Arrow: Season 3 Review

By Jesse Schedeen

Warning: full season spoilers follow!

One could easily make the argument that Arrow has become the victim of its own success. The first season laid out a blueprint for how to blend vigilante action, conspiracy, romance, and Lost-style flashbacks into one effective superhero show. Season 2 elevated that formula and delivered a gripping, overarching storyline anchored by the very personal grudge between Oliver Queen and Slade Wilson. Season 3 faced an uphill battle in trying to move forward from the big Ollie/Slade showdown and continue the show's growing momentum. It was unfortunate but not entirely unsurprising that this season failed in that goal.

Season 3 certainly started off on a strong note with the premiere episode, "The Calm." That episode laid out the general status quo for team Arrow post-Slade uprising. Ollie had saved his city but found himself struggling to find meaning in his existence outside of putting on a costume and shooting criminals full of arrows. That struggle was complicated with the addition of a new recurring player in the form of Ray Palmer, a charismatic businessman who managed to steal both Ollie's company and the affections of Felicity. Coupled with the debut of Peter Stormare as a much superior new version of Count Vertigo and the cliffhanger murder of Sara Lance, and Season 3 was off to a terrific start.

Sadly, the premiere set a high bar that the rest of the season only occasionally met. There was a very "stop and start" sensation to the way Season 3 was structured, Every time an episode delivered a cool twist that seemed to shed light on the show's larger direction, the momentum would start to drag. It took far too long for Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assassins to emerge as the clear villains of the season, and longer still before it became clear what exact threat they posed to Starling City. There was a clear trend of declining quality in the first half of the season as the show began to meander and dig into subplots like Laurel's boxing training and Ollie's search for his sister. There wasn't a clear sense of direction or overt villain driving these episodes forward.

It wasn't until the one-two punch of "The Brave and the Bold" and "The Climb" that momentum was restored. The former offered the first extended crossover between Team Arrow and Team Flash, and the results were as fun as fans of the two shows could have hoped. The latter, meanwhile, saw Ollie journey to Nanda Parbat and confront Ra's al Ghul in the flesh. Their clifftop duel easily ranks among the best action scenes in the show's three-year history. The choreography was solid, but there was also the sense of dread that came from knowing Ollie was in over his head. What better way to usher in the mid-season hiatus than seeing our hero stabbed and tossed off a cliff?

Initially, it seemed that "The Climb" would be just the shot in the arm the show needed when it returned in January. Ollie's friends believed him to be dead and found themselves defending Starling City from the seemingly invulnerable crime lord Brick (played with gusto by Vinnie Jones). The three-part Brick storyline was another highlight for the season, even if the finish was a little anticlimactic. But after that point, Season 3's familiar woes returned. The conflict with Ra's sputtered along as Ollie re-acclimated to his city and then found it being torn down by the League's manipulations. There were several big developments along the way - including Ollie's identity being leaked and Roy taking the fall and being forced to fake his own death. Too often, however, the running conflict was unfocused and in need of significant streamlining.

The flashback storyline this season was as responsible as any other element for the choppy momentum. In past seasons, the flashbacks served an important purpose. Season 1's flashbacks showcased the hardships Ollie endured on the island and his gradual evolution from carefree playboy to hardened warrior. Season 2 continued that process while also building up and then tearing down the bond between Ollie and Slade. The flashbacks managed to complement the present-day story threads while offering compelling stories in their own right.

Not so with Season 3. Despite the added advantage of Ollie no longer being on the island, the flashbacks this season were dull, repetitive, and stretched completely thin. How many episodes focused on Ollie and the Yamashiro family running from danger or battling an endless lineup of Yakuza thugs and army grunts? These scenes took poor advantage of the Hong Kong setting and generally added little to the show beyond introducing the Alpha & Omega virus and fleshing out Ollie's relationship to Tatsu and Maseo. There was little sense that Ollie evolved or grew during this year in the same way he did during Seasons 1 and 2. At this point, the flashbacks feel more like a mandatory element than something that legitimately enhances the show.

At this point it's important to note some of the other things Arrow did well in its third season. In general, the show has gotten better about making use of its villains, where in Season 1 they were often treated like disposable, interchangeable thugs. Ra's himself was a worthy foe, despite the complaints some had about the show focusing too much on Batman's corner of the DCU. Green Arrow doesn't have a large stable of villains specific to him and at this point, the show has pretty much run through them all anyway. The Ra's/Ollie connection made sense in a world where Batman may not even exist. Matt Nable proved to be an apt fit for the role. While he didn't look quite as regal as you might expect from the villain, Nable brought a rugged charm and a dangerous physicality to Ra's. On a smaller scale, Brick and the new Vertigo were both entertaining additions, as was Nick Tarabay's Captain Boomerang. There were definitely some villains who deserved more time in the spotlight than they received (particularly Matt Ward's Komodo), but that doesn't mean they won't get their due in the future.

Season 3 was also pretty diligent about giving the supporting cast more to do. Mostly, anyway. Roy often felt like he had no purpose, though that was less of a problem in the second half of the season as he found himself filling Ollie's shoes and then essentially throwing himself on the grenade when Ra's outed Ollie's identity. For a brief moment in "Broken Arrow," Roy's prison ordeal showed us what the abandoned Super Max movie might have been. Laurel received some much-needed attention. Often the weakest and least likable character on the show in past years, Laurel was finally given more to do as she transformed herself into Black Canary and developed an unlikely bond with Nyssa. Her arc also dragged in the early part of the season, but it gathered steam over time. Laurel's struggle with hiding Sara's death from her father became one of the more emotionally resonant conflicts of the season, particularly after the truth inevitably came out and a new rift formed between Laurel and Quentin.

Ray Palmer was a great addition to the show. He brought a charm and a sense of humor that was too often lacking in the rest of the show. Even when Ray's ongoing story arc seemed tenuously linked with the rest of Team Arrow, the character's sheer entertainment value and his dynamic with Felicity justified his presence. The fact that we got to see Ray evolve from billionaire industrialist to full-fledged superhero in his own right was a bonus. If nothing else, Arrow continues to serve as prime breeding ground for other DC heroes to emerge.

The show also deserves credit for the overall quality of its special effects and action choreography. That's an area where Arrow has consistently improved over time as the budget has grown and the cast and crew have grown more experienced. A number of action scenes really stood out this season, whether it was the first glimpses of the A.T.O.M. suit in action, the epic street riot in "Uprising," or the fateful duel between Ollie and Ra's in "The Climb." Looking back, the one action sequence that stood out more than anything this year was the shot of Roy running through a pipe while gunfire exploded behind him in "Left Behind." There's a growing cinematic flair to this show that never gets old.

There was a lot riding on Arrow's Season 3 finale by the time it rolled around. "My Name Is Oliver Queen" had the potential to redeem the show's stuttery pacing and questionable storytelling decisions and really wrap up the year on a satisfying note. But given the lack of tension leading into the finale, it's not too surprising that this episode landed with a thud. The finale spent too much time trying to regurgitate elements of past finales. Once again a villain emerged to threaten Starling City because of a personal feud with Ollie. Once again the conflict boiled down to a on-on-one duel (one that proved to be a pale shadow of the original Ollie/Ra's duel). It was a formulaic final battle, to the point where Quentin even joked "It must be May." Self-awareness is fine, but it doesn't automatically grant you a free pass. Often it seemed like the writers were more interested in positioning Damien Darhk as the series' next big villain than actually focusing on Ra's. Even the resolution was mixed. It was nice to see Ollie finally move forward and find a sort of happy ending with Felicity, but their departure from Starling City seemed rushed and not entirely earned.

As the dust settles now, it's tough to know whether to look forward to Season 4 with optimism or concern. Many among the cast and crew have teased that Arrow: Season 4 will be a radically different show. At this point, it needs to follow Ollie's cue and become "something else." The writers can change up the cast and the setting all they want, but that's only going to do so much for Arrow. What the show needs is a clearer sense of direction and purpose, and maybe some more of that sense of wonder and joy that The Flash is able to impart every week.