Arrow Season 3, Episode 10 “Left Behind”
Written by Marc Guggenheim & Erik Oleson
Directed by Glen Winter
Airs Wednesdays at 8pm ET on The CW
It speaks to how strong (most of) Arrow‘s supporting cast has grown over the last three seasons that “Left Behind” doesn’t fall flat on its face. Sure, the script doesn’t quite go to the emotional lengths it does with Felicity as it does with other characters as they contemplate the mortality of their chosen profession, however using Felicity as the emotional anchor turns out to be the episode’s greatest strength. An hour that is able to convey reflective moments alongside some obvious plot building, “Left Behind” is a strong hour that establishes a number of interesting new directions, in the extended absence of Oliver Queen.
Some of these plots give much-needed momentum to dormant characters; Laurel finally donning the Black Canary gear and busting some skulls open pushes one of the season’s two new female warriors into the foreground (still waiting on Thea, whose perception skills are seriously lacking behind the progression in her physical training), and Felicity separating herself from both Arrow and Ray’s operations forces both factions (the latter of which is really just a man and some wires) into moments of self-exploration, the catalyst for everything to follow in the next few weeks, while Oliver is “brought back to life” by Tatsu and Maseo (more on them in a minute).
The dissolution of Team Arrow (and the blossoming Team A.T.O.M.) create a perfect storm for the show’s next sizable antagonist, Danny “Brick” Brickwell. Turns out most of the people Team Arrow’s been busting since Deathstroke’s defeat have been on Brick’s radar, future pawns to be used in his plans of mayhem that include taking over the Glades (and presumably, the rest of the city from there). Brick’s not exactly the most complex entity we’ve seen on Arrow,but his brutish nature and coincidental timing will force what’s left of Starling City’s crime fighters into a corner, especially with everyone isolating themselves in the wake of Oliver’s death. Convenient as hell? Yes: but like a building avalanche, provides something for the show to keep tensions high, a difficult task given the protagonist lies on the bloody heap of a ravine.
With Oliver gone, Arrow‘s putting all of its money on its secondary characters in the short-term; and for the most part, they’re up to the task. There are some parts that feel glossed over – Laurel’s sudden change of heart, Merlyn’s apologetic nature, Roy expressing any emotion – but most of “Left Behind” is terrific material playing off character building over the last season and a half, particularly with Felicity (obviously), and in some parts, Diggle. As expected, Felicity’s scenes convey the sense of loss sweeping slowly over the rest of the team; her short-lived “hope” for his return comes crashing down when Merlyn returns with the sword Ra’s skewered Oliver with, pushing her to quit both vigilante teams in her attempts to cope with yet another loss at the hands of evil.
That being said, the pacing of “Left Behind” is a little choppy; in such a rush to convey the connection between the past and future, Oliver’s flashbacks and cutaways feel plugged into open spots in the script, breaking up the rhythms of a deeply emotional script, with a sense of intrigue and hope that feels dissonant for the rest of the episode. I enjoy that it gives some life to the friendship of Maseo and Oliver (in the past, Oliver chooses to help Maseo instead of directly obey Waller’s command), but it kind of erases the emptiness the rest of “Left Behind” tries to convey with its wide shots of a silent, empty warehouse, or the intense close-ups used to establish how difficult it was to process the idea of losing their hero. With Oliver in the episode, we can’t be completely sold on their emotions, knowing that his return is imminent. The simple image of seeing his face in the present takes us out of the mind state Felicity and others are in; it’s an editing choice that pulls the audience out of the episode a bit, which is a bit disappointing, considering how effective most of the material.
All in all, though, “Left Behind” is an exciting return for Arrow, kicking off stories about Black Canary and A.T.O.M., while also catalyzing the personal journeys awaiting Felicity, Roy, and Diggle as they try to cope with life after The Arrow. Despite a few flaws, “Left Behind” is able to recapture the momentum of “The Climb” (which aired six weeks ago), and catapult Arrow into the new year in exciting fashion.