TVOvermind Round Table: Arrow Season 3

This season was about “identity” for all of the main characters, and we saw how different everyone’s journey was as they discovered who they really were. Did Arrow explore this theme well or not, and was there a character that you felt really accomplished finding themselves by the season finale?

Andy Behbakht: Identity is one of the essential journeys that TV shows and films must go through because it’s all about evolution and starting to head into new directions after a number of seasons or films in a franchise. I think Arrow succeeded with identity for most of the characters. I’m still holding on to my statement that Oliver was the one character that didn’t accomplish his journey of finding his identity. The point of his journey was to find a balance where he could be Oliver Queen AND the Arrow at the same time, but he took the easy way out by ditching one so he could live as the other one, both in the season premiere and finale. But characters like Laurel and Thea did it in a compelling way and managed in the end to actually stay true to who they are while not getting lost as these new heroes. Diggle may still have some searching left to do next season, but I still liked to see his struggles, and it gave us some of David Ramsey’s best performances of the whole series. I’m sure that Oliver will also continue to work with this theme in Season 4, but hopefully, that season finale will end with us seeing an Oliver that is now living both these lives. We are getting to the point where we are going to get the “Green” in “Green Arrow,” so there are still a few more steps he has to take.

Jasef Wisener: As I mentioned before, the arcs for both Thea and Laurel were executed spectacularly, and I think those two characters best embodied the “identity” theme that the show strove for this year. I do also think that Malcolm’s arc was done very well, and I really think that his Season 3 conclusion was perfect for the character the writers have created over three seasons. As flawed as Oliver’s arc often was, I do think that his storyline, overall, was very important to the character, and I’m really looking forward to seeing where he goes from here. All in all, I do think that Arrow used this theme very well in spite of its numerous other flaws.

Nick Hogan: I think that the identity crises resolved better for some than others. Laurel, for instance, now has no doubt about her identity as Black Canary, and I totally agree with that. Felicity knows that she loves Oliver, and is true to that part of herself, versus her relationship with Ray. Thea has accepted the fact that Malcolm is her father, and Roy was able to leave Starling City to enjoy a brand new (but well-earned) identity.  Though Diggle’s “heroic identity” has yet to be determined, his real one comes from his wife and his child. Oliver, however, is a different story. Given the ending, it would sure seem like Oliver has found himself. He has retired from arrow-ing and run away with Felicity. However, I don’t think this is where his identity crisis ends. He spent Season 3 as the Arrow, Al Sah-him, and now as plain old Oliver Queen, but we know where he’s headed, and he’s not done just yet.  Also, remember the implication from earlier on that Oliver has a son he doesn’t know about? That would probably affect his identity a little bit. All in all, Arrow has created several successful identity journeys, but not all of them are complete. Not that it’s a bad thing.

Blaise Hopkins: Personally, I think that Nyssa had the best story about identity. I really like what they did with Oliver this season, but I don’t believe his story about discovering and understanding his identity is complete yet. Nyssa only knew one life as a slave to the league, and she even had it worse by being the initial Heir to the Demon. She spent most of the season hunting down Sara’s killer, but we eventually see Starling mold her into a new person that discovers herself. While Nyssa was with Sara, they were still living life in the League, but she finally gets to be free of her father and this group and finds all of these new feelings through friendship (mainly with Laurel). By season’s end, Nyssa isn’t afraid to stand up to her father and understands that he is manipulative and not a good person. She talks back to him, defies his orders, and essentially doesn’t care if she dies because she is being her own person. I think it was a quiet but well-done story for a minor character.

Araceli Aviles: Laurel’s transition into Black Canary was the one storyline which followed through with a successful trajectory from the beginning to the end of Season 3. Sara’s death set off a dark chain of events for the rest of the season, but Laurel picking up her sister’s mantle almost made up for it. Last year, Laurel was drowning to the point of annoying; this year, though, she overcame grief with unbelievable strength, patience, and humility. She started out trying to fill her sister’s shoes, but by struggling and picking herself up time and again, Laurel made the Black Canary identity her own. Roy’s arc was also very well put-together, and his exit from the show truly felt earned, as in he has earned the right to live a new life.

Laura Schinner: Unfortunately, Arrow did not handle this theme as well as it could have. Other than the fact that the show couldn’t have been less subtle about it, it also did a sloppy job in the execution of the theme. Oliver Queen obviously had identity issues going into the season, and it was his desire to start a real relationship with Felicity that caused him to confront these issues. To do so though, he lost a lot of what made him likable. Because despite all the bad things he’d done, we still sympathized with and liked Oliver the first two seasons. This season, his decision to team up with Malcolm Merlyn was so out of character that I’m still having trouble believing it. Malcolm is a man he hates. A man who killed his own son, Oliver’s best friend, tried to destroy the whole city, drugged his sister and made her kill Sara, and is simply a despicable human being. And Oliver decides to team up with him just because he has previous knowledge of Ra’s instead of trusting and relying on his team? I understand Oliver’s desire to keep his friends safe, but I thought we had already established that they don’t want to be safe; they want to be with him. It was frustrating to watch Oliver sacrifice so much of himself through his journey to find himself. I love Oliver Queen and love the relationship between him and Felicity, but to me, their ending just didn’t feel earned, as much as it saddens me to say that.

Chris King: Again, Arrow pulled off a mostly successful job with Oliver’s main arc in Season 3, but the character who I felt really grew the most this season was Thea, and not just because she suited up in the season finale. Thea struggled with how she really fit into Starling City for most of this year after leaving home at the end of Season 2, and she was pulled in so many different directions, due to Merlyn and Oliver’s influence. However, she ultimately became the person that she wanted to be and used her inner strength (along with her sweet fighting skills) to become something bigger than herself. Much of Season 2 involved Thea defining herself by who her parents were, but in Season 3, she was able to answer the question of “who are you?” by looking inward instead of outward. Her identity came from her own emotions and experiences and was not controlled by anyone else.

With show returning in the fall for its fourth season and The CW also having DC’s Legends of Tomorrow slated for midseason, what do you want and hope to see for Arrow and all of its characters?

Andy Behbakht: I could go on for days about this, but some of the things that I would love to see for Season 4 are an actual happy Oliver Queen as the Green Arrow, and just some more fun in general. I also want to see the Felicity that we had for the first two seasons, where she wasn’t just a love interest, but instead this strong, empowering, witty woman, who is the voice of reason of the team while also carrying the new qualities that she did get in the third season, like having Laurel as a good friend. Even though Ray will be on his own show, I want that relationship to come back, and yes, I want the iconic relationship that is Green Arrow and Black Canary to start to come to life. If I can’t have that (although I think by the time the show ends, that’s the relationship that we will see), I want to see Laurel and Oliver as the heroic duo that I love from the comics. Since they got cast in 2012, it’s been a dream of mine to see Stephen Amell and Katie Cassidy fight together as Green Arrow and Black Canary on the show. With H.I.V.E. most likely being the Big Bad of Season 4, I also want Diggle to have more screentime and focus than he ever has, because while he is great in pretty much every scene he is in, he is not featured as much as one would think. Oh and lastly, Katrina Law promoted to series regular because Nyssa is Nyssa, I shouldn’t have to say more than that, and if possible at all, at least a few guest appearances by Colton Haynes as Roy.

Jasef Wisener: As with The Flash, the most exciting thing about the next season of Arrow to me is that I have no idea where it will go. The season finale really did change the status quo for everyone, and I’m very excited to see how Oliver eventually ends up suiting up again as the (hopefully Green) Arrow. I like the place that Team Arrow is in at the end of the season, and I’m hopeful that Thea is used in a better way than Arsenal was. Throw in some crossovers, continue building the universe, and allow yourself to have a little more fun every now and then, and I think that Season 4 of Arrow has the potential to be a vast improvement over this year’s run.

Nick Hogan: I definitely don’t want to see them dragged down by too large a superhero universe. Don’t get me wrong, because you can never have too many superheroes, but I would love for Arrow to thrive in a world where it doesn’t rely on crossovers for ratings. However, I would like them to be affected by the larger universe that they’ve created (some sort of addressing Sara’s resurrection, etc.), and I’m excited to see crossovers when they are done tastefully. I’m also interested in seeing Diggle and Oliver’s relationship change. I hope that the characters will continue to evolve, and of course, that the action sequences stay top-notch. I’m very excited for Malcolm Merlyn as Ra’s al Ghul. There’s not a character on this show I don’t like, and I’m so pumped to see how all of it develops in Season 4.

Blaise Hopkins: I’m honestly not sure… I guess I just trust the writers and want to see whatever they have planned. For The Flash, I think it’s seeing how they bring Tom Cavanagh back because he will be a series regular. On Legends of Tomorrow, it’s just how they use all of those characters together. For Arrow…. it’s probably…. the continued development of Oliver and Thea. For all of them… the inclusion of Hal Jordan.

Araceli Aviles: One of the biggest challenges for DC’s Legends of Tomorrow will be transitioning the characters who’ve been staples on its predecessors into their own show smoothly. This will be particularly important for Ray Palmer and for White Canary, as their characters were major players in Arrow’s third season. Their return to the screen should be very carefully handled on Arrow before the January premiere of the new show. As for the new show itself, I’m very interested to see how heroes and villains work together for a long period of time, and how the show chooses to establish itself with its own tone, perhaps in the medium between Arrow and The Flash.

Laura Schinner: Well, in a perfect world they would start by killing off Malcolm Merlyn. As much as I love John Barrowman, I don’t think I can handle a season of Malcolm being Ra’s. Though Laurel and Thea may be making more appearances on Team Arrow, which is okay and maybe even good, I do hope we return at least a little bit to Original Team Arrow, giving us more moments between just Oliver, Diggle, and Felicity. Rumors are that we’ll see Damien Darhk appear as not only the Big Bad but as Felicity’s dad as well. If handled correctly, this could be an extremely compelling arc, one  that will hopefully return Arrow to the quality it was during the first two seasons.

Chris King: Here’s my list: I want to see Oliver and Felicity happy and together; Oliver enjoying life on the road before returning to Starling as the Green Arrow; Diggle and Oliver repairing their friendship; Laurel and Thea working together to protect the city; Diggle continuing to the best dad and best friend in the world; Felicity remaining her awesome, independent self; and some type of reunion involving the Lance sisters by season’s end–if it involves them both fighting against villains, as White Canary and Black Canary, then that’s just a bonus.

And with that, we conclude our round table discussion for the third season of The CW’s Arrow. Be sure to check back for more upcoming round table discussions for other exciting shows right here at TVOvermind.

Arrow has been renewed for a fourth season which will premiere sometime in October in its regular timeslot on Wednesday nights, 8/7c on The CW.

[Photos via The CW]