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On the island, Shado orders Oliver to repeatedly slap a bowl of water while she exhibits yoga poses and explains that Fyers wants Yao Fei to be the scapegoat in his plan. Finally, Shado reveals that Oliver’s task was building his strength so he could pull back the bow’s string before she teaches him how to shoot an arrow.
A girl on Vertigo is killed outside of the club. The Hood visits the Count in the mental institution, but the Count is incoherent and later said to have escaped. At the aquarium, the Hood chases a man on Vertigo, but he dies of an allergic reaction to the newly added antipsychotic. Oliver wonders if the Count faked his escape to throw suspicion off of him, allowing the Count to steal this ingredient from the mental institution. During another visit to the psych ward, the Hood finds the Count still there and delusional. Dr. Webb, the man behind the new Vertigo, overpowers the Hood and feeds him liquid Vertigo. The Hood activates his exploding arrow, takes an antidote, and with the distraction of Diggle fighting the orderly, kills Webb but not the Count.
Lance discovers that $10,000 is missing from Verdant’s bank account and was used to bribe the city inspector, which prompts Lance to think that the club is dealing Vertigo. After acquiring a search warrant, Lance forces his way into the sublevel, but all he finds is booze that Tommy stashed to cover up for Oliver.
Diggle has Felicity secretly tracking Floyd Lawton; she uncovers who was booking Deadshot’s hits. Diggle hands this information over to an old friend of his, Lyla, who is part of the agency ARGUS. Since stopping Lawton is important to Diggle, Oliver pledges to help. Tommy quits his position at the club and asks his father for a job.
Tropes applying to this Episode:
- Ambiguous Syntax: Before she was killed, the girl high on Vertigo sent a text message to Tommy asking if he could hook her up. Quentin thinks she meant with drugs, while Tommy says he gets these texts from people all the time wanting to get into the club.
- Bait-and-Switch: Felicity ate a "pot brownie" once by accident. She may have had a good time... But she's allergic to nuts.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Webb could not keep the "Count Vertigo" mantle or his crime enterprise for more than a single episode. Though he admits he was just trying to make money rather than start a criminal empire.
- Big Damn Heroes: Diggle when Oliver is overdosing on the new Vertigo.
- Bond One-Liner: Diggle, after killing The Dragon with a defibrillator.Diggle: Clear.
- Book Ends: The opening shot of Verdant is Tommy telling Oliver how well the club is doing, followed by friendly banter between them. The last shot of it is Tommy telling Oliver how well the club is doing, followed by a falling out between them and Tommy quitting.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: The Count rants, "You have failed this city!" as a Madness Mantra.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Oliver prepares an injection of Healing Herb for a junkie, but he dies of an overdose before Oliver can use it. The injection comes in handy when Oliver is given an overdose himself.
- For the next episode with Diggle giving Lyla information on Deadshot.
- Chekhov's Gunman: An orderly turns to look at Dr. Webb and Detective Lance as they're walking up the stairs in the hospital. He turns out to be Dr. Webb's minion in the final scene.
- Commercial Break Cliffhanger: Quentin turns up with a warrant to search the Arrowcave, convinced he'll find drugs there. Tommy however knew this would happen, moved out all the secret lair stuff and filled it full of stacked chairs and crates of alcohol so it would look like a storage room.
- Cool Versus Awesome: Nonlethally, Shado versus Slade in a sparring match. Ollie admits it's badass to watch them fight.
- Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Oliver roasts Diggle for investigating the Floyd Lawton case when he should have been backing him up. Diggle makes up for it by saving Oliver when he's Strapped to an Operating Table and given a Vertigo overdose.
- Death by Secret Identity: Doctor Webb and his minion look under Oliver's hood while the latter is unconscious. They're worm food by the episode's end credits.
- Debut Queue: Our introduction to Lyla Michaels.
- Eating the Eye Candy: Oliver watching Shado doing yoga in front of him.
- The Evil Genius: Webb is a psychiatrist who plans his own drug-selling scheme with a variation of Vertigo that he produced from the drug in The Count's body.
- Evil Gloating: The cause of the villain's death. He doubted Oliver could aim a single arrow. So he aims three. Two miss, the other is right on target.
- Fakeout Escape: Oliver realises all the antipsychotics needed for the improved Vertigo are available in the mental hospital, so the Count never left.
- Flipping the Table: Oliver visits the Count but is convinced he's still crazy. On hearing the news that the Count supposedly escaped, he knocks over a table in a rage at being fooled.
- Foreshadowing:
- Shado's talk about how Yao Fei is The Scapegoat does this for the Count's role.
- Dr. Webb will not be the last villain to adopt the Count Vertigo identity.
- Human Resources: Oliver finds The Count Strapped to an Operating Table so his blood can be filtered for the Vertigo in his system.
- Hypocrisy Nod: When Oliver wants to run a check on all Verdant employees who have prior drug convictions, Tommy points out that both of them fall under that category.
- Identity Impersonator: Webb commits his crimes under The Count's name.
- Impairment Shot: Several involving Vertigo.
- Improvised Weapon: Diggle uses a defibrillator to kill a Giant Mook.
- I'm Standing Right Here: Oliver isn't happy having to listen to Shado and Slade complain about how he's a whining Non-Action Guy.
- In the Hood: Diggle purchases Vertigo while wearing a hoodie.
- Irony: "What if he's still in the asylum? What if he faked his escape the same way he faked being insane?" He did fake his death the same way he faked being insane, in that he faked neither and did neither himself.
- It's Personal: Diggle (for Deadshot) and Oliver, who is still angry over what happened to Thea and so Vertigo is a Berserk Button for him.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After producing it, Vertigo is now produced out of the Count himself. And be honest, who feels sorry for him?
- Mythology Gag:
- Mention is made of A.R.G.U.S., an organization in the DC Universe that first appeared under the “New 52″ initiative. A.R.G.U.S. in the comics stands for the Advanced Research Group for Uniting Super-Humans.
- The character of Lyla Michaels who works for ARGUS is better known as Harbinger
in the comics. - The plot of the episode is in many ways similar to the Batman Beyond episode "The Winning Edge".
- The throwaway mention of Deadshot assassinating a Senator is almost definitely a reference to a memorable arc in Suicide Squad that featured him assassinating a Senator as well, although with much bigger ramifications.
- Nothing Up My Sleeve: After being strapped to a gurney, Oliver still has his radio detonator which he uses to detonate the explosive arrow in his quiver.
- This Is No Time for Knitting: Oliver breaks out his Lian-Yu herbs to whip up a cure for Vertigo, greatly confusing Felicity.Felicity: There's a lunatic high on Vertigo who's taking hostages, and you're...making tea.
- Obfuscating Insanity: Subverted when it's revealed the Count really is insane.
- Oh, Crap!Doctor: I doubt you could aim a single arrow.Oliver: [aims three]
- Papa Bear: Subverted; it looks like Quentin is trying to deliberately sabotage Laurel's relationship with Tommy, but it's actually because he can't let a case go and has to follow it to its conclusion.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Oliver suspecting him of involvement with drugs is the final straw for Tommy, who's been working flat-out to get Verdant up and running.Oliver: Before I left, you played hard. You played with bad people who were into bad stuff.Tommy: And so did you, Oliver. But I changed just like you did. Now you put arrows in people who do illegal things. Last time I checked, bribing a city inspector was not legal.Oliver: Do you actually think that I could hurt you?Tommy: Truthfully, I have no idea what the hell you would do. You are a complete mystery to me. I've got no idea how you find it so easy to kill people. The next time you decide to think the worst of me, imagine what I now think of you.
- Red Herring:
- The Count is still insane. An institution doctor synthesized a new version of Vertigo from his blood.
- After his falling out with Oliver, Tommy is shown dressed in black and embracing Malcolm Merlyn after he asks to work with his father, making it appear as if he's on his way to becoming a villainous character like the comic Thomas Merlyn. This never happens.
- The Scapegoat: Yao Fei was a Chinese general sentenced to the Lian Yu to take the blame for a massacre committed by the Chinese military.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Tommy quits Verdant after a falling out with Oliver.
- Sheathe Your Sword: After killing Dr. Webb, Oliver draws his bow at the raving Count, ready to put an arrow into his eye. Diggle just watches, making no move to intervene. Oliver decides not to kill The Count.
- Ship Tease: Sparks fly during the sparring match between Slade and Shado, ending with Slade pinned to the floor beneath Shado while he holds a push dagger against her back.
- Shout-Out:
- Doubling as a
Genius Bonus (as it is never explained nor commented upon), The Count speaks almost entirely in quotes from the Hitchcock film Vertigo. - Shado says, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step", which Oliver thinks is a quote by Confucius. Shado replies that she's actually citing Lao Tzu.
- Doubling as a
- Spread Shot: Used via Multi Shot to overcome aiming difficulties from Vertigo.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: The Hood somehow vanishes from The Count's barred cell just as Quentin and Dr. Webb unlock the door.
- Stop Being Stereotypical: Diggle has to purchase some Vertigo so they can trace it back to the source.Diggle: All right. The person of color has successfully purchased your drugs.Felicity: For the record, I offered.
- Title Drop: The episode's name is said by Ollie at the end in relation to Diggle's quest to bring down Deadshot.
- Tracking Device: Monofilament strips in the money Diggle uses to purchase Vertigo is used to track it back to the source.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Tommy has been running Verdant knowing full well that Oliver just regards it as a front for his vigilantism. He had to bribe a city inspector so he wouldn't investigate the Arrowcave, but when this makes Oliver question his integrity he regards it as the final straw and quits.
- Voice Changeling: Dr. Webb somehow mimics the Count's voice while hiding in his vehicle during a drug deal. Then again voice-changing technology is commonly used in the Arrowverse.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Oliver, with liquid Vertigo.
- Wanted a Son InsteadSlade: Who taught you how to fight?
Shado: My father wanted a son.
Slade: (approving) He got one! - Wax On, Wax Off: Oliver isn't impressed with how Shado has him slapping water in a bowl over and over, until he discovers his arms are now strong enough to draw a bowstring without snapping it.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Webb, who's essentially the second Count Vertigo, is killed in his first appearance.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Oliver gets two of them back to back, first from Tommy about suspecting him of selling Vertigo while Oliver's out killing people, then from Diggle for prioritizing The Count over his own vendetta against Deadshot.
