‘Arrow’ Episode 3.23 “My Name is Oliver Queen” (8 out of 10) Starring Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Emily Bett Rickards, Paul Blackthorne. Guest Starring Brandon Routh, Katrina Law, Matt Nable, Rila Fukushima. First aired May 13, 2015.
This third season of “Arrow” has kind of been all over the place. There are reasons, and some of them made sense, but the result has been a very uneven season. Trying to put everything back together and tie up so many disparate stories in a single season finale episode is a daunting task. “My Name is Oliver Queen” did an adequate, and sometimes good, job doing just that.
When last week’s episode closed, Team Arrow was locked up in Ra’s Al Ghul’s dungeon in Nanda Parbat. They’d been gassed, they were dying…and at the beginning of this episode, they’ve been revived with an antidote that Malcolm Merlyn was planning on using all along. They were still stuck in the dungeon, of course, until The Flash zips in. Within 90 seconds, he’s bound up the League of Assassins, freed Team Arrow, and headed back to Central City to deal with his own (much more entertaining) problems.
Ra’s, Nyssa, and Oliver are en route to Starling City to use the Alpha/Omega Virus to destroy the population; Oliver uses the flight to turn the tables on Ra’s, and tries to bring down the entire plane, killing them all. It doesn’t quite work out according to his plan, but hey. He’s no Malcolm Merlyn.
There’s a reunion in Starling City, where Oliver and Nyssa meet back up with Felicity and Diggle and Merlyn and Thea and Ray and uh…Felici–no…Laurel. Yeah, that’s it. Once you’ve got more than four heroes in a room, it gets messy. Another problem with this season. In order to defeat Ra’s Al Ghul, they’ll need to split into teams and stop the virus from being released at four different locations. Once again, the comic book villain gives away his evil plan. Sigh.
In the ensuing ass-kicking montages, a few things are important. Thea dons her ex’s mantle and becomes Speedy, a red-and-black wearing, arrow-shooting sidekick. Which has been teased since the first season, and has finally happened. I dig it. Damien Darhk (ugh such a stupid name) is moved into position as next year’s Big Bad. Felicity gets to fly in the Atom armor. And Oliver and Ra’s Al Ghul have their final duel.
By the end of the episode, most of the major threads have been tied up. Some of them messily, like Ray Palmer blowing himself up in his laboratory (temporarily or microscopically, since he’s in the “DC Legends of Tomorrow” spinoff series coming to CW next season), some of them quite neatly, like Malcolm Merlyn ascending to become the next Ra’s Al Ghul. Some things are teased, like Diggle taking on his own masked/costumed persona (yay? maybe?) and Oliver and Felicity are finally leaving Starling City on a happy note. Driving a Porsche into the sunset isn’t a bad way to go out.
driving a porsche into the sunset isn’t a bad way to go out
Previous summer breaks on “Arrow” have been in real time, so when we rejoin them in October, five months will have passed. What will bring Oliver back to Starling City, and what will his new heroic persona be? I’m sure it will be grim, and dark and tragic…but you know, it was nice to see Oliver smiling. Happy. Surrounded by friends. More than half of this season he’s been in Nanda Parbat or other places, where he’s solo, and his friends/colleagues are mourning him in different ways. That got old quick, CW. And when I’m having a lot more fun watching “The Flash,” I end up watching “Arrow” out of loyalty instead of being excited about it.
I already said this season has been uneven, but there have been highlights, some strong episodes, and characters growing on me. Laurel, who was the Character I Most Wanted to Die in all of season one and most of season two, has become someone I look forward to. Diggle is growing more developed as a husband and father than he was before. And if Oliver and Felicity can work things out and become a power couple, instead of moping around all the time? It’ll make for a stronger series. Part of the delight (yeah, delight) of having Ray Palmer around is that he was smart and funny, and even smarter and funnier with Felicity. They both lifted the other up. They need to bring some of that lightness to Oliver/Felicity/Olicity. The entire show doesn’t have to change, but they need to find other hues in their palette.
The show needs other hues in its palette
It looks like next season’s flashbacks may take place in Coast City–which is most famous as the DC Comics Fictional City of Green Lantern. Coast City is associated with him in the comic books as much as Gotham City is with Batman. In the comic books, Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen are best friends. The “missing test pilot” referenced on “The Flash” this week was Hal Jordan, working for Ferris Air. Coast City has been name dropped several times in recent episodes, with Barry running to Coast City for pizza, turning up in casual conversation, etc. I may be wrong, but I also think Oliver and Felicity were on their way to Coast City at the end of the episode. Whether or not he’s Green Lantern, I’m guessing we’ll meet Hal Jordan in season four. Could be cool. It’s gotta be better than the Green Lantern movie was.
This season ended on an unusually upbeat and hopeful note for “Arrow.” I’m hoping some of that will carry on into season four.