Episode Description: Malcolm (John Barrowman) puts Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Thea (Willa Holland) in a dangerous situation that lands them on Lian Yu with Oliver’s former enemy, Deathstroke (guest star Manu Bennett). A flashback reveals when Oliver and Maseo (guest star Karl Yune) returned to Starling City to retrieve the Omega bio weapon, and despite being under strict orders from Amanda Waller (guest star Cynthia Addai-Robinson) not to reveal himself to anyone, Oliver looks in on his family, Laurel (Katie Cassidy) and Tommy (guest star Colin Donnell).
High Points
- I wanna grab a beer with Young Detective Lance.
- I wanna grab a drink with school girl Thea.
- Cool reversal seeing Ollie on the island in Present day and seeing him in Starling City in the past.
- Slade Wilson is on the loose y'all. Thanks Malcolm, you always make everyone's lives suck.
- I wanna grab a drink with young Tommy Merlyn.
- I wanna grab a drink with young Felicity Smoak.
- Throwback FLO RIDA track!
- I wanna grab a drink with young John Diggle.
- I wanna grab several drinks with young Laurel.
- Tommy Merlyn's pick up game is fire. "Have you ever had sushi eaten off of you?"
- Killing a drug dealer is the fastest way to end a bitchin' party.
- Drunk detective Lance is an asshole and I love it.
- Maseo takes a shot at Ollie's season one look. "That look wouldn't work even if you smeared grease paint on your face."
- Ollie's booby traps still work!
- Ollie finally tells Thea that she killed Sara. I feel like every week I'm writing that Ollie finally told somebody something. Dude has more secrets than Ted Bundy.
- The Queens vs. Slade was a pretty awesome fight.
- Ollie viscously punched out China White!
- Thea took the path of the hero by not killing Slade.
- Present day Det. Lance's anger is 100% justified.
- Willa Holland did a great job tonight. Her character is completely different from how she was way back in Season 1.
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| Slade be like... |
Low Points
- China White's conflict worked well in getting Ollie back into Starling, but overall it was a slow and meaningless conflict.
- Hated how the episode was not dedicated to the Slade Wilson's breakout.
- The flashbacks did little to further the story. All they did was retell stuff that we already knew. (Thea did drugs, Lance was a drunk, Tommy was a perv, ect.)
- That Robert Queen video was unneeded and weirdly prompts Ollie to be a vigilante.
- Captain Boomerang was in the other cell on the island and we never got to see him.
- Slade Wilson took a season to take down last season. It took about 15 minutes to take him down this season.
- We hear about Ra's Al Ghul constantly, but yet have only seen him for about 10 minutes this entire season.
- WHERE THE HELL IS RAY PALMER? Three episodes in a row with no Ray.
- No present day Roy, Diggle, and Felicity also hurt this episode.
Verdict: "The Return" was very much the proper title for tonight's show. Present Day Oliver returned to the island. Long-Haired Ollie returned to Starling City. But why I found the title so fitting was because this episode felt like a return to Season 1. And that's not a compliment. This episode felt like it was from the first half of Arrow's inaugural season, when the villains and flashbacks were lame. In fact most of what we saw in tonight's flashbacks were things we already knew about (Thea did drugs, Lance was a drunk, Tommy was a perf, Laurel wanted to bang Tommy, ect.) . The only new piece of information we got was that Ollie was back in Starling briefly. So my question is why did these flashbacks take up the majority of the hour? They did nothing, but put Ollie right back on a plane to Hong Kong. As for the villains, can someone tell the writers to stop using China White. Her scheme was easily stopped and she didn't even put up a fight. She has never been a compelling antagonist and never will be.
Now for what disappointed me the most this week. "The Return" also marked the return of fan favorite bad guy Slade Wilson (played by the incredible Manu Bennett). Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim had promised that this episode would give closure to Slade and Ollie's arc from Season 2. Now while Slade never breaks his promises, Guggenheim clearly breaks his. Slade was seen tonight for total of 5 minutes in which he got his ass handed to him by the Queens. I would be completely okay with that if he had some sort of closure with Ollie, or maybe he revealed something unknown, but he didn't. Just got his ass beat and casually threatened Felicity. The whole scenario of an escaped Slade just felt like a wasted opportunity. So when Deathstroke does eventually come back to Starling, I hope he gets treated better than he did tonight. Deathstroke deserved better.
On a positive note at least Ollie finally told Thea that she killed Sara. Thus officially ending her relationship with Malcolm Merlyn. She is finally starting to make smart decisions Thea may have started out as a whiny druggy, but has since turned into a hardened badass. Every episode she inches closer and closer to becoming another one of Green Arrow's sidekicks. Seeing her don a costume will be a delight (mostly because it will probably show her always visible mid-drift). And while we are in the business of talking about donning costumes, next week's promo seems to show that Ray Palmer will finally suit up as the Atom. So there is definitely stuff to look forward to this season even though I spent most of this review bitching. I just think Arrow needs to be more like the The Flash by setting up more intruguing possibilities for their future, instead of just breaking down the past that the audience already knows about. So at the end of the day I have to give "The Return" a 6.5 out of 10. Don't worry though Arrow-heads, things are always darkest just before the dawn. With Atom suiting up and Ra's Al Ghul reemerging, I predict a return to form for Arrow next week.
Now for what disappointed me the most this week. "The Return" also marked the return of fan favorite bad guy Slade Wilson (played by the incredible Manu Bennett). Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim had promised that this episode would give closure to Slade and Ollie's arc from Season 2. Now while Slade never breaks his promises, Guggenheim clearly breaks his. Slade was seen tonight for total of 5 minutes in which he got his ass handed to him by the Queens. I would be completely okay with that if he had some sort of closure with Ollie, or maybe he revealed something unknown, but he didn't. Just got his ass beat and casually threatened Felicity. The whole scenario of an escaped Slade just felt like a wasted opportunity. So when Deathstroke does eventually come back to Starling, I hope he gets treated better than he did tonight. Deathstroke deserved better.
On a positive note at least Ollie finally told Thea that she killed Sara. Thus officially ending her relationship with Malcolm Merlyn. She is finally starting to make smart decisions Thea may have started out as a whiny druggy, but has since turned into a hardened badass. Every episode she inches closer and closer to becoming another one of Green Arrow's sidekicks. Seeing her don a costume will be a delight (mostly because it will probably show her always visible mid-drift). And while we are in the business of talking about donning costumes, next week's promo seems to show that Ray Palmer will finally suit up as the Atom. So there is definitely stuff to look forward to this season even though I spent most of this review bitching. I just think Arrow needs to be more like the The Flash by setting up more intruguing possibilities for their future, instead of just breaking down the past that the audience already knows about. So at the end of the day I have to give "The Return" a 6.5 out of 10. Don't worry though Arrow-heads, things are always darkest just before the dawn. With Atom suiting up and Ra's Al Ghul reemerging, I predict a return to form for Arrow next week.
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| We love you, Manu! |
Thanks for reading! Was I too harsh? Are you excited to see the Atom? Let us know in the comments or on twitter @Caped_Informers. and @cstrand73. Be sure to check back regularly for more show/movie reviews and breaking news/stories regarding the comic book universe. Arrow returns same time next week with "Nanda Parbat" as Ra's Al Ghul returns to the show! It's can't miss TV.
Update!: Robbie Amell posted this pic of him and his cousin Steve on Instagram. Looks like Firestorm is coming over to Arrow!
Update!: Robbie Amell posted this pic of him and his cousin Steve on Instagram. Looks like Firestorm is coming over to Arrow!
I would have gave it a 7. Tommy Merlyn was great
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