It has been a big year for television, especially in the comic book TV genre and while we wait for so many of these amazing shows, we at TVOvermind are introducing round table discussions to the website. Over the winter hiatus, we will be sharing our thoughts on some of these shows and today we are jumping into the crazy first run that has been season 3 of The CW’s Arrow. Be aware of multiple spoilers from the first nine episodes below.
We are 9 episodes into Arrow Season 3. What have you enjoyed the most so far?
Andy Behbakht: I have enjoyed following the theme of identity because that is something you as a show start to deal with when you are entering your third or fourth year. The expansion of DC characters have been a blast, Ted Grant/Wildcat (J.R. Ramirez) and Ray Palmer/The Atom (Brandon Routh) have been my favorites so far. I want to say Ra’s al Ghul (Matt Nable), but we have really only seen him in one full episode along with 20-30 seconds in episode 4 where he was finally introduced, although I will say that his performance in “The Climb” was ruthless and spectacular, just like Ra’s is supposed to be. But the theme of identity and Oliver’s continuing arc of becoming a hero has kept me compelled.
Blaise Hopkins: I think my favorite part of Arrow‘s third season has to be the continuous expansion of the universe as a whole. We’ve gotten a lot of great villains so far, especially with Ra’s and the addition of The Flash with the crossovers. The show has also introduced Wildcat and Atom, so hopefully those two will suit up soon as well. I love what the entire Arrow universe is becoming and just seeing so much “superhero” stuff that feels directly out of the comics.
Chris King: What I’ve enjoyed the most so far this season on Arrow has been how the series has explored the theme of identity through all of its characters. Of course, the central question of Season 3 is “Who is Oliver Queen?” However, we are seeing that search for identity illustrated in multiple ways, through his roles as a brother to Thea, a possible boyfriend to Felicity, and a hero to Starling City. Plus, we are also witnessing Diggle, Felicity, Roy, and Thea all grow into new and different roles themselves. It’s been very interesting and entertaining to watch.
What have you not enjoyed about Arrow Season 3 so far?
Andy: I will admit that there have been a few downers in this half of the season and even though the mystery of Sara’s murderer was compelling, once we learned that it was Thea, I didn’t like how it was executed. Let’s also remember that we spent more than five-six episodes focusing on Sara’s murderer so to just hear Malcolm say that he used mind-control and then show us a video, wasn’t enough for me. It could be just me, but it feels like the first couple of episodes had to hold back a little bit in order to get into the great crossover between Arrow and The Flash. But at the same time, look at how much we got in season 2 in both parts so in a way, I can understand and respect the decision to have a slower paced first half (before the things that went down in the crossover and mid-season finale). I think once Season 3B starts, the pace will start to speed up a lot and it will make me re-evaluate the first half a lot more.
Blaise: I think that my problem with this season is the lack of purpose right now. Oliver is just sort of doing things… it doesn’t really feel like he’s focusing on training Roy or been out for revenge hunting down Sara’s killer (prior to discovering it was Thea), and there hasn’t been a main villain just yet. Although I think the mid-season finally kick starting the rest of the season, which will be intense, it’s felt like a lot of single episodes so far rather than some greater arc.
Chris: My main issues with Arrow Season 3 are structural problems. I feel like, at the moment, the season doesn’t have a real purpose to it yet, aside from Oliver discovering who he truly is, and while that is very compelling, it’s not as strong as the show’s second season conflict with Brother Blood and, eventually, Slade Wilson was. The search for Sara’s killer, which has taken up much of Arrow Season 3 hasn’t had the same type of urgency that the series has possessed in the past. Right now, the show feels like it’s just wandering from plot point to plot point, and while I still enjoy episodes on an individual level and love the show’s characters, I wonder what the direction will be for this season’s overall story arc.
Photo via The CW
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Interesting conversation–though most of the points were covered by fans online right after the mid-season finale aired.
IMO, what would have made the conversation more interesting would have been the inclusion of someone who does not come from the perspective of the Arrow comic books as the “Bible” for the show. I, for one, enjoy Arrow most when it does NOT try to fulfill the prophecies of the comics: Felicity, Sara, Diggle are all examples of new, original characters that really made the TV show more enjoyable than what the comics offered.
Plus, I’ll say something that I believe the panel, above, would agree with: Ra’s has yet to knock my socks off! A good question for discussion might have been “Should Arrow have hired Liam Neeson to play Ra’s.” I’ve seen interviews with Liam, before the role was cast, and he said he’d be interested.
Finally, there is the question of The Canary. I’ve been on record so many times before as saying the show, in trying to be cute, actually mis-stepped with the development of this character. [Sidebar: I think the Arrow writers have a MAJOR problem writing for/developing female characters.] I feel that because of her natural physicality, Caity Lotz really embodied The Canary. It will be very hard–probably impossible–for Katie Cassidy to fill the void left by Lotz. IMO, an alternative and more successful casting strategy would have been to cast the less action-oriented performer (Cassidy) as the first embodiment of the Canary, and then introduce Lotz as the final Canary. This way Lotz, through her physical abilities in the role, would have been seen by viewers as “improving, and taking to the next level,” the tough, avenger Canary role. As it stands now, fans are probably in for a let-down when Cassidy puts on the black suit (and, btw, I hate the new Canary mask).
Oh, one more thing: Season 2 was incredible. So, this year, “dark” or “light” the Arrow S3 probably will be viewed as inferior to S2.
Please caity lotz didn’t protrayed black canary right or making a believable black canary and also her scenes accepted her fighting scenes was cringed worthy and also she always looking like Mr.scrounge that pouts . I believe in ms.Cassidy protay of black canary than caity lotz .
I agree that some of the best characters on this show are the original ones — Diggle, Felicity, Sara, and I’d add Thea and Moira. It’s when they try to fit into the mold of the comics that they come up short. I found Slade a much more menacing villain than this version of Ra’s.
I also agree that Caity Lotz was physically The Canary, but more than that, I think she was mentally too, someone who had been hurt herself and was determined that “no woman should be hurt at the hands of a man”. She was a good fit in the Arrowcave, an equal soldier to Diggle, a friend to Felicity and a mentor to Roy.
So far, Laurel seems to just want to take her anger out by beating up other people, whether they killed her sister or not. She has yet to speak to Diggle or Felicity other than to give them orders and she told Oliver she’s not on his team so don’t tell her what to do. I’m really wondering how the show will incorporate her into Team Arrow, between the expectation from the comic books that she will be an equal to Oliver, the attachment of viewers to Diggle and Felicity, and how she’s the least experienced person there. Even Felicity could take down Cooper after being trained by Diggle for two years.
I find it interesting that you see the introduction of more DC characters as one of the good parts of the season, and the lack of focus and wandering from plot point to plot point as the chief problem.
They are two sides of the same coin for me. The show is bringing on so many DC characters (Wilcat, Atom, Black Canary, Ra’s al Ghul) and their origin stories, but there’s no way to focus the show when you’re writing that many stories all at the same time, on top of Sara’s death and whatever Malcolm Merlyn is doing with Thea. It’s like they’ve decided that the season will end with a bunch more superheros on the show (Wildcat, Atom, Arsenal, Black Canary, Speedy) and so they’ve thrown all these plots into the pot and the combination is not nearly what they envisioned.
We’ll see what Merlyn gets in the second half of the season but I feel that he’s not nearly as interesting a character since Moira died. She was the one who fought him on his own twisted plain and now he just walks all over everyone else, from Thea to Oliver to the LoA.
I was also struck by you saying that Laurel has earned the Black Canary role. I’m someone who didn’t come from the comics and I thought Sara was a very believable Canary, going through her own trials, trained by the LoA for five years, emotionally wounded but fighting for others. At this point, Laurel still has for me all the things that don’t make her believable as the Black Canary: she’s judgmental, lacks the empathy for others that Sara had, and she still can’t fight. I think they’ve really botched her arc if she’s going to be the BC because rather than being someone driven to protect the innocent by Sara’s death, she’s taking boxing lessons so she can beat up bad guys, problematic for an ADA and not good enough for a potential superhero. Worse, she hasn’t done a thing to find Sara’s killer, she’s left it all for others to do.
Sara is nothing but a cold blooded killer and she is nothing like black canary and Sara isn’t an amazing character as her fans are claiming and also Sara didn’t train to fight for 5 years with the league of assassins or 4 years . Sara was train by them for 3 or 2 years because she was missing for 6 years and was with doctor ivoy for 1 year and 1 year on the island with Oliver without training and 4 years later she got trapped into the league but she was never with the league for all those four years she was with them for three years because she escape them for 1 year and she wasn’t training when she was running from them. Secondly black canary alter ego identity isn’t Sara it’s laurel .