The third season of Arrow is here, coming hot on the heels of last night’s debut of The Flash. After that show’s debut, which was comparatively so hopeful and streamlined, as compared to the somewhat dark and more complex show here, at first was a little jarring. However, once the show’s rhythm was re-established, it picked back up where it left off a few months ago.
Warning: To discuss the show without the episode’s last scene would be nearly impossible, so be warned thatspoilers for this episode do appear below, especially in #5. You’ve been warned.
1. Overstuffed
Like I said above, perhaps it is because The Flash is so focused on Barry’s story, tonight’s episode just felt like it had a bit too much going on. In fact, after a season of character growth, Roy was essentially just Ollie’s automaton servant in this episode. Diggle’s story was incredibly simplistic and cliche, and Laurel is, essentially, just the person witnessing important stuff happening, or alerting others to be witness to important stuff happening.
Now, it is nearly impossible to properly serve all the characters in one hour of television, especially when attempting to build up a few key storylines from the very beginning. I’m not saying this was a bad hour of television – in fact the episode was pretty satisfactory. That said, the show needs to either save the full cast for the huge set pieces, or find a few minutes an episode to give them something to do.
2. Respectability
This episode’s theme, aside from the heavy handed life and death theme with Diggle’s baby and the show’s final scene (more on that in a second), was respectability. The Arrow is, more or less, made a deputy by Detective Lance, Ollie tries to win back both his company and the respect of the shareholders, Felicity is ashamed that she’s reduced to a job below her usual level of respectability. Everyone is trying to appear legitimate – even Diggle, by trying to force his way into the action, wants to be seen as an equal partner in Team Arrow.
This theme looks like it might be around for a larger part of the season, and I have to say, it could be an intriguing motif to revisit throughout the year.
3. Welcome, Dr. Palmer
This episode debuted Dr. Ray Palmer, played by the underrated and stunningly charming Brandon Routh, as the new owner of Queen Consolidated. His portrayal isn’t quite in line with his comics persona (spoiler alert: Ray Palmer, in the DCU, is the shrinking hero/agent of S.H.A.D.E. the Atom), but he does come off brilliant, passionate, and driven. In essence, he works like a charm. His playful flirting with Felicty is a nice contrast to Ollie’s brooding affection, and I wouldn’t be surprised if, after being spurned by Ollie because of his “no man can have two names” code, he pops up as a potential love interest for Felicty, as well as a rival for Ollie’s company.
4. Oh fuck, Star City
We got a look at two new cities on the show tonight: Hong Kong, where a post-island Ollie is being held by A.R.G.U.S., and a new re-branding for Starling City that puts it more in step with the DC Comics we all know and love: Star City. The idea is a bit far fetched (New York didn’t just become “York” after 9/11, so why would a terrorist attack on Starling necessitate a name change?), but it was yet another little nod from the show to the fans of the comics saying “I get you, son/daughter.”
5. Sail on, Sara
While it wouldn’t be totally out of the question for Sara to not really be dead, she looked pretty dead to me, after being shot in the gut with three arrows by, presumably, Ra’s al Ghul. This moves along the idea that Laurel is to, eventually, become the Black Canary (as did he blonder than last season hair), and gives everyone something to fight for that isn’t an abstract concept. Sure, Ollie is all about saving his city, but it helps when he can add something even more personal to that. This also means, sadly, that the Ollie/Felicity shipping we’ve all been doing (I’ve seen your Tumblr – yes, YOU) will most likely be put on the backburner again, as Ollie will claim anyone that gets close to him winds up dead.
So, R.I.P. Sara – even though your costume would fool no one, your role on the show was a very positive example of how to take a somewhat ridiculous character and make it work on the CW. If the Canary had failed, there wouldn’t be The Flash right now – so, thanks Sara.
