'The Daughter Of Sociopaths': How Will Thea Queen Combat The Darkness Inside Her On 'Arrow'?

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Arrow Season 5!

Thea Queen hasn't been present in as many episodes of Arrow this season as she was in previous seasons. (Willa Holland was only contracted for 14 out of the 23 episodes.) But the few times we have seen her, there's been a hint of darkness swirling around her — an indication of something she's been wrestling with, much like she did after her Lazarus Pit exposure.

Thea is no stranger to evil. Having Malcolm Merlyn for a father certainly gives her a bird's-eye view of how to make enemies. While she was in the red suit, saving Star City, she had a purpose, one that helped her keep her eye on the ball, but once she put her superhero suit back in the closet, Thea has had a difficult time keeping baby Moira at bay.

Recently, executive producer Wendy Mericle, after confirming Willa would appear in all five of the remaining episodes of this season, let fans know that Thea is aware that something is going on inside of her:

“Thea is the daughter of sociopaths, which is one of the biggest challenges any human being can really face… so she’s going to grappling with that and trying to understand: What is this in her that makes her so kind of Moira-esque, and how is she going to manage it? Ultimately, she and Oliver are going to come to the same conclusion about how to do that, by the finale.”

I don't necessarily agree with Mericle in her assessment of Moira, as I believe Mrs. Queen did have a conscience. She didn't, however, have any compunction about doing whatever was necessary to protect her children. I think that is the line Thea straddles at present.

Thea will do whatever it takes to protect Oliver. He's the only family that she has left, and it stands to reason she would take on whatever enemy she had to in order to save him. But she is definitely showing shades of Moira with her recent dip into dirty politics, and, had Oliver not stopped her, she would have toppled over the edge by resorting to blackmail.

Mericle says Thea and Oliver are going to come to a conclusion on how to manage her family inheritance by the end of the season, but is there really a way to ignore her parentage? Barring that, how do you control something that is a part of you?

Yes, people can change, but Thea has already taken steps in her mother's direction — steps that would, no doubt, make her father proud. So her sense of right and wrong has, in essence, already been tainted.

How she'll manage to overcome that is anyone's guess, but I'm not willing to bet that we won't continue to see Thea making questionable decisions. And possibly even taking a step in her father's direction in the future.