Deathstroke Returns: He is His Father's Son Arrow 605 Review

 Much happened in last evening's Arrow. Deathstroke  returned, we  got some of his backstory, we  meet  Joe  Wilson (aka Kane Wolfman), and we learned the identity of  the Vigilante.

         Slade Wilson asks Oliver for help.  Slade appears different from Deathstroke  in that he  has more  compassion than Deathstroke.  He told Oliver you can't walk in two worlds, and we see  why  in this  episode, because  one world overtakes the other.  What's interesting is that he never wanted Oliver's help  as the Green Arrow, he  needed Oliver Queen  for diplomatic purposes.

       Oliver  struggles with helping Slade.  Felicity walks in  after making quick remark about meta's a bachlorette  party, she asks  Oliver if he's going away with Slade.  Felicity encourages him to go, and he had hoped she'd say no.  I  think  if she had he would not have gone.  He's listening to her now.  They  are in a totally different place  than  they have been. She tells him that he'd  be helping to find Joe.  Then Oliver tells her about his worries for William.  Felicity encourages him to tell William the truth, not the whole truth about Slade, but that  he's helping a friend find his  son. Felicity said, "You made a  promise to Slade.  It's about his son not Slade. Tell him your'[e helping a friend.When Oliver asks, if she's sure William would understand, she says yes, then Oliver asks, "How do you know?"  The answer is the key to this whole episode, "Because he's his father's son,"  Joe Wilson, as we will see, is  his father's son.

              There's a line Slade gives  to the man who knows where Joe is.  The man  tells  Slade, Your  son has  a good father,  and Slade said something  to the effect that if he had a good father, it wouldn't be him.  From  the flashbacks we know the mistakes Slade made.  We  learn that as Slade works for the Australian  services undercover,  he's looking for the one that knows where Yao Fei is.  Slade  takes Joe with him to New Zealand, where this  guy is.  Bad move, to take your son  on a mission where you might have kill.  What  loving father does that?  Perhaps he thought Joe would never know, and that since he spends little time with the boy as it is, there is time he can spend with his son.  However, Joe already mistrusts his  father and questions whether or not he really does work for the Airlines as Slade tells the boy he does.  He lies  to his son, and Joe knows it.  They have some fun briefly as father and son, when Slade tells  his  son he has to go to the bathroom.  Slade dressed now as Deathstroke,  questions the guy, and the man  tells Slade Yao Fei  is at Purgatory.  Then Slade slices his neck, and takes off  the helmet.  At that moment a twig snaps, and we just know that Joe has seen his father, especially at the truck when they leave the campsite, you know by the way Joe looks that he knows what his father did. 

              Back in Russia, Oliver finds out that Joe is dead, but when he and Slade ask for the body, they  find  that an organization called the Jackals took  it.  Felicity helps Oliver find  out some key information, and Oliver shows it to Slade, Slade says, "She's brilliant, how did you get her?"  Oliver says, "I ask myself that everyday."  Loved that line, didn't you? Oliver wants to go  with Slade, but Slade drugs him and leaves Oliver a note stating to go home, and be a father to his son.  This shows a side of Slade Wilson that's  important.  Slade, I think knows that it was Joe who saw him kill the man.  He wants Oliver to be the father that he was not.  He was being a friend.  The phone rings, and Oliver talks with William, and William want to know if Oliver found his friend's son.  He tells him, no, and then William  asks what  more he can do.  Was that the catalyst  for Oliver deciding to go?  I am thinking it was.  I also think William will be the one to tell Oliver to be the Green Arrow again.  William brought Felicity back into their lives, and I think he will be the one to bring Oliver back to the Green Arrow, especially if it will be to help Felicity. I digress....

         After some great fight scenes that Deathstroke has, some in slow motion, we find that Joe himself is the head of the Jackals. The shocked look on Slade's face told it all. He did not expect or want his son to have that kind of life.  He feared that Joe would be like him, and so he kept his distance, yet his son is like him. The idea that "he is his father's son," intrigues me.  Oliver did not raise William, but William's mother  was not filled with anger.  Joe probably saw Slade murder that man, and we have had clues from past episodes that Joe's mother was angry  with Slade.  Did anger fuel the way he turned out?   Unfortunately, Oliver followed him there, and now he is in  trouble.  We'll have to tune in next week.

           The other half the story focused on the Vigilante, and I don't think  any of us  were too surprised to see that Vincent Sobel, Dinah's partner and the one she loved, is the Vigilante.  That's why he spared her life. Dinah struggles with anger  that he killed so many people and the fact that she does love him.  Diggle encourages her to give Vincent a chance, which she does.  The matchbox art that Vincent left her car told the story that Vincent is still the man she loved.   We  now know that the writers  were correct in saying that Diggle would not be her love interest. It will be Vincent, I am pretty sure.

Samanda Watson, is out to get the entire team.  She called in Felicity and has subpoenaed Rene.  She also questioned Dinah about where she was when the "new" black canary showed up.  She is trouble for sure.

Emily Pallard wants to pass the vigilante bill even though a vigilante saved her life.  Will she be trouble?

Cayden James, though not present tonight, is out to get Felicity Smoak.  There are so many dangers for the team.

Added thoughts:  William is not in eighth grade, that's been established, but a pre algebra book is what he studied.  I teach school, so pre algebra is usually taught in 8th grade, but he may be an advanced 6th or 7th grader.  Okay, I'm still bothered by this.  I wish there was another subject that Felicity and William could talk about, though it is cute.  I do think it is good that he is worried about his dad.  That was real. He lost his mom, of course he doesn't want to lose his dad.   I like that very much. Did you notice how comfortable Felicity is around William, and he with  her?

 I also liked Rene's talk with Oliver about being the Mayor, but wouldn't that fall to Lance? Where is Lance?  It was cute when Oliver told him to make any laws.  As if he could do that without the council anyway. I also like the way the stories across the Arrowverse stay  connected.  Felicity mentioning the bachelorette party is an example. 

       Olicity:  Even though  we didn't have a lot of Olicity, what  we  had tells us  much.  They are a team.  Each one listens to the other, and Oliver wants her advice, and seeks it out, and when  it's different  from  what he wanted to hear, he accepted it.  Felicity isn't afraid ever to give her opinion,but now she knows that at least Oliver will  listen.  

All in all an exciting episode.  What did you think?