Arrow follows last week’s strong offering with a choppy and frequently cheesy episode. “Heir to the Demon” does deliver on important story developments, however, and it devotes a fair bit of time to the Canary, and to a lesser-known daughter of Ra’s al Ghul.

Title: “Heir to the Demon”

Cast and Crew
Director: Wendey Stanzler
Writers: Jake Coburn

Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
Katie Cassidy as Dinah “Laurel” Lance
Caity Lotz as Sara Lance / Black Canary
Susanna Thompson as Moira Queen
Alex Kingston as Dinah Lance
Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance
Katrina Law as Nyssa al Ghul
Kevin Alejandro as Sebastian Blood
Colin Salmon as Walter Steele
Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak
David Ramsay as John “Dig” Diggle
Willa Holland as Thea Queen
Alex Kingston as Dinah Lance
Manu Bennett as Slade Wilson

Full cast and crew may be found here.

Premise

Sara remains in town after last episode, but she’s been followed by Nyssa al Ghul, League of Shadows enforcer and Sara’s ex-lover. Meanwhile, Ollie learns some disturbing facts about his mother and reacts strongly. The Lances, too, pierce their familial bonds.

We get flashbacks to the events in Starling City six years earlier and more on Moira’s run for mayor, all served up with sizable cuts of cheese.

High Points

Ollie delivers a nicely ambiguous speech in support of his mother’s run for mayor.

Low Point

The ending features a forced rescue, an unlikely release, and excessively corny dialogue.

The Scores:

Originality: 3/6

Effects: 5/6 The fight scenes remain well-choreographed.

Acting: 4/6 This episode featured some stiffer performances than usual. I didn’t buy the emotional connection between Sara and Nyssa; Paul Blackthorne, meanwhile, went a little overboard in his hardboiled detective impersonation.

Story: 4/6 Although conceptually strong, the execution felt choppy, as though it had been edited from a much longer episode. The flashbacks didn’t help the flow—though it was good to see past events transpiring somewhere other than the island.

Emotional Response: 4/6

Production: 6/6.

Overall: 4/6 The episode has its flaws, but the events will have far-reaching effects on the series.

In total, “Heir to the Demon” receives 30/42