Some shoddy dialogue this episode, lots of very clumsy and frankly unneeded exposition.
I know it's the CW, not The Wire, but it's usually much better than this.
But that's always how the series has been IMO. Seem to happen at least once every episode, where the dialogue just feels strange and awkward, sometimes more, sometimes less. But I think they've improved that aspect since the first season, at least.