Arrow S02E15 – Review

By: Jake Coburn & Ben Sokolowski (story)

The Story: One should think twice before inviting a man with an eye-patch into one’s home.

The Review: I didn’t mention the cliffhanger appearance of Slade in the Queen family home last week because there really wasn’t much to talk about besides its dramatic power.  Now that we’re actually dealing with the fallout from his revealing himself to Ollie, we ought to talk about Arrow’s portrayal of Slade Wilson, who in many respects cuts a more impressive yet sympathetic figure on TV than he does in comics.

Compared to the amoral mercenary we almost always see (check out his guest part in Forever Evil for a typical example), television’s Slade has an emotional component driving his ruthless behavior, one that makes him difficult to hate even when he’s planning to destroy Ollie and everyone he loves.  A large part of this comes from the passion Manu Bennett brings to the role, selling Slade’s rage and despair with equal finesse, making you believe that there’s a core of pain in his deadened heart.