I used to be a hero like you, then I took an arrow to the chest - Review of Arrow S3E1 'The Calm'

When last season culminated in the epic showdown with Slade Wilson aka 'Deathstroke', expectations for the third season was sky high! We were even left with a teaser in the flashbacks of the finale, that Oliver wasn't always on the Island of Lian Yu, but that he was for some time also in Hong Kong, at the behest of Amanda Waller. So let's all fill our quivers and take a shot at the third season premiere of Arrow.

Following the defeat of Slade Wilson, the Arrow is now viewed as a hero to the people of Starling City, and the newly promoted Captain Lance finally calls of the anti-vigilante-taskforce he himself started and erects a statue in honor of the city's new hero. This moment feels well deserved, after all of Oliver's losses (his best friend Tommy in the first season, and his mother last season, and then his sister Thea leaving the city and never heard from again). Everything seems to be coming up Oliver! Even some of the fans of the show, who for the longest time have been shipping Oliver and Felicity must have had a blast, seing Oliver genuinly taking Felicity out on a date, following last season's finale, when we saw a little foreshadowing of the so-called "Olicity". The date goes horribly wrong after an explosion in the restaurant at the hands of Werner Zytle "Vertigo" (a nod to
Count Vertigo, one of Green Arrows nemesies in the comics).
I really felt like this whole Olicity thing felt forced, like they did it only for fan-service, only to have them both realize that it does not work out. I say this, as we are also introduced to Ray Palmer in this episode, who takes a liking to Felicity after they meet at Felcity's part job at an electronics store. I get an instant feeling that the two of them are gonna end up together, and that the Olicity thing was directed at the fans to say: "we hear you, here is why it does not work out".

I have also for the longest time been somewhat indifferent when it comes to Roy in the show, but he really cannot be ignored any longer, when he himself now dawns a red hood, mask and bow. But I feel like this episode made a few mistakes when it came to Roy. It has been some months after the raid Deathstroke set in motion, and in that short time, I doubt anybody could develop that kind of archery skills, that took Oliver 5 years to learn - I know it all looked amazing, and I still stand by, that Arrow currently is the best serie out there when it comes to fights (in the category of comic book series), but I feel like he is way too good of a shot after such a short time.

To get back to Ray Palmer (played by Brandon Routh), he really oozes charisma, and fits really great in to the show at the current time. Veteran DC-fans will also recognize the name, as he is the secret identity of the super hero Atom, who can change his size down to subatomic levels. It is clear that he cannot do that this time around, we have only just been introduced to him. And so far on the show, we have not seen any real superpowers, but with the addition of The Flash to this universe, there might just be a possibility that we might see him as Atom at some point. For now, him acquiring Queen Consolidated helps set up some potential good subplots, with both him wanting to rebrand the city as "Star City", and the inevitable Ray Palmer and Felicity Smoak romance, I can see it so clearly.

The minor clash between Oliver and Diggle in this episode also really got to me, proving just how much the two are dependant on one another, but utimately, with Diggle's baby on the way Oliver suggests that Diggle retires from field duty. At first he protests against it, but in the end, with Diggle seing his baby girl for the first time, he complies. It was a touching moment, espeacially after last season sort of revealed that Oliver might have a child out there, but his mother convinced him, that the girl had aborted the baby. Yet I am confident in saying, that Diggle will be back, as the Arrow Trinity (Oliver, Diggle and Felicity) works too well for the show to have them break apart.

When it comes to this weeks villain, Vertigo, I feel he himself was a bit of a letdown, and he will quickly be forgotten. But there was a certain scene, where he manages to inject Oliver with the Vertigo-serum, that would reveal one's greatest fear. We now see Oliver standing in front of himself, as Vertigo in Oliver's mind has taken the form of Oliver himself. This to me shows, that he himself realizes that he cannot balance being the Arrow and still being Oliver Queen.
With the help of Roy and the timely arrival of Sara (who went back to the League of Assasins at last season finally), they manages to beat Vertigo.  Everybody at Team Arrow are back together, but not for long.

Because now we get to the final scene of the episode, that left me speechless. After talking to Laurel, we see Sara on a rooftop, turning around as she hears a voice. She recognizes the person, and asks what the person is doing here - but she does not get an answer, instead she gets multiple arrows in her chest and falls down from the roof to her death right in front of Laurel.
This was such a surprise for me, I loved the Sara character, and I realy thought they could have utilized her better with her returning to the league, but I get what they are doing. If they went for shock value they got it, but I am somehow concerned, as this seem to give merrit to the fan-theory, that Laurel will take up the mantle as Black Canary after her sister, but they must tread really carefully, because as it stands, Laurel cannot become the Black Canary without doing some intense training for an extended amount of time - but let's see what where they are going.

A good season opening, a lot of setup,  a few missteps in my opinion, but the good overshadows the bad.

Popcorntroller out!