So, just to get everyone up to speed, Bronze Tiger is out of prison, Walter Steele is back, Roy is having more anger issues than usual (as he begins his training with Green Arrow), and Laurel has moved on from eating prescription pills like they’re M&Ms to behaving like a cartoon drunk. Now that the formalities are out of the way, I can deal with each of these points. Walter Steele (Colin Salmon) is back after far too long an absence. He really is a welcome presence on Arrow, and I’d like to see more of him this season. Unfortunately, the circumstances that bring him back to Starling City (and that will make him, I imagine, at least a semi-regular character again) are not exactly ideal. I don’t mean for the character, I mean for the viewer. You see, Walter is here to find a “viable candidate” to counter Sebastian Blood in the Starling City mayoral race. And who’s his pick? Moira Queen. I will get back to how heart-stoppingly stupid this is shortly, don’t worry. Roy is losing control of his anger, and Green Arrow’s “go slow” and “stay in control” pep talks aren’t what he needs to hear. There are some heavy-handed parallels between Roy’s mental state and Slade’s continued deterioration on the island. We’ve already had plenty of Roy’s “angry young man” schtick, even before he got dosed with superpowers, and now might just be time to move on from it. Luckily, by episode’s end, we may have accomplished just that. Fortunately, circumstances finally dictate that Ollie reveal his identity to Roy, because really, I don’t think I could take many more scenes with Ollie using that irritating voice-disguise tech for extended periods. Oh, wait…there’s supposed to be a superhero plot in here somewhere, right? Well, Bronze Tiger was sprung from prison to steal Malcolm Merlyn’s prototype for the old earthquake machine, which is apparently just casually stored in the basement of the Merlyn estate. It’s not like the authorities should have torn that place apart looking for other shady death-dealing devices after the events of season one, right? We’re all worried about the government reading our text messages, but in the Arrow universe, if you use an earthquake machine that destroys part of a city and causes hundreds of deaths, they just board your house up and move on! Remember in the first paragraph when I worried that Arrow was regressing? Well, reintroducing watered-down versions of plot devices from season one late in season two isn’t exactly the best sign of progress. Even the action sequences (and there weren’t many) were bland, and both of them ended with Roy beating on a bad guy like Ralphie whupping on Scott Farkus in A Christmas Story…right down to the muttered obscenities. You can maybe get away with that once, but twice? An episode after he did it to the serial killer? Not good. What’s worse is that, as bad as “State v. Queen” was, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief at the end and say “Well, at least that’s over,” as we put that whole ridiculous murder trial subplot to bed. I was wrong. It has now mutated into something far, far worse. We all know that Sebastian Blood is almost certainly not going to survive this season with his political career intact (if he survives at all), so “Mayor Queen” is as inevitable as…well, something unpleasant and inevitable. Like old age. Or death. If anything, “Tremors” is saved from utter failure by the nice big reveal at the end, and what might just be some genuine character growth from Roy. So far, Arrow has seemed to improve as “Team Arrow” continues to grow, and adding Roy to the inner circle of Ollie/Diggle/Felicity should be fun. There were, however, a couple of fun DC Universe easter eggs, so I may as well end this on a high note. DC Universe Watch The arms dealer working with Bronze Tiger is Milo Armitage, who often tangled with Connor Hawke, the virtually forgotten post-Zero Hour Green Arrow. The cool thing is…he’s from Markovia, home of Brion Markov aka Geo-Force! Look, it’s not like I’m overly excited about the prospect of Geo-Force appearing on this (or any) show, and they already did away with the show’s version of Brion Markov. I don’t remember if Markovia was ever mentioned, though. Man, I’m really reaching here. But there’s more! Amanda Waller is back at the end! And, as expected, she’s here to recruit Bronze Tiger for her “unit.” Or, as she puts it, “it’s more of a squad.” Yes, thank you, Arrow showrunners. Comic fans would have gotten it without that added bit of dialogue, which will be utterly meaningless to non-comic fans. A LITTLE subtlety might be nice. Sorry, I’m just still cranky from the “Mayor Moira Queen” nonsense. The prospect of a Suicide Squad appearing on Arrow (or better yet, a Suicide Squad spinoff!) is pretty awesome. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!