Arrow: 10 Best Episodes So Far

Over the course of three seasons, Arrow has defied expectations. Thanks largely in part to its stunning action and likeable characters, the story of Oliver Queen’s vigilante quest to clean up his city has raised the bar for superhero TV shows as a whole.

Action-wise, Arrow has few equals. The show’s fight choreography is often incredible and more often then not, Oliver throwing down against a villain is the best part of the episode. What ultimately makes all of his arrow-shooting exciting, though, is that we care about the people doing the fighting. From Oliver to Team Arrow to his villains, so many of the characters have relatable, fleshed-out personalities that force us as viewers to be invested in their fates.

And while Arrow can scale down and nail the character moments, it’s also proven to have a massive scope. The fights have gotten bigger, the comic book references have gotten more plentiful and it’s even spawned an entire superhero TV universe.

Whether focused on a comic book antagonist, Oliver’s crowded personal life or his past on the island, Arrow is a routinely enjoyable show. With the new season premiering on October 7th, we look back at the episodes that made Arrow what it is today, and got us to come back every week for more.

Written By: Marc Guggenheim & Wendy Mericle

Directed By: Dwight Little

In contrast to the excellent second half of Season 2, the latter part of Season 3 was perhaps the weakest Arrow has ever been, yet Public Enemy nearly pulled the show out of its rut. Perhaps that's because it was the first episode in a while where there was a palpable feeling of danger for Oliver.

With Ra’s al Ghul telling Detective Lance that Oliver is the Arrow, he quickly becomes hunted on every front. Lance is often the heart of the show so seeing him lead a manhunt against Oliver really speaks to how betrayed he felt.

But even though Paul Blackthorne killed every scene he was in, the episode really belongs to Roy. After spending a huge amount of time on the sidelines, it’s ultimately Roy who steps up to rescue Oliver, surrendering himself in the Arrow costume. Even before that climactic moment he grabbed the spotlight as he took charge of Team Arrow, escaped the cops with his patented parkour and even took out a League member.

On top of all that, the soap opera-like flashback involving Shado’s twin sister Mei was just poignant enough to make us look past how ridiculous it was. At least it was a nice change of pace from Oliver running back and forth through a market.