Arrow: 6 Things That "Left Behind" Did Right (And 4 It Didn't)

2. Characters In The Dark

Some of the funniest moments of Arrow have centered on Oliver's ridiculous lies, and the single shame about Felicity joining the team was the end of Oliver's increasingly absurd stories to her. Still, what was funny with certain characters in Season 1 is less so in Season 3, and the secrecy now has an edge of cruelty to it. Case in point: Thea Queen. In Left Behind, Roy is the only one to make the point that Oliver's death renders his wishes of keeping Thea in the dark somewhat moot. The heartbreak of her desperate plea that Roy ask the Arrow for help in recovering her brother is tempered by a sense of secondhand embarrassment. Even worse is her complete trust in Malcolm as he offers to look into Oliver's disappearance, and the facts that she has neither been told nor figured out Oliver's secret for herself taints her entire arc. Left Behind also renders even further moot Laurel's argument that Quentin's health is too delicate for him to learn the truth of Sara's demise. Captain Lance was involved in a series of high-speed chases and shootouts throughout the episode without so much as getting woozy; the man can handle a calm conversation about the fact that his daughter is dead.