‘Arrow’ season 2, episode 18 review: Who is Isobel Rochev? Plus, Thea’s secret

For the past several days, “Arrow” has hyped up “Deathstroke” as one of the most fantastic episodes of the entire series. You give an episode that sort of hype, and the one thing you almost immediately run the risk of is having expectations be thwarted by your own hype. We were worried about that at the start, and then also at the midway point.

By around half an hour in, though, we were convinced that this story was worth every big of hype that it was getting beforehand. “Deathstroke” was a heck of an episode, and one of the best of the entire series so far. Really, we can only imagine there being two major questions in terms of logic after watching it:

1. Where was the part of Slade Wilson’s story about having children? The answer to that is that there were clues and references, but it was so slight in the past you could have easily mentioned it. Comic fans would have been so much more prepared to see it coming that Isobel is working for Slade … and could be his daughter? The “sins of the father” line was somewhat confusing.

2. How is Slade so loaded in the first place? Does being somehow super-successful always go in line with being evil and crazy?

The reason that this episode was so thoroughly entertaining from start to finish was not because of the action sequences so much as the chess game. Slade is capable of being a tank thanks to his enhanced strength, but he used more of his mind to manipulate Oliver. His idea of “destroying” him is by slowly and surely turning all he loves against him. This included him telling Thea that Oliver was the one who kept the truth from her about Malcolm Merlyn being her father. He had to take the fall for Moira, even if he and her were just starting to get on good terms again.

As Thea was eventually released, the aftermath started to truly become clear. Isobel gained control of Queen Consolidated, Quentin Lance was arrested for taking the advice of the vigilante, and Roy ended up departing Starling City after seeing his entire world fell apart and he blamed Oliver for Thea’s capture.

In the end, though, Oliver still at least has some allies. Diggle, Sara, and Felicity are still at his side, and that is something. Unfortunately, it may not be enough to really help him. He also doesn’t quite have Laurel anymore, given his sudden reveal to Laurel that he is actually the Arrow … if she wants to believe him. Seriously, do you really want to believe a scary dude who comes to your apartment with a secret like that? Grade: A-.

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Photo: The CW