diggle races to the plaza to find the bomb before it goes off. Meanwhile, Roy continues to hide his new strength from Thea but, after she witnesses his super strength in action at the rally, she demands answers. Laurels suspicions about Sebastian grow stronger once she learns that he grew up with Cyrus Gold, the man who killed Lance’s partner. After Donner refuses to help her investigate, she turns to Arrow for help.

 

Also skipped in CW's summer run of episodes. It had some plot points that carried over directly to Blind Spot. It also had some Heroic!Roy moments, and those can be nice.

[BkWurm1]

I had high hopes for Shrapnel and the little time he was on screen, I liked him, but he was not big enough in the episode. 

 

And poor Diggle got shot.  But it was a flesh wound. 

[Angel12d]

I've just reached this episode in my s2 rewatch and noticed a few things that I didn't really pay much attention to before:

 

1. I liked Laurel in this episode, surprisingly. She had a good instinct about Blood and I liked how she went about finding info without going to the Arrow (yet, obviously I know what happens next episode).

 

2. Laurel said she didn't know the real Sebastian which reminded her that she feels the same way about Oliver. This was interesting, especially in light of her 'I know you in my bones, I know you like my own name' speech later in the season. How does finding out Oliver is the Arrow suddenly mean she knows him? Strange.

 

3. Shrapnel was wasted. 

 

4. It was like twelve minutes before Felicity was on screen and I seriously kept thinking 'Where is Felicity?' the whole time lol.

 

5. Felicity's expression pretty much falls when Oliver suddenly mentions Barry after their little apology/heart to heart towards the end of the episode. "Barry's gonna wake up" *light leaves Felicity's eyes* Poor thing.

 

6. I continually love how easy Digg takes getting shot. Dude just walks it off.

 

7. Can't believe Roy was left to deal with his Mirakuru'd state for five weeks, all by himself. Because there was zero mention of Team Arrow keeping an eye on him which struck me as really odd.

 

8. Flashback game was weak. 

Edited September 25, 2014 by Angel12d

[BkWurm1]

1. I liked Laurel in this episode, surprisingly. She had a good instinct about Blood and I liked how she went about finding info without going to the Arrow (yet, obviously I know what happens next episode).

 

I liked that she's had some questions about Blood and has been investigating him but once again they totally lose me when she goes to see the insane aunt that's been  locked for decades and Laurel laps up every word she says.  The woman is clearly not all there.  It's not a case of a sane woman locked up that no one believes.  She's rocking and mumbling in the corner in her own world playing with her stringy hair.  The writers set it up as Laurel's big revelation.  Dun, dun, dun!  Blood killed his father and passed his mother off as his insane Aunt!

 

For one, Laurel was making a huge leap of logic.  Again, doesn't matter if she's right, it matters if her logic is credible and it's not.  Talking with the "aunt" should have been enough to make her decide to keep digging but Laurel is flat out convinced that Blood is an evil man now when even if he had shot his father (instead of his mom doing it) if the father was a known abusive drunk, shooting him could have been considered self defense and the mother/aunt running off to cover for him but her mind snapping later and Blood sticking mom in the insane asylum under the identity of his aunt to keep the law away from her.  I mean, jumping right to BLood is evil because he sponsored a blood drive where a kid was last seen alive and some rambling words from a clearly disturbed woman shouldn't have been treated as smoking guns.

 

Doesn't help that KC's acting is incredibly over the top (it's only a step below Slade showing up at her doorstep levels).  The show convinces Laurel her judgment was compromised by the pain pills she stole from her father and the occasional glass of wine and I guess I have to agree.  She guessed right but she has no good reason to have jumped to her conclusions.  

 

It really bugs me.  Plus, she got the aunt mother killed for her snooping. 

[EmilyBettFan]

She does the same darting eyes "acting" like how Slade told her about the Arrow.

[tv echo]

210 (Blast Radius) – Oliver Queen’s voiceover intro:
Oliver (voiceover): "My name is Oliver Queen. After five years on a hellish island, I have come home with only one goal-- to save my city. But to do so, I can't be the killer I once was. To honor my friend's memory, I must be someone else. I must be something else."

210 (Blast Radius) – Oliver shows some resentment when Felicity spends time visiting a comatose Barry in Central City:
Oliver: “I thought you were staying in Central City for a few more days.”
Felicity: “I got a news alert about the bombing. Caught the first train out this morning.”
Oliver: “Good. We need you here. How's Barry?”
Felicity: “Ah, he's still sleeping. I prefer sleeping to coma, cause coma sounds, you know, not fun.”
*  *  *
Oliver: “What happened?” 
Felicity: “He's using cellular technology to detonate his bombs. Clearly, his expertise extends to obscuring that signal.”
Oliver: “Felicity, your expertise was supposed to trump his.” 
Felicity: “Excuse me? If you have something to say to me, Oliver, say it.”
Oliver: “People are dying. So I would like you to pull your head out of Central City and get back in the game!” 
Felicity: “Sure, right after you get yours out of your ass.” 
Oliver: “Excuse me?!”
Diggle: “All right. Maybe we should just take a breath here.” 
Felicity: “No, wait, I want to know, what exactly was that crack about Central City meant to imply?”
Oliver: “When the first bomb went off, you weren't here. And when the second bomb went off, you sent me the wrong way.” 
Felicity: “After you didn't catch him in the first place!”
Oliver: “Don't blame me because you didn't have it tonight.”
Felicity: “I need some air." (Walks out)
Diggle: “At the risk of me getting my head knocked off, playing the blame game's not going to help us catch this son of a bitch.” 
Oliver: “Neither is doing things halfway.”
Diggle: “Is that what you think's going on here, Oliver? You think she was distracted? She wasn't giving it her all?” 
Oliver: “She almost ran me into a bus, Diggle. What do you think? ” 
Diggle: “I think you didn't have a problem with Felicity's performance until she met Barry Allen.”

210 (Blast Radius) – Diggle notes the tension between Oliver and Felicity:
Oliver: "Tried to get him to stand down."
Diggle: "He seems as stubborn as you when it comes to fighting back."
Felicity: "Or everything."
Diggle: "Hey, is this how it's going to be with you two from now on?" 
Oliver: "Maybe we should just head down to the rally." 
Felicity: "Maybe we won't have to. I analyzed the bomb remnants we got from Lance. The design's identical to the bombs used by an anti-government militia group called the Movement. Lucky for us, they have a very active and hackable message board. One of their most prolific fans has an IP address right here in Starling."
Oliver: "Tell me." 
Felicity: "The computer's in a local souvenir shop. The whackadoo in question goes by the username Shrapnel." 
Diggle: "You want backup?" 
Oliver: "No, I need you at the rally. Cover our bases."

210 (Blast Radius) – Original Team Arrow coordinate over comms from three separate locations to locate and defuse bombs:
Oliver (over comms): "Felicity."
Felicity (over comms): "Here. Did you get him?"
Oliver (over comms): "No. He said he rigged the Plaza with an explosive device."
Felicity (over comms): "Oliver, it's crazy-town there. That bomb could be anywhere."
Oliver (over comms): "I can narrow that down. Get me Diggle."
Diggle (over comms): "Go." 
Oliver (over comms): "Shrapnel said he ringed the perimeter with RDX."
Diggle (over comms): "I'm on it."
Felicity (over comms): "You're heading to the Plaza, too, right?" 
Oliver (over comms): "Not yet. I need you to pull me up anything you can on the store. Blue prints, permits, schematics, anything." 
Felicity (over comms): "What's going on?" 
Oliver (over comms): "Shrapnel left behind a surprise. Said he packed the drywall with explosives, but the trigger needs to be -"
Felicity (over comms): "Would need to be hooked up to some sort of power supply. That's assuming that the detonator's connected to the store's electricity and not something independent like a car battery. I know, not helpful. You sure you want me doing this? My head might not exactly be in the game." 
Oliver (over comms): "Felicity!" 
Felicity (over comms): "The building was built in the seventies. That's good news. The wiring in a lot of construction back then is defective. So, if you sever one wire, it will blow fuses in the entire building and shut off power to the bomb."
Oliver (over comms): "Hold tight. I see a fuse box." 
Felicity (over comms): "Oliver, be careful. (Oliver shoots arrow at fuse box) Oliver? Oliver?!"
Oliver (over comms): "It's all right. I'm all right. Get to the rally. Help Diggle. I'm on my way."

210 (Blast Radius) – Oliver apologizes to Felicity and tells her that she’s not his employee but his partner:
Oliver: “I'm sorry.”
Felicity: “Are you apologizing to me, or were you talking to your quiver?”
Oliver: “I didn't snap at my quiver.”
Felicity: “You kind of more than snapped.”
Oliver: “I know. And I'm sorry.” 
Felicity: “I understand that this Mirakuru thing has you freaked, and I have been in Central City a lot.”
Oliver: “Felicity, it's not that. When you are there, well, it just made me realize how much I need you here. In the beginning, I was just gonna – I was gonna do all of this by myself. And now with you and Diggle, I rely on you.” 
Felicity: “Does that mean I have a shot… at employee of the month?” 
Oliver: “No. Because you're not my employee. You're my partner. (They look at each other) Barry's gonna wake up. And when he does, you will be there.” 
Felicity: “I finally have a guy who's interested in me and he's struck by lightning. Ends up in a coma. Typical.”
Oliver: “Well, maybe he's dreaming about you.”
Felicity: “Actually, there's conflicting cases about whether coma patients can in fact dream normally or they're more like hallucinating… (Oliver comes closer and puts his hand on her shoulder, staring at her intently.) Thank you.”

Edited February 12, 2020 by tv echo