Again and again I find myself surprised at the level of creativity going into the show each and every week. I have yet to watch an episode I downright hate, I actually like the cast (mostly), and as a whole I’m invested in the overall story.

In my previous episode review I commented on how dumb of an idea it was on Oliver’s part to place his duffle-bag and hood in a trash can right in front of a camera, but how wrong I was. The writers wrote poorly on purpose, so they could write it into the story later. And they explained it well. Oliver was smart enough to realize that his return to Starling city and the arrival of the Arrow would draw speculation, so he threw evidence in the mix to get suspicion out of the way entirely, and then dash the evidence in one fell swoop. Quite genius.

I like how he was still capable of working within the confines of home via Diggle, but I must air my complaint at the fact that I was a bit worried about him donning the outfit and not being capable of pulling it off. I was wrong. Although he was unable to shoot arrows, his presence was enough to bail out Oliver from house arrest.

Not sure how I feel about the rekindling relationship between Laurel and Ollie, but it was inevitable. I believe it will lead to a falling out between him and Tommy. Either he becomes a villain or he dies. That’s how superhero dramas work. Normally. But as of now Arrow is not a superhero drama and merely a vigilante drama.

I enjoyed the portrayal of Deathstroke (or Slade), and thought it was a very close representation of what he looked like in the comics. That fight between him and the Chinese guy was also very well done. I like how he grabbed the arrow out of thin air and snapped it. It was… intense.