The previous episode was a full-on transitional hour. It got the job done, but it wasn't particularly special. "Streets of Fire", the penultimate episode of the season, is yet another set-up episode, yet it's definitely much more engrossing thanks to some fantastic table-setting and a particularly epic scope.

Much like Nikita consistently impressed me on a weekly basis, it boggles my mind that a CW show can look this good. The apocalyptic production design in this installment definitely managed to live up to the episode's name. The flaming cars, the mass destruction - it was all beautifully and impeccably realized. And while the action only served to shuffle the chess pieces around for the hopefully-spectacular finale, it did so in absolutely incredible fashion.


The battles lines for the finale have been perfectly drawn: Slade, Isobel, and the Mirakuru army are ready to take down everything and everyone in their path, while Amanda Waller and A.R.G.U.S. are prepared to level the entire city (that is if Ollie doesn't contain the threat before dawn). I love that the impending doom with Waller's threat is what gets Ollie to overcome his hesitation and inject Roy with the cure (after much hand-wringing). And with Laurel finally serving a purpose, it certainly looks like each of our characters will get their chance to shine in the finale.

Although I enjoyed Laurel's inspirational speech to Oliver in the previous episode, it paled in comparison to Felicity's stunner of a monologue in the clock-tower. Everybody knows I'm a sucker for great continuity, so hearing the brainy blonde recount all the villains that Ollie dealt with over the past two seasons before urging him to continue his fight was just goosebump-worthy. In fact, this was a marvelous hour for Miss Felicity Smoak - punctuated by her most badass moment yet on the show: running over Isobel and saving Diggle just in the nick of time. Absolutely awesome.


As for Thea, her plight in the train station felt a bit detached from the proceedings, but it was still mightily intriguing. The return of Malcolm Merlyn, our beloved Dark Archer, was undoubtedly thrilling (if only the CW hadn't been promoting this spoiler-y development for weeks). Although I'm not a fan of whiny Thea, I'm excited to see how the dynamic with her estranged father unfolds. I can't stress how much I'd like Thea to go down a dark path as a potential supervillain down the line, and forging a bond with Malcolm could definitely nudge her down that road.

While the flashbacks felt like filler material, the finale should be great through now that Slade has Sara and Ollie on the freighter.  It's been long anticipated that the season finale would feature Sara's apparent death on the island in flashbacks as counterpoint to her actual death in Starling City.  Will that prediction come to pass?  It won't be long before we find out.