SPOILERS AHEAD
Well holy canoli. Slade finally made his move on Oliver this episode, and boy was it big. It started out with last weeks kidnapping of Thea. That basically turned into a side note this episode, even though it was the driving force behind the events of the episode, because it focused on Oliver and his dealing with everything. Kudos to Stephen Amell. You can actually see the pain and desperation on his face in his search for Thea. Ollie was so caught up with Thea's kidnapping that he he briefly gave privileges of the CEO to Isabel Rochev, which she used to take control of Queen Consolidated. For a brief second I thought she may actually be helping Ollie (ridiculous right?), but this was her move on Ollie. And don't you know it, she is working with Slade, which is any interesting point to me. Is she a Shado doppelganger to him? Or is she merely a pawn in his game? I wonder if we will get an answer to that. Another development is the somewhat fixed relationship of Ollie and his mom, which takes the place of typical CW melodrama for this episode (it was kinda unbearable), but it was only for a fleeting minute. They only saw this crushed when Thea found out that Malcolm Merlyn is her father. I think this will be an interesting story to follow, and it may lead to the eventual reappearance of Merlyn. We also saw Roy call out Oliver. He felt Ollie was the reason Thea was kidnapped, which in a sense he is. I didn't like this bit, just because I felt like it took the focus off finding Thea. It just felt out there and throws Roy out the window a bit more, as he has barely been used during the second half of the season. The episode ended with Deathstroke gathering an army and Slade Wilson revealing to Laurel that Oliver is the Arrow. I wonder how she will react to this.
On a brief side note, I must say the flashbacks were quite weak this week, only getting Ollie back on the island. It didn't really do much for any characters. It actually only showed a version of Shado directing Slade. I hope the flashbacks start to get back to season 1 quality, as they have been a bit lackluster this season.
As for my thoughts, this is been one of the best episodes in the second half of the season. Most of them have been filler and preparation for the big showdown between Oliver and Slade, not that they have been bad. They have been great. But this one was so much better. It was still setting up a bit, but there was a lot of action and Stephen Amell's acting really elevated this episode. Plus that mic drop that Slade had on Laurel was pretty epic. I can't wait for the final stretch of this season.
Highlights:
9 out of 10 Stars
Well holy canoli. Slade finally made his move on Oliver this episode, and boy was it big. It started out with last weeks kidnapping of Thea. That basically turned into a side note this episode, even though it was the driving force behind the events of the episode, because it focused on Oliver and his dealing with everything. Kudos to Stephen Amell. You can actually see the pain and desperation on his face in his search for Thea. Ollie was so caught up with Thea's kidnapping that he he briefly gave privileges of the CEO to Isabel Rochev, which she used to take control of Queen Consolidated. For a brief second I thought she may actually be helping Ollie (ridiculous right?), but this was her move on Ollie. And don't you know it, she is working with Slade, which is any interesting point to me. Is she a Shado doppelganger to him? Or is she merely a pawn in his game? I wonder if we will get an answer to that. Another development is the somewhat fixed relationship of Ollie and his mom, which takes the place of typical CW melodrama for this episode (it was kinda unbearable), but it was only for a fleeting minute. They only saw this crushed when Thea found out that Malcolm Merlyn is her father. I think this will be an interesting story to follow, and it may lead to the eventual reappearance of Merlyn. We also saw Roy call out Oliver. He felt Ollie was the reason Thea was kidnapped, which in a sense he is. I didn't like this bit, just because I felt like it took the focus off finding Thea. It just felt out there and throws Roy out the window a bit more, as he has barely been used during the second half of the season. The episode ended with Deathstroke gathering an army and Slade Wilson revealing to Laurel that Oliver is the Arrow. I wonder how she will react to this.
On a brief side note, I must say the flashbacks were quite weak this week, only getting Ollie back on the island. It didn't really do much for any characters. It actually only showed a version of Shado directing Slade. I hope the flashbacks start to get back to season 1 quality, as they have been a bit lackluster this season.
As for my thoughts, this is been one of the best episodes in the second half of the season. Most of them have been filler and preparation for the big showdown between Oliver and Slade, not that they have been bad. They have been great. But this one was so much better. It was still setting up a bit, but there was a lot of action and Stephen Amell's acting really elevated this episode. Plus that mic drop that Slade had on Laurel was pretty epic. I can't wait for the final stretch of this season.
Highlights:
- Slade makes his first move
- Stephen Amell's performance
- Slade is working with Isabel
- Lot of interesting threads setup
9 out of 10 Stars