arrow the dragon

Last night’s episode was something somewhat different for the show, and I actually applaud them for the change of pace. The whole episode more or less centered around Ricardo Diaz and his scheme to get into the opulent Crime Gang “The Quadrant,” essentially making the man (and his henchwoman, Black Siren) the protagonists of the episode. It made him seem more human and likable, but still doing an excellent job of reminding us that he is still the villain and needs to be stopped before his reign of terror continues to hurt more people in Star City.

Getting into it, we start with a flashback to Diaz’s days as a child, where we see him bullied in the orphanage he grew up and witness a mean kid who eventually steals an important picture from Diaz (his father?) and throws it into the fire, much to young Ricardo’s horror. We jump to the present where we see adult Diaz and Laurel (in a black wig for a disguise) getting ready to visit some gangster boss that Diaz is eager to meet, though Laurel seems unimpressed by the whole thing and wonders why Diaz is so desperate for their power and respect. Instead of getting an actual head of the gang, they meet with the son of one of the Quadrant leaders who toys with them, dismissing Diaz as nothing more than a street thug and dispatching him on some useless errand to find and bring in a former gang member who was taken by the FBI (and potentially giving them intel on the Quadrant) and then using the opportunity to kill the snitch AND Diaz in one devious moment.

Unfortunately for the spoiled crime kid, Diaz is no fool and wore a bullet-proof vest throughout the proceedings, and now he is pissed. He returns to the man’s club with Laurel and takes out all of the man’s security (showing off his own impressive fighting skills alongside Laurel throughout the episode, proving he does not simply cower and hide behind his hired goons). Soon enough, he has the rich jerk tied up and beaten in a chair demanding to know when and where the Quadrant leadership is meeting next. He learns that his offer of Star City and all of his resources to the group was never even presented to rest of the Quadrant as the kid and his father did not think Diaz worthy of even mentioning, and were instead just going to kill Diaz and absorb his organization themselves.  (Continued on next page)