Let me start by stating that I have no problem with heroes (and more particularly a real good villain) in movies or on TV surviving stuff that would kill even the toughest of the tough in real life. That said, I consider surviving a severely lacerated lung, exposure to sub-zero temperatures and a thousand foot fall implausible even by 'Die Hard' standards! If Ra's Al Ghul decided to kill Oliver by just mortally wounding him, so that he'd live until the fall killed him, HE obviously expected that that would kill even a comic book crimefighter. Then again, we do hear at the end that Oliver's been brought back to life, so we'll see what the next episode reveals...
As for the rest of the episode, we appear to have a bulletproof villain in the person of 'brick'; where has he been until now? Malcolm Merlyn is still as creepy and annoying as ever, and Laurel's transformation to Black Canary seems to be well underway, have to say she fills the suit nicely! The flashback sequences are becoming increasingly annoying; there's no real tension, as we know the characters survive to the show's 'present day', so putting them in harm's way in the 'past' is pointless. Having borrowed the 'sword catch' from Spartacus in the previous episode, this week we saw a reworked version of the opening seconds of The Dark Knight; when Oliver smacked into the bulletproof window, I almost laughed. The action sequences are still good though, and the plot is still thickening, so roll on next week's episode! One last thing though; how the hell did anyone think Brandon Routh needed to be replaced as Superman? His performance here just serves to remind anyone with a brain how perfect he was as Clark Kent, not to mention his version of Christopher Reeve's iconic Superman. Henry Cavill just plays the same part in everything he's in, if the trailer for 'Man from Uncle' is anything to go by!
As for the rest of the episode, we appear to have a bulletproof villain in the person of 'brick'; where has he been until now? Malcolm Merlyn is still as creepy and annoying as ever, and Laurel's transformation to Black Canary seems to be well underway, have to say she fills the suit nicely! The flashback sequences are becoming increasingly annoying; there's no real tension, as we know the characters survive to the show's 'present day', so putting them in harm's way in the 'past' is pointless. Having borrowed the 'sword catch' from Spartacus in the previous episode, this week we saw a reworked version of the opening seconds of The Dark Knight; when Oliver smacked into the bulletproof window, I almost laughed. The action sequences are still good though, and the plot is still thickening, so roll on next week's episode! One last thing though; how the hell did anyone think Brandon Routh needed to be replaced as Superman? His performance here just serves to remind anyone with a brain how perfect he was as Clark Kent, not to mention his version of Christopher Reeve's iconic Superman. Henry Cavill just plays the same part in everything he's in, if the trailer for 'Man from Uncle' is anything to go by!