Review: Arrow, “The Return” (Season 3 Episode 14)

It was reunion night on Arrow this week, with both Tommy and Slade coming back to visit. Hell, even Robert Queen stopped by for a brief skype session on “The Return.”

And for the first time in Oliver Queen’s long history, the flashbacks stole the show.

The current timeline focuses on Oliver and Thea’s day trip to Lian Yu, better known as ‘The Island.’ Tasked by Malcolm Merlyn to train there, Oliver quickly realizes that Slade Wilson has escaped his underground prison on the island and is on the loose. I’m not exactly sure what Slade had to do Ra’s Al Ghul, but I never turn down a visit from an old super-villain.

Thea has another week of BIG news, as she discovers that she was the one to kill Sara under Malcolm’s influence. The realization that she is a killer because of her father’s manipulations does a number on her, and I’m starting to think that any relationship between the two of them might be dead in the water.

Thea: I will be your student. I’ll be your partner. Even if I have to, I will be your soldier. But never again will I be your daughter.

So yes, present day is all well and good, but like I said earlier, the flashbacks made the episode GREAT.

Back in Starling after three years of being presumed dead, Oliver and Maseo take on the mission of finding the Alpha component before it can hit the black market. And while he’s in town, Oliver of course takes a stroll down memory lane and hits up some familiar faces.

First up is a teenage Thea, who he’s disappointed to find has become a bit of a druggie. Big brother Tommy – TOMMY, guys! Tommy is back! – tries to look out for her, but these are Thea’s wild child days. There’s no stopping her.

Some of the best scenes of the night actually belonged to the Lances, both present and past. A drunken Detective Lance stumbles his way through his grief initial over Sara, which juxtaposed nicely with a sober Captain Lance dealing with it in the present. More than anything though, he grieves for the relationship he feels he’s lost with Laurel because of her lies.

Captain Lance: We had a trust, and we had a bond, and you broke it. And I don’t know how you could do that to us.

We also get a couple quick peeks at what Felicity and Diggle were up to during their pre-Oliver years, and both are supremely adorable. Simpler times…

This week’s flashbacks did a lot to satisfy the curiosity of the audience that has been lingering for the past three years. We get ample time to see what kind of mischief Oliver gets up to during his five “lost years,” but what about everyone else? Where was Felicity before Oliver? What did Tommy and Laurel do without their best friend? How did Thea grow up and deal with her grief? Even if it was a short peek into the world of the past, it was a satisfying one.

In the end though, this episode was really gearing everyone up for round two of Oliver vs. Ra’s. The Oliver we see in flashbacks is more than capable of mercilessly killing someone who threatens his family, but the Oliver in the present? Not so much.

Did you love the flashbacks as much as I did? Which character’s past was your favorite? Sound off in comments below!

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Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.