S03.E02: Sara

[looptab]

^^ They try to distract us with the timeline hoping we don't notice the bigger fuck-ups. :)

But I understand your frustration, things like these bother me so much. Glad i'm not the only one!

[BkWurm1]

Laurel in the Arrowcave, giving orders in the Arrowcave? Again: Does. not. compute. Does. not.exist.

 

Laurel bugged me plenty but I really didn’t have any problem with her when she was very blunt about what she wanted while Oliver was doing his chase of Sara’s supposed killer.  In those moments it wasn’t about Laurel ordering around Felicity, it was IMO Laurel desperately needing to be involved in the chase and the most she could be involved is through monitoring what was happening.  Laurel urgently needed to know.  She wasn’t trying to boss Felicity around.  If she could have done it herself, she would have IMO.  I don’t think in this case I can begrudge Laurel what could (and did) come off as barking orders.  She had mitigating circumstances in this case I think. 

 

Ok look, I really liked the emotional scene between Felicity and Ray at the elevator. BUT. I still can't quite handle him paying $1.2b for her to work with him

 

.

I have to think that he’d been looking to acquire Tech Village for a while, probably since he first found out about Felicity Smoak working there (which could have been up to five months ago)  I think it was a grand gesture but like only one he did because he had another angle in mind for purchase.  He’s being portrayed as a good business so Felicity working there had to just be the bonus, not the main reason.

 

Also, his rant to Felicity felt off about if he mourned than no one else would be able to

 

 

Beyond what I said about Oliver getting that message from Laurel, I don’t think anyone else needed him to not mourn so they could.  Felicity was going to one way or the other but she kept doing her job.  It’s not like Oliver did anything to make her job better or easier.  If he had grieved with her, she probably would have gotten out a bit of the pain; it would have eased her suffering and probably afforded her some relief for a little while at least and maybe giving her some mental clarity again.

 

Diggle’s way of grieving was to be there for Oliver, being with his family and finding a way to incorporate Sara long term into his life.  I found him naming his daughter Sara and his “never forget” attitude very in keeping with his past life as a soldier. 

I think Diggle had more of a relationship with Sara than we give him credit.  I know Time of Death is NOT a favorite episode, but they were very  chummy in it.  He was very at ease with Sara.  She was a brother (sister?) in arms.  I think he’s more stoic than Felicity in that regard since he would as a soldier on some level accept that with what they did, there were risks.  I think he’d accepted those risks as acceptable (at least before his daughter was born) in a manner that had let him in a small way preprocess loss.  What I’m driving at is I think Oliver was tryng to avoid his grief by claiming everyone needed him to lead while Diggle was able to both grieve and be Oliver’s rock.

 

With Oliver, it’s partly his old defenses but even more so, I think he’s back to feeling in a way that he hadn’t since he’d returned from the “island” and I don’t think he knows how to grieve.  He’s never been given the chance.  First because he had no reason and then because survival didn’t offer him any time.  The closest  he probably came to grief was when he thought the girl he got pregnant lost the baby and he didn’t know how he felt. 

With Felicity, he’s been slowly allowing himself to feel again but I think a part of him knows that he would break down over Sara like he did over his mother if he allowed himself to find comfort and shared grief with Felicity.  Plus I think he'd need someone like Felicity to help him mourn but any closeness the two share now is like a mixed message which sucks because that ruins the dynamic between Oliver and Felicity at its core but that is another subject for another time. 

 

On a shallow note, it drove me crazy that everyone kept pronouncing LaCroix as "la croy."

 

I think it made a lot of sense for Team Arrow to pronounce the name “La Croy” since I think most here in the states would pronounce it that way.  We have a St Croix’s Falls nearby and it is “Croy not  Quaw and I’m in a state that borders Canada.  Yes since Komodo was Canadian the correct pronunciation would have been “La Quaw” but why would they bother finding out the proper pronunciation for a suspects name?

Edited October 19, 2014 by BkWurm1

[dtissagirl]

I don't think I'm making a big enough distinction. I'm trying to separate one group being sad and mad and angry and wanting justice over what happened to Sara but Laurel feeling all that because what happened to her when Sara died.

I think it might be a fine distinction in outlook but a big distinction in attitude.

I think Laurel's reaction being Sara's death was something that happened TO HER specifically is on purpose. This is the way these writers set up all of the previous VENGEANCE!!! storylines: Malcolm losing his wife, Slade losing Shado, Helena losing her fiance, and Diggle losing his brother. All of them wanted revenge for having lost someone. But the other thing the show has also set up is that revenge is a BAD IDEA with enormous consequences. Malcolm lost Tommy, Slade got sent to Lian Yu, Helena is in prison. And Diggle was the one who realized he has to investigate his brother's death, and not seek revenge by killing Deadshot.

So the fact that they're setting Laurel up for a revenge storyline can only have one single outcome if she's to become America's Next Black Canary: she has to figure out, like Diggle did, that revenge is NOT the way. Which is what makes me wanna fall asleep during her upcoming scenes because 1. already done on the show and 2. Zzzzzzz.

Edited October 19, 2014 by dancingnancy

[apinknightmare]

Laurel bugged me plenty but I really didn’t have any problem with her when she was very blunt about what she wanted while Oliver was doing his chase of Sara’s supposed killer.  In those moments it wasn’t about Laurel ordering around Felicity, it was IMO Laurel desperately needing to be involved in the chase and the most she could be involved is through monitoring what was happening.  Laurel urgently needed to know.  She wasn’t trying to boss Felicity around.  If she could have done it herself, she would have IMO.  I don’t think in this case I can begrudge Laurel what could (and did) come off as barking orders.  She had mitigating circumstances in this case I think.

 

I think this scene would've come off a lot better if we'd seen Felicity and Laurel interact in the foundry a few times before it happened. Even though it's obviously not Laurel's first time going down there for Arrow business (she had the code, after all, and she did have Felicity's phone number), it is the first time we've seen her down there, outside of when she first found out Oliver's secret. So, since it's the first time we're seeing her interact with the team during team business, it's a bit jarring to hear her talking to Felicity like that, regardless of the reasons.

 

And I agree with the LaCroix pronunciation - a vast majority of Americans would've pronounced it the same way. Him being from Quebec would mean jack shit to most of us, haha.

[JenMcSnark]

 

Laurel bugged me plenty but I really didn’t have any problem with her when she was very blunt about what she wanted while Oliver was doing his chase of Sara’s supposed killer.  In those moments it wasn’t about Laurel ordering around Felicity, it was IMO Laurel desperately needing to be involved in the chase and the most she could be involved is through monitoring what was happening.  Laurel urgently needed to know.  She wasn’t trying to boss Felicity around.  If she could have done it herself, she would have IMO.  I don’t think in this case I can begrudge Laurel what could (and did) come off as barking orders.  She had mitigating circumstances in this case I think.

I think this scene would've come off a lot better if we'd seen Felicity and Laurel interact in the foundry a few times before it happened. Even though it's obviously not Laurel's first time going down there for Arrow business (she had the code, after all, and she did have Felicity's phone number), it is the first time we've seen her down there, outside of when she first found out Oliver's secret. So, since it's the first time we're seeing her interact with the team during team business, it's a bit jarring to hear her talking to Felicity like that, regardless of the reasons.

I can see your point in the first post and I agree with the second post.  However, again it's just bad writing.  I know KC plays bitchy well, but I think it was some bad writing and acting choices.  Did she have to order Felicity to meet her at Verdant the way she did? Couldn't she have said, "Can we see?  Are their cameras?"

 

Which leads me to my next problem with that scene.  FFS is there a camera on every post in Starling?  Pointing every which way?  With zoom?  When Laurel first told Felicity to bring it up on camera, for a split second I was waiting for Felicity to say something like, that's the best view we can get.  

 

For a show that wants to stay "grounded"  they sure stretch the bounds of probability again, and again, and again. 

Edited October 19, 2014 by JenMcSnark

[writersblock51]

 

No, it's that in every episode before this where they've bitched or snapped at each other, there's been some indication later on in the episode that they are back on track

 

@quarks, I think you nailed it. Not only did episode 1 end with them completely off track but the next episode did, too.  I think this and Sara's death have weighed the show down so much that it's depressing to think about what else is coming next. 

 

Taking the rest of my response to the bitterness thread.

[catrox14]

Laurel bugged me plenty but I really didn’t have any problem with her when she was very blunt about what she wanted while Oliver was doing his chase of Sara’s supposed killer. In those moments it wasn’t about Laurel ordering around Felicity, it was IMO Laurel desperately needing to be involved in the chase and the most she could be involved is through monitoring what was happening. Laurel urgently needed to know. She wasn’t trying to boss Felicity around. If she could have done it herself, she would have IMO. I don’t think in this case I can begrudge Laurel what could (and did) come off as barking orders. She had mitigating circumstances in this

My problem is that Laurel really didn't need to be actively involved. She should have called her cop father in the first place because bottom line it was murder. Regardless if Sara was in some goofy costume her dad should be involved especially since she works for the fucking DA office. She didn't have to drag Sara to the lair in the first place. If she wanted to hide that Sara identity she could have just taken the mask away. Idiotic contrivance to shove Laurel into the story. Irks me to no end.

ETA: And since she was there inorganically in the first place all her interactions with everyone else force others to act OOC and she pushes people around because she didn't call the cop dad in the first place. I hate this episode

Edited October 20, 2014 by catrox14

[statsgirl]

I don't understand why she would want Oliver and Co. to be the only ones investigating.  Not that Starling City's police force has any kind of stellar record, but there are at least a few things they could have done to help.  Even if they didn't do much, at the very least, it would mean that she'd have a possibility of prosecuting Sara's murderer for Sara's murder (so, logically, they wouldn't let her try that case, but I don't know if the Starling city DA is actually that picky).  That should have been her avenue for channeling her grief in this episode.  Then, if working through the legal approach ultimately failed, she'd have a greater motivation to try the vigilante approach herself.

This would have made so much more sense, it's frightening.  It would have meant Laurel was well-written and cohesive instead of being shoved down out throats right away.  I would still think they should have killed Sara later in the season, but at least this way we would have got the non-grating Laurel of The Calm for a few more episodes, and she would have had a real reason to turn vigilante other than owning Sara's jacket.

 

Not having her call the police to investigate is sooooo stupid, especially since she spent season 1 saying 'the law is the only way.'

 

  I know KC plays bitchy well, but I think it was some bad writing and acting choices.  Did she have to order Felicity to meet her at Verdant the way she did? Couldn't she have said, "Can we see?  Are their cameras?"

Even if it wasn't in the original script, KC could have asked to add a 'please' somewhere or not slammed her hand on the table when Oliver fell off his motorcycle.  I get it, she was anxious but Felicity is not one of her servants and Oliver could have been injured.

[BunsenBurner]

 

Which leads me to my next problem with that scene.  FFS is there a camera on every post in Starling?  Pointing every which way?  With zoom?  When Laurel first told Felicity to bring it up on camera, for a split second I was waiting for Felicity to say something like, that's the best view we can get.  

 

For a show that wants to stay "grounded"  they sure stretch the bounds of probability again, and again, and again. 

My brother and I were laughing at this when we saw it.  He said the city has been destroyed twice and they said, "Hmm, why don't we put cameras in all the alleys and roads where all the buildings are empty." Great Idea!  Thanks for bringing this up. 

[Kordi]

Hi, I'm new here, and this is my very first post in this forum. I've just registered, and I'm not even sure if this is the right thread for what I want to say, but I would like to share some speculations about Sara's murderer: Could it be that ARGUS/ the Suicide Squad/ Amanda Waller are responsible for Sara's death? I don't know of any exact motive, but (i) it seems that Waller is the main antagonist in this year's Hong Kong flashbacks, so if it turned out that she is involved in killing Sara, this would make it easier to connect the flash backs with the present day story; (ii) I remember from a Guggenheim interview (http://comicbook.com/2014/10/11/nycc-marc-guggenheim-on-arrow-2-5-and-black-canarys-ties-to-the-/) that the comics "Arrow 2.5" tell a story about Sara's interaction with the Suicide Squad, and that this story is supposed to explain Sara's leaving (and later returning to) Starling City between Season 2 and 3; so maybe there is some previous connection between Sara and Amanda Waller and ARGUS that could account for the former's death. What do you think?

Edited October 22, 2014 by Kordi

[quarks]

Hi, @Kordi, and welcome to the forum! Nobody seems to have set up a place to discuss Sara's murderer yet, although there's been some discussion over in the spoiler thread along with various complaints about people's outfits and, of course, some real spoilers. Some of the murderer speculation (and it's just speculation so far) is based on those spoilers. I'm ok with having a non-spoilery discussion here.

 

Regarding your theory: Amanda Waller responsible for Sara's death would fit in with my personal theory that the show is trying to remind me that yes, I can hate characters more than I hate Laurel, so giving me yet another reason to hate her would fit right in.  And Amanda Waller doesn't, so far, need to seem to need much motivation to kill people so she might not need any exact motive beyond, "Hate that wig. Ok, kill her." 

 

The only argument I can see against it is that the show was very clear: Sara was killed by a skilled archer. In the show so far, that's Oliver, Roy, Komodo, Malcolm, "ten members of the League of Assassins," and possibly Thea.  Which doesn't mean that ARGUS hasn't hired an archer or two along the way.

[formerlyfreedom]

Hi, I'm new here, and this is my very first post in this forum. I've just registered, and I'm not even sure if this is the right thread for what I want to say, but I would like to share some speculations about Sara's murderer: Could it be that ARGUS/ the Suicide Squad/ Amanda Waller are responsible for Sara's death?

 

 

Hi, @Kordi, and welcome to the forum! Nobody seems to have set up a place to discuss Sara's murderer yet,

 

The mods think the place to discuss Sara's death further would be good here; Sara Lance: Compulsive Lip Purser.

 

And please, for the love of Starling City - NO MORE NEW THREADS! Thank you!

[statsgirl]

So today there is a shooter running around the streets of the centre of Ottawa by the Parliament Buildings, and the police have locked down and are advising people to stay away from windows.

 

And I thought "Oh, Laurel".

[millennium]

I read page 1 of this thread, then skipped to the end because I wasn't up for six more pages of Laurel/Katie Cassidy hate.   It makes the episode threads difficult to read.

 

The memorable moment of this episode was when Oliver closed Sara's eyes.   In that instant, everything they'd shared together became palpable, and everyone else in the room just melted into the background.

 

Didn't like the "Oops, wrong archer assassin" resolution of this episode.

[KirkB]

IMO, killing off the Canary in order for Laurel to take over as Canary in and of itself isn't the main issue here. The main issue is Sara. If there had been another vigilante running around the city at the same time as Oliver, only she was beating up/capturing people instead of killing them in contrast to the Arrow, Laurel could have taken her side over the psycho in the green outfit. They get to be friends, maybe Laurel finds out who she is, and when she's killed it inspires Laurel (who she's been training the whole time) to try and help people in her memory. Instead, they made it Sara Lance, Laurel's sister, so they could keep her tied to Oliver and have the drama of the sister swapping which the EP's obviously enjoyed. They even forced people to invest in Sara by making so much of season two about her, dividing the season completely between her and Oliver. They still planned on killing her off for Laurel, but the problem is they overestimated people liking Laurel and underestimated people liking Sara. Since they're apparently still wed to the belief people don't like Laurel mainly because she's not in the costume they are accelerating the time table.

Edited November 9, 2014 by KirkB

[statsgirl]

Re-watching, having seen how season 3 played out:

 

Laurel and Oliver agree that they will find Sara's killer, no matter how long it takes.  Oops. Way to forget and leave that one to Felicity, guys.

 

Laurel to Felicity while Oliver is fighting Komodo:  "I need to see what's happening."
How about using your 'please' and 'thank you' words, Laurel?  This continues and never gets addressed until suddenly Laurel and Felicity are supposed to be BFFs and Felicity is telling Laurel to keep fighting.  It would have been so easy to make Laurel even a little polite early in the season and avoid problems later.

 

Oliver gets knocked off his motorcycle in the fight:

Laurel: "Come on Ollie, get up"

Felicity: "Oliver, are you okay?  Oliver?"

 

Laurel lies to the guard in the hospital and pulls rank to get in to see Kelso,  and then she hurts him, and rushes to the window when he gets shot.   Later she wants to kill Komodo to feel better.  This Laurel I can understand, the one so angry she wants hurt others.  The sudden move to hero in mid-season is what stopped making sense.

Oliver, explaining why he so cold about Sara's death:  "Because I don't have the luxury of falling to pieces. Everyone is looking to me to lead"  On seeing this again, he seems like even more of a jerk (narcissistic) than the first time I saw it but it does set up the idiotic decisions that continue throught the rest of the season.

 

More Laurel.  There's a whole lot of Laurel in this episode; I can understand why we thought she was going to take over the season.

 

"And what do you need Oliver?"  Diggle is so sweet being concerned for Oliver and doing whatever he can for him.

 

Oliver to Laurel: "Your father deserves to know".  Well, at least he said it even if he didn't push harder for it.  We've been talking elsewhere about whether Felicity should have insisted that Oliver tell Thea about her paternity but this kind of puts it into perspective.  Lance deserved to know, needed to know about Sara way more than Thea needed to know about Malcolm.

 

What Olicity?  Where is the Olicity?  Oliver is desperate to talk to Thea, and leaning on Diggle for support.  He's out there trying to find Sara's killer for Laurel while trying to and keep her from doing something stupid. His only personal scene with Felicity is when they're fighting about mourning Sara and she walks out.  And then, at the gravesite, Oliver is hugging Laurel while Felicity is left with Roy. This episode set up a distance and a disconnect between Oliver and Felicity that went through too much of the season and hurt the show imo because it felt like I could no longer trust Oliver's connection to Felicity.  They didn't spend enough time in the previous episode setting up a real relationship between Oliver and Felicity before it got blown up during the date and practically dissappeared altogether in this episode.  Meanwhile Oliver kept his connections to Thea and Diggle, to Roy and even to Laurel.  It's not surprising I didn't trust the show this season.  (And consequently, I was a lot more critical than I would have been otherwise.)

[kismet]

Its funny on rewatch, I feel like not much changed about my thpughts when first saw it. I remember the stunts being fun. The villain of the week seemed to have nothing to do with Sara's death until the middle when all of the sudden they needed to give LL something to do and all of the sudden he was the possible killer.

Laurel still bothered me that she didnt tell QL. I gave her a pass this episode because his medication timer went off just as she was gonna tell him. So I get why she might have waited. But that is the last pass she gets from me about lying to her father.

Ray was annoying. Coming in with all of his money to fixthe day, but also telling FS that money doesnt fix everything. It will never be okay to me that he bought her company to get her to work for him. I don't mind that he wanted to recruit her. It was how he went about it that was all wrong. But he's here to stay which is what I said then & what I have to learn to accept.

Two things that were different on rewatch.

1. I really think OQ was trying to reach out to FS but she shut him out becuase she misunderstood his standpoint. I got that he was being the selfless leader letting everyone grieve. But the fact that he's talking about it means that he wants to talk about it. I think she was hurt by the previous week and didnt see that he was trying to make a connection, albeit badly. I also realize for plot they had to cause friction. But if that convo had happened in the spring & not the fall it would have had a different outcome.

2. Why couldn't they give Sara a combo name? I respect that Diggle named her in honor of Sara. But really couldn't the writers figure out a combo name like SaraJane just to keep the characters straight.

Lastly, I remember seeing it then but I didn't know what to make of it then other than something as suspicious. But they cut to someone gazing onto the group during the funeral. When I first saw it I thought it might be the killer. But now that LoT is a go, I wonder if they might use that opportunity to have whoever LPs her there at the funeral.

[Starfish35]

First time watching this episode.......wooowwwwwwwww. The stupid, it burns.

Not saying there wasn't some good stuff, especially some fantastic acting by SA in that final scene, but..... Wow. Hands down worst episode of the season.

That beginning scene in the foundry. The whole stupid motorcycle jousting. Pretty much everything about the flashbacks (so so stupid). Felicity going to work for Ray. Burying Sara in her old grave. Not telling Quentin. And I don't think I've hated Laurel this much since she threw a glass at Sara's head. What the hell Laurel, what the hell.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Starfish35

[Password]

The only good thing that came from this episode was Oliver saying he doesn't want to die down there.

Everything else was complete crap.

[statsgirl]

Oliver may have said that he didn't want to die down there but then he spent the rest of the season trying to die alone and without reaching out to his friends.  Diggle had to force Oliver to take him to Nanda Parbat to save Malcolm after Diggle was traumatized that Oliver "died" alone on the mountain, and don't even get me started on pushing Felicity away for the entire. rest. of. the. season.  Even at the start of the last episode of the season, Felicity still thinks Oliver is pushing her away.

 

One of the things that really bothered me about the episode was that in spite of its name, the episode wasn't really about Sara at all.  It should have been titled "Oh, My Feels Because Sara Is Dead" because other than Felicity talking about Sara's small hands and yet how powerful she was, it was all about how everyone felt about Sara dying and not about Sara herself.

1. I really think OQ was trying to reach out to FS but she shut him out becuase she misunderstood his standpoint. I got that he was being the selfless leader letting everyone grieve. But the fact that he's talking about it means that he wants to talk about it. I think she was hurt by the previous week and didnt see that he was trying to make a connection, albeit badly. I also realize for plot they had to cause friction. But if that convo had happened in the spring & not the fall it would have had a different outcome.

I think it took Oliver the season to learn that he didn't have to be that guy, who shuts away his emotions and takes charge so that everyone else can grieve.  That was why he decided at the end of the season that it was okay to walk away.

 

But I didn't see Oliver reaching out to Felicity emotionally at all.  He told her to get her "A" game in gear (for which I have a hard time forgiving him because she was doing what she could, it's Oliver and everyone else who was sitting around waiting for Felicity to give them a direction) and she replied that she didn't have her 'A' game to give because she was mourning her friend, at which point Oliver launched into his speech about how he doesn't have that luxury because he needs to be the leader.  .At best, it was insensitive to what she was going through; at worst, it was staking a claim to superiority because he's got bigger, more important things than mourning the death of a woman he loved. 

 

And at the end of it for the first time, but unfortunately not the last, Felicity goes to Ray because Oliver is unavailable to her and she "wants more from life."

 

 

Lastly, I remember seeing it then but I didn't know what to make of it then other than something as suspicious. But they cut to someone gazing onto the group during the funeral. When I first saw it I thought it might be the killer. But now that LoT is a go, I wonder if they might use that opportunity to have whoever LPs her there at the funeral.

Caity Lotz said that when they shot that episode, she had been told that Sara was dead dead.  It would be nice to think that the EPs thought that far ahead but I think bringing Sara back for LoT was a combination of audience reaction to her death and their new superheros not being enough.

[Starfish35]

One of the best scenes SA had in the episode was the scene on the rooftop with Diggle. At first he's all business, but then Diggle comes up and starts talking to him, how his composure starts to shatter and he has to struggle to hold it together.

[Password]

I remember thinking it was super early for Oliver to make that realisation.

...I suppose him not dying down there still left room for dying out there.

[statsgirl]

A nice turn of phrase, but it was a figure of speech, that he didn't want to die isolated and without meaning, since there was little chance of him being killed while in the lair itself.. 

He would have died alone on the mountain without Maseo, or in Nanda Parbat without Diggle and the others, or in the waterfall without Felicity.

  Oliver said he didn't want to die alone, and then continued to do the same actions that would have led to it anyway.

 

Taking the rest to the Heartaches thread.

[kismet]

One of the things that really bothered me about the episode was that in spite of its name, the episode wasn't really about Sara at all.  It should have been titled "Oh, My Feels Because Sara Is Dead" because other than Felicity talking about Sara's small hands and yet how powerful she was, it was all about how everyone felt about Sara dying and not about Sara herself.

 

I think it took Oliver the season to learn that he didn't have to be that guy, who shuts away his emotions and takes charge so that everyone else can grieve.  That was why he decided at the end of the season that it was okay to walk away.

 

But I didn't see Oliver reaching out to Felicity emotionally at all.  He told her to get her "A" game in gear (for which I have a hard time forgiving him because she was doing what she could, it's Oliver and everyone else who was sitting around waiting for Felicity to give them a direction) and she replied that she didn't have her 'A' game to give because she was mourning her friend, at which point Oliver launched into his speech about how he doesn't have that luxury because he needs to be the leader.  .

 

Caity Lotz said that when they shot that episode, she had been told that Sara was dead dead.  It would be nice to think that the EPs thought that far ahead but I think bringing Sara back for LoT was a combination of audience reaction to her death and their new superheros not being enough.

Agree with some of your points. The first time I watched it, I too thought OQ was being a little egotistical ass. Then again, processing grief is very individualized and part of me thinks its easier to just hide/drown yourself in work to avoid the emotional complications of grieving. So its right in his wheelhouse to be all about the work & not the emotions. I never thought that he was questioning FS's dedication. It was more just the stress that led to the loud/harsh voices. Both said things that were out of line, for which they both immediately apologized for - which I think is realistic. It was on the rewatch though, that I thought OQ never really talks about anything emotional (like winding up dead on a table), so the fact that he was actually opening up about something perhaps meant something. Its not the best or most clear approach, but I tend to not expect that from OQ. But it was totally one of those things you only piece together after the fact when you're spending sometime thinking about stuff.

 

I think Sara was supposed to be dead, dead, dead  (still the dumbest decision the writers made to date). But I think the editors wanted to leave an opening in case they wanted to change or expand on the plot. TBH, I wonder if they had even chosen who had killed SL yet. But by cutting away from the group and showing a view from the bushes it gave the writers something they could use in the future for possible motive, resurrection, or whatever they came up with. It could have been anyone looking on, even QL. I don't think there was something specific designed for the editing choice either in-script or before it aired, it was just there as an opening if they wanted to use it.

[Starfish35]

TBH, I wonder if they had even chosen who had killed SL yet.

I wonder this myself.

[tv echo]

302 (Sara) – Oliver Queen’s voiceover intro:
Oliver (voiceover): "My name is Oliver Queen. After five years in hell, I have come home with only one goal - to save my city. Now others have joined my crusade. To them, I am Oliver Queen. But to the rest of Starling City, I am someone else. I am something else."

302 (Sara) – Oliver, Felicity and Roy return to the Arrowcave only to find Laurel waiting with Sara’s dead body lying on a table:
Roy: ‘Felicity, all I'm trying to do is make things easier on you.”
Felicity: “Do you even know how difficult it is to ping a clone off a hacked transband multiplex?” 
Roy: “No, but only because you weren't speaking English just now.”
(They stop, stunned, when they see Sara’s body with three arrows in her chest.)
Oliver: “Sara?” 
Laurel: “I didn't know where else to take her.” 
Felicity: “Oh, my God! Oh –“ 
Roy: “What happened?” 
Laurel: “I couldn't - I couldn't leave her.” 
Felicity: “We have to… call - we can… take her to the hospital.” 
Laurel: “Ollie, it's not fair! We just got her back. It's not fair!” 
(Oliver closes Sara’s eyes and then holds Laurel as she cries.)
Oliver: “I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.”

302 (Sara) - Laurel tells Oliver about Sara's stuffed shark:
(Laurel is sitting on the steps in Verdant.)
Laurel (tearfully): "Sara used to have this stuffed animal. It was this old, worn- out shark that she got from the Starling Aquarium. Every time something awful would happen to her, I would always find her holding that stupid little shark close to her chest. And now that my sister's dead, again the only thing I can think about is finding that dumb stuffed animal and putting it in her arms. I'm sorry."
Oliver: "Nothing to apologize for. Hey. Whoever did this, I'm going to find them."
Laurel: "We're going to. When I thought that Sara had died on the Gambit, the only thing that I could do was scream at the ocean. I had so much anger and rage, I didn't know what to do with it. But I do now. And I'm going to help you catch whoever it is did this."
Oliver: "You're already helping. Laurel. You told us where to look."
Laurel: "I'm just supposed to sit here and wait?"
Oliver: "No. You take care of yourself and your family. Your father's gonna need you."
Laurel: "Telling him now, it would kill him. At least if we wait until we catch whoever did this, it'll be easier on him." (Gets up and starts to leave)
Oliver: "Okay. Where you going?"
Laurel: "I don't know. I don't know anything any more. But I know a bar's the last place I should be."

302 (Sara) – Felicity and Diggle help and support Oliver:
Oliver: “What'd we get off the cameras?”
Felicity: “Place is a drug haven. They've all either been disabled or paint-balled by local dealers. Where are you going?” 
Oliver: “Where it happened.” 
(Cut to rooftop.)
Diggle: “Felicity told me. You okay?” 
Oliver: “Killer stood there. Loose gravel on the rooftop.” 
Diggle: “Oliver –“
Oliver: “Sara was here. Scuff marks back to the edge.” 
Diggle: “You don't have to do this right now, man.” 
Oliver: “It's the only thing that I can do.” 
Diggle: “Listen, I get it. Military training. Stay on task. Your friend gets shot, you just keep fighting. But Oliver -“ 
Oliver: “I'm fine.” 
Diggle: “Well, I'm here for you just the same. Listen, Sara was my friend, too. And if you think you're going after the person who did this solo, you couldn't possibly be more wrong.”
(Oliver’s cell phone rings.)
Oliver: “Yeah?” 
Felicity (on phone): “Detective Lance called. He says it's important. Do you think he knows about Sara?”

302 (Sara) – Team Arrow tries to find the archer who killed Sara:
Felicity: “Her hands are so small. I never noticed before. She was always so strong and brave. (Sniffs) I always envisioned her as this sort of Amazonian warrior. Invincible. Something I could never be. I was so jealous. (Cell phone rings) Hi. I know I was supposed to come into work today. I – the - I'm sorry. There's been a death in the family. Thank you.” 
Diggle (entering with Oliver): “You have any idea what other archer could have done this?”
Oliver: “There aren't that many of us. Maybe ten that I know of, and most of them are in the League of Assassins.” 
Diggle: “Oliver, you don't think –“
Oliver: “No. No. They don't target their own. What'd you find out?” 
Felicity: “He hit again. An abandoned warehouse on the corner of Third and Lemire. Ninth floor. The victim was a construction foreman, Tim Kaufman. Security cameras can't get an angle.” 
Oliver (viewing screen): “Who's that?” 
Roy: “Just some low level dealers that set up shop in abandoned warehouses. Doesn't look like much of an archer to me.” 
Oliver: “He might be a witness.” 
Diggle: “Where do you want me?” 
Oliver: “Will Lyla give you access to A.R.G.U.S.'s database?” 
Diggle: “To find out who did this, Lyla will give us access to A.R.G.U.S.” 
Oliver: “I need a list of everyone on their radar - assassins and mercenaries who use a bow.” 
Diggle: “I'm on it.” 
Felicity: “What?” 
Oliver: “Thea hasn't called back yet.”

302 (Sara) – Roy shows Felicity the note that he received from Thea:
Felicity: “That is a cobalt-encrypted work station. You better not be using it to tweet.”
Roy: “I was – I was, um, actually just –“
Felicity: “Accessing an FBI database? What? - Roy, why are you looking for Thea?” 
Roy: “Because I don't think she is where she says she is.” 
Felicity: “Why would she lie? (Roy hands her the note that he received from Thea, and she reads it) Roy, Oliver needs to see this.”
Roy: “No. This is my fault. He's going to kill me.” 
Felicity: “What if she's in trouble?”
Roy: “What if she's not? What if she just needs space?” 
Felicity: “She's had five months and thousands of miles of space. Oliver needs to see this. You need to show it to him. (Her cell phone rings.) You have got to be kidding me.”
Roy: “What - where are you going?”
Felicity: “There's someone I need to kill.”

302 (Sara) – Felicity confronts Ray Palmer about buying Tech Villages where she works:
Felicity: “Did you do it to make a point? Because I get it. Loud and clear. You are rich. You are impulsive. And frankly, you are the creepiest form of stalker that I have ever had to deal with, and believe me when I'm telling you that that is saying a lot. And what are you doing to our old offices?” 
Ray: “Hi. (To employee) I'll be right back. (To Felicity) You like it? Yeah, I'm just trying to liven up the place a bit. I'm hosting an event tonight. A pledge drive of sorts. Got to make an impression, right? Now, what can I do for you?” 
Felicity: “You can stop. You can stop sending me flowers, and you can stop texting me and calling me and emailing me, because I spam them, anyway.” 
Ray: “Oh, is ‘spam’ a verb now?” 
Felicity: “Because I am never, ever, ever going to work for you.” 
Ray: “Actually, you already do.” 
Felicity: “Only because you bought the store that I work at!” 
Ray: “No, I didn't.” 
Felicity: “Yes, you did! My boss just called and told me that you did.” 
Ray: “Well, he's wrong - kind of. I bought the holding company which owns and operates all 20,000 Tech Village stores. But I guess either way, yes, I am your boss now. So you can either work for me here in a big office with a big salary, or… you can work for me there, in that awful uniform.”
Felicity: “Or… I can quit. Which is what I just did.”
Ray: “You know, most girls would be flattered that I spent $1.2 billion to hire them. Even if I do have a fairly genius plan for rebranding the stores.” 
Felicity: “In case you haven't noticed, I am not most girls. And I don't need this. Or you. Or any of this.” 
Ray: “Felicity, I - I piss people off on a daily basis. It's part of business, and, well, being the smartest guy in any given room. I own that. So I have enough experience with people being angry with me to know when they're really angry at something else. You right now are not angry at me. What's your something else?” 
Felicity: “Oh, money won't fix this problem.” 
Ray: “Money won't solve most problems. Not the ones that matter. But talking helps. I know we barely know each other –“ 
Felicity: “I'm going to leave now.” 
Ray: “Listen, whatever happened, sorry. It helps to remember that... it gets better.”

302 (Sara) – Team Arrow gets a lead on a masked archer named Simon Lacroix, a/k/a Komodo, and Oliver chases him but is unable to capture him:
Oliver (over comms): "Diggle, are you at A.R.G.U.S.?"
Diggle (over comms): "I've got something. Yeah, I'm here. I got a list of archers 20-long, man."
Oliver (over comms): "How many of them wear masks?"
Diggle (over comms): "Only one. Simon Lacroix. Mercenary. Goes by 'Komodo.'" 
Oliver (over comms): "Send Felicity everything." 
Diggle (over comms): "Yep."
Felicity (over comms): "Oliver, I'm opening up the file now."
Laurel (to Felicity): "Is that him?" 
Felicity: "Simon Lacroix. Born in Saint-Sophie, Quebec. Raised by a single mom. Terrible credit score. Oh, and wanted for murder in seven countries."
Oliver (over comms): "I need his location."
Felicity: "One minute." 
Laurel: "Put him on speaker." 
Felicity: "Okay, indexing all active burner cell phones within the city limits."
Oliver (over comms): "There's got to be 10,000 phones." 
Felicity: "Yes, but how many are making calls to dear old mom in Saint-Sophie, Quebec? I got him. He's on the move."
Oliver (over comms): "I found Lacroix."
Laurel: "I need to see what's happening." 
Felicity: "Okay. Blowing up street camera feed... Oliver, what's happening?"
Laurel: "Come on, Ollie. Get up." 
Felicity: "Oliver? Are you okay? Oliver? ... Oliver, you okay?"
Oliver (over comms): "He got away."
*  *  *
Oliver: "I had him, Diggle."
Diggle: "The way you look, he almost had you." 
Oliver: "Where's Roy?"
Felicity: "He's out canvassing." 
Oliver: "Tell me about the driver of the car." 
Felicity: "His name is Erlich Kelso. He just got out of Starling General -"
Oliver: "And where are we with Lacroix?" 
Diggle: "He ditched his burner."
Felicity: "I'm searching the city for any calls made to Quebec."
Oliver: "We used that to track him once; He's not going to let it happen again." 
Diggle: "All right, so why don't we stop searching for Lacroix and start searching for his target?"
Oliver: "Because there must be a connection with his victims." 
Felicity: "Already on it."

302 (Sara) - Laurel browbeats her way past the cops guarding Erhlich Kelso's hospital room:
(At Starling City General Hospital, there's two police officers guarding the door to the suspect's hospital room.)
Female Cop: "I'm sorry, miss. You can't go in there."
Laurel: "Laurel Lance. I'm with the District Attorney's Office. (Shows her D.A. badge) Ehlich Kelso's a witness of my ongoing investigation."
Female Cop: "Mr. Kelso's under protective custody."
Laurel: "Not from me. And if you have a problem with that, you can call your captain. Tell him his daughter says 'hello.''"
(Female cop stands aside and lets Laurel enter the hospital room.)

302 (Sara) – Oliver tells Felicity that he thinks it’s going to be him lying dead one day because of the life he chose, and Felicity says that she isn’t going to wait with him but wants more for her life:
Oliver: "Why isn't this working?"
Felicity: "It is. It's running an NSA algorithm aggregating the victims' personal information using every government database known, and unknown."
Oliver: "Well, it's taking too long. Sara's killer is still out there, which means that every minute that we waste down here -"
Felicity: "I know! You don't need to tell me as if I don't already know."
Oliver: "You're right. And I apologize. I just need your 'A' game right now, Felicity."
Felicity: "I don't have it! My friend - our friend - was shot with arrows and fell off of a rooftop. Her body is upstairs right above us in a freezer because we don't know what to do with it - with her. So I am so sorry, Oliver, if I have feelings, but maybe if you did, too, we... (He looks at her) Sorry. That was mean. But this is Sara we're talking about. Your Sara. How can you stand there being so cold and rational?"
Oliver: "'Cause I don't have the luxury of falling to pieces. Everyone's looking to me to handle things, to make the right decisions. Everyone is looking to me... to lead. If I grieve, nobody else gets to." 
Felicity: "You're still a human being, Oliver. You're allowed to have feelings. I know sometimes that it's easier to live under that hood." 
Oliver: "I'm not. Earlier today, I was looking at Sara - I realized something. One of these days it's going to be me. And this... (Sighs). This life that I've chosen - It only ends one way." 
Felicity: "So that's it? You're just going to spend your life hiding down here in this cave, waiting to die? I'm sorry. I'm not going to wait with you, because if there's one thing that today has taught me, is that life is precious. And I want so much more in mine than this."

302 (Sara) - Laurel uses unethical and illegal methods to interrogate Ehrlich Kelso in his hospital room:
Laurel: "Let's start with the obvious - why would someone want to kill you?"
Kelso: "I have no idea. This whole thing - it's insane."
Laurel: "Mr. Kelso, despite what you may have heard, homicides at the hands of a stranger are incredibly rare. Imagine how rare homicides by bow and arrow are."
Kelso: "Yeah, the guy was a sicko."
Laurel: "And you're a liar."
Kelso: "I'm the victim here."
Laurel: "You're also a witness. My witness. And you better give me something useful, or else you're going to be facing an obstruction charge."
Kelso: "I think I want to talk to your boss, because you can't treat people like this."
Laurel: "Oh, really, you want to talk to my boss? (Grabs his injured, bandaged arm and slams it down behind his back onto the bed) How's your arm feeling?"
Kelso (groaning in pain): "What're you doing?"
Laurel (holding his arm down): "John Burke and Tim Kaufman, they were also shot dead with arrows and they're too dead to tell me why. (Slams his injured arm down on the bed again) Burke and Kaufman! What do the two of them have to do with you?"
Kelso (in pain): "We were all working on a deal, but nobody was supposed to know about it! (She lets his arm go) Uhhh... uhhh."
Laurel: "What kind of deal?"
Kelso: "To build an oil pipeline... for Ameritek."
(An arrow suddenly shoots into the room and spears Kelso in the chest. Like an idiot, Laurel immediately runs over to the lighted window to stand directly in front of it. She sees a dark archer standing on top of a nearby building.)

302 (Sara) – Laurel shares her lead with Team Arrow; and Felicity reports on her research into Lacroix’s victims:
Laurel (on phone): “Felicity, I really need to talk to you. So please, can you call me back as soon as you get this.”
Quentin: “Baby, you alright? You hurt?”
Laurel: “I’m fine.”
Quentin: “The guy just got skewered right in front of you. I hope you’re not fine. What the hell were you doing here in the first place?”
Laurel: “The District Attorney’s –“
Quentin: “Did not send you. You lied to my officers and now what – you’re just going to stand there and you’re going to lie to me?”
Laurel: “I needed to talk to him. It was important.”
Quentin: “Look, sweetie, I know you want to help. You don’t need to take this kind of risk, you understand? I’m pretty sure your sister’s got that covered for the both of you.”
Laurel: “Yeah.”
Quentin: “Go home. We’ve got this.” (Kisses her forehead and leaves)
Laurel (answering her phone): “I’ve got something. Meet me at Verdant.”
*  *  *
Laurel: "Ameritek Industries. It's an oil company based in Starling City."
Felicity: "Okay. Now that I've consolidated all of Lacroix's victim's records, I can run the algorithm, scan the data and see who received money from Ameritek."
Laurel: "How long does that take?"
Felicity: "Not long." 
Diggle: "A million to Kelso, one more to Burke, two more to Kaufman."
Felicity: "All from a subsidiary from Ameritek in Qurac, which just happens to be the largest untapped oil field on the planet." 
Diggle: "Yeah. Looks like Ameritek was trying to strike an oil deal." 
Laurel: "And someone paid Lacroix to stop it." 
Oliver: "None of this explains how Sara was involved." 
Felicity: "Sara once told me she worked in Qurac. And by 'worked,' I mean she killed people for the League." 
Roy: "You're saying she might have brought her work home with her."
Oliver: "Who authorized the payments?" 
Felicity: "A board member of Ameritek called Tom Westin." 
Oliver: "He's Lacroix's next target. What's his location?" 
Felicity (pulling up screen showing “You are cordially invited to an evening with Ray Palmer… Star City Pledge”): "You will not believe where he's headed. "
(Laurel walks away, and Oliver follows her.)
Oliver: “Where do you think you’re going?”
Laurel: “I’m coming with you.” (Pulling gun out of a wall cabinet drawer)
Oliver: “Absolutely not.”
Laurel: “Oliver, the only reason you know where to find him is because I –“
Oliver: “You were reckless… and Lacroix almost put an arrow in you. (Takes away her gun) Let me handle this.” (Starts to walk away)
Laurel: “Don’t you dare tell me to stay put and think that I’ll listen. You know me better than that.”
Oliver: “Sara was trained by some of the greatest killers in human history. Lacroix put her down. So what do you think he’s going to do to you?”
Laurel: “I don’t care about anything except for getting him.”
Oliver: “And I will.”
Laurel: “You couldn’t before!”
Oliver: “I won’t let him escape again. I promise.”

302 (Sara) - Laurel almost kills Simon Lacroix AKA Komodo:
Oliver: "Who hired you?"
Lacroix: "Who's she?" 
(Cut to Laurel standing with a gun pointed at him.)
Oliver: "You don't want to do this."
Laurel "Yes, I do."
Oliver: "Killing him won't bring her back."
Laurel: "I know it won't bring her back. She's dead."
Oliver: "I've stood where you are right now, where you're so consumed with rage you can hardly breathe, and you think that taking revenge will make it better. But Laurel, it won't. It only makes it worse."
Laurel: "No. He murdered Sara."
Lacroix: "Who's Sara?"
Laurel: "My sister, you son of a bitch! Two nights ago, you put an arrow in her chest!"
Lacroix: "Two nights ago I was drunk in Blüdhaven."
Laurel: "You're lying."
Lacroix: "I'm proud of my work. I wouldn't deny it."
Laurel: "Even with a gun in your face?"
Oliver: "Laurel, you need to stop and listen to him."
Laurel: "No. No, he killed my sister."
Oliver: "Laurel, Sara wouldn't -"
Laurel: "Don't you dare tell me that this isn't what Sara would've wanted! Don't you tell me to think of her because I am thinking of her!"
Oliver: "Laurel, if you pull that trigger -"
(Laurel pulls the trigger twice, but the gun just clicks. Nothing happens.)
Laurel: "You took the bullets out of the gun!"
Oliver: "We have to go."

302 (Sara) - Oliver encourages Laurel to tell her father that Sara's dead:
Oliver: "Lacroix's alibi checks out. Two murders in Blüdhaven. Same M.O. Same night Sara was killed."
Laurel: "I almost killed Lacroix."
Oliver; "The only thing that matters is that you didn't. Laurel. The trail's run cold. I'm gonna find whoever did this. I will. But I don't know when. Your father deserves to know."
*  *  *
(Laurel visits her father at the S.C.P.D. police station. Just as she's about to tell her father about Sara's death, his alarm beep goes off, reminding him to take his pills. So she changes her mind and still doesn't tell him.)

302 (Sara) – Oliver, Laurel, Diggle, Felicity and Roy secretly bury Sara in her old grave at night:
Oliver: "She can rest now. She's home."
Felicity (throwing dirt on the wooden casket): "It's a Jewish custom. I know she wasn't, but it feels right."
(Oliver throws dirt on the casket.)
Oliver: "Laurel?"
Laurel. "No, this isn't right. This isn't - it - she doesn't even get a fresh grave? It's so perverse." 
Oliver: "She deserves a proper burial. She's earned it." 
Laurel: "No, it's not fair. No one will ever really know who she was. Oliver, it's not fair. It's not fair!" (Goes to Oliver, who hugs her.)
Diggle: "Laurel, we'll know. I know this doesn't count for much, but me and Lyla, we're naming the baby Sara. We will never forget."
Laurel: "Thank you."

302 (Sara) – Oliver tells Diggle that he doesn’t want to die down in the Arrowcave; and Felicity tells Ray that she wants more out of life:
Oliver: "I'm going to catch whoever killed her."
Diggle: "I know you are. And until you do, I'm back on the team."
Oliver: "What about your family?"
Diggle: "Sara is family, Oliver. Just like you, man. So now what?" 
Oliver: "Now I got to go get Thea. It's long past time she came home... John. I don't want to die down here."
Diggle: "So don't, Oliver."
*  *  *
(Cut to Palmer Tech.)
Ray: "Hey." 
Felicity: "Hi."
Ray: "You changed your mind?"
Felicity: "I just decided I want more out of life." 

Edited February 18, 2020 by tv echo