In "The Odyssey," Oliver's tense standoff with his mother and nominal life-and-death struggle on the operating table are little more than an excuse for him to be unconscious so we can spend most of our time on Lian Yu.
'The Odyssey' manages to reserve its backpedaling for the end, which allows the episode to steamroll ahead and...become one of, if not the most entertaining hours of Arrow yet this season.
The island story's prominence surprisingly makes "The Odyssey" among the stronger 'Arrow' episodes, well-utilizing established and earned character relationships to create the drama rather than flimsy, unrealized villains.
The truth behind many of the season's biggest mysteries still remains unclear, but the mysteries themselves have become better defined, with clearer stakes developing as shreds of information are gradually revealed.
