Arrow Season 3 Episode 14 - The Return Review

Arrow Season 3 Episode 14 - The Return Review

DEATHSTROKE!

 

That was my first thought on watching the episode. Then I sat back and thought about it and thought that putting aside my inner fan outbursts I actually found the episode was really good.

 

Episode 14 followed Oliver and Thea on Lian Yu, sent there to train by Malcom Merlin. Meanwhile the flashbacks follow Oliver and Maseo are in Starling City to take down China White.

 

The return was a very appropriate title for the episode. We see a return of the aforementioned Deathstroke, of Tommy Merlin, of Quentin Lance’s hair.

 

Naturally the biggest positive of the episode was Manu Bennet’s Slade Wilson. He remains as menacing as ever and reminds us all what we’re missing from last season. That guy is so cool but he played an interesting role in the episode too. It’s interesting to see how much he messes with Oliver’s head, even now. His promise is still coming true even though he remains locked up in a secure Argus prison. Oliver’s family and everyone he cares about are drifting away from him, highlighted here by how dark Thea is becoming.

 

His action scenes are great as always. I was glad he could easily over power both Oliver and Thea. Every time he fights we see how brutal he is. Oliver’s and Thea’s interactions were great here. Their training mirrored the training Oliver did with Slade on the island with the sticks. A lot of the scenes seemed to be mirroring previous scenes throughout the three series and I really enjoyed seeing it.

 

Thea was really strong this episode. For a long time it felt like the writers didn’t really know what to do with her but now she’s becoming one of the shows strongest characters. This is mainly because she is no longer in the dark about everything going on. We she how important she has become not only as a fighter but how she stands up to Malcom towards the end of the episode. She’s a great example of how the writers can turn around a lesser character into one of if not the most important supporting character in the entire show.

 

The flashbacks this episode were some of the best flashbacks in a long while. It was great seeing the characters so long ago dealing with Oliver’s death. I particularly enjoyed seeing Tommy again. However in this episode he acted as an older brother like character to Thea. Thea meanwhile is taking about as many drugs as possible. Outside of Argus these are the two we mainly focus on and they really show us how different Oliver is now.

 

My favourite moment was when Oliver snapped the neck of the drug dealer. It was quite chilling to be reminded how cold he used to be and it evoked how far he’s come. The flashbacks usually mirror the tone of the present day and here was no exception.  We see Thea becoming what Oliver was and how it troubles him to see this side of her.

 

We also get to see team Arrow from back then. Felicity gets some signature funny lines as she nearly walks in on Oliver hacking into his companies computers. We haven’t had much of the awkward funny Felicity lately and it was great to see. We also got to see Diggle and finally meet his brother. We didn’t see or hear much but I liked that we got to see where they were. I would however have liked to have seen Moira. She was great as a character with immense power and stature without having to be good in a fight. She carried such a presence which was why her death was so momentous.

 

Finally there was the Lances. We see Quentin at his lowest, something we’d heard about but not fully seen. It was very similar to seeing Laurel when she was drunk and it was quite chilling to see him in such a state. In the present though it was even more unnerving. I haven’t been Laurels biggest fan but I felt really bad for her here. I felt so bad for her being criticised by her own Father, especially when he started talking about her as Black Canary, I thought that was really harsh. Despite her being rushed and a very botched character, after last episode you can’t dent she has the best of intentions but she hasn’t realised how living the life of a vigilante pushes people closest to you away.

 

There were still some negatives. During the Flashbacks there were some really cheesy lines such as when Maseo tells Oliver that his hood is a terrible disguise even if he covered his face in grease paint. Tommy telling Thea Oliver would be ashamed of what she has become, with Oliver watching from a distance. Maybe some people liked this but I though these moments were very cheesy.

 

The other thing is that how these characters haven’t figured out how keeping secrets from each other always ends up badly. Is Malcom really surprised Thea found out he manipulated her to kill Sara? There’s also how easy it is to break in and out of the Argus prison on Lian Yu. My negatives are very nit-picky and that’s to the episodes credit but I thought they were worth mentioning.

 

Next episode is called Nanda Parbat. It appears that Thea is going to hand over Malcom to Ra’s all Ghul and the league of assassins. I’m hoping we will get to see the inside of the league. I assume some of the main cast will be heading to Nanda Parbat to free Malcom as we see him tied up and heavily tortured in the promo. This episode is also supposed to be debuting the Atom suit for Ray Palmer. I like Ray Palmer but we haven’t seen him in a while and I don’t want them to take away too much from the league of assassins. It may however mean we get more of Felicity as she will likely stay in Starling City with him.

 

I was very impressed with the Return. Slade Wilson remains as terrifying as ever and I’m glad he’s still alive to bring back at a later date, it’d be great for him to remain a recurring villain. I feel like Thea’s character is falling into place after a shaky start although I do expect her to kill someone before the series is up. She is being enveloped in darkness and I don’t think it’ll be as easy as to stay in the good moral standing. I can’t wait to see what happens and I thought this episode was one of Arrow season 3’s best so far.