Oh man, are DC fans going to be excited at the end of this week's Arrow.  There's a curious little exchange that happens in the final few moments that might pique the interest of a casual viewer, but should cause die-hard fans to jump out of their seats.  Before we get to that, however, we have to address quite a few things that happened in the bulk of the episode, including secret identity reveals, DC character cameos and MacGuffins.  Hit the jump for my recap and review of "Tremors".

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Let's kick this off, island-style!  It's a pretty short-and-sweet sequence of events as Sara and Oliver attempt to track down Slade, and discover that he plans to blow up Dr. Ivo's freighter in the process.  They manage to find him before he can wipe out their only means off the island, with Oliver appealing to Slade's love for Shado in an attempt to calm him down.  Doing so successfully, the trio then decides to take over the freighter themselves.

Meanwhile, back in contemporary times, Ben Turner (aka Bronze Tiger, played by Michael Jai White) gets sprung out of prison in order to perform a heist.  What heist you ask?  Why, to liberate a certain earthquake machine from the vault beneath Malcolm Merlyn's home.  While the earthquake machine served as a bit of a MacGuffin in this episode, it actually carried some emotional weight to it, regarding the devastation caused in the Glades a few months back.  It also connected well to the rest of the plot arcs in this episode, which we'll get to in a bit.  (While the fight scenes between Arrow and Bronze Tiger were a little flashier this time around, I was expecting to be disappointed with his return as just another thug ... until that scene!)

Complicating Arrow's heroic efforts this time around is one Roy Harper, an angry young man now gifted (or cursed) with the Mirakuru's effects of super-strength and incredible healing.  Unfortunately, those gifts come with mental instability and a raging temper.  Arrow's attempts to show Roy how to control his anger was nicely tied in to his past failure with Slade.  On the island, Oliver hid the truth from his friend, which only served to make the revelation the events of Shado's death appear as a betrayal; when Oliver chose instead to reveal his true identity to Roy in a moment of need, the duo not only saved countless citizens of Starling City, but appeared to form a stronger bond because of it.

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Moira Queen is apparently recovered from her scandal with Malcolm Merlyn, to the point of agreeing to run against Sebastian Blood (Kevin Alejandro) for Mayor.  While we know what Moira will be doing for the next sequence of episodes, we're not quite sure where this new addition, Mark Francis (Nicholas Lea) fits in.  Thea's new-found political interest will likely land her at her mother's side as some sort of campaign aide, but the truth about her real father's identity will also be a juicy side plot to keep an eye on.

Speaking of side plots, what is going on with Laurel?  She's full-on mess in this episode, which is understandable thanks to being disbarred and prevented from obtaining another job in the legal profession.  To make matters (likely) worse, she sees Sara through a drunken haze at the end of the episode, foretelling that Laurel's emotional stability is probably in for even more of a shake-up.

While this episode raised a ton of questions, especially concerning Roy's loyalty and Laurel's stability, the coolest one resided in a scene between Bronze Tiger and Amanda Waller (Cynthia Addai-Robinson).  Waller appears to recruit Bronze Tiger for a special mission, saying she's forming a "squad".  DC fans will be excited to hear this, as it means that the Suicide Squad will appear in some form or another in the future!  This was an organization of incarcerated supervillains who ran covert operations for Waller and the U.S. government in order to take time off their sentences; it also meant that, should they be found out or killed in action, the government could wipe their hands clean of any wrongdoing.  Bronze Tiger was a regular player on the Suicide Squad along with Deadshot (Michael Rowe).  Time will tell if this arc comes back to play on Arrow or if something like a possible spin-off series is in the works.  Either way, exciting stuff!

Rating: A-

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Quips & Quivers:

They must have paid that first guy's family a helluva lot of money for him to smuggle foot-long razor-sharp blades in his skin!

Roy: "I can't wait to get attacked by a dog dish."

Roy: "All I'm learning is new ways to get pissed off."

Arrow to Roy: "Do you have one of your hoodies?"

Felicity: "Uh oh, you've got angry face."

Oliver: "The island was a five-year nightmare, but if I learned something that can help me reach Roy now, it'll have been worth it."

Moira: "Charles Manson is rather well known and no one is going to vote for him."

Laurel: "Coffee and olives? Bad combination."

DC Cameo Alert!  The arms dealer, Milo Armitage, was also an arms dealer in the comics.  He also happened to be the step-father of one Connor Hawke, a latter-era Green Arrow.

Roy: "You saved my life. And I don't mean just from the guy who kidnapped me. You gave me purpose." Oliver: "We're just getting started."

Roy: "Does this group have a name? Team Arrow or something?"

Here's the promo for next week's episode, "Heir to the Demon" featuring Katrina Law as Nyssa al Ghul: