With season four of Arrow kicking off this week, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look back at the season three finale, “My Name is Oliver Queen.” The episode story was written by Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg and the teleplay was written by Marc Guggenheim and Jake Coburn with John Behring directing. Berlanti and Guggenheim are back with writing duties on the season four premiere, “Green Arrow,” but there’s no sign of Kreisberg for at least the first 8 episodes. He’s, no doubt, got his plate full exec producing on The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, AND Supergirl. Of course, Berlanti and Guggenheim are also busy on those projects too! As the titles of the episodes indicate, we appear to be getting the transformation to the character we’ve all been waiting for.
I’m eagerly anticipating the season premiere as this show does such a great job in paying off the storylines it starts. The season three finale is a great example of that. I loved the way all of the storylines dovetailed together, and in particular how the flashbacks not only dovetailed back to the beginning of the season but how the flashbacks continue to intelligently inform the present storyline.
“My Name is Oliver Queen” starts off with Ra’s (Matt Noble) and Oliver (Stephen Amell) on a plan on the way to Starling City to release the Alpha/Omega bio-weapon. Oliver is dreaming and Ra’s tells him that there are only three kinds of dreams – those of truth, desire, and temptation. We learn later in the episode that Oliver has been having a recurring dream – something we already know but that is news to Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards), who he tells about the dream later in the episode. Oliver has been dreaming that he fights Ra’s and either dies as he did on the cliff or drives off into the sunset with Felicity. It’s certainly possible to see both endings to the dream in light of the 3 meanings.
Perhaps it is tempting for Oliver to atone for the bad things he’s done (like torture Shrieve (Marc Singer) for which he goes off alone at the end of the flashback sequence) by dying at Ra’s’ hand, and as it’s already happened there is truth there. It’s also possible to see dying in the plane crash as dying by Ra’s’ sword as well. But we see that his desire to love Felicity is also a truth – and the episode does, in fact, end with the happy couple driving off into the sunset! In television terms, making us wait only three years is pretty quick, so I’m assuming now we worry about what will break them up. Or maybe the writers will surprise us and give us a leading man who is also happily married to the girl of our dreams? I’m certainly happy to replace all romantic scenes with some James Bamford choreographed fights! I will say that I don’t think any of the fights in the finale compared to the fight over the plane in Nanda Parbat in the second last episode – but then, I love fights that include the entire cast!
The fight in the plane after Oliver reveals his plan to Ra’s is a pretty good one, however. I loved the confrontation between Oliver and Ra’s. Ra’s tells him that he handed Oliver his crusade and his holy mission, and Oliver says “I already have one.” In the end, after pushing most of the assassins out of the plane, Ra’s jumps with the bio-weapon, leaving Oliver and Nyssa (Katrina Law) to crash land the plane. Oliver’s intention was to die in the plane crash, saving the city, and leaving the other heroes as his legacy. He still tries to do this at the end of the episode, not by dying, but as Felicity urges him to, by living. I loved the scene in which Laurel (Katie Cassidy) says, well there’s no shortage of masks in the city, and Oliver corrects her and calls them heroes. It’s another nice reflection of how far he’s come in his own thinking.
It was a nice touch to have Grant Gustan make an appearance as the Flash, saving the group from Nanda Parbat. As usual, the Flash brings some lightheartedness – I loved him remarking on the Assassins having a hot tub! But it also made sense for that lightheartedness to turn darker in the heart of the episode. This is my one fear for the coming season of Arrow, which has been touted as taking on more of the tone of The Flash. Don’t get me wrong, The Flash is a fun show in its own right, but I prefer the darker tone of Arrow and the more mature themes it tackles. I’d hate for the show to lose that, and it’s not like Arrow doesn’t already have some great lighthearted moments anyway.
The flashback sequences are anything but lighthearted as we see the end of Maseo (Karl Yune) and Tatsu’s (Rila Fukushima) story. Both Yune and Fukushima have been great additions to the cast. I’ll definitely miss Yune, but it’s always possible that we may see more of Fukushima’s terrific sword work in the future. Shrieve’s men try to rescue him but are fought off by Maseo and Oliver who then beats Shrieve and shoots him in the leg with an arrow. After Akio is cremated – and in what has to be record time – Tatsu gives a third of Akio’s ashes to Oliver. This pushes Oliver over the edge and he takes it upon himself to seek revenge on Shrieve by torturing him. This appalls Tatsu and shames Maseo. Oliver tells them, “He failed this city and I’m giving him the justice he deserves.” It would seem to be the beginning of the dark Oliver that we met in season one.
Maseo tells Tatsu that he’s leaving her because he was too weak to save Akio or do what Oliver did. He tells her he has no soul and that every time he looks in her eyes, he sees his son. He leaves even though she says she still loves him because he doesn’t feel he’s worthy of her love. In the end, Tatsu also withdraws from the world to her monastery – as she does after Nanda Parbat too. Oliver is now free, in the flashbacks, but is not intending to go back to Starling City because he’s also appalled by what he did. He tells Tatsu that he can’t bring that darkness back to his mother and sister. Oliver says he’s not the man his father thought he was and that he also needs to be alone.
The present day storyline, however, is all about Oliver NOT being alone. Of course, the fact that he took Malcolm (John Barrowman) into his confidence doesn’t please anyone. And of course, the entire team resists trusting him. I loved them ending up at Palmer Industries and Malcolm giving everyone orders and them all just standing there until Diggle (David Ramsey) gives the ok. The look on Katie Cassidy's face in particular is priceless!
Diggle and Felicity have the hardest time with Oliver trusting Malcolm over them. I loved Diggle punching Oliver – hard – the minute he sees him. It’s a great scene from all three actors. Oliver tries to explain that it wasn’t about trust but about protecting them. Diggle has some pretty valid grievances. After all, Oliver was happy to endanger both Lyla and their baby. Diggle tells him flat out that sorry won’t cut it this time. He shakes Oliver’s hand at the end of the episode and tells him he’ll consider continuing even while denying that he’s a “super” hero. Oliver suggests that if he does decide to keep going out, he should really think about disguising his identity. And if you’ve followed any teasers, you’ll know that we’ll see Diggle doing just that in the new season.
Like all
Arrow season finales, this episode had no shortage of action. I adored Lance’s (Paul Blackthorne) comment to Laurel – “What? The city’s under attack? It must be May!” Hilarious! The scene between Blackthorne and Cassidy is a good one. Laurel immediately chastises Lance for his drinking. We see him being belligerent on the phone before she comes in, and it’s a clue for us as we know he’s an angry drunk. He tells her that he’s got it under control – two drinks a day, maximum, and she forcefully reminds him that that doesn’t apply to drunks. It’s really just so great to see Laurel being the character she promised to be in season one. In the end, Lance does take Felicity’s call and mobilizes the police to help. He even goes to bat for Oliver when he and Ra’s are surrounded on the damn by police he has no authority over.
Rather than having the entire group working together as they did in the second last episode, Ra’s seeks to win by distributing the bio-weapon in four different locations, causing the team to split up. I liked how the entire core team worked to crack the locations. Diggle comes up with the idea to look for what’s out of the ordinary – like a cloaked submarine. Felicity goes online and points out a number of anomalies, and Oliver determines that it’s really Damian Darhk, Ra’s’ nemesis, that Ra’s is after. Oliver’s plan it to grab Darhk and exchange him for the virus. As it turns out, Darhk isn’t at the Essex Hotel, it’s his Assistant played by Christopher Heyerdahl. I was thrilled to see Heyerdahl, expecting him to be Darhk. Of course, we know that Neal McDonough will be playing Darhk this season. We didn’t actually see Heyerdahl’s character die, so my fingers are crossed we may see him again. It just seemed really odd for him to have such a small, throw away kind of part – you may know him as The Swede from
Hell on Wheels, Bigfoot/John Druitt on
Sanctuary, or Alastair on
Supernatural – just to scratch the surface.
Clearly, this plan fails. Oliver has decided that he can’t defeat Ra’s. Felicity, as always, gives him the perspective and pep talk that he needs. She tells him that neither Oliver Queen nor the Arrow can defeat Ra’s. She tells him that he’s become someone different because he’s allowed himself to feel. She tells him that’s not the weakness he thinks it is, but rather, is the key.
She tells him, “Don’t fight to die. Fight to live.” This leads to the fight on the dam. Ra’s says he detects a change in Oliver – “you’d rather love.” Ra’s is satisfied that either way the fight turns out, he wins. Either he kills Oliver or Oliver kills him and becomes Ra’s al Ghul. In the end, Oliver manages to kill Ra’s and it’s a nice bookend to the mid-season finale as Oliver says the same words over Ra’s as he dies. Then, of course, the police shoot Oliver, and he falls off the dam.
Meanwhile, Felicity goes to Ray (Brandon Routh) to help save Oliver. Ray is working on using the nano-tech to disperse the vaccine and refuses to sacrifice the rest of Starling City to rescue Oliver. I loved that we see Oliver fall off the dam – and rather than have him simply miraculously survive the drop, the Atom swoops in to save him – but it’s not Ray in the suit, it’s Felicity!!!
We see another of the women don a new look in the episode. Thea (Willa Holland) shows up in Arsenal’s red leather in the nick of time to save Diggle who takes out the first virus laden assassin. It turns out that she – like the others – has been inoculated against the virus by Malcolm. Nyssa insists on helping Laurel undo what Ra’s started even though she hasn’t been inoculated. They take out another carrier, and Malcolm kills one. In end, our trusty newscaster informs us that the outbreak has been contained.
Oliver tells the team, “my instinct is always to go it alone. We won tonight because I wasn’t alone. I thought this crusade would end with my death but even if I died tonight, it would live on through you.” Oliver goes on to tell them that Ra’s took the Arrow’s identity. He can’t be him anymore, but he doesn’t want to be anyway. He wants to be with Felicity and discover the person he can be.
Meanwhile, Thea is going to continue in his footsteps. She suggests that she could be called the Red Arrow, but Oliver has already told everybody to call her Speedy! Oliver also takes his leave of Malcolm. It’s revealed by the end that what Oliver slips him is Ra’s ring and Malcolm will be the new Ra’s – as he tells a pretty pissed off Nyssa, he was tortured by Ra’s’ blade so he qualifies. Apparently, this was the deal Oliver made to get Malcolm’s help. He tells Malcolm that he’ll never forgive him for what he did to Sara and Thea, but they’ll only be real enemies if Malcolm doesn’t keep up his end of the bargain – which I’m assuming is to keep the League in check. Hard to believe that Malcolm will do that… but maybe Darhk doesn’t care who wears the ring and will be an enemy to Malcolm too.
Oliver ended the season in a way I certainly never expected. I’m definitely going to miss Colton Haynes as Arsenal, even while I’m looking forward to seeing what Thea can do. Laurel has certainly come into her own. I’m sure we all know that Oliver will be back as GREEN Arrow finally. I really hope that he and Diggle can re-find their friendship as that relationship is as much of the show for me as Olicity. The cliffhanger of Ray blowing up in Palmer Industries is a lacking in tension because we know he’ll be back in
Legends of Tomorrow. We also know he was working on miniaturization, so I’m hoping he’s back as very small to begin with! Will Felicity be CEO of Palmer Industries now? Remember that she signed those transfer of ownership papers. I also hope that they get Lance back on the wagon and back on the team sooner rather than later.
What are your big hopes for this season? Were you happy to see Oliver and Felicity happy? Can it last? Can Malcolm ever be trusted? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
About the Author - Lisa Macklem
I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, The X-Files, Defiance, Bitten, Killjoys, and a few others! I'm active on the Con scene when I have the time. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.
