User blog comment:Jamie/Episode 23 - Arrow Mid-Season Finale: The Climb/@comment-1895174-20150110000839

Two Things:
 * 1) Jean Loring is already a character in the series. She was Moira's attorney when she was on trial for, you know, being partially responsible for the destruction of a large part of the city. The actress is 17 years Brandon Routh's senior. Remember that Brandon Routh isn't supposed to be Ray Palmer, he's supposed to be Ted Kord. They probably introduced Jean Loring without any plans on introducing Ray Palmer.
 * 2) Did you guys forget Malcolm Merlyn has some kind of access to a Lazarus pit?

Anyway, Arrow is in a slump. The creative team is putting all of their creative effort into The Flash and let this show go on autopilot for a while. It's taken too long for story to get rolling, and most of what was done until then wasn't all that interesting. Cupid? Easily one of the worst one-off villains in the show's history. Laurel training with Ted Grant (who is a bit on the young side)? Great, everyone's least favorite character becomes a bigger presence on the show. Arrow didn't get amazing this season until Oliver and Ra's al Ghul's fight.