Arrow S06 E06: Promises Kept

This episode continues the presumed Deathstroke back door pilot, a character whose sudden popularity can thank the Justice League movie.  Of course one has to wonder if a pilot is really in the offing as the Suicide Squad movie also killed similar plans here on “Arrow” leading to the death of Deadshot and scrapping of more than a subtle cameo by Harley Quinn.  All that said, I can’t imagine anyone but Manu Bennett in the role of Deathstroke the Terminator.

Previously we had seen Deathstroke recruit Oliver Queen to help him rescue his son Joe from terrorists in Kasnia called the Jackals.  We were left with an intriguing cliffhanger when Joe turns out not to be the metahuman Jericho as in the comics but instead a chip off the treacherous block, one of, if not leading, the Jackals.  Father and son make nice while Oliver hides in the shadows.  Slade tries to send Oliver home, but we all know that ain't happening.

Meanwhile back in Star City, Team Arrow is up against a criminal known as the Dragon.  There’s a bit of trickery and playing fast and loose with the source material here.  Ricardo Diaz Sr., played by great heavy actor Kirk Acevedo, is not only the Dragon, but also the guy supplying John with his enhancement drugs.  Not only that he’s stealing tech for a 3-D printer to make designer drugs.  A good student of Oliver’s, John of course says nothing. 

There is another comics connection here with another Ricardo Diaz AKA Richard Dragon.  Co-created by Denny O’Neil in one of his long-lost novels, martial artist Richard Dragon was brought to DC Comics and utilized as first a super martial arts hero with his own comic, and then later, like Wildcat, as one of those heroes who trained other heroes.  Among his students in the comics are The Question, Black Canary, the Huntress, Batman, Robin, and Green Arrow.  In the New 52 however, the character has become a Green Arrow villain, son of the original Richard Dragon, and claiming to have killed that man after being trained by him. 

Our flashbacks are to the ASIS, the Australian Secret Intelligence Agency, where Joe and his father are training after Deathstroke is found off the Philippine coast after his season ending clash with Oliver a few years back, seven in show time.  We see Shado, or more accurately the mirakuru ghost of Shado, goading Slade into destroying Oliver Queen, in a nice connect-the-dots sequence filling in his backstory. 

As with last time, I am unimpressed by Deathstroke’s story, and if he does get a series, if it’s anything like this, Manu Bennett or not, I’ll probably watch it as I hate-watched “Marvel’s The Inhumans,” with one eye open and a finger on the Fast Forward button. 

For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode, anything else in the Arrowverse, or anything in the Marvel or DC television or cinematic universes, please join the Marvel DC Movies TV group on Facebook.

Next: Thanksgiving!

Arrow S06 E05: Deathstroke Returns

When Deathstroke returned last season I wondered aloud if a spin-off was in the wind.  Certainly there’s been more effort to spotlight the character on “Arrow” than the other two spin-offs, one successful (“The Flash”) and one aborted (“Suicide Squad”) in favor of a movie.  Here again in this episode, it seems they’re trying again. 

Thematically this season with Oliver abandoning his Green Arrow identity to make more time for his son William, he has much in common with Slade Wilson who is searching for his lost son.  In the comics, Slade’s son Joseph was the New Teen Titan known as Jericho, a deaf hero who not only had the ability to possess people by eye contact, but also frequently fought against his father with the Titans.  With a Teen Titans TV series in production, one wonders how much, if any, of that will translate to “Arrow.”

Considering that Joe has changed his name to Kane Wolfman (Nice homage to his co-creator Marv Wolfman) and Slade has been tracking him around the world, I’m guessing it won’t.  Kane has also gone into the ‘intelligence’ business and has wound up a prisoner in Kasnia, a fictional nation of tumultuous leadership that has turned up time and again in the DC Animated Universe, once even being ruled over by Vandal Savage.  Slade needs Oliver’s help to save his son. 

If this is a backdoor pilot for a Deathstroke, it’s a poor one.  Despite the title of this episode I was bored.  The B-plot back in Star City was far more interesting and compelling, if predictable, even with the dark matter twist.  Anyway, we get some bad espionage that reminded me of some of the more boring Bratva episodes of last season, followed by Deathstroke going all Punisher on the generic bad guys before being confronted by his son, the new leader of the Jackals.  Slade will get another chance to prove himself show worthy next episode. 

We actually open however on the councilwoman, who is pushing for vigilante legislation, being targeted by a sniper.  Based on the ‘previously on Arrow’ catch-up showing Vigilante, and realizing, hey, he’s still at large, it’s obviously him.  Prometheus made us forget all about this weak subplot that by all intentions should have been Adrian Chase. 

In a clash with Black Canary, where her sonic cry shattered Vigilante’s visor, he took off his mask and she got a good look at him.  He’s Vincent Sobol, her old partner, whose face looks like he somehow survived that gunshot to the head.  That of course is his metahuman ability, some sort of regeneration, possibly coupled with brain damage or derangement.  Either way it looks like he’ll be hanging around a bit, forgotten subplot or not. 

Samanda Watson continues to question and investigate.  She is either playing dumb of she’s figured out exactly who everyone on Team Arrow is.  If nothing else, shouldn’t have found that all these folks all hang out at the same abandoned warehouse at all hours of the day?  And how is it the FBI can’t cooperate with say, the DEO or ARGUS on this investigation?  She’d have all the answers, and a cease and desist as well by now. 

Our ‘flashback island’ this episode is thirteen years ago, in New Zealand, as Slade tries to balance his secret life with a camping trip with son Joe.  The analogy to Oliver and William painfully obvious and my back hurts from being hammered only moments in.  I did find it intriguing that Slade calls his son ‘kid’ just like he does Oliver.  Too bad he probably also traumatized his son for life, but we’ll see for sure next time.

I found it interesting that Felicity mentioned attending Iris West’s bachelorette party over on “The Flash,” but there’s no reason given why Oliver didn’t attend Barry’s bachelor party, nor is it even acknowledged.  I know Oliver can be a real stick in the mud and funless at times, but could it be he wasn’t invited?  Would Barry choose party crasher Ralph Dibny over Oliver? 

Another nice bit was Nylander calling Slade the Terminator.  Interesting sidenote, Deathstroke the Terminator was originally the villain’s full name until some James Cameron flick called The Terminator came out and DC Comics toned down its use of that term.  We also get another piece of the puzzle of what happened on Lian Yu in last season’s cliffhanger.  John says to Felicity that Slade left them in the island. 

For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode, anything else in the Arrowverse, or anything in the Marvel or DC television or cinematic universes, please join the Marvel DC Movies TV group on Facebook.

Next: Promises Kept!

Arrow S05 E23: Liam Yu

We have a very interesting season finale here, familiar in that it's an army of villains against an army of heroes, but unique in that this time it's happening on Liam Yu, Purgatory, what I have always jokingly called Flashback Island - where this all started, at this point, a decade ago.

That is worth mentioning, because at the start of the sixth season in a few months, it is likely the flashbacks will end, unless they shift to another character.  With my guess on next season's big bad, Felicity might easily slip into the flashback character role. 

In the bad guys' corner, holding most of Team Arrow hostage, we have the Black Siren, Artemis, Talia Al Ghul, and the League of Assassins under the command of this season's main baddie, Prometheus.  Against them, Oliver has gathered Malcolm Merlin and Nyssa Al Ghul, and in the final seconds of the last episode, asked Deathstroke for help. 

We open just seconds after that, answering immediately questions I had last time.  There is staff, and Oliver is taking Captain Boomerang too.  Deathstroke is apparently blaming his evilness and bad blood with Oliver on the mirakuru.  Are they planning a Deathstroke spin-off maybe?  That's where my head went first. It appears bygones are bygones, both villains are freed, Desthstroke is rearmed, the new team is go. 

The first chance he gets, at the first encounter, Digger Harkness switches sides.  Slade Wilson turns the tide.  No one is happy, least of all Thea, but Malcolm is in charge of getting some of them away while Oliver, Slade, and Nyssa continue the hunt.  Another question answered when we're shown Rene is also a prisoner. 

This episode has a lot in it, they threw everything and the kitchen sink in this one.  It's got double crosses, honor among thieves, and the final flashback fight against Kovar as well.  A nice touch was the present day Oliver and company walking past the long dead skeletal Kovar.  There's Nyssa vs. Talia, and Black Canary vs. Black Siren, and Oliver vs. Prometheus.  With the island rigged to explode if Chase dies, Oliver refuses to kill him, even if he killed his son. 

Speaking of explosions, Merlin sacrifices himself on a landmine to save Thea.  He takes Harkness with him and it happens offscreen so don't place bets.  But that is how this ends, with uncertainty, the ultimate cliffhanger.  Oliver saves his son, and Chase shoots himself, just like Oliver's father did in the very first episode.  The island blows up, taking the rest of the cast with it.  Roll credits. 

Yeah, I know, it sucks.  Here is what we know about season six however.  The entire cast sans John Barrowman (so I guess Merlin did die) returns.  The flashback will all involve how and if each character escaped from the island.  Not happy.  The least satisfactory season finale I've seen in a while.  That's "Arrow" for you, a big old sack of suck.  I may or may not be back for season six after this ending. 

For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode, anything else in the Arrowverse, or anything in the Marvel or DC television or cinematic universes, please join the Marvel DC Movies TV group on Facebook.

Arrow S05 E22: Missing

With Prometheus behind bars, one might assume that Oliver can have a happy birthday.  Felicity throws him a surprise party, and instead Oliver throws Curtis over his shoulder.  I like Curtis growing out of his awkward personality, but dislike his growing into an annoying class clown who won't shut up.  Quentin is late and Rene is missing.  That last thing is not good.

After the party that Dinah is also late for, Curtis drops by her place to find it broken into.  While on the phone with Felicity, he too vanishes.  Someone is taking down Team Arrow one by one.  Paranoid Oliver immediately suspects Chase.  And yeah, it is him, manipulating others from inside.  Talia and Black Siren are also out there hunting Oliver and company. 

The confrontation between Black Siren and Quentin is the one we've all been waiting for since she was staying on our Earth, but shouldn't her reaction to seeing him been just as shocking as he seeing her?  We get it later, but I would have liked it earlier.  I did like that Quentin was able to figure out and accept the multiverse concept a lot easier than some pre-Crisis DC writers, which is how it should be.  Come on, guys, it's not that hard. 

I liked that it's Malcolm Merlin that finally centers Oliver, even though a dozen other things should have done it already.  Although other than Thea I have to wonder what his motive might be.  When she is safe, will he turn?  Oliver also calls on Nyssa to counter her sister for a showdown on Flashback Island. And one other. 

The weirdness of the reforming Olicity or calling in foes as friends is nowhere near as weird as Kovar being back from the dead on Flashback Island.  He injects Oliver with a drug that makes him relive every pain he's ever had.  Yeah, torture might have been better.  The drug is also a hallucinogenic, which provides for interesting flashbacks. 

How does Oliver keep getting into ARGUS to purposefully brutalize Chase?  Is everyone there okay with this?  And how is it Chase seems to be able to shave in his prison, even getting the sides of his head?  Is someone slipping him a razor? Oliver is free and still always has a half-beard.  By the way, did anyone else notice that Kovar, Artemis, and Prometheus all use the same tranq darts?  Was the anti-Arrow tranq dart company having a sale? 

Everyone, except for apparently William, Lyla, Rene, and the conveniently forgotten Roy, are on Lian Yu.  And Oliver, along with Nyssa and Merlin, is on his way there for a showdown with Prometheus, whose entourage includes Back Siren, Artemis, Talia, and the League of Assassins.  But Oliver has one more player to recruit, Deathstroke. 

Maybe one other too, if the writers remember Captain Boomerang is there too.  And hey, where was the ARGUS staff in charge of the feeding and care of these two baddies?  I guess we'll find out next time.

Next: "Liam Yu" the season finale!

For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode, anything else in the Arrowverse, or anything in the Marvel or DC television or cinematic universes, please join the Marvel DC Movies TV group on Facebook.

Arrow S05 E17: Kapiushon

When we last left "Arrow," things were definitely moving in a different direction.  Adrian Chase had been revealed as Prometheus, and he had defeated (with Talia's help) Green Arrow and kidnapped him.  Now his prisoner, Oliver is at the villain's mercy.  We open shortly after we left last time with Chase spouting philosophical nonsense no one understands yet and putting Oliver through the gauntlet of how the Hood killed Chase's father. 

While Chase tortures Oliver, the showrunners torture us viewers with the neverending Bratva flashbacks.  I sincerely hope there's a point to them, and we get to it soon, because honestly I am sooo tempted to just start fast-forwarding through these things. And then, just as I was about to do that very thing, something grabs my attention. 

John Barrowman's Malcolm Merlyn meeting with Dolph Lundgren's Kovar, now that could be interesting, especially in flashback.  It's suggested that Merlyn has provided Kovar with a weapon to overthrow the Russian government.  With Anatoly, the KGBeast, moving up in Bratva, and the Hood (in Russian, the episode's title, Kapiushon) on his side, there's a good chance that won't happen. 

Meanwhile, Chase's sadistic torture of Oliver, to get him to reveal a mysterious secret to him, is very reminiscent of Oliver's own methods in the flashbacks as the early prototypical Hood.  It's a bit of a wake up call when Anatoly compares Oliver to Slade Wilson and Anthony Ivo.  How's that for a flashback? 

Speaking of flashbacks, in the present, before leaving... I guess for work... Chase gives Oliver a present.  It's Artemis, Evelyn, and she's been beaten, probably tortured - Chase calls it making her compliant, she's definitely broken.  When he returns, one of them had better be dead at the other's hands.  If it's Oliver, Evelyn gets to go free. 

Although we get a final battle between the Hood and Konstantin Kovar in the past, the memory prompts Oliver to confess the secret that Chase wants.  Oliver is a killer, a spree killer, a serial killer (as I noted early on in these reviews myself), not because of a list, or a mission, but because he liked it. 

As the ordeal(s) ends, we see the beginning and end of Oliver's Bratva tattoo, and a Green Arrow beaten and shutting it all down.  He's been defeated.  Meanwhile in the past, Kovar has been resurrected with Merlyn's help, so I'm sure he'll be back in the present (future?).  This is a by far darker cliffhanger than we got last time, can they beat it next time? 

Surprisingly the showrunners engaged me in the Bratva crap that I had long since gotten tired of.  They re-energized not one, not two, but three villains who had lost their edge for the most part.  All in all a good episode, can they do it again? 

Next: Disbanded!

For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode, anything else in the Arrowverse, or anything in the Marvel or DC television or cinematic universes, please join the Marvel DC Movies TV group on Facebook.

Deadpool

I didn't want to see this movie. I don't like this character. But I have to confess, against all odds, I kinda liked the movie.

To me, this Rob Liefield parody of DC's Deathstroke (Wade Wilson/Slade Wilson, Deadpool/Deathstroke, get it?) is not only silly, but the incessant violence and obnoxiousness of a hyperactive Ambush Bug represents several of the things I dislike about comics. More than that I think it bothers me that so many folks love Deadpool and the Punisher over more traditional heroes. I'm an old man, I'm stepping off my soapbox, get off my lawn. I just don't like Deadpool. In the comics.

As I said, I kinda enjoyed the movie. No, I really enjoyed the movie. I loved the irreverent credits, the opening fight scene, and even the merc with a mouth's incessant fourth wall breaking monologue. Yeah, I dug it, even when it took itself seriously, and even when it actually was a serious superhero movie, and it did accidentally slip into that gown from time to time.

I loved the fight scenes, even the messy ones. Teenage Negasonic Warhead (I love the Monster Magnet song but this was my introduction to the character) and the fully CGI Colossus were fun sidekicks and reminders that Deadpool is in fact part of the X-Men universe. Colossus comes across very well for CGI.

Ryan Reynolds has a lot of fun doing this and it shows. He makes the movie more often than not. Leslie Uggams is a hoot as well. I would see the sequel just for more of Reynolds as Deadpool. Yeah, for real, bring it on.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow S01 E06: Star City 2046

I reviewed the two-part pilot for "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" over at Biff Bam Pop! right here. There was a lot to like, so many heroes, time travel, it was a bit like being a fanboy let loose in a comic shop. Two problems persisted, and continue to persist as the show keeps going. It's predictable, and has far too many characters, forcing the stories to split teams and only concentrate on a few at a time.

However, it has its good points as well. Victor Garber as Professor Stein, and especially Wentworth Miller III as Captain Cold are gold, and the latter is perfect in the role and damned fun to watch. Miller alone as Cold makes the show worth watching. So when a Green Arrow-centric episode came along, seeing as I review "Arrow," I figured I'd write about it.

The concept is time traveler from the future Rip Hunter recruited Hawkgirl, the Atom, White Canary, Firestorm, Captain Cold, and Heat Wave to save the future by fighting Vandal Savage in the past. In mid-mission they crashland in Star City in the year 2046 and need parts for repairs. Star City is under siege however by Grant Wilson, the son of Deathstroke, and his army. The city's only defense is a new Green Arrow named Connor Hawke.

And this is why time travel, mixed with arbitrary TV changes, makes my head hurt. In the comics, Deathstroke did have a son by that name who died on his first mission at the hands of the New Teen Titans. Connor Hawke, in the comics at least, is in fact Oliver Queen's son, by Shado, who's dead on the television series.

Soon it's revealed that Connor Hawke is only the name that John Diggle Jr. took when he became the Green Arrow. Oliver Queen lost an arm when the new Deathstroke took over and quit. Stephen Amell makes a couple cameos as the three decades older Queen. His return is triumphant, and predictable.

As always, and it's a good thing, Cold steals the show clashing with his partner Heat Wave. In this future Star City, the hot tempered criminal could have been a king, but Cold is too invested in stopping Vandal Savage. This is a turning point in the characters and the partnership that will change this dynamic forever. Notably in the comics, Captain Cold and Heat Wave are enemies and grudging colleagues.

Another tidbit from the comics is that this isn't the first time Oliver Queen has lost an arm in the future. He's also in this state in the future of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. See you back in 2016, on "Arrow."

For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode and anything else in the Arrowverse, please join the Arrow Discussion Group on Facebook.

Arrow S03 E14: "The Return"

We have a very interesting switch in the storytelling dynamic in this episode. As Oliver and Thea go to Lian Yu, which I've called Flashback Island for the last three years of reviews, Oliver and Maseo from Flashback Hong Kong, along with Amanda Waller, pay a secret visit to Starling City during the time it is believed Oliver is dead. Like I said, interesting.

Oliver had asked Malcolm to train him so he could beat R'as al Ghul, and apparently the island is his idea of training. As if we didn't already know Malcolm was a bit twisted, right? I loved the camera pan approach to Flashback Island, with the shipwrecked Amazo near the shore, nice touch.

How crazy is Merlyn? Very. He released Deathstroke on the island so that Oliver can get his killing edge back. But wait, wasn't Captain Boomerang also imprisoned on the island? Where was he? It was a bit of a cop out to say he was elsewhere in the prison.

In the past, Oliver and Maseo are still tracking China White and her bio-weapon. Being in Starling past gives us a chance to not only see cast members in a variety of bad "Undercover Boss" hairstyles but also see dead folks like Colin Donnell returning as Tommy Merlin. We also see the past addictions of Thea, Quentin, and Laurel in more revealing light.

What's fun about the past is watching Oliver sneak around in disguise dodging anyone who might recognize him. It reminded me of Marty dodging his past self, mom and dad, and Biff, when he returned to the 1950s in Back to the Future Part II. Quentin's possibly drunken outburst at Tommy's party echoed what I was thinking earlier in the episode - Oliver had destroyed everyone's life.

I loved when Oliver, trying to say he was good at hiding from his family and friends, said he pulled his hoodie down to cover his face - and Maseo countered with "that disguise wouldn't work even if you smeared grease paint over your face." Beautiful. It is also a testament to Stephen Amell's acting skills that he can pull off both naive and spoiled, and then brave and resourceful - in the same character years apart and make it believable. He's damn good.

Past, present, Deathstroke, Merlyn, Waller... but none of it matters more than the real boogeyman in this episode. The truth. Oliver tells Thea the truth, the real truth, that she killed Sara. It nearly pushes her over the edge. That said, watching Oliver and Thea, Green Arrow and Speedy, fight Slade, Deathstroke, could only have been better with costumes.

And then there's Deathstroke's line to Oliver about Thea, how she's been touched by darkness and that Merlyn must be an interesting man to do that to his own daughter. Although we've seen a character in the show called Ravager, in the comics Slade did do something very similar to his own daughter who then called herself Ravager. And let's not even discuss her brother, his son, who was the original Ravager.

There are other connections and separations made in this episode. Thea will cooperate but no longer have family ties with Malcolm. Quentin and Laurel are at odds, but for the first time the name 'Black Canary' is uttered. Again I worry for Quentin as this would be tragic if he was to die now, and because he's the TV version of Larry Lance, we know he's doomed sooner or later.

Colin Donnell isn't the only actor to return from the dead this time out. There's also Jamey Sheridan as Robert Queen as seen in a recording for Oliver, solving another minor mystery of the series. This is neat tie-up of a small but missing piece of Arrow's origins.

The final closer however is the appearance of General Matthew Shrieve as played by a rather worn and aged looking Marc Singer. This is a surprising addition to a TV series based on Green Arrow. In the comics, Shrieve is the human leader of Project M, better known as the Creature Commandos, sort of a war/horror hybrid comic. They are a squad of soldiers made up of classic monsters - a werewolf, a vampire, a gorgon, and Frankenstein monster-like creature. Who knows where this plot point will go...

Next: "Nanda Parbat!"



And if you'd like to discuss this episode and anything else in the Arrowverse, please join the Arrow discussion group on Facebook.

Arrow S02 E23: "Unthinkable"

Here we are, the season two finale, and it all leads to a final showdown with Slade Wilson, Deathstroke. Slade's Mirakuru army is on the rampage in Starling City. Amanda Waller and A.R.G.U.S. have the city quarantined, and if the Arrow hasn't disposed of the threat by dawn, drones will level the city. Things are looking very dark for our heroes.

As we open, the clock tower, the temporary Arrowcave, is under attack by Slade's men. A surprise player intervenes to save the day - Lyla, AKA Harbinger. That was unexpected. The good news is that the Mirakuru cure works, so Roy is back to normal, and red masked. Canary has also brought in help - Nyssa and the League of Assassins. Hmmm... the odds are starting to seem a bit more even now.

The ensuing battles go as expected, albeit too quickly in the case of Canary vs. Ravager. I talked last time about how I felt about villains killing villains. It's very dissatisfying. Nyssa's murder of Isabel is a harsh point for Oliver. He has vowed this season not to be a killer, yet those he's allied himself with really know no other way. Thus the episode's title, under these extreme circumstances, can Oliver do the unthinkable?

Things escalate when Slade takes Laurel prisoner. Even Quentin begins to question Arrow's non-murderous ways when confronted with losing his daughter. If that's not enough, as Slade's army seeks to escape through the Giordano Tunnel (nice shout out to legendary DC Comics artist and editor Dick Giordano), drones are on their way to the city.

As if Oliver didn't have enough to worry about, he takes Felicity to his house so she's safe. He tells her that Slade wanted to hurt him by taking the woman he loves, but Slade took the wrong woman. Yeah. That came out of nowhere, and plunges this formerly one-sided love affair into the show wrecking territory of "Cheers" and "Moonlighting." And sadly, Oliver telling Felicity he loves her significantly triples her chances of not making it through the episode. Or does it?

The battle between Team Arrow, the League of Assassins, and Slade's army in the tunnel is simply awesome. The best part for this comics fanboy? Roy in red, with mask and bow, side by side with Arrow and Canary. Awesome. Can we have more of this please next season? If that's not enough comic book superhero action, Diggle and Lyla free the Suicide Squad to stop the drone at its source. Nice.

The finale is almost exactly as one would have predicted. Slade will make Oliver choose once again as he was forced to choose between Sara and Shado on the island. I had always assumed it would be Sara and Laurel on the chopping block. I suppose however, with fan favorite Felicity there with Laurel, it raises the stakes with the viewers. The producers aren't stupid, they know how to grease the wheels to real nail biting suspense.

And right before it happened, I knew what Oliver did. He knew. He knew Slade had the house bugged, was listening in to their plans. Oliver said what he said to get Felicity kidnapped, and she of course would have the Mirakuru cure. At the same time I was like Go Felicity! and Poor Felicity, as she had to hear Oliver say the words knowing they didn't mean what they sounded like they meant. Good plan, but as usual with Oliver, no tact.

Beautifully, both fights between Deathstroke and Arrow, in the present and back on Flashback Island, mirror each other. The choreography is executed perfectly. Like the other fight scenes in this episode, except for Ravager, it is played well. In the end, Arrow wins, because he doesn't kill Slade, and leaves him in an ARGUS supermax facility on Flashback Island.

There are no happy endings however, and only more loose ends to be tied up hopefully next season. Diggle is going to be a father with Lyla, but that's good news. After finding Roy's Speedy gear, Thea leaves with her father Malcolm, supposedly 'never coming back.' I wonder if she'll return as a new Dark Archer, or Dark Speedy, or perhaps even a female Merlyn the Magician...

Sara leaves as well with Nyssa, but not before giving her leather jacket to Laurel. After she says it fits, her dad tells her not to get any ideas. Now comics fans are getting ideas, because Dinah Laurel Lance is actually the second Black Canary, so Laurel taking up the mantle does make a bit of sense, and we know Laurel can fight, not like an Assassin of course, but she can fight.

While we comics fans are getting excited for the possibilities of next season (hey, finally a reason to like Laurel!), the bad thing happens, Quentin doubles over in pain, suffering from injuries inflicted by Slade's men, he passes out. And that's when the comics fans among us know where this is probably going. Quentin Lance has always been living on borrowed time because of the character he's based upon.

Essentially Quentin is Larry Lance, poor doomed Larry Lance. It fits. He is/was a police detective, he's Dinah Lance's husband, and they're the parents of the current Black Canary. He's Larry Lance, and like poor doomed Gwen Stacy, he's destined to die. And if you add in the rumor that Quentin wasn't supposed to make it through The Undertaking alive at the end of last season, he's really living on borrowed time.

In the comics, Larry dies saving Black Canary from the cosmic star-being Aquarius. It's this tragedy that drives her to leave the Justice Society on Earth-Two and join the Justice League on Earth-One. There she becomes romantically linked to Green Arrow. That's the original story, many reboots and continuities later, it's still basically the same, long story short. Larry Lance is still doomed. I wonder if his TV counterpart Quentin will share his fate? I, for one, hope not.

Also on the epilogue agenda is Flashback Island. After leaving both Slade and Sara thought dead on the sunk Amazo, Oliver woke up in Hong Kong to be greeted by Amanda Waller. This should be fun next season. I didn't care for "Arrow" all that much when I started watching it, but I'm very happy it's turned into the best superhero show, if not one of the best shows on television this season, I look forward to more.

And speaking of more, we were also treated to a sneak peek at the new Flash TV series at the end of this episode. It was followed the next day by a longer more impressive trailer. To see them both, head on over to Biff Bam Pop! or click right here. See you next time… in a flash!

Arrow S02 E21: "City of Blood"

We open on tragedy - the funeral of Moira Queen and the swearing in of Sebastian Blood as mayor of Starling City. And Oliver is missing.

The feeling at the wake is pretty much as expected. Thea hates Oliver, is feeling guilty over her Mom's death, and in general tired of secrets. And really who can blame her? Felicity and Diggle are surprised by the appearance of Isabel who has ominous words for them, threats really. Isn't she supposed to be dead? I kept waiting for one of them to verbalized it but it never came. At least not right away.

Oliver is not the only one in the wind. Sara has also drifted off the radar, and of course being the target of a manhunt, Slade Wilson is similarly missing. He does call Blood to congratulate him on becoming mayor however.

Speaking of Blood, Laurel and her dad plant a bug in his office and find he wrote a condolence press release the day before Moira was killed. All well and good, but isn't a red flashing bug the wrong thing to use on a stealth mission? There are also blinking explosive charges later. Why does it have to blink? Are we that dumb we won't know it's working unless it blinks?

After the weekly reminder that the Flash is coming, Diggle takes Felicity to see Amanda Waller in hopes she'll help them find Oliver. She does. He's in his lair. His other lair. Yep, there's a backup Arrowcave. There they find Oliver, depressed and obsessed. He has decided to surrender to Slade and let him kill him. I guess someone has hit rock bottom.

And of course, Team Arrow is going to need a second Arrowcave because Isabel is evicting Thea from Verdant, as the club is owned by Queen Consolidated. And as we know, Verdant is on top of the not-so-secret Arrowcave. This may be permanent as the producers have promised a few changes of venue for the third season.

When Laurel joins Team Arrow, all the pieces come together. She connects the dots for Oliver regarding Blood and Wilson. It re-energizes Oliver and he goes to meet with Sebastian Blood in a public restaurant. The subtle menace between these two actors, Stephen Amell and Kevin Alejandro, is power and heat - great scene with all the cards on the table.

As the episode closes, Blood's army is on the loose, and things look very dark for Team Arrow and Starling City. With only two episodes left in the season, next time we have Diggle vs. Ravager, the return of Malcolm Merlyn, Arrow and Laurel buried alive, Quentin and Thea under attack by Blood's Mirakuru minions, and Felicity gets a call from Vibe. All this and more, next week.