Arrow (The Magician) review

Katrina Law returns as Nyssa Al Ghul

The League of Assassins were introduced last year on season 2 of Arrow. They’re a ruthless bunch and will kill anybody that gets in their way.  However, this league seems to be for hire in the show.  Malcolm Merilyn was a member of the league but was able to get released by Ra Al Ghul, the head of the demon and leader of the league of Assassins.  Ra has put a bounty on his head ever since he destroyed half of Starling City.  Ra’s daughter, Nyssa, was lover to Sara Lance who was killed by an unknown assailant.  Nyssa returns to demand answers from Oliver Queen.

Oliver and Roy were in the Arrow Cave talking about Thea being different, and Nyssa shows up with an Arrow pointed at Oliver.  Nyssa demands to know where Sara is, and Oliver informs her that she was killed by an archer.  Nyssa tells Oliver that Sara was investigating the rumors of Malcolm Merilyn’s return.  Oliver, Nyssa, and the team investigate where Malcolm is hiding and track him down.  Oliver and Nyssa find him but Oliver doesn’t kill him then Malcolm escapes.  Oliver must decide to kill Malcolm or keep him alive to find out the truth about Sara’s murder.

Nyssa confronts Merilyn

The writers of Arrow did a wonderful job of writing the story and script for this episode. Their writing made the audience try to guess if Malcolm Merilyn killed Sara. Nyssa refuses to follow Oliver’s lead and relentlessly pursues Malcolm.  Katrina Law, Nyssa, did a fine job of playing a cold witch in this episode.  John Barrowman, Malcom Merilyn, also did a wonderful job in this episode.  He was clever and even told Nyssa and Oliver their dirty laundry and still looked like cool kid on the block.  Barrowman was charming but sneaky.  He is a great audition to the regular cast.  At the end of the episode, we see the man himself, Ra Al Ghul.

Nyssa talks to her father, Ra Al Ghul played by Matthew Nable.

Matthew Nable plays one of the evilest men in all of comic book history. Nable is not very known by the public. He was only in the episode for a few seconds.  He calls Sara a punk who deserved to die.  He tells Nyssa to cool it on Malcolm so he can kill Malcolm himself. He also declares war on Oliver Queen for protecting Malcolm.  Ra Al Ghul and the league will be the big bad in this season.  My question is did Ra Al Ghul kill Sara himself or who did he hire to kill her? Maybe he broke Slade Wilson out of Prison to kill Sara?  Honestly, this season will very entertaining in its main storyline.

Overall, there were a few negatives.  Detective Lance doesn’t know his daughter is dead and couldn’t figure it out when Nyssa showed up at the police station. Roy and Thea might rebrewed their romance…lets hope not.  However, the episode was still solid and entertaining.  Arrow “the Magician” gets a 4.2 out of 5 from me.

What did you think of this week’s episode comment below and let me know?

(side my thoughts on the DC lineup and Marvel lineup are coming?

Gotham (Spirit of the Goat) review

Donald Logue as Harvey Bullock

Bullock actually has conscience!

Harvey Bullock and Jim Gordon have been at a crossroads in how their view of the law. Harvey is very corrupt and doesn’t really want to put effort in solving case.  He is friends with a crime lord, Fish Mooney.  Jim Gordon on the other hand is man who only sees black and white in terms of a law. You either break the law and abide by it in Gordon’s book. He feels compassion for Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne and has sort of taken each of them under his wing. He is not a killer but Bullock would have no problems killing someone.  The episode “Spirit of the Goat” is about Harvey Bullock being faced with his troubled past.

Bullock and his partner, Dix, ten years ago were investigating a series of murders.  The killer called himself, the Goat.  The Goat would capture Gotham’s wealthiest 1st born females and murder them.  Bullock wanted to be a hero and his actions caused harm to Dix. He has never forgiven himself since and even pays for Dix’s health care.  Present day Gotham, the Goat has struck again and killed another person. Harvey can’t believe it and tells Gordon it is a copy cat killer.  Dix suggests as a partner when Gordon and Harvey visit him in his nursing home.  Harvey and Gordon struggle to find the connection between the two cases and have to turn to the smartest man in the GCPD, Edward Nygma.

The episode has three negatives.  Cobblepot gets bathe by his mother and it was pretty disgusting to watch. Cobblepot does a  have Oedipus complex in the comic books. He tends to date nurturing women like his mother and sort of resemble.  The only other negative is Selina Kyle breaks into Wayne Mansion and steals whatever from Bruce Wayne. The question is, how can 13 year old girl climb over the wall and break into one of the most heavily secured places on the planet.  Selina Kyle feels sometimes forced into an episode. Barbara and Rene romance needs to go. Barbara needs to get a job and do something useful. Rene needs to get investigated by the Internal Affairs.

The episode was very good overall.  The episode focused on Bullock.  He has been a corrupt asshole for most of the season but in this episode, he shows his humanity. He cares about his old partner.  He gets excited when he solves the case and thanks Gordon for saving his life.  Bullock had some bright moments in the episode. Donald Logue did an exceptional job of playing a tormented man.  The other biggest positive was the Edward Nygma.

Michael Cory Smith as Edward Nygma

Michael Cory Smith has been given a few lines of dialogue here and there in several episodes. The character has been sort of a joke until this episode. Smith in his episode really was given a chance to shine and show why he was hired to play Edward Nygma. Nygma is the Riddler. He is narcissistic,violent, introverted,  and severely lacks social skills. The episode shows cases several scenes with Nygma’s personality disorder. For example, the filing clerk for the GCPD is rather cute, and Nygma is attracted to her.  He tries to make small talk but stutters. He rearranges her whole filing system because he believes his way is better and gets told off by her when she finds out.  The character had a minor role but was show cased in his importance. It reminded us all why we love Edward Nygma.

Overall, the episode was very solid. The acting was solid, the story was clever, and there was character development. Harvey Bullock actually has a heart and the episode showed that. Edward Nygma is a creeper and that was brought to the attention of the audience.  Gotham “Spirit of the Goat” gets a 4/5. Gotham is a good show overall.

Flash ( Going Rogue) Review

Wentworth Miller as Captain Cold

Hello Captain!!!!!

The Flash is now CW’s most watched show and there are many reasons why.  The Flash is super loveable, and Grant Gustin does a great job in playing Barry Allen.  The whole cast in general have maintained a high quality level of acting in the first few episodes. The plot and the episode plots are good. The special effects on this show are terrific for television and its never a dull moment with the effects.  More importantly, The Flash is very comic book like because of his powers and his villain powers. The introduction of Captain Cold as a primary villain is why the Flash has mass appeal.

Arrow is very ground and dark as a television show, and Gotham, on Fox, is the same.  The two televisions are supposed set in the real world and abide by the rules of reality.  However, the Flash takes these rules and turns them upside down.  People love superheroes because they love the power that these heroes display.  The counterpart to the heroes processing the power are the villains who have an opposite power that can severely challenge or kill our superheroes. Captain Cold is the tip of the iceberg for the villains that will be introduced during the Flash, television show.

Leonard Snart is criminal that commits arm robbery. He very much plans the response time of the Central City police and knows when he needs to leave the scene of the crime. Barry Allen being his nerdy self is at Star Labs with the team and playing each other person in a different game. The team hears about an arm robbery in process, and Barry takes off to save the day.  He foils Snart’s plan to rob an armory car. Snart is fascinated by the Flash and sees the hero as challenge. He finds a way to defeat the Flash and will kill any one who gets in his way. The Flash will have a find way to stop Snart, Captain Cold, without being hit by Snart’s cold gun.

He destroyed a train moments before and didn’t care.

“Going Rogue” had many positives as a episode. The special effects were great.  Felicity Smoak came to see Barry, and they rekindle their little fling.  Iris continues to be blind as a bat when it comes to Barry and his feelings towards her.  Seriously, the biggest positive was Leonard Snart, Captain Cold, vs. Barry Allen, The Flash.  The episode mainly focused on the first battle in a long drawn out war between Captain Cold and Flash. Wentworth Miller was so damn cold as Captain Cold. Cold means he would kill you like you were just fly on the wall.  His character didn’t want to get away with the stolen diamond but wanted to kill the Flash in the process.  Miller displayed a complete lack of humanity and compassion as Captain Cold and captured the attention of the audience.  The Flash can’t get hit by his ice gun because the absolute zero freezes the skin on contact.  Captain Cold will be in several episodes this season. The episode was a great introduction to his character, and Flash has no idea how to defeat Cold at the moment when he decides to resurface.

The episode had a few negatives but mostly it was with the subplots like the relationship between Eddie and Iris. Seriously, it is supposed to be important but it feels annoying because the writers kind of force down our throats every week. The episode was great overall and “Going Rogue” gets a 4.5/5.  The introduction of Captain Cold was brilliant.

Gotham (viper) review

Gotham (viper) review

The Beginning of a Young Detective

Gotham is getting consistently better each week where there more easter eggs to Bruce Wayne’s future.  The recent episode Viper did the lay future setting of Gotham’s future. It still leaves a question in my mind.  Could we see a very primitive version of Batman sooner than later? The signs point yes but Fox really wants Gotham to be on as long as it can.  Viper was a really fun episode.

A new drug has come onto the streets of Gotham called Viper.  Viper gives the user increase strength.  The first user ripped ATM off the wall and dies a few minutes later.  Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock start to investigate.  They find out that Viper is connected to Wayne Enterprises.  Young Bruce Wayne is at Wayne Manor studying and reviewing Wayne Enterprises reports on the building of Arkham. Even at this age, Bruce Wayne is seeing the corruption into his own company. He wants to fix it because he is trying to live up to his father’s legacy.  He wants to speak with the board members of Wayne Enterprises.  Of course, Oswald Cobblepot is making his moves in the Maroni ‘s criminal organization and reveals the whole truth of his previous background.  Sal Maroni starts to call Oswald Cobblepot, Penguin.  They plan to rob a Falcone’s casino.

The Gotham episode, Viper, had so many positives. Young Bruce Wayne really taking a interest in his company and discovering criminal activities.  The highlight was Alfred at the end of episode coming in the living room, sits down on the couch, and begins to look at the files with Bruce. It was bonding moment between them that brought joy to my heart.  The Penguin is slowly becoming that character that we all love from the comics. The little ruthless twerp will sell out anybody so he can gain more favor in his current situation.   The storyline with the Penguin are getting better  every week. Oswald Cobblepot is really the main criminal show.  Viper the drug is an early form of Vemon. Vemon is what gives the Batman villain Bane his super strength.  The fact Wayne Enterprises is the one who is making Vemon is very intriguing and gives more logical reasons why Bruce Wayne will become Batman.

The main negative is Jada Pinkett Smith. Her character is so stupid and cartoony. It is sad to see good villains like Maroni and Penguin get uncut screen time for her plot lines.  She is so irrelevant to the show. Please Bruno Heller, executive producer, kill her off soon.

Overall this episode of Gotham was great beside the Fish Mooney storyline.  The writers of the show could in a few seasons start killing off the main crime families and replacing with the super villains like Penguin.  Gotham Viper gets 4.0/5.

The Flash (things you can’t outrun) review

Hey it’s Mist

The Flash has very entertaining in itself three episodes. The episode “Things You Can’t Outrun” did have the villain of the week but the episode helped developed the overall season plot line. The cast  has really grown into their roles and the best part of the show might be the acting.

Things You Can’t Outrun introduced Mist, a supervillain in the DC Universe.  Kyle Long has the ability to change into a poisonous gas.  He kills his former mob bosses who by suffocation. Detective Joe West and Eddie Thawne investigate the murders along Team Flash. Joe asks the team at Star Labs to help solve this case. The question is either to kill the villain or capture him? Barry suggests building a prison to hold these villains.  Dr. Wells suggests that the particular accelerator can be modify to hold these villains, and it would be the first time the particular accelerator would be used since the night it exploded. The particular accelerator brings back painful memories to the Star Labs team.  The episode introduces Ronnie Raymond, Robbie Amell ( brother to Stephen Amell who plays Oliver Queen’s).  Raymond is Caitlin’s fiancée and sacrifices his life to save Central City.  Detective Joe West does tell Eddie and Iris, his daughter, that he knows about them dating and he is ok with it if Iris really loves him.  However, the real question is who is Dr. Wells and what can he do?

Overall, this episode was very solid. The special effects are so cool and hope they introduce more of Flash’s powers. It would be fun to see him run up a building and end a hostage situation in a Flash.  Jesse L. Martin is very solid as Joe West and his partner, Eddie Thawne, is so loveable. However, Joe is spending more time with Barry which might cause some future hostilely that Eddie could develop towards Barry.  The episode did more with the team at Star Labs. The flashback scenes showed that these people, on the night that the particle accelerator blew up, suffered losses.  Barry and Caitlin had moment which I thought they might kiss.   The writers should explore this relationship more because both of Barry and Caitlin are science geeks and have common interests.   Honestly every main character is likeable, and the actors do a great job in bringing these roles to life.  Next week, the audience will introduce to Captain Cold and a Flash arch nemesis, one of the main ones.

The only negative about the episode would be the villain. The actor wasn’t that terrifying but he was limited in his dialogue and had a revenge plot. The Mist does joint other superheroes in effort to take down the Flash. My belief is after the introduction of Captain Cold that we will see the rogues beginning to team up once they break out of this prison later in this season.

Overall, this flash episode was pretty solid. The Flash continues to have good acting, special effects, and clever dialogue. They writers did throw in jokes about the Flash having his own museum.  It was nice a little easter egg for the comic book fans. This is a show that you need to be watching.  “Things You Can’t Outrun” gets a 4/5. The Flash comes on Tuesdays at 8pm eastern time.

What did you think of this week’s episode and the introduction of Mist?  Comment below and let me know

Arrow (corto maltese) review

Willa Holland as Thea

Thea and Malcolm come back

Thea has been a character on Arrow that had a tendency to be a drag in episodes. However, last season she and the audience found that her father is Malcolm Merilyn.  She agrees leave Starling City with Malcolm at the end of last season. Sara’s death has affected Oliver, and he needs his sister more than ever.  Thea’s storyline brings back one of the best actors of the Arrow, John Barrowman as Malcolm Merilyn.

Oliver, Roy, and Dingle decide to go search for Thea, and Felicity traces her whereabouts to Corto Maltese.  They travel to speak to her and bring her home. Oliver tells Thea that their father died in order to save Oliver but still doesn’t tell her that he is the Arrow. Felicity starts to work with Ray Palmer. She continuously gives excuses to Ray for her life is so secretive because she gets three calls asking her favors in a two minute period while Ray Palmer is looking curious. Dingle finds out an Argus agent has stolen the names of Argus’s agents and plans to sell them on the black market. Amanda Waller orders Dingle to kill the rogue agent. Laural attends an AA meeting and sees one of fellow members is constantly getting beaten by her boyfriend. Her boyfriend is wanted in several different jurisdictions, and Laural decides to something about the problem. She tires to kick his ass with a baseball bat but gets her ass handed  to her instead. She decides to be trained by Ted Grant (known as Wildcat) and began her training to become Black Canary when Oliver refuses to train her himself.  Oliver delivers a powerful line “Sara would never forgive me” meaning if Laural gets hurt as a crime fighter.

The guys who bring the awesome fights in Arrow to the small guy

Arrow always has one positive which are the stunts and action sequences.  The stunt team does a hell of a job to train the actors to be so light footed and make the fights look a dance. Roy even does a double kick move and gets praise from Oliver in this episode. His double kick move was pretty cool. The fights are wonderful to watch.  Thea and Malcolm are together as student and mentor. The flashbacks give their relationship a hostile feel at first but as the episode progresses Malcolm feels a sense of pride for his daughter’s skills and her choices. She has been trained to be an Assassin the same way the League of Assassins trained Merilyn.  Brandon Routh is so likeable. He would have been a great Superman if given the chance to make more films. The discovery he makes about OMAC that Queen Consolidated was building was intense.  His expression give the feeling that he was looking for that specifically. He might know Oliver is the Arrow.  OMAC is a like Ultron from Marvel, a machine who creates robot  copies of itself to destroy humanity.

J.R. Ramirez as Ted Grant/Wildcat

The last thing that needs to be mention is Laural. The character is becoming rather important in show’s story lines. The fact that she got her ass handed to her in her first vigilante attempt was so grounded. A woman on her first try would not be able to kick the crap out of a abuser because she is ill prepared to fight. The writers are going to give her and Ted Grant one to two seasons where she trains to become Black Canary. Thea has been training with her father for 5 months and is skilled. Her father could easily kill her if he wanted too. Laural has no training what so ever and it will take her awhile before she is ready to use a staff to kick criminal asses.  Wildcat is her mentor from the comics and even Batman has a lot of respect for his fighting styles.

Overall, this episode was fun and entertaining. The fight choreography was spectacular. Thea and Laural are assuming the roles of the dominant women on the show. The league of Assassins return next week. They want answers about what happened Sara. Good luck with that Ollie.  Corto Maltese gets a 4/5.

Next week’s Arrow preview…what did you think of the episode comment below and let me know.

Arrow (Sara) review (minor spoilers)

Who Killed Sara?

Team Arrow is faced with their biggest lost when Sara Lance, Black Canary, was murdered.  Many fans posed questions all week who killed Sara?  Fans should applaud the show creators because they have killed main characters in the past. Tommy Merlyn died in the first season, and he was an integral part of the show. Black Canary has been murdered, and her character was rather important in Oliver’s life.   The question is: who really killed Sara?

Sara Lance is standing on a rooftop as she turns around to go fight crime  three arrows are shot in her chest. She falls backwards from the roof and dies as she hit the concrete.  Laurel sees her fall to the death and takes her body to Team Arrow. The sight of Sara dying is very powerful and upsetting that the team is thrown in chaos.  Oliver Queen needs Thea Queen, his sister, now more than ever.  She is nowhere to be found except training with her father. Oliver doesn’t know this.  Felicity is constantly being pursued by Ray Palmer to work for him.  He wants to hire her to be his right hand. She does end up taking the job. However, the main question is who killed Sara?  All signs to point to a master assassin called Komodo.  But did he really kill Sara or was someone else?

Matt Ward as Komodo

Arrow episode “Sara” was a step up from the season premiere.   Fans will throw out speculation on who killed Sara Lance.  Personally, I think someone from the League of Assassins killed her or it could be someone from ARGUS.  Komodo was a formidable fore for Arrow.  One scene had Arrow and Komodo playing chicken on their motorcycles. They would drive towards each other and shooting arrows at each other.  One of the best scenes in this episode was when Komodo was about to kill his final target but Roy shoots an arrow at his bow to knock out of his hands.  Roy and Oliver fight Komodo after that and the stunts were impressive for the minute they fought.  These few scenes made some really fun action moments on television.

Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer
Emily Bett Richards as Felicity Smoak

Brandon Routh was a great choice for the character Ray Palmer.  Routh is charming, caring, and has this arrogance about him.   His acting performance draws in that you, as a viewer, want to like him but in the back of your mind you dislike him. He did takeovr Oliver’s Queen Company.  Honestly, the writers might need to keep him in the cast because many fans have taken to him.

My last positive about this episode is Laurel. Katie Cassidy is really growing into her role. She is no longer some attractive chick who weeps over guys. She is showing her emotions and starting to use her acting chops to command more of a presence on screen. Laurel hasn’t told her father that Sara has died either. There was one point that I thought she was really to going to tell her father that his sister died. However, Detective Lance has gone through so much that she couldn’t break his heart. It’s tough choice to do but she couldn’t do it until they have Sara’s killer.

Overall this Arrow Episode was very fun.  The episode has intriguing plot lines and the mystery of Sara’s killer is still at large.  Laurel is really growing into a good character. The fight choreography is very spectacular.  Arrow is one of the best shows on television and it will continue to gain viewers.  The episode “Sara” gets a 4.2/5.

The Flash (Fastest Man Alive)

Michael Smith as Danton Black

Flash finds a new partner!

The Flash premiered last week and it was well received by fans and critics. The episode Fastest Man Alive was a good episode also. The series is still finding its voice and establishing itself.  However, Jesse L. Martin plays a giant role in this episode.  The Flash is already getting noticed by the city calling him the Red Streak.

Barry Allen as the Flash saves people from a burning building. Central City has taken noticed of him.  He and his best friend, Iris, go to the honorary ceremony for Simon Stagg.  Three men show up and crash the ceremony.  Barry is having trouble maintaining his energy by the constant burning of energy every time he runs.  Star Labs investigates the gunmen and finds Danton Black can clone himself. Barry saves his surrogate father, Joe West, from Black which leads to an argument between Joe and Barry. Barry must decide for himself either to be the Flash or just be a regular guy?

This episode accomplishes several key elements that will make this series into a good show. First, the relationship between Barry and Joe is a lot like Bruce Wayne and Alfred. Joe sees Barry as a son and doesn’t want harm to come to Barry. He tries to persuade Barry not to fight crime. Joe sees Barry’s real life job a way to fight crime.  The two become closer in the end of the episode.  Secondly, the writers help us discover about Barry’s bodily mechanics.  In other media versions, Barry constantly eats to keep up his energy. The lack of sugar causes him to faint.  The writers did a wonderful job of putting this key component of the Flash in this episode.  Finally, Danton is  prototype for a villain known as Mirror Master. Danton can clone himself into multiple version. For example, the Flash can be facing Danton then face a hundred. He’s a terrifying villain.

The only negative issue is the Flash Team. Arrow has a distinct team with Dingle and Felicity.  Catlin and Cisco really don’t do that much. They dragged the episode a bit. Looking forward to more character development for these two characters. .

Overall, this Flash episode is a good. The series is still finding its feet. The actors need to settle into their roles but Jesse L. Martin has only settled into his. This episode gets a 3.5/4 because the episode didn’t wow me like Arrow or Gotham does.

Gotham (Arkham) Review

Arkham Asylum will be relevant in this Gotham series

Arkham Asylum: Here come the crazies!

Gotham has been on for about a month and continues to gain viewers. Overall, the series is a great prequel for setting up Batman lore. Warner Bros and DC Comics are probably going to use Gotham as a template so villains can be easily placed into a movies without having an origin story for each villain. Gotham is doing a wonderful job setting up the villains.  The latest episode “Arkham” is a major stepping stone to bring more Batman villains to Gotham.

The episode is about what will become of Arkham Asylum. Arkham Asylum is abandoned and the area around it is not being used. However, the city council are voting on two separate plans to determine the fate of Arkham.  Thomas and Martha Wayne had a plan where Arkham would be turned into a state of the art facility that provides care for the mentally ill. Low income housing will surround the Asylum. Sal Maroni’s plan is to tear down Arkham and store industrial waste there…maybe like Axis Chemicals products.  A hitman is killing  councilmen and it causes Jim Gordon to investigate the plans for Arkham Asylum.

The one negative about this episode is the character Barbara Kern. She comes out as bisexual to Jim Gordon. The altercation was forced by Oswald Cobblepot showing up at the home. The reveal was not that dramatic and way to move their relationship along. However, overall the episode had very strong points. For example, Alfred’s role is becoming more important each episode. He slowly becoming that voice that gives counsel to characters.  Jim Gordon’s vs. Harvey Bullock’s interpretation on how to enforce the law was always fun.  Gordon likes to make connections while Bullock beats people up. The one character who is really starting violence is the Penguin.

Robin Lord Taylor as the Penguin

The Penguin is the strongest character on Gotham.  Robin Taylor Lord plays Oswald Cobblepot who has the significant limp in his leg already. He drives the action and the most clever villain on the show. Gotham is supposed to Jim Gordon’s show but the Penguin has stolen the spotlight.  It’s his character is setting up this conflict of gang violence. He will take over a section of the city before the season is done.

Gotham is really becoming a good crime drama. Jim Gordon is the only hero in Gotham but he is being manipulated by people. Oswald Cobblepot is a character that is finally getting his due in live action media .  This episode of Gotham gets 4.5/5.

Gotham, what did you think? Comment below and let me know.

Arrow (The Calm) review

Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer

At least they ended the episode on a shocker!

That’s right ladies and gentlemen, Arrow’s season three premiered tonight.  Overall, the episode was very weak and felt like they were pulling teeth to get the end of it. This episode follows the consistency of weaker and more boring episodes follow the high action pact meaningful episodes.  Don’t worry, Arrow will rebound because the show is pretty freaking great.

Season three starts off with Oliver, Roy, and Dingle stopping a shipment full of illegal arms. Roy is Oliver’s partner but still a sidekick. He has as much freedom as Robin does. The Arrow is now widely accepted and loved by Starling City. He has the lower crime rate and  is an ally to the police force.  Oliver is also trying to reclaim his company but so is a guy named Ray Palmer. Dingle and Lyla are going to be parents soon. Oliver finally has time to date. He asks Felicity out and then suddenly a new crime boss comes to town. A crime boss takes up the mantle of Count Vertigo and starts to terrorize Starling City.  It forces Team Arrow to make personal choices.

The New Count Vertigo, Peter Stormare, was the best part of this episode. He somehow finds a way to use The Scarecrow fear toxin combined with Vertigo. Maybe, the Scarecrow will show up on Arrow. Stormare is very menacing in his role. He’s ruthless like the Joker in someways. He doesn’t mind killing people or blowing up buildings with people to make his point.  David Ramsey was also a strong positive aspect of the episode.  I hope he doesn’t leave the show because he is Oliver’s consciousness and reasoning like Alfred is Batman’s.  Honestly, the fight choreography is still spectacular. The team did a good job training Colton Haynes, Roy Harper, to perform the action sequences that Stephen Amell does.

Despite these positives, this episode was lackluster.  The reason why this needs mentioning because these season premieres don’t need to feel lackluster and boring. A lot of Arrow fans like: John Campea, Ann Campea, Kaori Takee, (John, Ann, and Kaori do the Arrow After Show on Stream TV’s youtube channel) and Dennis Tzeng and his Think Hero YouTube channel spend their time and energy reviewing Arrow episodes all season and trying to convince people to watch Arrow. This wasn’t a good episode to have after that mind boggling season finale in May. The writers maybe took the week off in the creativity department. Honestly, the Felicia and Oliver off and on again love story has already gotten old. I hope Ray Palmer steals Felicia from Ollie, because Oliver is such a pansy when it comes to his emotions.

Another problem with this episode that the writers decided to throw in Ray Palmer to steal Oliver’s company and continue to make Oliver a poor average man that somehow can afford Italian. How does Oliver pay for those trick arrows? Oliver is not supposed to be poor. To quote my mother, “The reason why we love superheroes like Tony Stark, Oliver Queen, and Bruce Wayne because they are the rich bastards who use their wealth to fight crime and save the city/world.” The writers of Arrow please correct this mistake because most of the Arrow fanbase doesn’t want to see A Dark Knight Rises retell on Arrow. It was cool when Slade Wilson stole Oliver’s company but isn’t cool when Ray Palmer, who will the hero the Atom, steal his company.

Overall, the season premiere was very boring and felt like a bad romantic comedy between Oliver and Felicity. The last five minutes were awesome and a shocker. It does help jump start the main central plot line in this season of Arrow. Stormare and Ramsey gave stellar performances and the fight scenes were fun and spectacular as usual. Arrow’s the Calm gets a 3/5.  (was checking my cellphone for the hour to be over during the episode people).

What did you think of this episode of Arrow? Comment below and let me know.