Loved It? Hated It? What did you think of "The Return?"

[KSiteTV]

What did you think?

[Halberdier17]

I loved it. We saw Andy Diggle, we saw where Robert explained the list to Ollie, and Ollie told Thea she killed Sara.

[JDBentz]

Initial thoughts only:

1. Malcolm has some serious mental issues, and I applaud Thea's words to him at the end. That was one epic speech for a 20-year-old woman. I also loved how Malcolm turned to look at Oliver at the end of it. Something tells me those two are going to have some whole new ground for going after one another.

2. Slade's words about telling the truth about Shado seemed to indicate what some have speculated: that his hatred for Oliver stems not from the fact he saved Sara, but because he went along with Sara's lie and kept reinforcing it until Ivo twisted it around. Makes you wonder if he would have turned on Oliver regardless, or if it was simply a case of Oliver's trusting someone he knew/loved even when he knew they were in the wrong (this is a recurring theme for Oliver).

3. Lots of nice nods to the first season. I particularly liked how Maseo told Oliver that the hood pulled down wouldn't even work if he smeared grease-paint on his face... the steel factory being the auction meeting for China White's sale was good. One has to assume Mr. Keng or whatever his name is did not part willingly with the briefcase since there was no report of Oliver being alive, and he'd have to be really blind not to see Oliver's face and recognize him.

4. Willa Holland did a superb job in this episode, portraying Thea in various states of mind without having any problems that I saw. I particularly thought she pulled off her reaction learning the truth about Sara and her role in it very well. And, as I said before, her speech to Malcolm at the end was excellent.

Can't say that I found anything wrong with this episode, other than the two points where I could see the potential for Oliver to go home early (even if we knew it wouldn't happen). First would be at the party (I'm surprised he didn't try and go after Quentin for what he was saying to Thea, Tommy, and Laurel), and the second would be after he helped Maseo.

Now, I admit to not knowing comics characters, but something tells me that Waller wouldn't be doing anything against Oliver or his family without her 'employer's' say-so. In this case, the General. I know he's supposed to be a villain in the comics, but I don't see him doing something monumentally stupid to a very public figure/family like Oliver and the rest of the Queens.

[Haggard01]

Well it is a very well done episode. Oliver told Thea the truth about Sara which thank goodness they didn't drag that out. Lance acting the way he has towards Laurel because of Sara well I can't blame him at all.

Now the flashbacks were well to put simply is what we has an audience has known all along Ollie Queen is no more and tonight was when the Oliver that returned to Starling City some two years later to right his father's wrongs is truly born.

Another good thing iswe really didn't have Felicity in it besides that one cameo which fine to a degreealong with the Diggle one. A nice showing of their lives before Oliver cameinto them is the same to a degree for Thea, Tommy, Laurel and Quentin.

Slade I’ll have towatch the scene again but it almost sounds like he hates Oliver not for“letting” Shado die but lying to him about her death.

One very good acted scene is Thea telling Malcolm that she was done being his daughter. I know heis a villain and all but even I have to say Ouch that had to hurt but it’s probably even less than he deserves. For Thea she has come very far from the drug propping girl of close to 2010 or just five years ago.

So yea it was a very good episode with characters, action and everything else.

[JSnaples]

Best episode since the Mid Season finale..my only negative is that I found it convenient that Thea and Tommy were talking about their problems right in front of Oliver hiding in the bushes and how nobody on the streets noticed a Dead billionaire like Oliver queen walking around

[PHOENIXZERO]

As dumb as Oliver turning up in Starling City was, I didn't entirely hate it, total fan service episode. But hey, at least that mind controlled Thea killed Sara secret is over and done and Slade going on about keeping secrets make things worse and also hammered with Chesthair telling Laurel to basically *bleep* off. And I did laugh at her pouring the booze by Sara's grave like dudes pouring out a 40 for their fallen homies.

[Thailog]

Best Arrow episode in a long time - 10/10 from me.

This is what the show is supposed to be about. Making tough choices, surviving through dangerous situations and growing stronger from the experience. Kudos to the writers, the actors (amazing performances from Stephen and Willa) and the entire Arrow production team.

[choiceofluthien]

I loved it. The whole premise was great to begin with-back on the Island in the present day and in Starling City in the flashback.
Thea was fantastic. She's really grown a lot and I believed her emotions. Her speech to Malcolm-I wonder if that was what Marc was talking about happening that would remove Malcolm's grin? Or it might be next episode. I like that she is still sticking by Oliver.
It was great seeing Slade again. Pleased that Thea did shoot him--he had that much coming. I'm curious, as mentioned by others, whether Shado being killed was what really brought about his promise. Maybe a bit of both?
I can't believe Malcolm actually released Slade though...for someone who says family is important he sure doesn't think twice about putting Oliver and Thea in harms way. He's got issues.

Loved the flashbacks. Tommy and Laurel scenes were sweet--I liked them together. And I miss Tommy. Oliver killing that drug dealer-ha ha.
And he learned about the list. Diggle and Andy cameo!!!

I liked the little Olicity scene, it was cute and not too long.

Happy to see Lance getting angry at Laurel. His comments about it being time for her shift had me laughing a bit. But seriously, what did Laurel expect keeping this big secret and then pretending to be her sister?? She deserved everything she got and more.

Stephen and Willa were outstanding.

[Lipzo]

I liked it but it felt like a very short episode to me. Probably because not much really happened through the episode and unlike previous major flashback episode's it was a 50/50 combination of present day and flashback parts.

I really like how Thea stood up to Malcolm at the end, she will be staying as a member of Team Arrow from now on and will surely take on the name Speedy unless god forbid the writers decide to be stupid and kill her off (touch wood).
Malcolm did what I expected him to in this episode, there was no way he was purely sending Oliver to the island without a major test for him as Oliver already proved he could survive there easy enough. I do find it weird that he said he released Slade (or it was at least strongly implied) and yet Oliver said during the episode that Slade killed both the guards. Are we to believe that Malcolm went to the island, unlocked the door and told Slade to stay in his cell until the guards came along then kill them? Bit of a screw up there but nothing that can't be looked past.

What I didn't like was the Felicity moment, it was nothing but pandering to the Olicity fandom and was completely pointless to the storyline. Not to mention the fact taht they screwed that up majorly as she is supposed to be 24 going on 25 in the present which means she would be 19 going on 20 in the flashbacks and she graduated from MIT in the class of '09. It just doesn't work and it made me hate that scene even more.

[costas22]

Second very good episode in a row. This season wouldn't actually start becoming good would it? It wasn't a great episode though, because the show just can't avoid making some mistakes over and over.

The good:

- Slade! Damn I've missed that lovable psycho. It's just a shame that he can only make sporadic appearances like this now. They ended his arcs (both present day and flashbacks) far too soon.

- The Oliver and Thea scenes. They worked pretty well most of the time. I like how the show is trying a new dynamic with this relationship and Thea comes across more mature.

- One more secret is revealed. At least now Thea knows she killed Sara. I think now the secrets on this show can be counted on one hand's fingers.

- The flashbacks. It was nice to see what Starling was like in the middle of Oliver's 5 year absence. Almost everyone was where you expected them to be. Tommy keeping things together, Laurel trying to move on with her life, Quentin and Thea spiraling out of control... Pity Susanna Thompson declined the show offer's to return. Finally, I loved some homages to the show's history, like Andy Diggle and Robert's message to Oliver.

- No Felicity in the present day storylines.

The not so good:

- The Quentin situation. This is where the show keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over. Why do we have to go back in a place where Quentin is angry at the world and (you know it's going to happen) starts blaming the Arrow again? From the moment Laurel started hiding the truth about Sara, it was clear as day this is where they were headed. They're really wasting Paul Blackthorne's talents with this recycled nonsense. Also, haven't we seen enough Lance family drama to last us a lifetime?

- The secret keeping. I love how Oliver comes clean to Thea about Sara and the next thing he does is tell her "don't tell Laurel". Oh come on.

- Some logistics don't add up. Like how Malcolm knew where Slade was, how he helped him escape or how he knew exactly when Oliver was going to find out in order to give him a call.

- Felicity in the flashbacks. This felt like a blatant and lame retcon. According to the show's own timeline from this season, Felicity was still in college in November of 2009. So we're supposed to believe that she graduated (with a master's degree no less!), managed to find a job at QC and work close to the CEO's office all within 3 months? Quite honestly, that whole scene felt like another wink towards Olicity fans: "Look, Oliver and Felicity had some type of attraction for each other years before they met". Whatever...

8/10. Mostly because of Slade and his badassery.

[dark sister]

I give it an 8. Good episode overall, but a few things didn't work for me.

Thea is betting better each week, the speech she gave Malcom was awesome, finally she sees that her father is still the monster that killed hundreds of people to avenge his wife, Malcom has not changed and as she said, he can't use Ra's and the League as an excuse for all the terrible things he has done. What he did to Thea was unforgivable, and Oliver was an idiot for not telling her sooner, not only because it was clear she wouldn't trust Malcom after discovering the truth, but because she needs to know why the League may go after her. Let's hope Oliver learns from the experience and stops with the "I didn't tell you to protect you" b***s***.

Nice contrast between flashback Oliver and present Oliver, one is starting to act like the killing machine we met in season 1, the other is reclaiming his humanity and is way more connected to his emotions, he looked so desperate when Thea was on the brick of killing Slade, it's clear he doesn't want his sister to be a killer.

Loved the Tommy scenes, the "hood and grease paint" comment, seeing Diggle with his brother, and Oliver wearing a green hoddie .

The only two complaints I have about the episode are how little time they gave to Slade (I understand the episode was about Oliver and Thea's relationship, not Slade, but he is such a great character I always want to see more of him) and the Felicity cameo, it was pointless.

[Quark]

It was a great episode even if it was riddled with plot holes.

Loved seeing Tommy and Slade again, particularly Slade. Didn't realise how much I missed him. He is a much better character than Malcolm who I just want to die a horrible death.

Speaking of Malcolm, didn't he say to Oliver that we shouldn't keep any more secrets from Thea? Yet Malcolm wanted to keep the fact that Thea killed Sara from her. Talk about double standards.

It is beyond ridiculous that no one except for a drug dealer recognised Oliver who Oliver then killed. Surely Oliver's fingerprints will be all over him? I must say though that the drug dealer's death was a nice callback to the series premier when Oliver killed that random guy for finding out his secret. They both died in the exact same way.

Also, surely ARGUS would know if someone had broken out of their facility? From CCTV or something?

I also thought they would explain how Oliver knew in Season One that Laurel and Tommy were seeing each other. Yet the scene at the end with Tommy and Laurel didn't have Oliver witnessing it.

Also strange how Slade managed to do so well in his fight against Oliver and Thea considering he had been locked in a cage for over six months.

Ridiculous how Oliver saw Felicity working at Queen Consolidated. Not only because of what others have posted here but because I'm sure Oliver mentioned in the season premier when talking about how much he cared about Felicity that the first time he saw Felicity was when she was chewing a red pen. There was no chewing in this episode...

I absolutely loved Thea this episode. Her scene with Malcolm at the end, which inevitably was going to happen at some point, was brilliantly played.

Amusing how Thea now thinks there are no more secrets between her and Oliver. Wait till she finds out he was in Starling...

Also nice callback to see how Oliver got his message from his Father. But surely Walter would have seen that file on his computer whilst he was CEO? Yet Walter didn't know anything about The List.

[ArrowFan1988]

Also, Felicity should not have been there, as she still was a student back then.

[ArrowFan1988]

And where was Ras Al Gul? The man hasn't been seen in ages. I thought he was supposed to be the main badguy.

[savingpeoplething]

Too many retcons in the flashbacks. These things were shown TWO SEASONS AGO. No excuse for any of it.

But, I loved Laurel's strength to dump out that liquor (instead of giving into her addiction and drinking it; she is the strongest character in the whole dang show) and I liked seeing Thea dealing with what Malcolm made her do and then, standing up for herself against him.

3.