Arrow season 3 gets a lot of hate from fans, even though it’s actually the show’s most underrated season. In the third season of the CW series, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) continued his journey toward becoming the Green Arrow and went up against the League of Assassins, led by prominent Batman villain, Ra’s al Ghul (Matthew Nable).
Season 3 was filled with pivotal moments and storylines that shaped the future of both the show and the Arrowverse as a whole. It set up Legends of Tomorrow and Sara Lance’s White Canary future by killing her off, featured the debut of Brandon Routh’s Ray Palmer, introduced the concept of the Lazarus Pits, put Oliver and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) together, and transformed Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) into the Black Canary. However, those things haven’t stopped season 3 from receiving a great deal of criticism from a section of the fanbase, who regards it as a major disappointment.
In the show’s first two seasons, Arrow was focused on being a dark and gritty, grounded show about a vigilante, but season 3 is when it started to become a bit more like a superhero series. For some, the change was too much, especially since it began incorporating science fiction and fantasy elements all at once with the argument being that Arrow lost its identity. In the same season that it brought in the Atom, it also dove into the mystical nature and the restorative properties of the Lazarus Pits.
While it’s true that Arrow changed in season 3, that doesn’t mean the story it offered wasn’t as compelling or as nuanced as the others. Arrow season 3 is often underappreciated. Though were some opposed by how this played out, Sara’s shocking death started off the season with a powerful and emotional bang that really shook up the main characters. This and later events in the season provided a lot of character growth for the various members of Team Arrow. The individual plotlines for characters like Laurel, Thea (Willa Holland), and Diggle (David Ramsey) took them to some interesting places.
Then there’s the matter of season 3’s villain. Most of Arrow’s main antagonists – including the first two – were driven by hatred and revenge. This applies to Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman), Deathstroke (Manu Bennett), Prometheus (Josh Segarra), and Emiko Queen (Sea Shimooka). Season 3 delivered something decidedly different with Ra’s al Ghul, a character motivated by his desire to have Oliver become his replacement.
For the first time, Arrow provided an opponent so challenging that it was difficult to imagine how Oliver could possibly win. Both Deathstroke and Merlyn were highly skilled, but neither was an immortal swordsman who had trained for hundreds of years. The scene where the superior Ra’s al Ghul effortlessly defeated Oliver and kicked him off the cliff remains one of the show’s most memorable moments. The ensuing struggle to recover from his defeat, seeing Team Arrow grow and become more independent in his absence and the final battle with the League of Assassins all helped make Arrow season 3 a fun watch.