‘Arrow’ Review: ‘Deathstroke’ Spills Oliver’s Secrets

A lot of things went down in tonight’s episode of Arrow. Some were a little on the predictable side (looking at you, Isabel) and others were quite unexpected (Laurel!). As the title suggests, “Deathstroke” was at the center of everything and he’s at least one hundred shades crazier than we originally thought.

Let’s start where last week left off – with Thea’s kidnapping. Of course it didn’t start out as one since she thought Mr. Wilson was just giving her a ride home. Instead, he delivered her to an alley, ordered her out of the car and Brother Blood was there waiting for her. What did Slade want from the youngest Queen? Obviously he wanted to make Oliver miserable, but it turned out that what he really wanted was to keep the vigilante and his team distracted.

First, the team tried to take Slade down and his arrest only led to Quentin looking like a fool for trusting the vigilante. Now he’s in hot water again because he refused to name the man behind the mask. Does he know? I’m honestly not sure at this point. I always thought he did and it seemed sort of weird that he asked Sara if Oliver knew about her connection to Arrow. But now I’m back to thinking he doesn’t know because he doesn’t want to know and therefore doesn’t think too hard about it. Either way, he’s currently under arrest for conspiracy or some nonsense.

Second, the team tried to set another trap for Slade once he was released, but he got away. Roy was furious and blamed King Queen (nice one) for making terrible decisions. Roy got rough with Digg, Sara threatened to put an arrow in him and then Oliver returned to the cave and demanded to know what was going on. Roy made it clear that he was over him, over the team and done taking orders. But instead of doing something useful, he got in his car and sped out of town. I don’t know what the point of that was or even what the point of Roy is right now, but I think we all know that he will be back.

Moving on, Oliver was too busy dealing with his night job to worry about QC so he signed over the company to Isabel, granting her a temporary CEO status. I know Oliver was concerned about Thea, but I wanted to reach into the screen and bang his head against something for being so stupid. Despite her innocent act, that was exactly what Isabel wanted and she had the board make it a permanent change. Oliver was confused, but then Isabel revealed that she was working with Slade, the two fought and she gave up the location where Slade was keeping Thea.

Did that seem too easy? Of course it did and it was because Slade had already decided to let Thea go. But before she walked out the door, he asked her if she wanted to know the secret her brother was keeping from her. I’m sure some people faulted Thea for not just running at that point, but I probably would have wanted to know the secret too. The show cut to commercial so we didn’t know if she stayed or what she learned, but I assumed it was the truth about her paternity. I really didn’t think Slade would drop the Arrow bomb on her.

After a pep talk from Felicity, Oliver headed out to meet Slade and ended up fighting off his guys while Deathstroke stopped a prison bus and gathered an army for Sebastian. Seriously, this guy is still on the show. It annoys me, especially when we had to watch Laurel apologize even though she was 150 percent right about everything. But whatever, they’re working together. Oliver found the empty warehouse and Felicity let him know that Thea was safe and sound at the police station. Oliver and Moira headed there and that’s when Thea dropped the bomb that she knew about Malcolm, thanks to Mr. Wilson.

I need to backtrack for a moment and talk about Oliver blowing off Moira earlier in the episode. I was really tired of his nonsense because he’s no better than her at this point. But then he was there for her while Thea was missing so I cut him some slack. Now Thea thinks the worst of him (and Moira) and I’m guessing we’re supposed to feel bad, but I don’t. I’ve said all along that Oliver should have just told her the truth. Thea deserved that much. And now she’s alone with no one to trust (Great big brothering, Oliver).

Original recipe Team Arrow gathered in the cave and it was really nice to see the three of them together. I’m not against Sara being part of the team or even Roy when he’s not whining, but these three will always be the heart of the team. Digg and Felicity wanted to make it clear to Oliver that they were there for him and ready for the next step. Oliver was quiet for a moment and then he said they were going to fight back. I totally approve of this. I might not always be a fan of Oliver (okay, I rarely am), but I want to see Team Arrow kicking bad guy ass. That’s the show I signed up for so bring it.

Now, let’s talk about that last scene. Laurel was watching the news in her apartment and guess who shows up at her door after his villain power session with Isabel and Sebastian? That’s right – Slade. What does he want with Laurel? He just wants to quickly state that he knows Oliver is the Arrow and she should have a nice night. Okay fine, he didn’t say that last part, but he might as well have. Really, show, really? This is how you decided Laurel should find out the truth about Oliver?

Don’t get me wrong – I’m glad Laurel knows and I’m not upset Slade was the one to tell her. I just think it could have been better than this. She deserved more than a drive by tea spilling from a villain. I’m already worried we’re going to see her not believe it or have someone talk her out of it. Please don’t let that happen, show. And if she does keep her knowledge, how long before she puts two and two together and realizes Sara is the Canary? Again, please don’t drag this out. The show opened the can of worms – now please go somewhere awesome with it.

What did you guys think of the episode? Were you surprised by the reveals? How about the fact that Slade thinks Shado is whispering directions in his ear? Is that a drug side effect or is he just completely insane? How soon before Roy comes back? What’s Thea going to do now? Are you looking forward to Team Arrow going after Slade in two weeks? Hit the comments and share your thoughts with us!