Ever since we found out that Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) was not only still alive, but that he is also Thea Queen’s (Willa Holland) father, we knew that Malcolm would one day return to Starling City to finish his mission to destroy the Glades and to claim what he thinks rightfully belongs to him — his daughter. Unfortunately for Thea, upon the death of Moira (Susanna Thompson), Malcolm now feels safe enough to return. Without Moira’s threat to unleash the League of Assassins on him, Malcolm returns and undoubtedly has another diabolical plan that he wants to spring upon everyone.
But will Malcolm stand and fight with Oliver against Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett) to protect Thea or will Malcolm simply steal Thea from right under Slade and Oliver’s noses? And how will Roy (Colton Haynes) feel about Thea’s father resurrecting from his very richly deserved death and coming back to perhaps finish off the Glades, Roy’s home turf?
As if Oliver Queen did not have enough on his plate at the moment, having to face and deal with Malcolm Merlyn is the last thing he needs; unless Malcolm is sticking around to help out and fight against Slade Wilson and his Mirakuru army, Malcolm is one more problem to deal with another day.
But will Thea see it the same way? Maybe she is intrigued by the idea of getting to know her biological father. After all, she has not been privy to Malcolm’s extracurricular activities as the Dark Archer and all the times he and Oliver faced off. So maybe in her mind Malcolm is just the parental figure she needs right now. Though I suspect even if Thea were initially swayed by Malcolm’s charm, she would ultimately sense the one thing she cannot abide by – the lies. After listening to her own family’s lies for years, Thea is pretty finely attune to when someone is lying to her and it remains a hot button for her. Malcolm had better tread carefully or she might unleash all her pent-up rage and anger against him if she finds out he is also lying to her about anything.
As a recent press conference, executive producer Andrew Kreisberg described it as: “All hell is going to break loose in the city, and Thea will find herself in a precarious predicament. [Fortunately] she will be saved by her father and Malcolm is going to offer her what she doesn’t have anymore. That was part of our math with killing Moira. If we were going to send Thea in that direction, she needed to not have anything pulling her back — now that she has a brother who lied to her and has done something unforgivable and no mother, then on the flip-side, she has Malcolm Merlyn saying: I will never lie to you Thea.”
So with Oliver busy trying to extricate himself and Laurel (Katie Cassidy) from their predicament with the Mirakuru army, and to stop Slade before he and his army can inflict more damage on Starling City, who will be left to keep Thea from making a disastrous decision to get to know father? Is Roy in any condition to protect her and advise her? And will Roy’s skills be needed elsewhere that might prevent him from being the doting boyfriend Thea may need in dealing with Malcolm?
With masks, Mirakuru and now Malcolm in the mix, the world of Oliver Queen has become a bit too consumed with villains demanding his attention from all sides. It is a good thing Oliver has a few friends to help out, ‘cause he is going to need every single one of them as the clock ticks down on the fate of the city.
To see if Thea really does fall under Malcolm’s spell and if those crazy Mirakuru infected soldiers can be stopped, be sure to tune in for an all new episode of ARROW on Wednesday, May 7th at 8:00 p.m. on the CW.
Tiffany Vogt is the Senior West Coast Editor, contributing as a columnist and entertainment reporter to TheTVaddict.com. She has a great love for television and firmly believes that entertainment is a world of wondrous adventures that deserves to be shared and explored – she invites you to join her. Please feel free to contact Tiffany at Tiffany_Vogt_2000@yahoo.com or follow her at on Twitter (@TVWatchtower).