Only a few episodes left and things are progressively heating up…

I was surprised to see Rene back. I had thought his character was written off and would stay “hospitalized” for the remainder of the season. As much as I’ve criticized Dinah, Curtis and Rene, it was refreshing to have Wild Dog back in the fold. I think he brings a different energy when his character is used the right way. I thought the (short-lived) PTSD angle made a bit more sense for Rene then it did for John and his hand—who was really more just in his own head and couldn’t execute in the field because of it. Rene actually sustained quite a bit of damage that might make someone think twice the next time they had to put themselves in a similar position. It just kind of made sense, I think.

Even though we all kind of knew it, we got our answer as to who the Quadrant is—they’re basically an evil syndicate that runs everything. I actually really liked the drone scene where Curtis, Dinah, Rene, John and A.R.G.U.S. all joined forces to take out the shipment of weapons from the Quadrant. I still wish Curtis’ T-Spheres would float on their own (like in the comics) rather than him having to always throw them—but it worked well for tonight.

Obviously, Diaz needs the Quadrant as much as they need him. I didn’t think about it that way at first, but they totally need a guy who has everyone in his pocket in order to run a near-flawless and smooth operation. I think the best way to combat an operation like that is to do what they started to do tonight when they attacked Diaz’s wallet. You probably won’t be able to get him head on, but if you attack and dismantle his cash flow, you certainly have a chance of destroying him from the inside.

Though I wasn’t down with Anatoly making an appearance (yet again), I guess I get it: he and Ollie are forever bound to one another. It’s always so ironic to me when bad guys talk about “honor”—there’s even irony when Ollie talks about it. Don’t get me wrong…I get the idea of these bad dudes still having “honor” in terms of not choosing to participate in certain criminal activities, etc. But Ollie being surprised that Diaz stabbed him in that fight was a bit silly. Diaz is 100% ruthless and will do whatever it takes to be the top dog. To quote the almighty Ric Flair, Diaz is “the dirtiest player in the game.” Why would you ever think he was capable of playing nice or fair? Get your head out of your hood, Oliver. You’re in Diaz’s world now, grandma.

Speaking of which…

I thought that was a very interesting ending. I know we’ve seen Ollie in situations like this before, however, this time it feels a bit different. Diaz has so much power and control—even more now that he’s backed by the Quadrant—I’m not sure how Ollie makes it out of this one. The only thing I can think of is that Diaz does something to really tick off the Quadrant and they turn on or embarrass him and ruin his plans to imprison Ollie as their way of putting him in his place and letting him know that even he isn’t bigger than them.  

Even though I’m not the biggest fan of the Quentin and Laurel storyline, I do like that Quentin’s the mayor right now. I’m curious to see how he’ll do in the role if he ends up spending significant time there. What has me interested is that he signed that paper for Diaz. Obviously, part of the reasoning was for Laurel, but I think Quentin is possibly a little more savvy in terms of knowing how to deal with crime lords like Diaz. All that time on the force may have taught him a thing or two about how to play the game and deal with these kinds of guys. He might know how to get these guys into a position where he can ultimately take them down. Who really knows, though?

Looking forward to what’s to come next week!

Cheers,
Matt
 

Matt Ross covers Arrow as a part of the #DCTV Couch Club. Catch new episodes of Arrow Thursdays at 9 p.m. (8 p.m. CST) on The CW.