Arrow: Season 3

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior season, but no major season three spoilers+++Season three of Arrow picks up down the line from the season 2 finale in which Slade is defeated and Malcolm Merlin is revealed to be alive and helped Thea escape from the Mirakuru-enhanced army. Oliver and Felicity attempt to date, but to throw the obvious wrench into the relationship to keep them apart as long as possible, Oliver tells her that he cannot be The Arrow and be normal at the same time. This, along with the introduction of Ray Palmer (played by Superman Returns' Brandon Routh) as both a personal and business rival for Oliver, provides a bunch of hurdles. The serial arc of the season involves a mystery about Sarah Lance (the recast Caity Lotz) who was revealed during season two to have survived the shipwreck and joined the League of Assassins. The League, and their leader Ra's al Ghul (played by Matt Noble). The season also makes heavy use of flashbacks, telling the story of Oliver's time on (and as we discover this season, off) the island before his rescue in season one. The flashback sequence also is used as a way to have Tommy Merlin (the guest starring Collin Donnell) return in one of the early episodes of the season. This season also sees the first of what would become numerous crossovers with the newly minted Arrowverse show, The Flash (which had a backdoor pilot episode during season two of Arrow). There is the official two-episode crossover that starts in an episode of The Flash and ends in the Arrow episode. And, Barry Allen/Flash (Grant Gustin) makes an appearance in the season finale to help the team out.For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the A/V quality kind of bounced between good and great. Some scenes look extremely good in HD, and others do show some noise and grain. But honestly, unless you are a real video wonk, you will probably not notice it. There are commentary tracks on two episodes, including the midseason finale which has a huge cliffhanger at the end of it, 15-minutes of deleted scenes, a half-hour-long segment of the Comic-Con panel, and a short gag reel. So, if you like watching the extras, there is a decent amount there for you.Overall, the season is very good. It continues to be a very dark show that has a lot of violence, some sex, and is not shy about killing off characters. The writers do a good job juggling the very large ensemble cast, giving all of the characters some depth and continuing to develop them. One of the best episodes of the season shows a younger Felicity in her college hacktivist days, and fleshing out her backstory and giving insight into how she has changed from that time to her time on Team Arrow. Emily Bett Rickards pretty much steals every scene she is in, and is one of the few characters on the show that is not dark and brooding. As much as the DC Movie Universe has been panned, the DC TV Universe gets a lot right, and provides for a lot of compelling stories, with Arrow being at the forefront. So, if you liked the first couple of seasons, then you will probably like or love this season as well.

Season 3 of Arrow is infamous for being of lower quality than the previous two (I'm only discussing this season, if you want to know about the show itself, you should definitely start with the first one), due to the original lead writer moving to The Flash and characters suffering from bad changes and general lack of progression. I used to think like that the first time I watched it. Gladly, I purchased the Blu Ray and watched it again, and I have to say, the first impressions don't do this season justice AT ALL.This season severely benefits from binge-watching, since you'll be less likely to forget plot points and details that you might lose if watching on TV schedule. Another thing that benefits it are repeated viewings, since you will start noticing nuances you wouldn't have seen the first time. In fact, upon my second viewing I realized the attention to detail and subtle foreshadowing for this season is only rivaled by Arrested Development.Season 3 of the show kicks off with the eponymous character and his team being on the receiving end of the city's favor, but things quickly turn dark once one of their allies is murdered, which kickstarts Oliver's confrontation with one of the most fearless and determined foes from the DC universe: Ra's Al Ghul, and his League of Assassins, whose end goal turns the city against the Arrow. Meanwhile, Oliver's personal life is turned complicated with the arrival of Ray Palmer, who takes posession of his company and is a rival for his love interest. Curiously, though, Palmer also holds a certain interest for costumed justice.The season's overaching plot is one of the most interesting yet, as Oliver is pitted against a foe who's his superior in physical and mental strength, but also makes him question his resolve and his legacy. This is all wonderfully complemented by the acting, which is great all around. Stephen Amell has played Oliver Queen since the beginning as a man with almost lost humanity, who's become emotionally distant and finds it hard to express his emotions, and, unfortunately, this has translated as people thinking he doesn't have acting chops. On the contrary, every time something so powerful occurs that forces Oliver's emotions to come out, Amell does a fantastic job. Look at the scene where he's convinced he's going to lose the love of his sister forever or the one where he hears his friend has died and he sells those expressions so well you will feel the pain inside you as if it all was happening to you.While mostly all of the other characters do a good job too, major props should be offered to Matt Nable as Ra's Al Ghul. He might be off-putting at first for fans of the source material, since he really doesn't look much like the character he's playing, but only one episode in and you'll realize he IS Ra's Al Ghul and those doubts will dissipate forever.All in all, this season does a great job in moving the story forward and evolving the characters. Don't let some bad opinions keep you from it. And if you saw it before and didn't think much of it, give it a second chance. It gets better.

I avoided watching Arrow at first for no particular reason. Then one day I tried it out and must say that I truly enjoy this series. The show starts off slowly feeding the back story to Oliver Queen and how he ends up becoming the arrow while he struggles with his identity in the present. At first, considering how any show with approximately 22 episodes in a season is expected to sort of drag on, this show has a good enough story that really adds intrigue to 'the arrow' and why he is who he is. In season 3 for example, after I started to watch the flash, I enjoy the arrow but didn't really believe that he had any chance against the flash. Yet, the most recent crossover between the two shows did a wonderful job of building up both shows and it's characters, rather than diminishing one or the other. Stephen Amell, in the flash episode called 'The flash vs. the arrow' I believe, he says, "You're really fast Barry but being fast has nothing to do with discipline and precision." Then, the story just continues to play out in a way where the flash is fast, but goes to show he is not a soldier at heart...yet. In many ways they are heroes but very different and yet childlike, but also childish. For instance, there's a moment where Amell is interrogating this female psychiatrist about Cupid and she says 'maybe you should think about seeing a shrink'. But, all you can think about is, well, 'why don't you try living on a deserted island full of people who want to capture and kill you after seeing your father who admitted a whole bunch a stuff just kill himself....and more. The last episode with Ra's al' Goul or whatever was awesome. Love it. '