A look at the Easter eggs and comic references from last night's midseason finale!

Did you watch last night's episode of Arrow? Are you wondering what connections the episode has with the comics? Do you like Easter eggs (and not just the brightly colored kind?) Arrow Annotations is here to help, providing some additional notes and background info from last night’s episode. Arrow spoilers follow!

Three Ghosts - The episode title is a reference to Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol, which features the Three Ghosts of Christmas. Like "The Scientist", "Three Ghosts" was co-written by Geoff Johns.

McGuire's Rat Poison - The rat poison Barry uses to save Oliver is probably named after Bridget McGuire, Arrow's art director.

Delgado and 25th - Felicity spots Cyrus Gold at the corner of Delgado and 25th. Edgar Delgado is a well known comics colorist, whose worked for both DC and Marvel. Delgado colored several issues of Action Comics that Geoff Johns co-wrote with Richard Donner (the director of Superman).

Hotel Patricia - Diggle investigates Gold's room at the Hotel Patricia. That's a possible reference to Patricia Murray, the head makeup artist on Arrow.

Solomon Grundy - As mentioned last week, Solomon Grundy's name was derived from an English nursery rhyme symbolizing the seven stages of life. Grundy often quotes the first line of the poem, "Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday".

Langford Institute - Laurel mentions that participants in Blood's blood drive were given a psych evaluation at the Langford Institute. I searched long and hard for what this is a reference too, but I can't seem to figure it out. Langford is the first name of the Golden Age superhero The Ray, but I don't think that's the reference they were going for.

"Liking someone who doesn't like you back" - Barry Allen mentions that he has experience with liking someone who doesn't like you back. He's referring to Iris West, his longtime girlfriend and eventually wife in the comics. A recent casting sheet mentions for the Flash pilot confirmed that Iris would be in the new series, and was unaware of Barry's feelings for her.

Lighting a menorah - Felicity mentions that she'll be lighting a menorah this Christmas. Felicity first mentioned she was Jewish in last year's "Year's End".

Linda Park - The Central City reporter covering the particle accelerator is Linda Park. Linda is the girlfriend, and eventual wife, of Wally West, Barry's sidekick and successor as the Flash. Wally is also the nephew of Iris West, Barry's love interest (who was mentioned earlier in the episode). She was portrayed by Olivia Cheng, who previously appeared in Supernatural and Fringe.

Officer Jones - The female officer who participated in Lance's ill-fated police raid actually appeared in last week's episode as a background character. She was played by Jennifer Cheon.

Mirakuru - We finally get a spelling of Ivo's mystery drug, confirming that it isn't a weird pronunciation of Miraclo, Rex Tyler's mystery drug.

Cyrus Gold's Death - Cyrus Gold's face is all disfigured during his (presumed) death. It's a pretty heavy handed wink to Gold's transformation into the zombie-like Solomon Grundy, especially with the lighting giving his face a very pale complexion.

Slade's eyepatch - Not only is Slade alive, he's also missing an eye! In the comics, Slade lost his eye after his wife shot him in the face. Oliver reaggrevated the injury years later after he stabbed Deathstroke in the eye socket during a fight against the Justice League, which ignited a long feud between the two characters. Slade's greying sideburns are also a nod to his hair color in the comics.

"He'll be on time." - A running gag throughout the last two episodes is how Barry's always late. That's a running gag in the comics, too, although he's usually delayed due to his extracurricular activities as the Flash. In fact, Iris nicknames him "the slowest man alive" due to his perpetual lateness.

Evan Gibson - On Barry's Board of Weird, there's an article about his mother's murder written by Evan Gibson. In the comics, Evan Gibson is a reporter for the Star City Gazette and ally of Green Arrow.

Lightning strikes - Barry's lab accident/lightning blast at the end of the episode closely mirrors his origin in the comics. In the comics, that lightning bolt is actually Barry himself, whose body is converted to energy while traveling back through time during a fight with Professor Zoom.

Ollie's Mask - The box containing Ollie's mask is wrapped with a copy of the Central City Tribune, with a headline mentioning a series of arsons in the city. This is probably a reference to Heat Wave, a longtime Flash Rogue who's also a pyromaniac.

And that's all for this week! Since this is the last Arrow Annotations of the year, I just wanted to thank all of our readers. Arrow Annotations is often a highlight of my week, and I'm glad that it's gotten such a great and loyal following (especially on the /r/arrow subreddit). Have a happy holidays, and we'll see you next January!