Nocking Point: Arrow Episode 505, "Human Target"

I didn't have to read a synopsis to know that this week was going to expand the DCW television universe just a tiny bit more. "Human Target" just had to be a reference to DC Comics' own victim-for-hire, Christopher Chance, aka The Human Target. And I'm happy to say that I was right, with the character played by WIL TRAVAL (ONCE UPON A TIME, JESSICA JONES). (Fun fact: The Human Target has had two previous incarnations in television -- once in 1992 played by RICK SPRINGFIELD and again as recently as 2011 played by MARK VALLEY.)

Oliver (STEPHEN AMELL) and his team have broken John Diggle (DAVID RAMSEY) out of prison, having been railroaded by his army unit when they stole a nuclear device. But in the process, they also lost one of their own to Tobias Church (CHAD L. COLEMAN) -- Wild Dog Rene Ramirez (RICK GONZALEZ). Half of this episode is devoted to the retrieval of this Team Arrow member as we see him tortured by Tobias for information. And unfortunately for Oliver, Tobias does get that information, prompting him to take John's advice and hire Christopher Chance to stand in for him as the mayor.

In the mayor's office, Oliver has his hands full with television news reporter Susan Williams (CARLY POPE), who insists on dogging his every move and preventing him from making any political progress in Star City. A truce is called, but by the end of the episode, Susan finds herself in possession of a damning photograph that will definitely boost her ratings -- if she tells the story.

Not much more happens in this episode (oh yeah, there's the beatdown of Tobias Church, and a reappearance of the ever-secretive Prometheus, but that was to be expected). I would like to see something that expands on the growing team -- maybe see Curtis Holt (ECHO KELLUM) do something physically bad-ass, or give Evelyn Sharp (MADISON MCLAUGHLIN) some depth. Maybe even get some more background on Rory Regan (JOE DINICOL) and his haunted Ragman suit. But for now, we've got a lot of setup and a lot of fight scenes and the requisite flashbacks to Oliver: The Early Years as he fulfills his obligations to the Russian Bratva.