Arrow Arrow S3 E1 The Calm

[The Shape]

I was not a fan of the new Count and I think they should have started the season with a different villain. The subplot about the Vertigo and the guys Team Arrow were after seemed a little unnecessarily convoluted.

Oliver needs to update his suit ASAP because now his looks super lame next to Roy's awesome outfit.

Also, is it just me or did the sound mixing in the episode suck? I don't know if it's just an Arrow or CW thing, but at times, the background music was really loud and the dialogue was often hard to make out. Also, the overall volume of the episode seemed too low. I had my TV's sound up nearly all the way during the episode and it was just barely cutting it, and then a commercial would come on and be SO loud that I'd have to turn my volume back down until the show was back on.

 

[enygma]

Great to see the trick arrows. Disappointed to see

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Sara die

although we all knew it was coming. Also a bit disappointed that

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Diggle will seemingly be on the bench,

hope it wont pan out that way. Brandon Routh was very good.

 

[los pollos]

I thought the way the writers handled Sara's exit from the show was weak. They went through the trouble of bringing her back when they already gave her a decent exit from the show in the finale, only to bring her back in the last 10 minutes of the premiere out of nowhere, only to die in the most anticlimactic way possible. I felt really bad when Tommy died in the S1 finale, and I was shocked & devastated when Moira was executed by Slade, but I felt nothing when Sara died. The first words that came out of my mouth was "What? Is that it?". Post #129 was right, Sara's character really got disrespected with that pathetic death scene. They didn't attempt any build up for that scene, which made me feel like she was treated as an afterthought to the plot line the writers want to setup for the season.

The new count vertigo didn't really do much for me as Villain, he didn't feel like a major threat at any point in the episode except when others around him weren't thinking logically. Why didn't any of the other two goons just jump him and kill him after he poisoned their boss? Why did Arrow fall for his dart throw TWICE? I expected Ollie to make himself hard to hit by Vertigo's darts the second time the met, and to be wearing some kind of body armor to protect his torso.

The rest of the episode was entertaining though. I liked Ray Palmer, Brandon Routh was very charismatic in the role and fun to watch, he reminded me a lot of Tony Stark from the movies in some ways. Olvier and Felicity's relationship looked interesting, but I bet they get together again by the end of the season once Oliver realizes that devoting everything to the Arrow persona is far more unhealthy psychologically than having a balance. Roy felt like an afterthought in the episode since he didn't have any really interaction with anyone, I don't have an opinion on him yet, so I will wait and see how he pans out as an official sidekick in future eps.

 

[Arrowshieldfan]

I think if some of the non-action scene cutting romance scene in half and replace them with Roy fights or Court Vertigo with some development like he is trying to return to his country. It would be satisfy those who hate Olicity

 

[Guts]

Gotta wonder though..if it's that easy to kill off "Sara", I wonder why someone (with legitimate skills) hasn't already killed off Oliver yet.

I mean I'm sure Ra's knows about Oliver by now and you would think that Malcom would want to kill off Oliver to get even with him.

My guess on why she was killed so easily was because the person that killed her was someone that she trusted and possibly thought was her ally.

 

[Arrowshieldfan]

how would you feel if Amanda Waller order the hit on Sara as a way to draw out LOA members(Nyssa, Ral al Ghul)......we already know what she capable of shooting down a plane in season 1? bombing SC.

 

[gohei_]

This was a solid comeback for Arrow in my opinion, even though some of the dialogue and the fight scenes were a bit too much for my taste.
I am also not a fan of his new bow

Oh, and Felicity was smoking throughout the whole episode

 

[Arrowshieldfan]

I don't think Oliver will use the collapse bow for whole season I could see use his bow from Season 2 again

 

[Human Torch]

It just doesn't sit right the way they killed her.No superhero should die for shock value.If they even did one of those "win one for the gipper" speeches from Sara to Laurel before she dies,it would've been better than this.

She survives the island,the Amazo,the LOS,Slade,only to get caught off guard? I'm not buying it.

I don't know why so many people were expecting it.It seemed there was a willingness to do something with the character after last season,even if it wasn't as BC.I thought (maybe hoped) they'd take advantage of her in a BOP series.

I don't see how we're supposed to look forward to hearing all her backstory now.That's like having Ollie die this season and having the next 3 seasons be about the flashbacks.That's why she should've got her own BOP spin off to tell her backstory.

 

[Quasimod0]

Oliver was really getting on my nerves in this episode. Heavens that guy is a rollercoaster of emotion

 

[Herolee10]

Oliver was really getting on my nerves in this episode. Heavens that guy is a rollercoaster of emotion

Oliver would definitely give Tobey's Peter a run for his money when it comes to having the infamous..."Can I be a hero and have a normal life still?" Syndrome.

 

[Lilbaz]

Oliver would definitely give Tobey's Peter a run for his money when it comes to having the infamous..."Can I be a hero and have a normal life still?" Syndrome.

It is getting a bit tedious now. He's not 17 anymore.

 

[Glassjaw]

I really enjoyed this episode, mainly because the character/dialogue-led scenes were so good. They actually had time to breath. During some parts in season 2 it sometimes felt like the characters took a back seat to the action.

The scene with Ray Palmer in the board room, him and Felicity in the I.T shop, the way Diggle Felicity Oliver and Roy all work together now. It all gave us time to remind us why we liked the characters in the first place. That being said some of the action was great. That flip to take out the truck at the beginning, Roy climbing up to the vent. I hope the flashbacks are interesting this year, as I instantly liked the whole premise of the guy Oliver's been fighting for months to escape is now being blackmailed - I hope a cool new bromance blosoms.

To me the episode just felt like a series hitting its stride. I like it. Another!

 

[Human Torch]

Oliver would definitely give Tobey's Peter a run for his money when it comes to having the infamous..."Can I be a hero and have a normal life still?" Syndrome.

That's probably the only reason I found the whole "Olicity pandering" tolerable.The whole "Can I still have a normal life and be the hero?Lemme try...Nope,guess not." shtick is a comic book staple.I thought it played very well.


I haven't mentioned Dig's new fatherhood.I don't really know what their plan is.I'm sure he's not going to be sidelined (well,anymore than usual).But obviously,room has to be made for the costumed sidekicks.That's why I always said,they should find some hero for him to morph inttherwise,he's more or less expendable.

 

[Herolee10]

That's probably the only reason I found the whole "Olicity pandering" tolerable.The whole "Can I still have a normal life and be the hero?Lemme try...Nope,guess not." shtick is a comic book staple.I thought it played very well.


I haven't mentioned Dig's new fatherhood.I don't really know what their plan is.I'm sure he's not going to be sidelined (well,anymore than usual).But obviously,room has to be made for the costumed sidekicks.That's why I always said,they should find some hero for him to morph inttherwise,he's more or less expendable.

I think Diggs might start workung with Argus more often, acting as a official liaison between the organization and team arrow.

 

[Human Torch]

It's funny,but I was thinking last night....Waller is Arrow's Nick Fury.....Lyla is it's Maria Hill...Argus is basically SHIELD....Does that make Digg Arrow's Coulson?

By next season,I expect Digg to be Directer of ARGUS.t:

 

[Mister J]

As long as Diggle stays in the mix. That closing scene with him made me a little uneasy.

...then, at the end of the episode, I found out what feeling uneasy really was. ****.

 

[Seb]

I'm pissed about Sara as well. I was hoping for a BoP series as well.

The whole Ollicity thing is annoying (it kinda feels like they missed the opening and now it just feels awkward), it seemed like the writers decided that this was now a romantic relationship so couldn't be written in the cutesy repartee that made a large portion of the fanbase fall in love with the relationship.

My vain hope for Sara: They aim for a Birds of Prey spin off towards the end of the season. Have Nyssa drop Sara in a Lazarus pit and have the plot start out with Sara trying to readjust to being alive (a la Coulson) with Nyssa helping her (in this version of events Ra's is the one that ordered Sara's shooting and that drove Nyssa away). Add Huntress at some point.
One thing I'd really love is if they did a Batgirl -> Oracle with Sara (one of the arrows could totally have hit her spine, and if not the dumpster would have snapped her.) It would mean that Sara couldn't be the Canary any more, so Laurel could continue on her path towards being a passably interesting character.

 

[Mikelus]

It just doesn't sit right the way they killed her.No superhero should die for shock value.If they even did one of those "win one for the gipper" speeches from Sara to Laurel before she dies,it would've been better than this.

She survives the island,the Amazo,the LOS,Slade,only to get caught off guard? I'm not buying it.

You buy a lot of comicbooky nonsense but you can't buy a character being killed off guard?

She knew her killer, she wasn't expecting him/her to kill her, as simple as that, stuff happens. Not everything is going to be a predictable comicbooky moment or speech before dying cliché.

Solid episode despite the Olicity pandering, Arrow is still better than Gotham.

 

[Human Torch]

You buy a lot of comicbooky nonsense but you can't buy a character being killed off guard?

She knew her killer, she wasn't expecting him/her to kill her, as simple as that, stuff happens. Not everything is going to be a predictable comicbooky moment or speech before dying cliché.

Solid episode despite the Olicity pandering, Arrow is still better than Gotham.

We even had Oliver this very episode talking about how hard it is to trust and not see everyone as a potential threat.And here we have Sara,(who we are convinced last season,is even more hardened and cold towards people,)just taking an assassin on face value as a buddy?Getting caught completely off guard?How is that possible?

Sorry,but it's **** poor writing designed for shock value.Nothing more.

 

[luis4u]

We even had Oliver this very episode talking about how hard it is to trust and not see everyone as a potential threat.And here we have Sara,(who we are convinced last season,is even more hardened and cold towards people,)just taking an assassin on face value as a buddy?Getting caught completely off guard?How is that possible?

Sorry,but it's **** poor writing designed for shock value.Nothing more.

It has happen in real life,griselda blanco..

 

[Human Torch]

It has happen in real life,griselda blanco..

If it was Nyssa that killed her,I could buy it- maybe.But I seriously can't see her trusting anyone that implicitly,with a possible exception of a lover.

 

[Mikelus]

I'm pissed about Sara as well. I was hoping for a BoP series as well.

The whole Ollicity thing is annoying (it kinda feels like they missed the opening and now it just feels awkward), it seemed like the writers decided that this was now a romantic relationship so couldn't be written in the cutesy repartee that made a large portion of the fanbase fall in love with the relationship.

My vain hope for Sara: They aim for a Birds of Prey spin off towards the end of the season. Have Nyssa drop Sara in a Lazarus pit and have the plot start out with Sara trying to readjust to being alive (a la Coulson) with Nyssa helping her (in this version of events Ra's is the one that ordered Sara's shooting and that drove Nyssa away). Add Huntress at some point.
One thing I'd really love is if they did a Batgirl -> Oracle with Sara (one of the arrows could totally have hit her spine, and if not the dumpster would have snapped her.) It would mean that Sara couldn't be the Canary any more, so Laurel could continue on her path towards being a passably interesting character.

She's dead, but she will return thru flashbacks showing how she became the Canary. They can still do a Birds of Prey series down the road, once Laurel has become a solid BC, Felicity could be their Oracle... this could happen in a couple of years if Arrow ends in season 5, the timing would be right.

 

[Herolee10]

If the producers aren't able to successfully gain fan support for Laurel with whatever arc that they have in mind for her to become the new Canary, then she may end up getting even more scrutiny from more fans if they kill off Felicity next in order to truly make Laurel into the only female lead and love of Oliver's life for this show.

 

[luis4u]

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