One of CW’s hit shows finally returned last night as Arrow’s third season kicked off in a bigger way than most of us expected.
“The Calm” is one of those episodes that couldn’t have a more fitting title as 90% of the episode was a stable period for all the characters before the storm finally arrived at the end of the episode. The premiere picks up the story five months later after the invasion of Deathstroke and we see a more low-fi version of Team Arrow as Oliver’s fortune is no more. Starling City is now also embracing the Arrow as a hero by the citizens as Captain Lance called off the anti-vigilante task-force at last.
I love how every season, Arrow is able to make their premieres feel like a new show because so much is always changed. One of the highlights was getting to see a happier Oliver and actually getting to see that charming smile Stephen Amell has. Amell keeps evolving as an actor for every season and seeing where he was in this episode made me as a fan happy. Some of the moments that he had with Felicity in this episode, was obviously something that a lot of fans out there have been waiting for. Even though I’m completely certain I want to see these two characters end up in a romantic relationship, the kiss at the end felt earned.
We get to meet a lot of new characters from the DC Universe, including the anticipated arrival of Brandon Routh’s Ray Palmer (who is also known as the superhero Atom in the comics). Even though I never knew that I wanted Ray Palmer specifically, the type of character that he is, is someone that I have wanted to be on the show for a long time. He isn’t really an evil enemy per say, but he is that kind of obstacle that I like to see in TV shows. Routh brings a lot of energy whenever he is on screen and seeing how he blends with the established cast was a lot of fun. His dynamic with Felicity is something that I’m looking forward to follow for this season.
“The Calm” also introduced the new Count Vertigo, Werner Zytle (played by the remarkable Peter Stormare) and even though I really loved Seth Gabel’s Count, I have to say that Zytle was a more entertaining character. I prefer this sane Vertigo compared to the Joker-like one we saw last season and because of him, we got one of the series’ most powerful scenes ever. As he injects Arrow with a new version of the drug that also makes you experience your deepest fear (similar to Scarecrow), the Arrow faces his own fear which was Oliver Queen, the man under the hood.
When Amell teased in interviews that there would be an “Arrow Vs. Oliver Queen” fight in the premiere, I had no idea that it was going to something as brilliant as this. As always, the stunt team (led by James Bamford) gave us some terrific action scenes, including their fight. While that is going on in the present, we see in flashbacks the Hong Kong story kick off with Oliver trying to escape Amanda Waller and her men as she wants him to join ARGUS.
Meet his handler, Maseo Yamashiro (Karl Yune) as well as his wife Tastu (Rila Fukushima) who is also known as Katana in the DC Universe. I wasn’t sure at first how I would feel about the Hong Kong aspect, but after seeing this first part, they hooked me and it will be intriguing to see what kind of interactions Oliver will have with these characters. In addition, now we will know how Waller and Oliver came to know each other so well. While on the subject of DC characters, we get a Flash cameo by Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and while it’s quick (no pun intended), we now know the timeline a little bit better and what Oliver was up to before he went to meet him.
Diggle finally becomes a daddy! I’m so glad that Dig is finally getting a larger role again in the show because it felt like he was put a lot in the background last season aside from the episodes where it was focused a lot on him. Oliver’s concern for him was understandable as we see them argue in the episode about Diggle’s role in the team now that he was about to become a father.
Being the big Roy Harper fan that I’m, it was a huge moment to see Roy in his new Arsenal costume for the first time. The costume looks exceptional and even though it’s a bit wacky that it only took him five months to become a master archer, it was still a kick to see him be Arsenal. His relationship with Oliver seems to be at a better state than it was last season so it will be great to see how they will work together this season.
Pretty much everyone was given something good in this premiere, that includes Laurel and it was just genuinely nice to see her actually be strong and happy compared to the Laurel we saw in last year’s premiere. But her world was shaken up big time as the episode started to wrap up. We see Sara back in Starling City during Arrow’s encounter with Vertigo and after she has a chat with Laurel who later leaves, Sara gets three arrow shot in her body by an unknown figure and falls off the building.
I need to put an emphasis on my previous statements in past reviews that I have always speculated that Sara would die in one way or another. But I never expected it to be this early and this visually painful. The way they killed her off was one of the show’s more horrifying scenes ever and seeing her body fall right in front of Laurel was heartbreaking. The timing was a shock, but her death will now set up a lot of things for all the characters, including the beginning of Laurel becoming the Black Canary.
We know that Caity Lotz will be seen in at least two more episodes, most likely flashbacks and that is what I love about this show, you can see some of your favorite characters, even if they are dead, in flashbacks. But I have to say that I will miss Lotz a lot as a present character and since next week’s episode is titled “Sara”, it’s probably going to mean more crying.
Overall, “The Calm” was a terrific season premiere for Arrow with stellar performances by the cast and the writing by Berlanti, Kreisberg and Coburn was outstanding. For everything that we know about this season, including the upcoming arrival of Ra’s al Ghul, season 3 is going to kick off all sorts of butts.
Arrow airs on Wednesday nights, 8/7c on The CW
[Photo via The CW]
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