I liked the Elektra flashbacks. More Stick is always a good thing, and getting to see her training montage and get a little more details of how she became the woman she is today was nice. Again, there's a strong sense of familial betrayal going on here, and exploring the paternal relationship between Stick and Elektra worked well to give their combat in the present day stakes.

The rest of the episode was a pretty sizable mixed bag. The reveal that Colonel Schooner is, in fact, "The Blacksmith" is a surprise, yes, but not one that feels especially cool or puts things into perspective really. I guess he wanted Castle dead because Castle knew about the operation and wouldn't play ball, so he became a threat? So he sets all that up to make it happen? Pretty convoluted, and the motivations aren't very clearly explored either. Clancy Brown does menacing well (as anyone who's watched his Lex Luthor in the DCAU knows), and it's a bit cheesy, but I appreciate the symmetry of Castle seeing the various implements of torture he could use in that murder shed, and instead deciding to go with the "one shot" rule Schooner presumably taught him. Still, it's a bit anticlimactic for the most interesting mystery and storyline in the show.

Similarly, the reveal that Elektra is the Black Sky is kind of cool, I guess? Again, I like the idea that she's long-recognized the feeling that there's something raw and dangerous inside her, and that Stick's spent his life trying to tamp that down in her, so that this information makes sense when Nobu explains it. At the same time, I like the idea of the "you have a choice" routine from Daredevil, but it's pretty cliche and not written or delivered especially well. It's a cool image seeing him at the end of her sword, showing her that she's not a killer, in keeping with the whole lethal force theme of the season, but the whole thing is pretty cheesy.

Again, some cool stuff and cool moments, but it doesn't really amount to a solid whole.