The Dragon

The Dragon is by far the best episode of the season, it transcends what I call "generic soap opera CW television" and becomes an intense crime-drama-thriller. This episode had no needless and contrived arguing between arrow teams, or an over the top romance story, just pure motivation and plot. The scenes flowed seamlessly as we learn more about Diaz and his upbringing and motivations. Even Laurel was utilised well in this episode, with subtle looks at her unease towards murder, but also her inability to change for the better. The acting was some of the best from Arrow altogether, with Kirk Acevedo absolutely killing it in the role and chewing up the scenery with his mannerisms that show a boasting power, but an underlying insecurity of being a 'loser'. The use of more mature violence creatively led to more visually interesting action and an almost John Wick style. I applaud them for having the balls to pull off a very intense revenge scene that didn't feel like a typical PG-13 cut away. This villain episode was a welcome episode indeed. 9.5/10

The show never gives a whole episode to a big bad, not like this. I am really glad they did here, because it was wonderful. Between the incredible performance put on my the person who played Ricardo Diaz, to the storyline of the episode overall, it was just terrifying but also very entertaining. This episode was different but still managed to keep up with the greatness and the incredible acting that a usual Arrow episode has to offer. Themes were also very good, hearing The Dragon's themes makes you feel something and lets you know that this guy, this guy is different and so much more than the typical thug.

Great action and a good episode for Diaz character development, even thought it still felt like a filler episode. With Oliver having about 2 mins of screen time !!!

OMG! kirk has knocked it out of the park with his brutal,intense,dark and deep portrayal of Diaz in this spellbinding episode that could almost be a standalone pilot for a spinoff series centering on Diaz...i really like oliver and what he brings to the screen but man, Diaz has a presence that eclipses Everyone he stands next to..he Owns that role and deserves to have a spinoff based on this performance.. If this sounds like im a fan of his acting, ur right...everything ive seen him in,12 moneys, the walking dead,Kingdom,ect he brings that smoldering ,volcanic intensity to his roles with a soft spoken facade that belies whats underneath.. stellar performance Kirk, and in my book The best villian thats been on that show,, manu benet ,crixus was my other fav! This was a Very intense, serious, brutal and Dark episode for arrow, for that matter, for Any tv series...it did NOT feel like an arrow episode At All.. High praise for going where most shows wouldnt...

I truly hope this was a test for a new series. The story from the beginning took me in and the actor who plays "the dragon" is so compelling I did not want this episode to end. Even though the arrow is hardly in it, I believe fans will love this new character/story. Wow. Just great.