Arrow: Damaged

Not only do we pick up on that great cliffhanger from last week (Lance discovering Oliver's double identity and placing him under arrest), but this episode, we finally see Deathstroke. Big doings, big doings.

Six minutes into "Damaged" however, I had to stop the DVR and consult my attorney, The Bride, because something really stank in Starling City. Oliver insists it's mistaken identity (and circumstantial evidence) when Lance sees security video of him with a green hood. Oliver then insists that Laurel defend him. What the what now?

If that's not illegal, it's certainly a conflict of interest, and stinks of impropriety. I really don't think you can be defended by your ex-girlfriend whose father is not only the arresting officer but also has a grudge against the defendant and his family. I was really surprised to see this coming from executive producer Marc Guggenheim, a veteran of lawyer television. But there it is.

Nice to see that Oliver does think ahead however. I love that Oliver planned on getting caught. I equally love heroes who plan and think, as opposed to simply just punching, or in this case, shooting arrows. Nice touch. TV's Arrow is more Batman than the most recent cinematic version of Batman.

It was also nice to see Diggle in action. Or rather, -not- see him in action. Sam Amell's chest again features heavily, and there was much character development in this episode. There were nice call outs to Iron Heights, and to Laurel wearing fishnets, and the subplot with Oliver's stepdad Walter Steel finding the Queen's Gambit also continues, but let's face it, all we really wanted to see in this episode was Deathstroke.

Before we see the Terminator, we meet Eddie (called Edward here) Fyers. On "Arrow," he appears to lead the men who captured Oliver in the island, and is hunting Yao Fei, who had been helping Oliver. In the comics, Fyers was an adversary then unwilling ally of Green Arrow, and later a mentor of sorts to his son, Connor Hawke. Fyers here seems early in his career.

We learn it was Deathstroke who gave Oliver those scars flawing the real star of the show. And we get to see an absolutely awesome and far too brief combat between Yao Fei and Deathstroke. All in all, a disappointment that left me wanting more. I suspect we'll be seeing more of next week's special guest villains, the Royal Flush Gang, than we dud this week's.

In the miscellaneous department, we find that Laurel's father's name is Quentin rather than the expected Larry. Starling City appears to be a conglomeration, probably through CGI, of several cities including Philadelphia. Some nice shots of Liberty One and Two in this episode. Does Oliver have a new Arrow costume? And boy, have the writers just forgotten about Tommy Merlyn or what? I think T-Dog got more dialogue in the first two seasons of "The Walking Dead."

John Barrowman appears again. His lack of accent makes me wonder if he's really Count Vertigo of not. Perhaps he's John Deleon, or Maxwell Lord... now there's something to think about... Bonus trivia points for anyone who can tell me who John Deleon was…