TV REVIEW: Arrow Season 3 Episode 2 “Sara”

By Justin Carter

Everyone deals with tragedy in their own ways. Some bury their pain and keep going, others go on a war path and lash out at anyone who tries to tell them to slow down, and others openly grieve if only to avoid being like the former. For Sara Lance’s death, all three of these methods are shown. Oliver is masking his pain, going on for the sake of the mission all the while conflicted about whether or not he truly wants that same fate to await him; Laurel is on a war path for vengeance, lying to cops and literally twisting people’s arms to get the information she wants; and Felicity is breaking down, trying to figure out what she wants out of her life after a woman she admired and held in such high regard is the same woman she now has to bury and check for wounds.

The villain of the week for this episode is Simon Lacroix, a mercenary who specializes in bow and arrow assassinations and goes by the name Komodo, who just so happens to have murdered two people in Starling City. Given the number of archers who work in assassinations and aren’t in the League of Assassins, Team Arrow naturally assumes Lacroix and Sara’s killer are one and the same. Oliver manages to catch Lacroix as he’s going after another target, leading to what I can only call Archer Jousting, where Lacroix and Oliver try to shoot at each other while riding on their motorcycles. It’s stupid and feels like something the writer came up with while watching the bike fu scene in Torque, but at the same time, it’s kind of in line with the show. Lacroix is covered head to toe in hood and mask and mostly silent save for a few lines at the end, but Matt Ward does a great job of making him out to be a credible threat by his body language and the way the camera closes in on his face. It turns out that he actually isn’t Sara’s killer, which is good for future appearances but not for Laurel, who was more than happy to shoot him in the head.

Laurel is the one given the most development in this episode. Most of the time with her, we see her confused, angry, and broken down, all of which Katie Cassidy gets across pretty well. The previous two seasons have struggled giving her something to do and making her anything less than annoying, so with Sarah’s death it looks like the show will be trying to redeem her after last year in particular. It’ll probably be a while before she dons the jacket and fishnets, but there are signs that she’ll be heading down that road soon, and it won’t be without its missteps. But for the first time in the show’s run, it says something that I’m actually rooting for Laurel to grow stronger from this instead of just quietly leave the show.

The other character going through a change is Felicity. Despite Sara’s relationship with Oliver last season, the techie had nothing but respect and admiration for her, even going so far as to call her family. The two interacted a few times last season, with Sara calling Felicity “cute” and offering her some self defense tips while the genius literally took a bullet for her. Caity Lotz and Emily Rickards had a nice dynamic together, and Sara’s death makes it sad that the two didn’t interact more on screen. Oliver’s repressed grief is frustrating to Felicity, who lashes out at Ray Palmer and his constant badgering to get her to work for him. Taking up his job offer is the first step of her healing process and moving forward in life instead of being stuck wearing a metaphorical mask like Sara and Oliver.

Jokes have been made before about Stephen Amell’s wooden acting, and this is the first time in a while where those jokes feel valid. Normally I wouldn’t have a problem with Oliver acting this way, but his tone and body language feel almost out of place given the history he and Sara have. Even under the reasoning that he’s this way because everyone’s looking to him to lead and he can’t afford to grieve right now doesn’t entirely gel with me. There are moments where Oliver could’ve easily shown some type of emotion other than steely eyed resolve, particularly when Roy tells him the truth about Thea, but he instead chooses to clench his jaw harder. This is one of those moments where he’s trying too hard to be Batman during a moment that would’ve appropriately have distinguished him from the Dark Knight.

And so we say goodbye to Sara Lance, the Canary. From college girl to stranded on an island to assassin to superhero, Caity Lotz played her greatly and made her a ton of fun to watch in action. While her death may be a secret from her father, she’ll live on through Team Arrow, Diggle’s daughter, and her sister. This episode of Arrow provides some mystery into her death while also giving two characters potential to grow into their own people.

Additional notes:

• I’m fine with Laurel eventually becoming Black Canary, but I think it was in poor taste to show her looking at Sara’s jacket at the end. Too soon, show.

• If it seems like I’m intentionally skipping the flashbacks, it’s because nothing of importance happened this time. Oliver finds Tommy in Hong Kong looking for him because of the email he tried to send in the previous episode, then kidnaps him to make it look staged and not have to kill him under Waller’s orders. This one didn’t really hold any real significance to the overall plot.

• The way he’s been written so far has me thinking that Brandon Routh could’ve been a great Bruce Wayne. He has that playboy look about him.

• Next week, the team goes off to find Thea. I can only imagine how that family reunion is going to go.