This week’s Arrow nicely sets up the major battle, as Ollie’s support team shines and Deathstroke and Blood unleash their army. I just wish the writers would spend a little less time at the Cheese Shop. Even a comic book fan can only take so much.

Title: “City of Blood”

Cast and Crew
Director: Michael Schultz
Writer: Holly Harold

Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
Kevin Alejandro as Sebastian Blood
Manu Bennett as Slade Wilson / Deathstroke
Katie Cassidy as Dinah “Laurel” Lance
Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak
David Ramsay as John “Dig” Diggle
Willa Holland as Thea Queen
Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance
Summar Glau as Isabel Rochev
Colton Haynes as Roy Harper
David Nykl as Anatoli Knyazev
Colin Salmon as Walter Steele
Lee Vincent as Kelton
Keri Adams as Bethany Snow

Full cast and crew may be found here.

Premise

The battle is on. Ollie’s team finds him—but where is the Canary?
Deathstroke’s army looks like Anonymous gone insane.

High Points

Kevin Alejandro’s performance of a man with a serious dual identity plays well, even if his dialogue goes too far over the top.

Ollie’s support team was in fine form this week—- Felicity in particular. Ramsay and Rickards play off each other quite nicely.

Low Points

It’s a new day in Starling City, Oliver… And there’s nothing you can do to stop it! Mwahaha!

Okay, he doesn’t say, “Mwahaha,” but “City of Blood” delivers a line like this about every five minutes. This week’s dialogue, even by the show’s standards, is frequently Phantom Menace level bad.

Also—an enhanced Deathstroke warrior gets hit by a small, barely-armed woman and he turns all of his attention away from the heavily armed vigilante he was fighting, sustaining the lapse even when he realizes how little a threat she poses?

The Scores:

Originality: 3/6

Effects: 5/6 The effects have been integrated well, though the establishing shot of the island, and one shot of a helicopter, look like CGI.

Physical effects still work best, unless you have a LOT of money to spend.

Acting: 4/6 Some of the acting falters in some scenes—but the Low Point, a repeating problem for this show, contributes to the problem. Still, Amell rises to the challenge, and it was good to see Summer Glau in action again.

Story: 5/6 I find it a bit perplexing that Isabel Rochev visits Thea in person to deliver an eviction notice, but she’s on the Mirakuru, and it is the way fledgling supervillains roll, so I’ll accept it.

Ollie has mostly recovered from last week’s injury.

Overall, a good set-up, plotwise, for next week.

Emotional Response: 4/6 We have another reminder that the Flash series will soon be off and running.

Production: 5/6

Overall: 4/6

In total, “City of Blood” receives 30/42