Oliver clashes with Brick. Felicity and the FBI make a play for Diaz.  A whole bunch of people get punched.

A little bit of running in place this week, right up until the end. It’s still good fun though, especially Oliver and his new friend versus the worst prison in the world. Not only do we get an Oliver and Sampson rematch (Hi, Cody Rhodes! Bye Cody Rhodes!) but there’s some really nice work done with Bronze Tiger. Michael Jai White is a fantastic action performer and physical presence but clearly revels in the chance to show off his acting too. Bronze Tiger is articulate, smart, acutely aware of what he does and nowhere near as bad as he makes out. I’d love to see the character get more to do and as long as Oliver is in prison, I suspect he will be.

Outside the prison, there’s some fun stuff with the Diaz clash of the week. The announcement that Kirk Acevedo (watch literally everything the man is in, he’s amazing) is a season regular is good news and also odd news. The clashes with Diaz we know are coming may struggle to have stakes or worth to them and it’ll be interesting to see how the show spins that. I did like the way he was used this week though; both as a way of dealing with the FBI plot and getting Silencer into the hands of The Artists Formerly Known As Team Arrow. Incidentally, Silencer’s comic series is also great fun.

Top marks to the stunt team though this week. Not only do we get another deeply weird, deeply cool silent fight as Dinah and Silencer go to war but some pleasingly burly Oliver action too. The multiple front fight with Diaz and his forces was also excellent.

Verdict: So, not a lot happens this week but what does happen is fun. Arrow continues to benefit from the format shift and I’m looking forward to seeing where we go next. Hopefully, back to the future. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart