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Just Another Weapon In His Arsenal. Roy finally got the chance to take centre stage this week for the first time in season three as a mysterious killer tried to set up Ted Grant. I love that the show-runners chose to centre an episode on both Roy and Ted as they are excellent peripheral characters who deserved their time to shine. Ted Grant's story unfolded in the foreground, as his apprentice Isaac Stanzler returned to exact revenge on the mentor who failed him. It was an interesting plot which revealed the truth behind Grant's vigilante past and resulted in both the Ted/Laurel and Oliver/Roy relationships developing in positive ways. I only wish we had got the chance to see Grant suit up, as that would have been the icing on the cake! Roy's journey this week felt slightly rushed, but was also a chance to let Colton Haynes flex his acting repertoire. It was hard watching our beloved sidekick realise he had murdered an innocent man and I really can't remember how ...

Interesting Company. Barry meets his first non-evil meta-human in this episode as Plastique makes her live action debut. The core plot in this episode revolved around the character and her difficult journey. I wasn't entirely fond of Kelly Frye's performance, which felt quite wooden at times despite the harrowing circumstances surrounding the character, but she did bring out the best in Team Flash as they dealt with their failure to help reverse her powers. To be honest, this entire episode was a particualrly emotional journey and the series benefits from it, as Barry learned to deal with failure and friendship. The major subplot saw Barry and Joe attempt to convince Iris to give up her blog. I thought that the reasons behind this were flimsy at best and at this point I am counting down the days until Barry finally tells Iris the truth - after all, Arrow  has overused the theme of secrecy far too much by this point! Despite this, Candice Patton delivered a brilliant all r...

Professional Respect. Constantine and his crew travelled to the Windy City in this episode, where a recording is killing all those who hear it. The premise is slightly silly but ultimately produces a fun, darkly funny and gory episode which is definitely the best of the season so far. The methods the vinyl used to kill those who listened to it were pleasantly graphic and more gross than I expected the show to produce. Although the main plot is fairly predictable, it did involve some great moments including Constantine raising the dead and Papa Midnite making his small-screen live action debut! Midnite was well established in this episode, being at once shrouded in secrecy yet coming across as an enigmatic antagonist to John, one who I hope will reappear fairly soon. John himself continued to be brilliant. Matt Ryan is great with the small ensemble cast he interacts with and the relationships feel genuine and not forced. I was slightly disappointed that he wasn't able to use m...

Hacktivism. Felicity took the forefront this episode as she was forced to face her past demons. 'The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak' took a slightly different approach this week, as we delved into Felicity's past life as a hacktivist in college. Its a fun concept and great to finally learn more about the super hacker's past, made all the better by the way the writers make the focus feel natural by connecting it with the present day story-line. It all comes together fluidly to create an entertaining watch, although some may be disappointed by the lack of further progression in the main plot. After seeing Ra's in the closing moments of 'The Magician', it seems strange to not feature him in this episode. In terms of content however, this episode was certainly interesting. I loved the idea that the bad guy was Felicity's supposedly dead ex-boyfriend (let's face it, anyone who is dead in the Arrowverse is basically still probably able to return at ...

Appeals of Faith. Constantine  remains consistently entertaining in its sophomore episode. John travelled to a small mining town being haunted by freak mine collapses and strange happenings in 'The Darkness Beneath'. The main plot was relatively simple stuff this week, unlike the more complex and exposition heavy pilot. I enjoyed the Coblynau as a concept and their special effects looked really cool, however it was obvious to me who the real culprit was from the start which was frustrating. Also, all of this talk about the 'rising darkness' just serves to highlight the small scale of this week's episode, which leaves me craving more progression in the overall plot. This week the real plot progression came in the formation of the partnership between John and new character Zed Martin. Zed was a much better fit as Constantine's partner than Liv ever was, thus although it seems strange to throwaway a lead cast member after the pilot, Constantine  just about pu...

Oliver Queen Courts War. The Magician is back in Starling. Malcolm Merlyn returned this episode as we finally got to see Ra's al Ghul and understand why he and Oliver are to be at odds for the next 18 episodes. Yes, as it turns out Malcolm Merlyn is the reason for tensions between Team Arrow and the League of Assassins. Oliver struggles against his inner desires as Malcolm returns to Starling with a vengeful Nyssa in tow. He is forced to choose between saving Thea's father or putting an arrow in his arch-nemesis, a conflict which Amell portrays admirably well and the show addresses maturely. Ultimately, through choosing to protect Merlyn, he has earned the wrath of the League and Ra's himself, a move which quickens the pace of the series as our rolling conflict begins. Elsewhere, Laurel descended into traditionally irritating roles this week, with her anger towards Malcolm translating into fits of rage and stroppy behaviour, which only furthered my distaste for the ch...

First Time For Everything. The Flash  rectifies one of its early flaws by developing the villain of the week to create a more engrossing conflict and tell the origins of one of our hero's most iconic villains - Captain Cold. Played by veteran actor Wentworth Miller, Leonard Snart a.k.a. Captain Cold is certainly the best foe Barry has faced so far in his debut season. Combining a menacing demeanour with a crafty personality to match, Miller really does justice to this classic DC character. I hoped his origin would give more viable explanation as to why he chose the cold gun, but it seems it served as a means to an end more than anything else. The plot itself followed Barry as he attempted to first track down and then lock up Snart and his crew of ne'er-do-wells. It was a relatively straightforward journey, although at least we now have our first villain to escape both death and imprisonment in The Flash , leaving the door open for Captain Cold to return and harrass the Sc...

Trust Him. I've long been excited about watching the Constantine  live action series, which sadly only ran for one season before being cancelled, so here begins my first venture into a new series! John Constantine is played to perfection by Matt Ryan and proves what I heard from many reviews on the series - that the casting was excellent, just the story disappointed. Well I can confirm that after my first 42 minutes with the character, I was left intrigued about the larger rising of demons from hell and also by John's quest to save his soul and that of a young girl named Astra, whom he failed to save. All these facts are revealed gradually across a well-paced first episode, in which we learn that our titular character is a lone-wolf, who deflects emotions using humour and is scarred by his past failings. Ryan puts in a brilliant performance here, carrying the show with his spot-on portrayal of John Constantine and creating a character I genuinely care for after just one ep...

A Good Teacher. Team Arrow took a vacation this week as Oliver, Dig and Roy travelled to Corto Maltese to bring Thea home in an episode which was entertaining, if a bit empty. The core plot was thin, as clearly the main push in this episode was the reintegration of Thea (Willa Holland). To validate a trip to Corto Maltese, the showrunners devised the concept of a rogue A.R.G.U.S. agent attempting to sell agents identities (a plot thoroughly well tread, in films such as Mission: Impossible ), however the whole event feels rushed and unnecessary. The only benefit of this adventure was watching Diggle take centre stage once more, a position he consistently thrives in. No, the most important aspect of this episode was Oliver and Roy reconciling with Thea, who has spent five months on a remote island training with Malcolm Merlyn, who Team Arrow still believe is dead. I liked that for once it was Thea withholding secrets from her brother, rather than the other way around, and the...

No One Can Outrun Pain. As The Flash  entered its third episode, a familiar pattern has fallen upon the show as Barry continues to develop as a hero whilst another villain-of-the-week terrorised Central City. Said villain was dubbed by Cisco as The Mist - Kyle Nimbus was convicted with a death sentence on the day of the particle accelerator explosion. The result is a one-dimensional villain hellbent on 'getting revenge' as it appears all meta-humans apart from Barry are. This path has been tread for the last two episodes and I was really hoping for some kind of mix-up to the formula here, but it seems we will have to wait. Nimbus was creepy enough, but the CGI on his mist affects was poor and his confrontation with the Flash, whilst it did fit in with the idea of being unable to fight some things in life, was a short-lived and dull affair. Elsewhere, Iris and Eddie came out with their relationship to Joe who acted the stereotypical protective father unsurprisingly. Joe di...