Arrow

[Captain Britain of Earth 20]

The worst part of it all is that we have to wait until next Wednesday for another episode.
I hate my first world problems.

I can't wait until next week.

[Jim Kelly]

I know that he caused the deaths of hundreds, maybe thousands, but every time Merlyn shows up I can't help but cheer for him. Of all the costumed fighters on this show, he's the awesomest.

So next season on the island, will it be all about the year that Ollie learned to speak perfect Russian, with him and the Russian guy fighting for their survival on the island? I would expect that both Sara and Slade leave the island at the end of this season, since Ollie thought they were both dead.

Of all the characters that have come back from the dead, I think Brother Blood by rights should be the most likely--just because of the whole supernatural element to the villain (in the comics).

I can't really complain about this show. It might be true that there are some redundant plot lines, but each episode keeps me in suspense.

[dupersuper]

Even the reasoning was similar (destroy the city to rebuild it better)... it's basically Undertaking 2.0. I wonder how many people in the city are thinking "Screw this, we're moving to Gotham!"

Well, that's what Blood thought the reasoning was...

[Kalen O.]

The showrunners have already said that they're plan is to keep doing the flashbacks up until the series finale, and that they'll end with Oliver's rescue from the island in the pilot.

These particular showrunners say a lot of things they don't stick to.

That said, there's obviously a five year plan with the island, with a year on the island for each season, so we should get to the rescue by the end of season five. If the show goes past five seasons, which is a strong possibility, my guess is they'll do a five year jump Young Justice style, to create a new set of flashbacks. That would let them do a lot of things like giving characters like Laurel or Thea training to match the others, age up Oliver's child to a teenager, and make room for things like Roy going off for years and meeting Cheshire without having him leave the show, etc.

Makes more sense than stretching out the last couple years on the island past a season per each, or changing the whole format of the show to be flashback free post season five, IMO.

So next season on the island, will it be all about the year that Ollie learned to speak perfect Russian, with him and the Russian guy fighting for their survival on the island? I would expect that both Sara and Slade leave the island at the end of this season, since Ollie thought they were both dead.

Actually I'm betting next year will be largely spent off the island. Remember in season one Oliver said he wasn't on the island the whole time. He did get off at some point and then something happened to end back up on the island or he went back for some reason. But we know he actually spent time in the Russia mob, at least enough to get his captain status and his tattoo for that, so I'm guessing at least part of next season's flashbacks will be spent in Russia. Which makes it likely IMO that Sara's going to 'die' either in the finale or early on next season, because blaming himself for her death is the most likely explanation for Ollie choosing not to go home or reach out to his family once off the island and with access to the Russian mob's resources.

[HowitzerJoe]

Am I the only person who thinks that since Roy is now a part of the show, it's a shame that Kelly Hu wasn't fasted as Cheshire rather than China White? (Though I'm not sure it would work, since he's with Thea in this world.) She did a great job in YJ. And also, speaking of... I would love it if we eventually get Artemis and Sportsmaster.

Kelly Hu is like 20 years older than the actor that plays Roy though. Are you eluding to a romance/connection between the two characters?

[HowitzerJoe]

By the way, I had forgotten that Malcolm had his own score from season 1. Nice to hear it again once he appeared in the train station. Definitely has the best looking costume on the show too. I'd by Canary second.

Oh and it looks like Roy is getting his own red mask and red bow in the next episode. Awesome.

[kalorama]

One of the problem of having a show that commits to flashbacks every episode is that when you get to an episode like this with so much going on and so many different stories, the flashback scenes just get in the way, serving only to distract from the stories that really hold interest.

Couldn't disagree more. The flashbacks generally do a nice job of adding extra context and depth to the modern day story threads.

[kalorama]

That's Amanda Waller for you. No need to use a scalpel when a rocket launcher will do.

Seriously. With all of ARGUS' hi-tech ordnance, they don't have anything that would kill those guys without laying waste to the whole city? Hell, Lance killed one with a couple of hand grenades. ARGUS has tanks. (And I love that the idea that ta police station has hand grenades lying around.)

[PiercedMonk]

Also, was that Roy wearing a mask?!?

Yeah, in the promo for the finale, Roy is definitely wearing a mask and carrying a bow.

[Kalen O.]

Seriously. With all of ARGUS' hi-tech ordnance, they don't have anything that would kill those guys without laying waste to the whole city? Hell, Lance killed one with a couple of hand grenades. ARGUS has tanks. (And I love that the idea that ta police station has hand grenades lying around.)

And I also don't buy that Amanda would so easily write off getting her own hands on some Mirakuru blood. This is the woman who sent a squad of mass murderers with bombs in their heads into a party in a foreign embassy. She's not exactly averse to high risk scenarios when faced with potential gains like a proven super soldier formula.

[DrNewGod]

Brother Blood went out like a punk. Which has been in keeping with his characterization ever since Deathstroke turned up. I really hated how they were handling him, since as created by Wolfman and Perez, he was the closest thing the DCU had to Dr Doom.

I'm also beginning to tire a bit of Ollie's selfindulgent whining. I miss the tormented but unfailingly intense vigilante from last season.

[Daenarys Stormborn]

Things i hated this episode-

Oliver's usual I failed this city speech. Amell's deliver here was stiff. Also, I feel like that scene was out of the blue in general. There didn't seem to be much lead in to Ollie suddenly saying.

That the writers wrote Bloodas capable of stealing anything from Slade. Hell, not just anything but the one thing that would pose a threat to his plan. I mean, I know they have essentially no other way to win, but it could have ended up in team Arrow's hands another way. Then again, maybe Slade just wants it to be interesting instead of a slaughter...

The Flashback scene. I zoned out. I don't care what is happening on the island anymore. I am not interesting in seeing how Oliver not curing Slade worked out, or later paralleled when he does try to cure him or wtv.

When Canary went to save the kid, the fire seemed to have a mind of its own. It went all explosion style when anyone tried to go in, but was otherwise calm and collected for Canary... minor detail but I just didn't like it.

Things i liked-

Thea. Malcom. Summer Galau. Felicity response to Oliver annoying I failed this city. Blood being killed. Everything Deathstroke and how this is a big scale city wide event that might mean big changes in season 3 present day.

[RockyBanks]

Also I loved the awkwardness of Sara coming into the police station after having just been with her dad and sister as the canary and hearing the uniformed officer talking about her.

I can't get that out of my head. I love this show, but that scene was nauseating.

They might as well have Bob Saget walk in the room and give Sara a hug while a studio audience goes "AWWWWWWW"

[David Walton]

I know Amell said they've intentionally scaled things back to save their budget for the season finale, but I feel like they've slowed the pace to a crawl lately. It seems like they're inventing tortured reasons to put off the final fight, like having Ollie threaten to surrender immediately following his mother's brutal murder and his promise to kill Slade.

I think they could have kept to a 'villain of the week' format for a while longer, and trimmed the finale down to a two-parter. As it is, Ollie hasn't had a real victory for over a month now. Obviously, he can't take down Slade until the finale, but he could at least have a successful confrontation with Ravager or Blood. The risk now is that when he does win it will feel unearned, because Team Arrow has come across as brutally ineffective lately.

And I get that Oliver is trying to be a hero now, but a person who was snapping necks a year ago shouldn't magically lose their intensity when they swear off murder, they just channel it differently. They don't (in my opinon) threaten to quit when the city is under siege, and a confrontation with the mayor who conspired to kill their mother would go much...differently.

[AnakinFlair]

Seriously. With all of ARGUS' hi-tech ordnance, they don't have anything that would kill those guys without laying waste to the whole city? Hell, Lance killed one with a couple of hand grenades. ARGUS has tanks. (And I love that the idea that ta police station has hand grenades lying around.)

This. When I saw that, I was like "So the police have hand grenades in their ordnance room?"

I framed by framed the preview for next week, and that shot of all the heroes walking- I don't think Meryln was there. I see Nyssa, Sara, Oliver, Roy (in a mask!) and two random LoA soldiers in full costume, which is identical to Merlyn's costume. And while I don't think Thea shot him, I do wonder if he'll show up at all next episode, or if the writers will leave it vague as to what happened between Thea and her daddy.

Also, logically Isabel needs to be either killed or arrested by the end of the finale, but I honestly don't know if they'll do it. After all, if Isabel is arrested or killed, wouldn't that put Oliver back in control of QC, and therefore make him rich again?