Recap / Arrow S 3 E 14 The Return

Oliver and Thea train on Lian Yu as dark secrets come out and old enemies return.

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• And Your Little Dog, Too!:
  • When Maseo interrupts her Auction of Evil, China White orders her men to find his family and kill them.
  • Before Ollie leaves the island, Slade throws out one last Implied Death Threat towards Felicity as departing words.
• Appropriated Appellation/Mythology Gag: Quentin snidely calls Laurel "Black Canary".
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  Slade: How many people can Oliver Queen lose, before there is no more Oliver Queen?
• Armor-Piercing Response: When Tommy points out that if Oliver, who's watching them, could see Thea now it would break his heart, her response stuns them both:
  Thea: It's funny how Ollie seems to care more about me now that he's dead than he did when he was alive.
• Asshole Victim: Thea's drug dealer had it coming. The cops who come to investigate the death seem to have zero sympathy for him too.
• Bait-and-Switch Gunshot: Thea fires her pistol at Slade for a Commercial Break Cliffhanger. Then we see Slade back in his call complaining that she gave him Only a Flesh Wound.
• Big Brother Instinct:
  • Ollie neck snaps Thea's dealer and throws him off the rail at Tommy's party. In the present day, he tries beating Slade to a bloody pulp for harming her.
  • Tommy himself sends off said dealer at the beginning of the episode when he caught Thea buying drugs from him and scolded her afterwards. He also covers for Thea being at the party when Quentin questions her.
• Big Damn Heroes: Oliver shows up just in time to keep Maseo from getting gunned down.
• Blatant Lies: Oliver is told by General Shrieve he can't stay in Starling City as he has to go back to China for 'debriefing' (which could easily be done in the local A.R.G.U.S headquarters), but once the Omega is secured he'll be free to go anywhere in the world. From the look on Oliver's face, he clearly thinks the General is full of it.
• Body Sushi: As mentioned in the pilot Tommy is into this, with Laurel even joking that he uses it as a pickup line.
• Break the Cutie: Slade notes how Thea's eyes show she has been "touched by darkness" after finding out the truth about Sara.
• Brother–Sister Team: Oliver and Thea's first outing as one involves them fighting Slade.
• The Bus Came Back: Tommy Merlyn, Detective Hilton, Robert Queen, Slade Wilson. Averted with Diggle's brother. His character is treated in the episode with much of the same tone that the others are, but this is actually his first appearance.
• Call-Back:
  • The scenes on Lian Yu open with Oliver stickfighting with Thea, as per his first lesson from Slade.
  • Slade is once again stopped from killing Oliver by getting whacked with a tree branch, this time by Thea instead of Sara.
• Call-Forward: The flashback scenes alluded to many of the important plot points in the first two seasons, namely;
  • Maseo scolded Oliver that his face is still recognizable even if he hides his face in a hoodie and grease, which is exactly his costume before Barry gives him a mask.
  • Character vices such as Thea's drug addiction and Quentin's alcoholism.
  • Tommy and Laurel's Ship Tease. Ditto for Felicity's attraction to Oliver.
  • Diggle working as a bodyguard with his brother.
  • Thea scolds Tommy that "you're not my brother".
  • Quentin calls out his daughter for going to a high class law firm instead of helping people like she originally went into law for. She later tells Tommy that she's decided not to work there, referring to her working at CNRI at the start of the series.
  • In the Season 1 episode "Trust But Verify", Diggle expressed confusion at how a message from Oliver's father could possibly have been found on Lian Yu. Oliver pointed out he never said he found it on Lian Yu (this clip is shown in the Previously on…). In this episode, we see how Oliver got the message.
  • Oliver snaps the drug dealer's neck the same way he did to his Starling City captor in the pilot episode, and for the same reason (to protect his identity). Detective Hilton then jokes that the killer was a vigilante doing a public service.
  • The Auction of Evil takes place in the Foundry where Oliver will later make the Arrowcave. Also, China White using QC businesses and associates for her operation foreshadows the corruption that Oliver will later confront.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Thea does this to Malcolm in a spectacular fashion when she finds out he brainwashed her to kill Sara.
  Thea: How could you make me kill a friend?
  Malcolm: He should not have told you that.
  Thea: I trusted you. I let you into my life. How could you have done this to me?
  Malcolm: Because you are my daughter, Thea, and I care about you.
  Thea: Oh, God, that's sick. And not even remotely true!
  Malcolm: You do not understand the danger we face from Ra's al Ghul!
  Thea: Just stop! Stop using him as an excuse. The only person that I'm afraid of right now is you.
  Malcolm: Please, do not do this—
  Thea: Oh, just stop. I will work with you to stop Ra’s. Because that's what my brother says we need to do. So 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.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Why Waller hasn't killed Oliver, because she needs his knowledge of Starling City and Queen Consolidated for the mission.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Slade mentions Shado numerous times, as well as Moira's death.
  • Oliver mentions that there's another inmate in Lian Yu. He doesn't say who it is, but it's clear he means Captain Boomerang.
  • Quentin still has hair, much like he does in the first two seasons.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot:
  • Slade brings up that if Oliver had been honest with him about how Shado died to begin with, maybe Moira wouldn't have died. It's hard to argue against that point, and Oliver doesn't try except to tell him that's enough talking about that.
  • This one also counts as a Plot Hole as there's no In-Universe explanation: If Robert Queen had only explained what the Undertaking was in the video message he left for his son instead of just leaving him the List (which doesn't list the members of the Tempest conspiracy), Oliver would have known Malcolm Merlyn was behind everything from the start and therefore been in a position to intercept both earthquake machines before they even got to the Glades.
• Cut Phone Lines: Malcolm tells Oliver that his satellite phone has been rigged to go dead right after their conversation.
• Damsel out of Distress: Slade puts a gun to Thea's head, but she quickly breaks free. Slade actually approves of how she has Took a Level in Badass since they last met.
• Dissonant Serenity:
  • When ARGUS interrupts her Auction of Evil, China White doesn't even bother looking in their direction as the agents are gunned down by her men.
  • Slade calmly waits for Thea to put a bullet through his head, accepting that she has every right to do so.
  • When Thea returns to their home, she claims to be fine. Oliver responds that he would be really worried if that was the case. Averted moments later when her father enters.
• Double-Meaning Title: The return refers to Oliver's return to Lian Yu, Slade's return, and Oliver's initial return to Starling City. We also see the return of many characters.
• Dramatic Dislocation: Oliver dislocates Thea's arm so she has the flexibility to reach out of their cell and press the button to unlock the doors.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Quentin in the flashback. In the present day, he gave his liquor to Laurel, who in turn pours it away. Both times because of him coping with the loss of Sara.
• "Eureka!" Moment: When Thea snaps at her brother for treating her like a "tiny, fragile little object", Oliver realises that the cell they are stuck in was built for a large adult male, and Thea can squeeze her hand through the bars to get them out (though he has to dislocate her arm to enable her to reach around the corner).
• Even Evil Has Standards: Malcolm's abuse of his daughter is disturbing enough for even Slade to subtly show his disapproval.
• Faking the Dead: After locking Oliver and Thea in his old cell, Slade plans to burn a pair of bodies beyond recognition with the Queen siblings' IDs back in in Starling City so that no-one comes looking for them.
• Foregone Conclusion: In the flashback, despite all his hope, no one will find out that Oliver is still alive (and live to tell about it at least), and Oliver will end up back on Lian Yu.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Waller makes a comment about having a superior before we're introduced to General Shrieve.
  • The audience is introduced to John Diggle's brother Andy, setting up the events of Season 4.
  • Oliver retrieves a pistol from a fourth grave alongside Robert's, Yao Fei's, and Shado's. That's also a story that won't be told until Season 4.
  • As well as the video file Robert left for Oliver, there's another one for Thea. The contents are finally revealed in the Season 5 episode "Honor Thy Fathers".
  • The Season 5 finale episode "Lian Yu" shows why Oliver set up the swinging log booby trap.
• Grave-Marking Scene: Thea visits Oliver's headstone to talk to her brother, as she mentioned doing in "Honor Thy Father", but actually to rendezvous with her drug dealer. Tommy sees this and calls her out over how she used to bring flowers to Oliver and Robert's graves, which she is shown to do later on. We then cut to Quentin visiting Sara's grave in the present. Laurel turns up at the same time and gets a roasting for lying to him after she reveals that she'd already told her mother about Sara's death.
• Handshake Refusal: Maseo to Oliver after the latter refuses to continue with the mission to stop China White from selling a Weapon of Mass Destruction.
• Heel Realisation: Oliver realises how his actions have made a mess of the lives of his family and friends, and resolves to go home regardless of Waller's threats and try to fix things. However, that means abandoning the mission, and when Maseo reminds him he could save many lives, Oliver just says he doesn't know those people. It takes playing the Video Will from his father to remind him of his duty.
• He Knows Too Much: Waller warns Oliver that anyone discovering his return will be killed. Ironically, the one person who does gets killed by Oliver himself.
• Heroic BSoD: Thea gets a major one when Oliver reveals to her that she killed Sara.
• Handcuffed Briefcase: The bioweapon is being transported in an aluminum case cuffed to China White's minion.
  Oliver: You have a choice to make.
  Mook: What choice?
  Oliver: Whether or not to keep your hand.
• Hollywood Healing: Much like her brother, Thea's dislocated shoulder essentially healed after only a few minutes or hours.
• I Ate WHAT?!: Discussed and invoked.
  Thea: This is good. What is this?
  Oliver: If I tell you, you probably wouldn't eat it.
  [Thea stops eating]
• If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: An Invoked Trope when Thea is ready to shoot Slade in revenge for the death of her mother. Oliver tells her that Malcolm set this up so that she would become a killer like him.
• I Have No Daughter:
  • Inverted with Thea, who makes it clear that while she is required to be Malcolm's student, she will never again be his daughter.
  • Quentin regards Laurel lying about Sara's death a violation of the connection he's always had with her, and decides that from now on, they will attend separate AA meetings.
• Insult Backfire: When Maeso tells Oliver that his family would be ashamed of how selfish he is (choosing to return to his family instead of stopping China White sell the bioweapon), he replies that they're already ashamed.
• Internal Reveal: Thea leans the hard truth that not only was she the one who killed Sara, but that Malcolm made her do so.
• Leg Focus: When Oliver hides from an incoming Felicity, the camera zooms from her legs.
• Match Cut:
  • Robert Queen's gravestone to his actual grave on Lian Yu.
  • Thea putting flowers on Ollie and Robert's graves, to Quentin putting flowers on Sara's grave in the present day.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Thea's reaction to finding out Sara died at her hand, causing her to realize Oliver was right about Malcolm the whole time. Oliver explains this reaction was precisely the reason he didn't tell her about it until now.
• Neck Snap: We see Ollie perform one for the first time, chronologically speaking.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: All the worry that Malcolm would be The Corrupter for Thea is for naught when his actions demonstrate to her what a monster he truly is. In doing so, he pushes her right back to Oliver and loses a member of Team Arrow whose family ties he could have manipulated for his own benefit.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Ollie decides to continue with the mission instead of returning to his family, capturing China White and recovering the bioweapon. But A.R.G.U.S. are not finished with him yet.
• Oblivious Guilt Slinging:
  • Thea tells Ollie that she's glad there are no more secrets between them, then asks why Sara's death was kept from her. Later, she suspects from Ollie's Facial Dialogue that there is in fact more that he's hiding from her.
  • Oliver overhears Tommy say that Oliver would be ashamed of Thea if he knew she was taking drugs, while Thea snarks back that it's funny how Oliver didn't care so much while he was alive. He later witnesses the mess his actions have made of the Lance family when a drunken Quentin tears into Laurel.
• Oh, Crap!: Oliver can't help going to visit Slade in his one-man prison, only to find the corpse of the A.R.G.U.S. guard lying under a blanket in Slade's cell bunk. Oliver realizes Slade is in the open and he left Thea on her own, while Slade's promise of killing all who Oliver loved comes back internally.
  Slade: (voiceover) YOU THINK I WON'T GET OUT OF HERE? I KEEP MY PROMISES!
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Oliver tells Maseo that he wore a hoodie to hide his face but ended up getting recognized anyway.
  Maseo: What were you thinking? Anyone at that party could have seen you!
  Ollie: Yeah, I pulled the hoodie down to cover my face.
  Maseo: That disguise wouldn't work even if you smeared greasepaint over your face.
• Posthumous Character: Some characters who are dead in the present day appear in this episode's flashback, namely; Tommy, Det. Lucas Hilton and Andy Diggle.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Tommy lectures Thea that if her believed to be dead older brother was there (he actually was), he would be devastated that she's ruining her life with drugs.
  • Thea's epic Calling the Old Man Out to Malcolm.
  • Quentin's What the Hell, Hero? to Laurel.
• She Is All Grown Up: On seeing the beautiful teenager she has grown into, Oliver notes that when he last saw Thea, she was wearing pigtails.
• Shout-Out:
  • Word of God says Slade vowing to leave the Queens in his cell as Oliver left him was a direct reference to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ("I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her... marooned for all eternity...").
  • Laurel initially accepted a job at the law firm Weathersby-Posner.
• Sink or Swim Mentor: Merlyn's idea for the Queens to face their fears and bring back Ollie's killer instinct was to free a vengeful Slade Wilson from his island cell. Subverted in that they're able to re-capture and imprison Slade without killing him.
• Special Edition Title: The opening title sequence (but not the closing one) is the one from Season 1.
• Spanner in the Works: Slade throws Oliver and Thea into his old cell, but the cell was designed for him. Thea is small enough to reach through the bars and unlock the cell (though Oliver has to dislocate her arm first).
• Swiss-Cheese Security: Oliver easily walks into the Queen home, and gatecrashes Tommy's party despite wearing a hoodie that makes him stand out among the other partygoers.
• Too Dumb to Live: The drug dealer in quick succession ignores Oliver's demand to stay away from his little sister, recognizes who he is and then pulls a knife on him. Oliver breaks his neck and throws him off the balcony.
• Walk-In Chime-In:
  Thea: This whole thing with Lian Yu...what the hell are we even doing here?!!
  (Slade grabs Thea from behind and puts a gun to her head)
  Slade: I ask myself, the very same question...over...and over.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Ollie decides to hell with the mission and to return to his family to try and fix up the mess he has made of their lives. He then plays the message from his father calling on him to right his wrongs and save the city, and so is inspired to help Maseo after all.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • In flashback, Tommy just loses it when he sees Thea's drug addiction getting out of hand.
  • Quentin isn't the least bit happy that Laurel lied about Sara for so long. In the flashback, he dishes one out to Thea, Tommy, and Laurel simultaneously.
• Wild Teen Party: Attempted to be defied by Tommy when he declared that his party is for anyone who is 21 and over just so Thea can't come. It failed as she uses fake ID anyway.
• What Measure Is a Mook?: Inverted with the A.R.G.U.S. guard. Malcolm's release of Slade results in the death of the agent guarding the prison, although it's unclear if it was Malcolm or Slade that killed him. However, neither Oliver nor Thea ever bring up this death, even when specifically chewing Malcolm out for his misdeeds. They both act as though the ONLY immoral result of Malcolm's actions was that it put the two of them at risk of death, pointedly ignoring that it actually caused a death already. In fact, the only one to bring it up at all is Malcolm himself, when he jokes about A.R.G.U.S. looking for volunteers to replace the dead man.
• Who Would Be Stupid Enough?: After they nearly get killed by a swinging log Booby Trap with Spikes of Doom, Thea asks what psycho would set one up on the trail. Oliver replies, "Me."