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Arrow - Season 3 Review - The Good and The Bad

Aug 12, 2015

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 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.

The romance - The show's meant to be about the Green Arrow, not a romantic love story about Oliver, Felicity and Ray. There's Outlander or Poldark for that. I don't mind the romance, but it took center stage in season 3 on far too many occasions - taking time away from other more interesting storylines. The show needs to refocus itself and spend more time layering out a good villain than focusing on Felicity's and Oliver's love lifes. Also, that happy ending with Felicity? It felt so rushed and forced that it came across as cheesy.

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.

The dragging of storylines - I enjoy a lengthy storyline, but this season on Arrow, some storylines should've been wrapped up within a few episodes, but weren't. I'm talking about how Laurel kept Sara's death a secret from her father. It seemed to go on forever; it was starting to become a little tedious. I can't stand small storylines that take longer than is required to wrap up. Some moments don't need the build up to it. Some just need a big reveal and a good way to present said reveal. Revealing Sara's death was one of those times.

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.

John Barrowman - Barrowman is one of the few things about the show that kept me watching in season 3. He's a great actor, and Merlyn has slowly become my favourite character. I couldn't imagine anyone else playing him. His storylines are always intriguing, and his path to redemption was well handled. But it was his developing father/daughter relationship with Thea that stood out the most last season, it was sweet. After failing Tommy, it's nice to see Merlyn caring so deeply for her - even if his intentions aren't always good.

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.

Slade Wilson's return - Did we need this? Yes, we did. After a lacklustre start to the season, Slade's return was a welcome one. Oliver taking Thea to the island was one of the better episodes of the season. It brought her closer to him and made her understand more about what he went through.  Having Slade return in that episode was the icing on the cake. He has been the show's best villain by far. The interplay between Slade and Oliver was always great to see, and in a strange way they seemed to respect each other.

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"

About the Author - Robert Fruin
Robert is a sixth form student from the United Kingdom, currently studying Business Studies, IT and Media. Robert is a huge fan of the ended ABC series LOST; he has seen it many times over and has even visited some of the filming locations for it. Robert mainly watches drama series such as Game of Thrones and Person of Interest, but has a soft spot for the comedy The Middle. Some other interests include Cycling, Kayaking and Photography. Robert joined SpoilerTV in 2014 and currently reviews Colony, Game of Silence, Outlander, The Bastard Executioner and Z Nation. He also previews Ash vs Evil Dead, Black Sails, Blunt Talk and Counterpark. You can contact him at robert@spoilertv.com or feel free to connect with him on any of these social media sites.
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