Arrow Season 3 Countdown: Ranking Episodes Pt. 1

Continuing our countdown of the episodes of Season 3…

Series Episode: 66
Original Airdate: April 22, 2015
Guests: Ra’s al Ghul, Maseo Yamashiro/Sarab, The Priestess ( Françoise Yip )
Flashback Guests: Maseo Yamashiro, Tatsu Yamashiro, General Matthew Shrieve
Special Guests: Ray Palmer/The Atom

“Strong emotional highlights bolster an otherwise serviceable episode.”

I won’t get into whether or not the sex scene seems narratively appropriate given the circumstance. Movies do it, TV does it; it’s not anything new. Nanda Parbat seems a bit strange of a place to get together, but given the turn of events, they make do. And as there is a fair amount of waiting around for things to happen in this episode, there could be worse ideas. The high emotional stakes make the hour, but otherwise it’s a rather staid waiting room drama. Things with the Lazarus Pit and Thea’s resurrection border on exciting, but they don’t take parking brake off of them to get the full effect. Maseo & Diggle and, of course, Oliver & Felicity get some charged scenes together, but otherwise you get the feeling this is the season just checking its watch.

Series Episode: 55
Original Airdate: December 10, 2014
Guests: Ra’s al Ghul, Nyssa al Ghul, Maseo Yamashiro/Sarab, Dinah Lance ( Alex Kingston )
Flashback Guests: Maseo Yamashiro, Tatsu Yamashiro, Akio Yamashiro, Chien Na Wei/China White ( Kelly Hu )

“A muddled affair saved by a wallop of an ending that boldly asks many questions in the season going forward.”

Just like the premiere, here we have an episode overshadowed by its ending. The ending is so surprising that one’s tempted to think the episode is better than it is. For as much as “The Climb” ties together a number of the plot threads from the opening run, it’s still a harried, messy hour. The final sequence, though, that whole confrontation with Ra’s not just the ending, is a masterful, measured one. The fight isn’t about style. It’s about brutality, a clash of wills, and Oliver soundly loses. One wishes the rest of the episode were as gripping and clean, not to mention the same of the season around it.

Series Episode: 67
Original Airdate: April 29, 2015
Guests: Ra’s al Ghul, Nyssa al Ghul, Maseo Yamashiro/Sarab, Lyla Michaels Diggle
Flashback Guests: Maseo Yamashiro, Tatsu Yamashiro

“A tense, fast-paced hour about crumbling morality in the loss of self.”

This is actually a pretty decent episode that places lower on the list due more to the fact that there are better episodes on the season than any particular shortcomings. On top of that, the reveals in the final two episodes undercut a lot of interesting questions and situations raised by Oliver’s actions here. They had yet to officially acknowledge that Oliver was working with Malcolm to infiltrate the League of Assassins by giving into Ra’s al Ghul’s whims at this point. That made the idea of Oliver as a villain facing off against his former team a very intriguing possibility that opened up quite a number of avenues. The reality is that they’d never follow through on such a divergent path, but it still feels like a missed opportunity. Also, Oliver still has much to answer for.

Series Episode: 59
Original Airdate: February 11, 2015
Guests: Werner Zytle/Vertigo, Sara Lance/Canary, Maseo Yamashiro/Sarab, Chase
Flashback Guests: Maseo Yamashiro, Amanda Waller

“A return-to-form that broadens the importance of the show’s world and not just its title character.”

Laurel’s journey toward becoming Black Canary held a lot of promise. It’s fair to say the results were mixed, confused by this frustrating inability to keep true to her capability as a fighter and not just have her do well or do poorly depending on what they needed for the plot. Having her address some nagging issues over her role in relation to her sister by using the same Vertigo-induced plot device that kicked off Oliver’s own struggle with identity was both smart and quite a treat to see Katie Cassidy and Caity Lotz square off. What’s more is that Oliver finally comes to terms with the fact that his mission is truly no longer just his own. Of course, he simultaneously denies and uses that for his own advantages later, but in the moment, it’s a sea change.

Series Episode: 52
Original Airdate: November 12, 2014
Guests: Ted Grant, Isaac Stanzler, Carrie Cutter/Cupid
Flashback Guests: Maseo Yamashiro, Tatsu Yamashiro, Akio Yamashiro

“A heavy-handed, unsubtle episode still finds success in its themes and character development, plus a certain boxing glove arrow.”

“Guilty” is as subtle as a boxing glove arrow to the face. Still, throughout its graceless theatrics, it’s an enjoyable time. Admittedly, there’s that pesky retcon itch popping up as they establish that Ted Grant was patrolling Starling City as a masked vigilante a year before the Arrow hit the scene and gets a significant amount of ink in the press for it. This despite the fact that the city seems to have never dealt with a disguised protector when Oliver’s hooded persona makes his appearance. Yet, there’s a homemade feel to Grant’s Wildcat that really works and grounds the story appropriately. The parallel to Oliver’s and Roy’s partnership, especially in light of Roy learning the truth about the cop he killed in Season 2, is tremendously thick but no less effective.

Next Page – #13 to #11

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