There's no denying that one of the primary reasons the second season of Arrow was such a bonafide success was due to Slade being one of the most kickass villains of all time. While Ra's Al Ghul should have been an equally menacing threat this season, he has unfortunately been afforded exactly six seconds of screen-time thus far. That will surely change going forward, but so far this season has been an utter flop villain-wise. That's why it was so refreshing to see Slade again in "The Return". 

Manu Bennett just exudes badassery at every turn, and he is physically imposing in a way that makes you genuinely fear for Ollie's life. Sadly, if I were being completely honest, I don't think his return was handled as perfectly as it could have been. His appearance simply felt like a plot device to get Oliver and Thea to work out their issues (thanks to Malcolm letting the beast loose), and once those were resolved, the Big Bad was promptly returned to his cell. Seriously? This is how we treat the greatest antagonist the show's ever produced? Deathstroke deserves better, and it would do the show good to remember that the next time it decides to pop him back in for ill-convceived reasons. 



Still, this was a tremendous episode for Thea. I'm ecstatic that she finally knows the truth about killing Sara, and was even more pleased by how effectively she fought off Slade (and even saved her brother's life). Maybe her training was rushed (a case can be definitely made for both her and Laurel's sudden skills), but I love having them both in on the action.

And it certainly looks like the writers might be building towards some kind of face-off between these two budding warriors. Moreover, how perfect was Thea's final speech to Malcolm? It's moments like these that remind me that Will Holland can be quite the capable actress when she's not saddled with the same whiny story beats over and over again.



The flashbacks were thankfully given a nice jolt in the arm this week as they featured Ollie back in Starling City. I want to say this subplot was masterfully executed, but it had a bit too many nudge-nudge-wink-wink moments. Sure the whole thing was enormously fun to watch, but did we really need to see Felicity talk to a picture of Ollie and call him "cute"? Wouldn't Ollie remember her since he was just a few steps away after all? Moments like these just didn't feel all that organic or earned.




Much more successful were the Laurel parallels with her pushing away her hero calling and temporarily taking up a corporate job in San Francisco. Not only was it cool to see Tommy's first attempts at romancing her, but it was even cooler to see her remember her purpose. This was well contrasted with present-day Quentin berating Laurel for lying to him and showing her how much their bond had suffered thanks to her dishonesty. All in all, Laurel's journey this season has been a welcome one, although I'm fearful of just how far Quentin's downward spiral is going to go.