The CW's Arrow is finally back for the much anticipated Season 3 and while it does deliver and meet the hype, it's also a very slow episode. The title tells no lies, it is a very calming episode throughout most of it. In fact, I was getting pretty positive vibes the first ten minutes or so, which is impressive and unprecedented for any episode of the show. Oliver doesn't smile!
Five months separate the final battle with Slade and the entry of Ray Palmer, so it's a pretty decent amount of time. Also, interestingly enough, five months also separate where we left Oliver entering Hong Kong in the flashbacks to his continual escapes. He hasn't changed much appearance wise but is able to show off that two years separated from the playboy life has given him expert fighting abilities...as well as the ability to apparently access Chinese email websites while being chased. Huh.
This episode was very reminiscent of Season 2's "Seeing Red." Yeah, some stuff happened before the final act and it was all pretty cool but it's the ending that really hits home. Because, you guessed it, people kinda die. Important people.
Hero people.
So with that said, SPOILERS for the episode, and the previous two seasons of Arrow, lie ahead.
So, the episode starts off with Team Arrow, comprising of Oliver/ Arrow, Diggle, Roy/ Arsenal, and Felicity taking down a truck that is carrying various military-grade weaponry. Here we get to see some more of Oliver's trick arrows as well as see Roy in action, pulling off some impressive stunts and managing to stop the semi on his own with just two arrows. Good boy Roy!
Also, we learn that Lila is deep into her pregnancy and is awaiting the baby any day now, and that Oliver really has lost pretty much everything, but he still has the Foundry. Thank God for that. Meanwhile, the new Count Vertigo plots with some other goons to take down and kill the Arrow, using some fear hallucinogen on one of the goons that doesn't comply. So, yes, while it isn't necessarily the psychic powers, at least we're a step closer...right? This one is also assumedly the one from Vlatava, since it is noted that his accent is pretty strange. Also, Captain Lance officially has the police force recognize the Arrow as a good guy, sort of like how the Gotham cops see Batman as an ally not an adversary, even though he may take the law into his own hands. Also, Laurel arrests the goons that Oliver takes down, sort of like a tag team.
Half of this episode served basically as catch-up for the audience to fill in the gaps, and it works pretty well. We learn everything we need to in order to press on in the show and none of it feels forced. We learn Sara is still with the League, Lance is back in the force, Laurel has her job back, Diggle is approaching daddy-hood, Queen Consolidated is up for sale, bad guys are gone, and Oliver is as rich as a hobo. Yay.
Also, Felicity works for Kord Industries as a saleswoman. So, yeah, that's a thing.
Realizing he has some super cereal feelings for Felicity, Oliver asks her out to dinner. Like, a date-date. Ooooh. She of course says yes because the fandom has been asking for it and after Oliver takes down some of Vertigo's goons he meets up with her, where they share a heartwarming moment that actually gives us some pretty decent insight into the past.
Oliver explains that Hong Kong was "one of" the places he was at during his five years away, and that he actually "decided" to come home and didn't just jump at the first opportunity to come home on that fishing boat. That tells me that there were things that needed to be done on the island when he returns, and that he does escape Hong Kong to go somewhere else. Or, perhaps, that boat brings him somewhere new and he has to go somewhere before coming home. Who knows? All I know is that he's in Hong Kong and Katana and the Sword Clan and can I please just have Komodo on Arrow?
Anyway, enough of my desires. Vertigo has placed a tracker on the Arrow suit and launches a missile at the restaurant in which Oliver and Felicity are in, as the suit is there with Oliver because he had nowhere else to put it but a duffle bag apparently. Oliver manages to save Felicity and gets her back to the Foundry, where she is out cold. Instantly, he hops into action, taking on Count Vertigo at his headquarters alongside Captain Lance.
However, Vertigo manages to get him with the new formula, forcing the Arrow to face his greatest fear: Oliver Queen. In a pretty interesting battle, we see Oliver Queen fighting the Arrow, obviously symbolizing the mental struggle Oliver is going through over which persona is going to dominate his life since he is without the company. Vertigo, under the illusion of Oliver, manages to take him down but with the timely distraction of Lance does Oliver get the jump on Vertigo, but the villain gets away as Lance gets injured.
Oliver returns to the Foundry as Lance is put in the hospital. Basically, Lance isn't allowed out in the field because of the strain on his body, which every time he goes out, even if it's mundane, puts him at serious risk of basically heart failure. However, he questions what he would be if he weren't a cop, which is an interesting mirror-ish of Oliver questioning what he is without the Arrow.
As such, we see Oliver beginning to doubt his ability to keep everyone safe, especially with Diggle becoming a father so soon. He sends Roy out in the field but not Diggle, since he can't have Diggle's little girl become orphaned at such a young age and that Diggle has a life outside the battles he fights alongside Oliver. Daddy Diggle don't like that and leaves. Another break-up, how many times is this again? I've lost count.
Oliver and Felicity head the board meeting for Queen Consolidated, which is in absolute shambles thanks to Isabel Rochev (it's also worth mentioning that Verdant is completely run-down as well), but are surprised to find a certain Ray Palmer arrive to try and also bid for the company. Oliver plays the family card but Palmer manages to pull up some figures, which he had to hack to get somehow, and show that under Oliver the company, and thus the city, was dying, but under him, they could give it new life and have it rise above, and become "Star City." So, basically, Ray Palmer wants to give the city it's comic book name. Hey, as long as he transforms into the Atom, I'm cool with that.
Ray Palmer is an interesting character now thanks to Isabel Rochev because of what she did. She seemed very hard on Oliver but was truly invested in the company in its success. Conversely, Ray is an innocent fellow who does mock Oliver but doesn't mean to, and only means well for the company. you know he's gonna be a good guy, but, you're not sure how much his help is going to actually hurt Oliver's chances of rising out of the ashes to reclaim his family's company. Can't they just be friends?
But no time for adult things, it's time for super-heroing! Felicity manages to track some mob bosses that the Count is interested in taking out as well as a huge bomb planted there by the Count. Arrow and Arsenal go on scene, Arrow going after Vertigo while Roy, the inexperienced teenager, goes after the bomb. Great call.
Oliver tracks down Vertigo and takes the hallucinogen straight on like a champ, deciding that now is the time to face his fear. He manages to get over his fear pretty quick, taking down Vertigo while a certain Sara Lance makes her timely arrival as the Canary to defeat the other guy. Felicity takes Roy through disabling the bomb and he manages to do so. Who needs school when you've got Felicity, am I right?
I'll speak on Vertigo for a moment. The old Count was used three times and each time it was very over-acted, he seemed to be trying to be the Joker way too much. This Count was interesting because he could both fight and play mind games thanks to his new formula of Vertigo. However, he suffers the same fate as his predecessor as he is simply a throwaway villain. The same can be said for the likes of the Clock King or even Shrapnel. They're pretty cool dudes, but only serve as a small catalyst for the great theme of the episode, which is Oliver getting over his fear. I won't say he's completely pointless, since he is never killed and I'm going to assume he'll be used again eventually, but I feel like using such a big villain in such a small role is something that still ails the show.
Sara and Oliver talk for a while, Sara unsure how long her assignment in Starling is but hopes to stay awhile. Oliver goes off to the hospital while Laurel and Sara talk sister-to-sister. Palmer manages to track down Felicity at the hospital, who basically turns down his invitation to work for him at Queen Consolidated, he hopes, and sees Diggle and Lila's new baby girl. Oliver arrives too, and Diggle finally agrees with Oliver that he shouldn't be out in the field so much, as he puts his life at way too much risk and could ruin his whole family with one false move. Best friends forever!
However, all is not well in the fandom. Oliver is still unsure of who he really is and takes it up with Felicity, who tells him he needs to choose, even though he already knows his heart lies with the Arrow and as such they can never be together. So, basically, just after the major Olicity kiss everyone was waiting for...they break up. Oh well. (I never shipped it anyway...haters gonna hate).
OH but! Remember how Barry visited Oliver out of nowhere in The Flash premiere? Well, just after Oliver and Felicity have their moment, Barry calls Oliver asking for advice! What a clever tie-in! I really liked it, 100/10 writers.
Before I get into the big, shocking, WHAT THE HECK BRO, ending of the episode, let's talk flashbacks! They're kind of small but still interesting. Oliver tries to escape, gets beaten up, and meets with Amanda Waller. Waller says she needs someone of his skills, for what she does not say, and Oliver says he wants to go home and will never stop trying to escape. She decides to up the ante and puts him in the care of a Japanese family, the father of which is actually the man who would often chase down Oliver under Waller. Oliver tries to leave but the man tells him that Waller has threatened his whole family should Oliver try to escape again. He caps off the flashbacks with the message of the episode, "A man cannot live two lives." So, basically, Oliver has to choose whether he will stay and return home to his old life, or become a killing machine like we know he's destined too. But, hey, I'm pretty sure the woman in that flashback was Katana so if he hangs out with them more I ain't mad. Ain't even mad, bro.
Back in the present, Laurel and Sara have a nice little conversation before Laurel has to go. Sara is just hanging out on the rooftop when a man speaking in a deep voice-changer says, "Hello Sara" and Sara is shocked to see who it is before she takes three arrows to the gut, falls down a several storied building, onto a dumpster, smacks her head on the ground, and freaking dies.
SARA LANCE AKA CANARY DIED FOLKS. WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK.
Alright so as of a few minutes ago I had no idea who did it, so, as usual, I took to Google. I rewatched the promo, the mask looking familiar. So, you know, I had to look up the synopsis for the next episode.
"that there is another archer in town...a man named SIMON LACROIX; who goes under the codename KOMODO"
GUYS MY DREAMS ARE COMING TRUE KOMODO IS GOING TO BE ON ARROW I LITERALLY CAN'T ANYMORE. I HATE THE SHOW FOR MAKING ME WAIT BUT LOVE IT BECAUSE NOW MY FAVORITE GREEN ARROW VILLAIN IS GOING TO BE ON THE SHOW ARE YOU EXCITED BECAUSE I AM.
KOMODO!!!!!!!!
At least now we know why the next episode is called "Sara." It will probably be sad. Because I am sad. Happy Arrow is back. Sad that Sara is gone :( R.I.P. Ta-er al-Sahfer...Canary.
If you want to stay up to date on when I post, or when I have random nerd attacks on Twitter like I did at the time of writing when I found out FREAKING KOMODO DUDE YES is going to be on Arrow, or some weird pictures from the Internet, go ahead on follow me on Twitter @seanovan13 or on Instagram @seanovan10. Thanks for reading!
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