Arrow – “Left Behind” Review

Warning: Contains Season 3 spoilers.

After a “short” holiday break, Arrow has finally returned to Wednesday nights. Following the events of the mid-season finale and Oliver Queen’s loss at the hands of Ra’s al Ghul, the Arrow team finds themselves in uncharted waters as they struggle to press on in Oliver’s absence. At first the team seems to have everything in order, continuing to rid Starling of common thugs while throwing in a few remarks about Diggle’s sub-par archery skills, but you soon find that the team’s confusion and grief are slowly bubbling up to the surface while a new criminal, and Green Arrow comic alum Danny “Brick” Brickwell, played by former Juggernaut Vinnie Jones, starts making a name for himself in The Glades. The opening scenes of this episode showed a continued chemistry between the heroes despite Stephen Amell’s absence, however it was followed by a seemingly weak courtroom scene as Katie Cassidy’s Laurel Lance put away the thug that our heroes caught earlier.

I am Atom?

Shifting focus to Starling’s newest resident, Brandon Routh’s Ray Palmer appears equally effected by the Arrow’s influence on the people of Starling city as he continues to work on his A.T.O.M suit. This moment was a nice change of pace from the solemn exchange between the heroes as Ray Palmer’s weapons test had an almost “Iron Man” feel to it similar to the test scenes we saw back in 2008. Although he’s not nearly as eccentric, Brandon Routh’s Ray Palmer has consistently developed to become DC’s closest thing to Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark. While this episode continued to show more of the character’s conviction following the reveal of his wife’s death during Deathstroke’s siege upon Starling in last season’s finale, there have been plenty of light-hearted moments that have shown that Ray Palmer has the same sarcastic and witty qualities that make Tony Stark such a joy to watch in the Marvel films. Given recent rumors of a possible Ray Palmer spin-off show following this season, Palmer could easily develop into the full-fledged “Tony Stark” that DC needs right now given the polarized roles that Arrow and Flash have taken towards each other.

This was a cool shot.

A key factor that stood out throughout this week’s episode was also a return to form for Colton Haynes’ Arsenal. In the weeks leading to the mid-season finale, Roy’s character unfortunately took a backseat to the multiple plot lines such as Sarah’s death and Laurel’s rise to the Black Canary. Although he had his brief episode focusing on the guilt he felt for taking a police officer’s life during a Mirakuru induced rage last season, Roy hasn’t really been able to shine until this point and now it appears as if he will attempt to be the glue that holds the Arrow team together in Oliver’s absence, and given Brick’s success towards the end of the episode and Laurel’s reveal, him and the team will definitely have plenty to keep them busy as season three pushes on.