Arrow: 6 Things That "Sara" Did Right (And 3 It Didn't)

1. Performances

In an episode named for a character that was brutally murdered in the final moments of the previous, a necessary aspect would deal with the key players reacting to the unexpected death. To the show's credit, "Sara" was at least semi-realistic in its acknowledgment that different people mourn in different ways. It can't all be ninja fights and motorcycle jousting, and the varied grieving processes allowed the actors to show some nuance. Colton Haynes as Roy Harper didn't have much to do, although he did prove a handy hugging height for heavier hitter Emily Bett Rickards. As Felicity, Rickards took us through the most recognizable mourning process. Particularly challenging to the young actress were her two big emotional scenes, the first opposite Brandon Routh as Felicity slowly fell apart during a confrontation and the second opposite Stephen Amell as she rejected Oliver's expectation to die down in the foundry. There was enough emotion in her scene with Routh that we could accept her decision to go to him at the end, and enough heartbroken accusation in her scene with Amell that we believed that her words would stick with him throughout the rest of the episode. For her part, "Sara" afforded Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance the opportunity to show off her acting chops, and she...more or less delivered. While her weepier moments left much to be desired, she sold the anger and thirst for vengeance that resulted from her sister's death. Part of the fault lies with the writing of Laurel's arc, but Cassidy's darker moments may be effective enough for us to accept her as the future Black Canary. The episode MVP was Stephen Amell as Oliver. Frustrating for much of the episode as he vacillated between angry and robotic while trying not to mourn for his fallen friend, plenty of us wanted to slap him silly before the end. The moment in which Oliver's behavior became tragic rather than bullheaded was in his final admission to Diggle. "I don't want to die down here," he says, sitting hollow-eyed in the lair that had become his home and staring at the table upon which Sara's body had lain bloody and broken. David Ramsey as Diggle more than earns his pay for the week in the delivery of his simple response: "So don't, Oliver." It was exhausting and devastating and just about perfect. And now, onto was wasn't quite perfect...