Its fair to say Arrow season 3 was a bit of a mixed-bag. Or mixed-quiver, rather. There were some typically great moments during the shows run, excellent development for a few existing characters and the introduction of some new ones. Standouts include the slightly meta-casting of former Superman Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer/Atom, the return of John Barrowmans Malcolm Merlyn as a series regular, Oliver and Ras al Ghul having a pretty epic mountaintop swordfight, and the writers finding a way for Laurel to not be really annoying. On the flipside, there were storylines that just didn't work, and times when the series felt it was meandering along while waiting for something to happen, with a few of the 22 episodes serving as little more than filler. Roy may have gotten his big moment towards the end, sacrificing himself to protect the Arrows identity, but that was more than the show deserved from him after basically wasting and ignoring his character for most of the season before that point. The flashback sequences, meanwhile, felt particularly pointless during this season. They havent always been the strongest part of the show anyway, but they served a purpose of filling in Olivers backstory and helping to develop the character, especially last season with the contrast between present day and island Oliver and Slade. The Hong Kong scenes seemed to repeat the same story over-and-over, and while it was useful for his relationship with Maseo and Tatso, and introducing the virus, there was a lot that felt like it didn't need to be there, and was included simply because the showrunners feel by this point they have to include flashbacks. After the brilliance of season 2, especially the dynamic between Oliver and Slade, perhaps Arrows third season was always going to struggle to live up to what came before it. Now that its wrapped up, attention immediately turns to season 4, which will air sometime this autumn (early October is a safe bet). Theres already been a lot of talk and speculation as to what well see in the fourth season, and here we take a look at the ways the show is likely going to try and improve on its third outing
NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far.
A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.
