I love Arrow, but season 3 had quite a few problems, for me anyway. I'm going to give you some short, snappy opinions on 8 things I liked and 7 things I disliked about the past season.
I have to say this: Please don't take these opinions to heart, it's just how I feel. I'm sure you all feel differently or possibly agree. I would love to hear your thoughts; I'm always open for a good discussion!
What Didn't Work (The Bad)
Killer Thea - Having Thea turn out to be behind Sara's death was lazy writing and a twist that I certainly didn't want to happen. It just felt like a quick way to wrap up the ongoing mystery. The writers should've put more thought into it and come up with a better alternative.
One alternative: If it turned out to be someone from the League; it would've furthered Oliver's personal desire to take them down and would've given team Arrow a greater reason to want to defeat the League other than just saving and helping Oliver.
Sara's death - What were they thinking? She shouldn't have died. At the time of her death if they wanted to kill off a main character they should've killed off Laurel. She had nothing going for her. Sara was such a great character with potential for more development. They didn't explore her relationship with Nyssa or the League as much as I would've liked.
Diggle on the bench - For such an important character - essential to team Arrow - it is shocking to think how much he was sidelined for the first half of the season. He didn't have any storyline of his own - something that I'm hoping will change in season 4. More focus on Diggle, please.
Ra's Al Ghul - When you compare Ra's to Slade Wilson, the comparison is almost laughable. Ra's should've been a feared villain; a better villain than Slade even. The Ra's that was shown however was lacking everything from motivation to a decent storyline. I applaud Matt Nable for working with the awful material he got given during the season. He did the best he could with the little he got.
Felicity - Here's my problem with her. She went from an interesting and charismatic female lead to a character that lacks personality and sense. When I think about Felicity in season 3, all I can remember about her is the constant moaning and the obsessive need to hold a grudge. She needs to drop that and return to the way she was in season 2.
What Did Work (The Good)
Laurel's transformation - Yes, I had rather she died than Sarah, but that was the old Laurel. Her transformation into Black Canary was done excellently and gave Katie Cassidy some fantastic material to work with. Not to mention, it was a chance for Laurel to get some character development. She went from someone I didn't care about into someone I do. I look forward to seeing more of her as a newly joined member of team Arrow.
Roy departing - I liked Roy, I truly did. However, his exit was true to who he was. He wanted to help Oliver, and that's what he did. He was a loyal friend. I still would've liked Roy to have gotten more focus than he did, but I enjoyed his and Thea's scenes very much. I always liked those two together.
Thea's Training/Speedy - Finally! Not only did Thea get brought into the fold, she finally got her own costume. Thea's always been there, but she's never been that big of a character. This season she was. I like Thea, but her storylines up until season 3 had been limited to family business or relationship problems - nothing too interesting. Similar to Laurel, I enjoyed Thea's training. Her finally learning to defend herself was long overdue and now going forward she won't need to rely on Oliver for help or Merlyn. Season 4 is going to be an interesting season for her.
The flashbacks - I'll be honest, I've not always been a fan of them, but season 3's flashbacks added a lot of context to what was happening and that really made things clearer. Some people don't enjoy them, but I do. It makes Arrow different compared to other shows. It gives us backstory for not only Oliver, but other characters too. Maseo, for example, had a lot of flashback scenes - which were needed to explain how he came to be in the League of Assassins - I'm hoping we see something like that for other characters. I'm looking forward to seeing what else we find out next season through flashbacks.
The introduction of Ray Palmer - I might be one of the few, but I liked Ray. He was a welcome addition to the cast. He was humorous and gave Felicity something she needed - a stable relationship. Something I was sad to see end, I should add.
The crossovers - I don't watch The Flash, but intend to check it out at some point. It's not high on my watchlist, but the crossovers really got me intrigued. Cisco appears to be the comic relief on The Flash - which is always something that's needed. Oliver has a great team behind him, but it's always an added bonus when he gets someone like Barry working with him - a hero from a different city. Smallville (I know it's not the same) had a lot of pop in heroes so I enjoy those type of appearances. I hope to see more of The Flash and maybe Supergirl on the show - despite claims that no crossovers are planned, I still think it may happen one day.
As always, thank you for reading. Let me know in the comments what you thought of "Arrow season 3"
