S03.E14: The Return

[chaos is welcome]

Sigh, finally watched this one tonight. 

It was truly terrible.  All the flashback stuff was meh. dislocating thea's arm = stupid.  Enjoyed some of the oliver/thea stuff, but the fighting/training was just so bleh because it was obviously a stunt double. Which is a bummer because Oliver + sticks is always good TV.  This, show, is why having people with actual ability is a good thing.  See Manu, Caity, David.  Thanks so much.

I did like Oliver's face when Slade brought up Felicity, but gives me badddd feelings given all the Lazarus Pit discussion. 
My main take-away from this episode was the ENTIRE who-killed-sara storyline is just SUCH A REACH. I hate it all, I miss Slade, and I miss Sara. 

Positive notes were the return of many of the music themes from S1.   Mmmmm, that's about all I got.

I guess they explained why Oliver wasn't surprised by Thea's drug use or Tommy/Laurel banging.  This episode reminded me how much more I liked Laurel with Tommy. 

Side note, did the graves move closer to the mansion by the time Oliver returned home?

And now we have the seed of Oliver having the chance to go home at the end of S3, but choosing not to. 

[tv echo]

314 (The Return) – No Oliver Queen voiceover intro.

314 (The Return) - In a flashback scene, Laurel retrieves a drunken Quentin from a bar:
Quentin: "Laurel! Hey, what you having, sweetheart? Next round's on me."
Laurel: "Your desk sergeant called, wondering why you weren't on duty."
Quentin: "Yeah. Well, uh - (To bartender) This is Laurel - you know, the daughter that lived."
Laurel: "Is there a bartender in this city that doesn't already know that?"
Quentin: "Well, excuse me for seeking a sympathetic ear. Takes more than some fancy corporate law firm job for some of us to get over Sara's death."
Laurel: "I love you, so I'm going to pretend like you didn't say that. And I'm going to drive you home."
Quentin: "Not now, sweetie. Not now. No, please. Hit me again, Frank. (Bartender refuses to serve him, so Quentin laughs and gets off the bar stool to leave) Later, Frank."
Laurel (to Bartender): "I'm sorry for all the trouble."

314 (The Return) – In a flashback scene, Oliver secretly returns to Starling City on an A.R.G.U.S. mission, steals files from Moira’s computer and sees Felicity for the first time (as aired):
(Oliver is downloading files in Moira Queen’s office at Queen Consolidated, when the elevator dings and we see Felicity headed for the same office.)
Maseo (to Oliver, over comms): "You have to go. Someone's coming."
(Oliver hides and spies on Felicity.)
Felicity (to Oliver's photo): "You're cute. It's too bad you're, you know, dead. Which is obviously a lot worse for you than it is for me. (Sighs) I really need to learn to stop talking to myself." (Cut to Oliver smiling)

314 (The Return) – In a flashback scene, Oliver secretly returns to Starling City on an A.R.G.U.S. mission, steals files from Moira’s computer and sees Felicity for the first time (per script):

314 (The Return) - In a flashback scene, Laurel and Thea go to Tommy's party:
Tommy (to Girl): "Do you like sushi? Have you ever had anyone eat some off of you? I promise not to use chopsticks."
Laurel (approaching): "Are you still using that line? Oh, looks like I scared her off."
Tommy: "Oh, it's alright. She's vegan anyway. What are you doing here? (Cut to quick shot of Oliver secretly spying on them) I heard you decided to go corporate in San Francisco, instead of saving the world in Starling City."
Laurel: "I realized that maybe the world can't be saved. (Off Tommy's look) What is it?"
Tommy: "I just can't believe who's here... Queen."
(They see Thea entering the party from across the room and walk over to her. Oliver is still secretly spying on them.)
Tommy: "I thought I told you this party is 21 and over."
Thea: "No worries. I came prepared. Fake I.D. Laurel, how are you?"
Laurel: "I'm handling. How's school?"
Thea: "Straight A student. I'm gonna go have a drink. Not alcoholic, I swear."

314 (The Return) - In a flashback scene, Quentin lashes out at Tommy, Laurel and Thea; and later Quentin questions Laurel's choices:
(On the street outside Tommy's party at night)
Quentin: "Thea, right?"
Thea: "Yeah."
Quentin: "Aren't you a little young to be at a party like this?"
Tommy: "I invited her."
Quentin: "Oh, well, you spoiled billionaires - sure know how to throw yourselves a party. You got underaged girls, you got drug dealers - you even have dead drug dealers."
Tommy: "If I had have known he was here, he never would have made it past the front gate. We had a lot of crashers here tonight."
Quentin: "Yeah, right. I can see that. (To Laurel) What are you doing here?"
Laurel: "They asked us to stay and give statements."
Quentin: "No, I mean, at this douchebag's party."
Laurel: "Tommy, I'm sorry -"
Quetin: "Wow, you really have a thing for these rich bad boys, don't you? I mean, you think maybe, just maybe, one of 'em getting your sister killed would have gotten you cured of that."
Laurel: "Dad!"
Quentin (to Thea): "And what about you, sweetheart? Dressed like that. It's funny, I can't figure out if you're following in your brother's footsteps or my dead daughter."
Laurel: "No, no -"
Quentin: "I'm just observing how one little boat trip can turn everyone's life to crap."
Laurel: "That is enough! We're not doing this -"
(Cut to Oliver, who's been secretly observing from the crowd.)
Maseo: "We're leaving. Right now." (Jabs gun into Oliver’s side)
*  *  *
Laurel: "Well, thank you for that."
Quentin: "I'm sorry, was I embarrassing you?"
Laurel: "No. Yourself."
Quentin: "At least I know who I am. And I'm not becoming someone I'm not. Hanging around with billionaire playboys like some kind of gold digger? Taking on a sell-out job in San Francisco."
Laurel: "Is that what this is about?"
Quentin: "When Sara died, you said you wanted to go to law school 'cause you wanted to make the world a better place."
Laurel: "Wethersby Posner is one of the most prestigious firms in the country."
Quentin: "You said you wanted to help people. All you'd be doing there is helping fat cats get fatter."
Laurel: "You know, maybe this sermon would have a little bit more credibility if you weren't so lit right now."
Quentin: "Well, I don't need to be sober to see what you're doing with your life. I just wish you could, too."

314 (The Return) – Oliver listens to his father’s recorded message:
Robert Queen (recorded message): "Hello, Oliver. I told myself I was recording this message in case I died suddenly, but I wonder if it isn't just easier to say what I have to say to a video camera. I'm not the man you think I am, Oliver. I didn't save our city, I failed it. I did something terrible, and in my efforts to make it right, I ignored my conscience and made alliances with terrible people. There's a book. A book with a list of all their names. And with these people, I always told myself that everything I did, I did for my family. That's a lie. Because what good is a family without a soul? You can right my wrongs. You can be better than I was. You can save this city. I love you."

314 (The Return) – Slade Wilson taunts Oliver by asking about “the girl with the glasses”:
(Slade is back behind bars in A.R.G.U.S. prison, while Oliver and Thea face him on the other side.)
Slade: "A flesh wound. You're clearly not the killer that your brother is."
Thea."I wish that were true." (Leaves)
Slade: "She's lost, your sister."
Oliver: "No, she's not."
Slade: "You can see it in her eyes. She's been touched by darkness. Was it Merlyn? He's an interesting man to do that to his own daughter. So now you've lost your father, your mother, and now your little sister. (Oliver starts to leave) How's the girl with the glasses? What's her name? Felicity."
(Oliver stops and turns around to glare at Slade.)
Slade: "How many people can Oliver Queen lose before there is no more Oliver Queen?"

314 (The Return) - In a flashback scene, Tommy asks Laurel to have dinner with him:
(Laurel is walking along the street at night, when she runs into Tommy.)
Laurel: "Tommy Merlyn. Are you stalking me?"
Tommy: "Just checking on you. Things with your father seemed - uh, seemed tense. Your roommate told me you were taking a job here. I said that couldn't be true, that you were going to work for a white-shoe firm."
Laurel: "Ah, I was. And then someone reminded me of why I became a lawyer in the first place."
Tommy: "You want to tell me about it over dinner? Hey, it is just dinner."
Laurel: "How many girls have you used those three little words with?"
Tommy: "Those are the only three little words that I say."
Laurel: "Fine. Just dinner."
Tommy: "Maybe drinks."
Laurel: "Maybe."

314 (The Return) – Laurel and Quentin have a talk at Sara’s grave:
Laurel: "Dad. I didn't know that you were going to be here."
Quentin: "Where else would I be? Got to think about a way to tell your mom about this."
Laurel: "Um. She already knows."
Quentin: "You weren't worried about her heart giving out, then."
Laurel: "You know, if you were going to drink tonight, you would have done it by now."
Quentin: "Really? Are you going to go get your mask and your billy club and take it away from me, huh? Black Canary?"
Laurel: "Dad!"
Quentin: "When does your shift start, huh? Shouldn't you be running around on rooftops by now?"
Laurel: "Hey. Do you remember when I was going to take that corporate job in San Francisco? Do you remember what you said to me? You were mad because I wasn't choosing a life where I was going to help people. It's like you knew. Already, even then. You knew that my life was always headed towards that mask.”
Quentin: “You think that's what I'm all torn up about? The reason why I want to open up this bottle and want to crawl inside it is because of what you did to us. I love your sister. I love your mom. So much like each other and, you know, these wild spirits. But you and I, we had something more than that, 'cause we were the ones that were alike. And we had a trust and we had a bond. And you broke it. And I don't know how you could do that to us. Look, I'm going to survive this. I mean, I got to, it's my baby girl. But what you've done, I don't know how I'm going to live through this.”
Laurel: “Daddy, I think we should go to a meeting.”
Quentin: “Yeah. I'll go to the one on Broxton. You go to the one on Fourth.” (Leaves)
(Laurel opens up the alcohol bottle and pours its contents out on Sara’s grave.)

Edited April 14, 2020 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Yesterday MG tweeted two script pages for this episode, which I've now added to my above transcriptions.

Edited April 14, 2020 by tv echo