One Week Later: Arrow 3x10 Left Behind Review

Much like my Flash reviews, you can find all my reviews for the first half of Arrow season 3 over at gottawatchit.com. Back to your regularly late scheduled review.

SPOILERS BELOW




Arrow hasn't exactly been on fire this season. Following the amazing season 2 finale, anything would have been disappointing. And looking back on the first half of season 3, the episodes are still FUN. Arrow has taken on a more energetic vibe from its rotten season 1 roots. This is good. The wheel-turning/time-wasting excursions in the first half of season 3 were less good. The characters went around looking for the murderer of a character who shouldn't have been killed off in the first place. At least 3 of those episodes were spent on red herrings. They still incorporated character building techniques but overall, season 3 has left much to be desired in terms of an over-arching story. A crossover with The Flash and showdown with Ra's Al Ghul, along with the reveal of Malcolm Merlyn brainwashing Thea into killing Sara Lance, has put season 3 back on course.

Now here we are: Oliver Queen is dead. I predicted there would be a Lazarus Pit involved with the resurrection. There are currently no signs of one but Arrow has pulled crazier- wait, no it hasn't. (Update: 2 episodes into the second half of the season and no Lazarus Pit).

I understand Laurel Lance hasn't always been the best written character in the history of the show but Season 2 onwards and the character has really gone a long way. I appreciate the show's handling of the Laurel character now and actually believe her as willing to become a savior of the city; a hero in the footsteps of her sister. Naturally, people are going to hate Laurel regardless of whatever she does. It's a byproduct of unintentional (but still heavily unwarranted) sexism towards the character. "I'm the justice you can't run from" is no more ridiculous than Roy needlessly flipping in front of his enemies.

Speaking of Roy, the attention he's getting while Oliver is missing is a vast improvement from his nothing of the first half of the season. Roy and Diggle get lots more material to work with here and I can't complain at all.

The team dynamic is falling apart without Oliver's guidance and Brick is taking over The Glades. Things are looking bleak and Arrow has found its groove again.