"City of Blood" is a necessary set-up hour. And while it's naturally not as explosive as the hours that preceded it, it still gets the job done in a compelling and effective manner.





Although I still loathe the fact that Moira was killed off, I must admit that her demise capably set the stakes for the season's final hours. Not only does it provide an added dose of urgency and foreboding, her loss also takes our hero to his lowest point yet. The reveal of Ollie's second lair was a great one, and Stephen Amell sold the character's defeat and utter despair beautifully.

Laurel continued her upward spiral with that bombshell appearance in the Arrow Cave. Not only is Katie Cassidy looking much healthier (perhaps this season's skeletal look was due to the actress' commitment to the drug-addict phase?), but we got some beautiful moments between her and Amell. Moreover, Laurel finally got involved in the action and saved Arrow's behind like the badass that we know she is. Contrary to the rest of the Arrow fanbase, I'm still hoping that Sara gets offed soon and Laurel takes her place. After all, the show needs one more big loss this season, and I can't see anyone else biting the bullet.



One of the reasons that Ollie and Laurel's scene in the cave is so strong is the fact that they even bring up Tommy. It's a really moving heart-to-heart and one of Laurel's strongest moments ever as a character. However I must admit, it's a bit funny to hear her stress how much she "knows" Ollie when she never suspected his identity, and only knew his pre-island self (where he was famously quite the ass to her).

Unfortunately, the island flashbacks have most definitely lost steam. I get what the writers were going for with the parallels of heroism, but the random dude who sacrificed himself was a nameless character, and I thus had zero attachment to his brave act. On the bright side, the submarine was dislodged and Sara seems to be in trouble (excitement). Let's hope this segment of the show doesn't fizzle out in the season's final hours.





Furthermore, "City of Blood"'s ending was much too abrupt. I don't know if it was the choppy editing but the transitions between the various scenarios of people-in-peril felt jarring (and that's definitely not what the show was aiming for). Nevertheless, I'm tremendously pumped for what's to come and I'm positive this spectacular season is going to go out with a monumental bang.


Some other thoughts: Moira's funeral intercut with Blood's speech was a great touch. And I quite enjoyed Isabel threatening Felicity and Diggle.  Felicity wanting to touch A.R.G.U.S. equipment made me laugh.  Felicity and Diggle's interrogation of Blood's thug was beyond brilliant. The guy actually got worried about his parent's pension plan instead of his own secret account in the Cayman Islands!



One last editorial note: this episode of Arrow, which is a solid setup for the season finale installments, was written by the same person who wrote the recent Warehouse 13 episode "A Faire to Remember", which was one of the worst episodes of that series and a complete mess.  If nothing else, it shows how hard it can be to put out consistent material, but even more importantly, how a script from a dependable writer can be derailed by spotty acting and misguided directorial decisions.