Arrow (Season 3) (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

A nice thematic conclusion to this trilogy of episodes surrounding Oliver's absence, but a bit frustrating.

The most frustrating thing is the timeline. It simply doesn't play that Oliver goes from being on death's door having been stabbed through the chest with a giant blade to flying through the air on grappling arrow line in less than a month. It particularly doesn't play that a grueling journey through harsh environments broken up by periods on questionable transportation takes you from struggling to walk to flying through the air on a grappling arrow line in a week or so.

I hope that's not the last we've seen of Tatsu in the present day. A great character, anchored by a great performance from Rila Fukushima.

I love the idea of Malcolm training Oliver to defeat Ra's al Ghul, it's one of those story beats that feels obvious in retrospect and is fraught with drama, given how much Malcolm has taken from Oliver over the years. That being said, with Malcolm and Oliver teamed up, it's more ludicrous than ever to keep Thea in the dark about Oliver's role as the Arrow.

I really liked that Sin had the basic human courtesy to tell Captain Lance that the Canary running around the city isn't Sara. That's another lie that's gone on far too long, and only will make the eventual reveal more devastating.

I loved Felicity's rejection of Oliver, listing all of the horrible things Malcolm has done to the women Oliver loves, and then telling him that she doesn't want to be a woman that Oliver loves. It's not manufactured drama, because it represents a genuine clash in philosophies that feels very grounded in everything we know about both characters. Oliver sees one option to get through to the other side and keep the people he loves safe, and he's willing to make any pragmatic compromises that it takes to get there. Felicity has a fixed moral center, and she views failure and even death as less terrible outcomes than going down that road to survive. Drama centered around crystal clear truth is so much more effective than the manufactured drama of secrets and lies.

 

[Matt Hough]

I understood all of Felicity's arguments, but I don't understand why she can't see the pragmatism in what Oliver is doing: trying to find a way to stay alive and to keep his sister alive. It's a means to an end, and sometimes that means unpleasantness is inevitable.


But if her morality prevents her from accepting his decision, then so be it. I don't find the parting unbearable.


It was a very fast moving hour.

 

[Sam Favate]

Another great installment. This show knows how to build intensity.


Someone remind me: Why did Malcolm kill Sara again? Just to force a confrontation with Ras? Because that seems a bridge too far for Oliver to be working with him.

 

[Matt Hough]

Actually, Thea shot Sara, but the motivation for it obviously came from Malcolm. I just can't remember what it was. I'm sure other fans will chime in soon.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Someone remind me: Why did Malcolm kill Sara again? Just to force a confrontation with Ras? Because that seems a bridge too far for Oliver to be working with him.

Actually, Thea shot Sara, but the motivation for it obviously came from Malcolm. I just can't remember what it was. I'm sure other fans will chime in soon.

Malcolm had a death sentence on his head from the League of Assassins. The only way to lift the death sentence was for the League's leader, Ra's al Ghul, to die. Oliver was the only one who was able to beat Malcolm, so Malcolm figured that Oliver had the best shot of defeating Ra's. Sara was under the League's protection, both as a member and as the love interest of Nyssa (the daughter of Ra's al Ghul). Malcolm drugged Thea and used her drug-induced suggestive state to have her kill Sara, because putting Thea squarely in the League's crosshairs was the only thing that would properly motivate Oliver to duel Ra's. He bet everything -- his own life, his daughter's life, Oliver's life -- on the chance that Oliver would kill Ra's. Since Oliver didn't, it puts him in kind of a spot.

The flip side of that is that Oliver, having taken a sword through the chest, understands just how lethal of a threat Ra's poses. He also knows that he doesn't have the necessary skills to defeat Ra's, as evidenced by his brush with death. Tatsu, the most skilled swordsperson Oliver knows, told him he needed to train with with someone who was trained by Ra's if he has any chance of defeating him. Malcolm is the only one available to Oliver who was trained by Ra's.

 

[Sam Favate]

I thought that was the reason, but it seems a little weak to me (Malcolm's justification for killing Sara), and I don't think Oliver would be able to get past that to work with Malcolm. Maybe there's more than meets the eye to Oliver's association with Malcolm. Betrayal makes great drama, after all.

 

[Sam Favate]

Presented without comment:

Arrow actor discusses the possibility of being Green Lantern

http://www.comicsbeat.com/arrow-actor-discusses-the-possibility-of-being-green-lantern/

 

[Lou Sytsma]

I found the speed with which the show moved from Oilver's death and resurrection disappointingly far too rapid. Would have preferred this play out over more episodes and be explored more in depth. Not so much from the other characters's perspective but from Oliver's. How has it affected him? Is he the same person? etc Too fast. Too glossed over. This is a BIG deal and one story telling device the show cannot, and SHOULD not, revisit. It should have been carried more gravitas.


As for characters and alliances flip flopping, the show is becoming encumbered by it's own history which requires more and more story telling gymnastics to keep it moving forward. It's starting to feel like those latter seasons of Alias.


Felicity's stance on Oliver working with Malcolm is sadly predictable. It has less to do with her moral center and more with keeping the unrequited love story between her and Oliver ongoing, in my opinion.


Still enjoying the show but my emotional engagement is diminishing.

 

[Matt Hough]

I agree completely that the recuperation from what appeared to be a fatal injury and horrific fall was much too soon. I fully expected him to be out of commission for the rest of the season (used only in flashbacks and an occasional check-in to see his rehab) and make a dashing reappearance in the season finale. So his quick bounce back has been very surprising and not altogether satisfying.

 

[Sean Bryan]

His quick recovery works better if there was some supernatural/fantastical/Sci-Fi type of explanation for it, not so much if he was just "patched up".

If they are using some element of the "Lazarus Pit" or something like that they don't seem to want to reveal much about it yet.

 

[Jason_V]

I understood all of Felicity's arguments, but I don't understand why she can't see the pragmatism in what Oliver is doing: trying to find a way to stay alive and to keep his sister alive. It's a means to an end, and sometimes that means unpleasantness is inevitable.


But if her morality prevents her from accepting his decision, then so be it. I don't find the parting unbearable.


It was a very fast moving hour.

I don't know...I want to give Felicity a huge benefit of the doubt on this one. Yes, she SHOULD be able to see past all of this in a logical way. But let's recount what's gone on in her world this season:


1) Sara was killed

2) Ray is making not-so-subtle romantic gestures in her direction

3) Oliver tells her he loves her

4) Oliver "dies"

5) Felicity is forced to keep going for Laurel, Digg and Roy

6) Oliver randomly shows up when the Glades is in crisis with no word for a year


She was just getting used to the idea of Oliver being out of her life...and then he magically reappears. He doesn't bother to check in with her first as a heads up (presumably for the sake of drama) before taking to the streets.


Frankly, I don't think I'd be able to handle all of that and get any outcome other than hers. Strike that...I know I wouldn't be able to.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Tonight's episode was a very strong episode, and I have no major complaints.

There are three secrets that have been poisoning the relationships in this show: 1) Oliver not telling Thea that he's the Arrow; 2) Laurel not telling her father that Sara died; 3) Malcolm not telling Thea that he coerced her into killing Sara. The first two secrets had long outlived whatever originally justified them, and it was gratifying to see both addressed in this episode.

I really liked how Thea took the news; she's not the petulant little girl that she was in the first two seasons, and she could see past his lies and find gratitude for sacrifices. So much of her anger has been fueled by being alone and it's nice that now, whatever role she ultimately takes, she has people to share the burden with.

I thought the post-coital scene in her loft was a perfect example of how they're handling the evolution of her character at the right pace. She figured out that the wine had been poisoned on her own, played it cool, and held her own against one of the League's elite assassins. But, at the end of the day, she'd only been training for a few months, and the DJ's years of training carried the day. And then Roy swoops in to save her, and unlike the dance of complementary fighting styles between Thea and the DJ, this fight is a clash of artistry and street tactics, and despite Roy's experience ultimately the years of training carried the day again for the DJ. Finally, the hated Malcolm confronts him. The DJ knows he's not going to win that fight, so he kills himself rather than risk spilling any intel. And in so doing, he further exposes Malcolm's weakness, because the DJ is willing to die for something and Malcolm would (and has) sacrificed everything up to and including his daughter's innocence to save his own neck.

Laurel's evolution, by contrast, continues to feel too rushed. That baton handoff from Sara to her rubbed me the wrong way. That being said, I liked that the storyline was ultimately about forcing her to grow up and realize that she had no right to keep her father in the dark. The scene at the end, when she tells him the truth, is probably the best acting Katie Cassidy has done on this show. I especially liked that the writers presented Laurel with a way out, a way to tell her father the partial truth as a means of hiding the whole truth, and she didn't take it. That was the first time in a long time, maybe ever in the series, that I've really respected Laurel as a character.

I thought it was great that after the team confronts Oliver and collectively tells him he's not the boss any more, Diggle keeps his mouth shut. He lets Oliver storm off, and then once things have settled down he has a drink with Oliver and takes the time to listen to him. He behaved like an adult in a way none of the others did. His general message was the same, but he presented it without disrespecting Oliver.

The way things left off was pretty interesting: It looks like next week, the present day scenes will be set on the island while the flashbacks will be set in Starling City, a complete inversion from what we're used to. I hope they have a really good reason why Oliver couldn't slip away and walk into the local news station. I think it'll be really interesting to see him and Thea on the island together.

 

[Matt Hough]

Adam has hit on everything I would have written about had I gotten here first.


I do have one question. What exactly is Diggle's role in the group now? I remember that Oliver excused him from street fighting since he has a new baby at home, but honestly, it's a total waste for him to man the computer terminal especially when having another fighter in the street could have captured Vertigo halfway through the episode. I really would have expected him to get his own crime fighting identity by now.


I was also very surprised that the DJ/Spy storyline came to a head so quickly. I would have expected that to play out for many more episodes before the final showdown with the head honcho.


Props to Katie Cassidy for that scene with her father; it is the best acting she's done in three years.

 

[Sam Favate]

Agreed on the points in the previous two posts. The show is at its best right now. I find myself looking forward to it more than the other bunch of related shows on TV this season.

 

[ponset]

Anyone else feel like they are watching a Ping-Pong match?

Characters on ARROW flip-flop their views and opinions on a regular basis.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Anyone else feel like they are watching a Ping-Pong match?

Characters on ARROW flip-flop their views and opinions on a regular basis.

Yep. I call it the Alias Switching Sides Syndrome or ASS for short.


It's great to see all the characters in on most of the truths and united with a common enemy but the aforementioned ASS issues and the glossing over of Oliver's death and revival make this feel hollower than it should.


I do really like bringing Thea to the island with Oliver. That should lead to wonderful bonding moments between the two. And force Oliver to revisit many ghosts.


Plus this must mark a return of Slade Wilson!

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, I knew Slade was going to be back, at least for one episode and in a plot that was not a flashback, so this must be it.

 

[Sam Favate]

According to EW

Spoiler

Malcolm releases Slade while Oliver and Thea are on the island as part of Oliver's training to combat Ras al Ghul.

Not sure I like that.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Something someone pointed out to me: In the previous episode, Arrow stood before the entire city and promised he'd never leave them again. And now in this past Wednesday's episode, literally one episode later, off he goes back to the island with Thea.

Kind of funny.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Kind of funny.

Kind of. But even more so, a perfect example of how the show flip flops.