Posted in: Movies | Tagged: arrow, cw, entertainment, Malcolm Merlyn, oliver queen, Slade Wilson, television, Tommy Merlyn

The Six Important Moments In This Week's Arrow – The Return

*** This is the standard spoiler warning. If you have not seen last night's episode of Arrow, please return to your full and upright positions… and move along. ***

So last night we got the episode called The Return and it was just that as Oliver Queen returned to Lian Yu while in the flashbacks Amanda Waller brings Oliver back to Starling City on a mission. This was this seasons 'flashback-centric' episode according to executive producer Marc Guggenheim. It also let Thea learn a bit more about her brother and about herself.

And here are the six important moments of the episode:

1) I'm going to start this off with the flashback itself and the fact that we basically get to check in on all the important characters in the series (with a name check on Moira and Walter). We get a drunk Detective Lance and his partner, a druggy Thea, a still alive and rakish Tommy Merlyn, Laurel at a crossroads, Felicity being Felicity and John Diggle just back to the states. We even get a tease of the hooded vigilante when Oliver takes out the drug dealer. But the most important thing is a reminder about a mystery we have yet to get back to this season… who killed Diggle's brother. Here we get to meet Andy Diggle. We have a face to put with the name. We know Deadshot pulled the trigger, but who ordered it? This seems like a subtle nod from the writers letting us know they haven't forgotten about John's backstory.

2) The one thing Malcolm Merlyn didn't want to happen did… and it was the final truth that Oliver had to tell Thea. This was another moment like last week telling Lance about Sara where a half truth would have worked… and once again the character chose to be completely honest. The show has been filled with lies that caused drama and tension… good for television but bad for what Oliver is trying to do. By telling Thea that she killed Sara because of Malcolm, there are no more lies between them and Malcolm stands revealed. Now Thea can choose between standing with Oliver who has saved life after life or with Malcolm who killed 106 people including his son and turned his daughter into a killer. You know its pretty bad when Slade Wilson thinks you've gone too far.

3) Robert Queen left his son a video in case he died. This is something that the series had mentioned a while back to explain how Oliver knew what the list was. Here we find out and it's an important moment because it comes as Oliver is about to choose the same path his father had. To do something for his family instead of the right thing. This moment put Oliver on the course to be the Vigilante upon his return to Starling City. That his life could be about more than just getting home to his family and friends. The unique thing about this show is how not only are we watching Oliver grow from vigilante to hero… with the flashbacks we are watching him grow from selfish child to a vigilante, a journey made more interesting because we know where it ends… where the show began.

4) The battle between Slade Wilson and Oliver / Thea was not the most important part of Manu Bennett's return. It was the conversation once he was back in the cell. Wilson is not hopped up on Mirakuru anymore. He still wants revenge for Shado, but he sees things differently now. He can tell just how far down the rabbit hole Thea has gone and that the odds are she won't be coming back up. When he points it out to Oliver, he considers her already lost. Oliver disagrees. Wilson then makes a comment about Felicity and asks "How many people can Oliver Queen lose before there is no more Oliver Queen?" In a way, that has been the theme for the whole season or at least what Oliver is trying to figure out.

5) It was obvious that Laurel Lance lying to her father about Sara all that time was going to come back and bite someone in the ass… and now we're getting an idea of just how hurt Quentin Lance is. She broke his trust, the bond they had together. That won't be repaired quickly or they wouldn't have strung telling him out so long. This is going to cause problems for not only father and daughter, but also between police captain and team of costumed adventurers. Lance has been turning a blind eye to who the Arrow is for the sake of the city. How much longer will he do that knowing that one daughter is dead and the other is risking her life at the Arrow's side?

6) The introduction of General Matthew Shrieve to the flashbacks. Waller could only string Oliver along so long before he would find a way to get away and back home. Something has to turn him around, offer him more training and end up putting him back on the island. In the comics Shrieve is a lieutenant and leads the Creature Commandos… now I don't think we're going to get them, but I think he's got some plans for Oliver. Plus, when the series premiered it looked like Oliver was getting rescued from Lian Yu, and we've learned over three seasons that he wasn't always on the island with this season being off of it the whole time. So maybe Oliver is returned to the island at some point so he could be found and taken home? Maybe he returns to Lian Yu to cover up all the things he did with Waller and now Shrieve? It will be interesting to see how it plays out through the rest of the season and into next seasons flashbacks… I mean, he still needs to learn to fly a plane right?

So unlike The Flash, we get a new episode of Arrow next week and it looks like Thea may have turned in dear old dad to the League of Assassins and Ra's al Ghul.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/N4Uf5aiOBZI[/youtube]

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