Its poor casting of Laurel I think mostly. I dont think Ollie and Thea are meant to be quite so er... close, although they do seem to have more chemistry than most siblings would. Im glad its not just me thats noticed that then

I did like the fact that Malcolm Merlyn was the "Black Arrow" character, and it keeps in with his nemesis being "Merlyn" from the comics.
Can't see Tommy ever taking up the mantle though, unless he's had secret lessons in Archery, that we haven't seen yet ...

I liked the "Green Arrow? Lame!" statement as well (Was it just me, or did he mention "Hawkeye" as well ). It would be fun if the media forced that GA name on him. "The Hood" naming is gettin old now, and it reminds me of that US series a while back ... and that WAS lame!

The Tommy/Laurel sappy romance is driving me up the wall though. It's just one of them being unreasonable/then feeling guilty/then making-up/rinse/repeat/yawn:yawn:.
At the risk of being a grouch, hope it sours soon...

As some people mentioned, there does seem to be more ... umm ... "chemistry" between Olly and Thea than is appropriate.

A better episode than last week though. Nice to see to it end on a high before the mid-season hiatus;

Loved the corridor arrow-duel, and the dramatic pull-back from the hospital room room after swearing vengeance on the "Big Boss"

To be fair did we have any evidence that Malcolm was even remotely skilled with a bow and arrow??

Well .. we did see him fencing, and he's always in "menace" mode (well as menacing as Barrowman gets ... damn your campness Barrowman *shakes fist*), but you get the impression there's a full and complicated back-story to the character, as oppose to Tommy who has been depicted only as a spoilt drop-out until his funds were cut.
If a "Merlyn" was going to be a "big bad", it makes sense that it would be Malcolm ... although "Malcolm" isn't a very terror-inducing name ...

If it comes to that niether is Tommy

Hmm... Thea and Felicity are def more interesting as characters than Laurel, who's coming off as a bit righteous. I would date Oliver ahead of Tommy. Tommy's trying to change himself but he doesn't have as much depth to him as Ollie does.

James Callis has signed up to appear in a future episode

This article is a bit spoiler-ish

http://screenrant.com/arrow-james-callis-dodger-cw/

Got the impression that Oliver's mum was not only responsible for the ship wreck, but also his rescue from the island. It was her chat with Barrowman after dinner and seems to suggest they know what happened on the island and thus quite possibly, that he is indeed the Arrow.

The key was seeing him fight. When the bodyguard saw him fight, he too became suspicious. Also, his family members find it hard to see past their prior conceptions. She didn't really know him so was less distracted by his camouflage.

I think Laurel's Dad is going to find out soon...

I think she's working with those guys, but like her (deceased) husband she has had a change of heart and is trying to escape them. I don't think she knew in advance her husband was going to be murdered. I think she salvaged and kept the boat because she was investigating what happened. She will have established to her own satisfaction that it wasn't an accident, and kept it with an eye to using it as evidence against the men who are controlling her.

To begin with, they were worried that Oliver's dad might have told Oliver too much, but the early episodes put their minds at risk. I can't square the early episodes with them knowing what happened on the island. They realised the Arrow was targeting their group specifically, and if they knew it was Oliver they'd just nab him out-of-costume (much as they did his step-father).

In the early episode Oliver (after he returned from the Island, when he was back home) he was briefly kidnapped and interrogated.

I'm pretty sure that's what Oliver's mum is referring to, not his experience on the Island.

Does anyone know how long Arrow is a on a UK break for?

Not in next week's schedule

Doesn't come back in the US until the 16th so not until the Monday after at the very earliest. More likely they'll put in a couple of weeks as buffer for the next hiatus.

According to Sky Never Miss it's coming back in January. Presuming it's still going to be on a Monday and going by Lightninglguana it'll be either 21st or 28th.

Does anyone know if Sky are going to repeat the last episode before Christmas, as they completely removed the series from catch-up a few days after it aired. Usually it's available for a few weeks.

Short answer... no they aren't.

Now confirmed as back at 8pm on the 21st of Jan (Yippeeeee) for all those who cant wait to see this excellent series continue.....

Yay! I won't mind missing the second half of Coronation Street when Arrow comes back!

Arrow has been renewed for a 2nd season

http://www.seat42f.com/the-cw-renews...e-diaries.html

Yay for renewal! Was it ever in doubt

Maybe not but it's always nice to have it confirmed

No surprise that Arrow has been renewed, but nice to see it confirmed.

Really enjoying this now and the island back story is getting more intriguing. I agree that there's a better "closeness" between Ollie and Thea than with Laurel (although he is supposed to be keeping his distance from her and letting his best mate get the spoils...).

Barrowman does not make a convincing bad guy, though. He's about as sinister as a bowl of custard.

I do worry about how long they're going to keep spinning this story arc out for. Whilst I hope it's not dragged out too long, if they do wrap it up, say in S1, what are they going to do for S2?

One small thing about this week's ep though. When they were listening back to the recording the first time (before the last ad break) why was Barrowman's character's voice disguised but not the Mothers. (Useless at remembering some names!) Wouldn't it have recorded them both either disguised or normally? I assume it's so they wouldn't recongise his voice (for the plot, maybe) but then wouldn't Diggle have recognised it? Very