Arrow Season 3 Countdown Pt. 2: The Top 10 Episodes

Drum roll, please! And now, the Top 5 episodes of Season 3.

Series Episode: 63
Original Airdate: March 25, 2015
Guests: Floyd Lawton/Deadshot ( Michael Rowe ), Lyla Michaels Diggle/Harbinger ( Audrey Marie Anderson ), Carrie Cutter/Cupid ( Amy Gumenick ), Senator Joseph Cray ( Stephen Culp ), Mayor Celia Castle ( Christina Cox )
Flashback Guests: Floyd Lawton, Susie Lawton ( Erika Walter ), Zoe Lawton ( Audrey Wise Alvarez ), H.I.V.E. Woman ( Carmen Moore )
Special Guests: Ray Palmer/The Atom

“A capable and mostly poignant exploration of whether a soldier or crimefighter can do their job and still have love and family in their life.”

Floyd Lawton was not only one of the early recurring antagonists of the series but an integral part of a sprawling storyline that will form a large part of the upcoming season. Another character who falls victim to the mercies of the film division, he gets an exceptional send-off, including the rare honor of his own flashbacks. While the story of Lawton’s return from war and struggles with PTSD costing him his family is becoming a rather common soldier’s tale, that makes it no less affecting. Michael Rowe turns in a strong performance that adds further shading to the man known as Deadshot. Coupled with what could also be the final appearance of the Suicide Squad on the show, as well as the welcome wedding of Diggle and Lyla, this is a shining hour of the season.

Series Episode: 62
Original Airdate: March 18, 2015
Guests: Ra’s al Ghul, Nyssa al Ghul, Maseo Yamashiro/Sarab, Michael Amar/Murmur ( Adrian Glynn McMorran )
Flashback Guests: Akio Yamashiro, Mei Fei ( Celina Jade )
Special Guests: Ray Palmer

“A slow, methodical pace and daughters at odds with their fathers add to one of the best episodes of the season.”

The broad arc of the episode is Oliver pondering Ra’s al Ghul’s offer to take his place, but much of the hour focuses on the relationship between father and daughter. We’re given not one but three fine examples: Nyssa and her father contend over the issue that he will not allow her to inherit his power and legacy; Thea and Malcolm spar over the sins of the father being visited upon the child; and Laurel and Quentin are at heartbreaking odds over her well-intentioned but ill-advised decision to hide Sara’s death from him. Speed stands out yet again this hour, only this time it’s a slow pacing that gives appropriate weight to these character challenges. The biggest to benefit is Oliver’s consideration of the offer and the fact that he doesn’t just outright dismiss it makes for a captivating journey.

Series Episode: 65
Original Airdate: April 15, 2015
Guests: Ra’s al Ghul, Jake Simmons/Deathbolt ( Doug Jones )
Flashback Guests: Maseo Yamashiro, Tatsu Yamashiro, Akio Yamashiro, Amanda Waller
Special Guests: Ray Palmer/The Atom, Cisco Ramon ( Carlos Valdes )

“Though the comic relief borders on derailing it, a delightful twist and a shock ending make for a sad but thrilling hour.”

Roy’s bow out of the series as a main member of the cast is not only strongly emotional but surprising. Though we were well aware that Colton Haynes was leaving and this was his last full episode, death was not something seriously considered for his exit. That made the plan the team devised without Oliver’s knowledge unpredictable and Roy’s staged death all the more shocking. That they didn’t take much time to reveal to Oliver and the audience that Roy had survived added to the masterful nature of the plan. And you had to love that it was Roy that came up with the whole thing. The Arrow had saved his life, mentored him through the Mirakuru, and hadn’t given up on him when Roy was at his lowest over learning about killing the cop. It makes complete sense that Roy would be the one to not only publicly take on the Arrow persona to free Oliver but then to sacrifice his own public identity to close the case on the Arrow. Roy’s able to go search for the self he’d lost and Oliver is free to explore a life outside of the hood. It’s well played throughout, and even more shocking when Ra’s attacks Thea in the end and all but kills her.

Series Episode: 54
Original Airdate: December 3, 2014
Guests: Lyla Michaels/Harbinger, Amanda Waller, Digger Harkness/Captain Boomerang ( Nick E. Tarabay )
Special Guests: Barry Allen/The Flash ( Grant Gustin ), Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow ( Danielle Panabaker )

“An engaging finale to the crossover that finally gives us a solid in on Oliver’s arc for the season.”

With the introduction of the Flash on his own series, it made the potential for crossover a certified given. This one does not disappoint. Sure, we’d already seen Barry Allen on the show in the premiere and Felicity had visited Central City a few weeks prior, but this was a concentrated combination of the two shows to really seal the concept that they share a universe. This closer hour of the two-part event is the better of the two, even though it is oddly placed in the narrative of Arrow‘s season. It does offer a tantalizing comparison between Oliver’s methods as a hero and Barry’s own instincts, aiding the audience in the clear delineation between each show’s basic worldview: Arrow is the dark, The Flash is the light. What really works, aside from all the fun of seeing these two in action together against an effective and far from corny Captain Boomerang, is that Barry is actually able to assist in Oliver’s identity crisis.

And now, without further ado, the Lord of the ManorKing of the Castle … Lord of the Living Room, King of the Kingdome … Top of the Heap, A-Number-One with a bullet…

Series Episode: 64
Original Airdate: April 1, 2015
Guests: Ra’s al Ghul, Nyssa al Ghul, Donna Smoak ( Charlotte Ross )
Flashback Guests: Maseo Yamashiro, Tatsu Yamashiro, Akio Yamashiro, Mei Fei
Special Guests: Ray Palmer/The Atom

“In the season’s most exciting episode yet, everything falls apart.”

Each of the top 3 episodes could probably fill this space as best of the season; in particular, “Public Enemy” and “Broken Arrow” round out the best run of the year from episodes 15 to 19. Though “Suicidal Tendencies” pops up in the middle of it, the mini-arc of Oliver being presented with Ra’s al Ghul’s offer and then having every part of his life taken from him to get him to say yes is the strongest distillation of their conflict. The potential of losing his sister later on will be the most affecting, but this hour features the complete collapse of everything Oliver had devoted his life to after surviving the island and Amanda Waller and the Russian mob. Most of Team Arrow’s work had been undone by Brick during his stab at becoming the big boss of Glades, but here Ra’s turns the public, and more important Quentin Lance and the police, against the Arrow. It’s hard to quite know when exactly Oliver and Malcolm cooked up their plan to get Oliver inside the League to take down Ra’s, but it has to be heartwrenching to witness the death of his crusade, even if he wasn’t sure he wanted to continue on with it. Quentin now knowing the truth about Sara and learning that Oliver is, indeed, the Hood as he’d originally suspected back in Season 1, he tears into taking down the vigilante with an impressive fervor that fuels the danger encroaching on Oliver at every turn. When he turns himself in, rather than the usual martyr complex he usually assumes, Oliver is genuinely left with no other options. So effective is al Ghul’s plan and so effective is the hour.

There we have it. What do you think of the top 10, the top 5, number 1? Let us know in the comment section below or over on the GATV forum at KSiteTV. And tune in to the Season 4 premiere of Arrow tonight at 8 p.m. on The CW!