Arrow - 3x02 Sara - Review

And the mighty have fallen...

Continuing directly where the last episode left off, Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) has been killed. The Black Canary is dead. Oliver Queen and his team use their resources to avenge their friend. Laurel Lance begins her journey to possibly taking on the mantle of her fallen sister. 

Just when fans believe that Sara will always be there to save the day, they were wrong. While it is a known fact among comic book fans that Katie Cassidy's Laurel Lance is the true Black Canary, they could not have predicted when exactly she will become the warrior her sister is. Many probably predicted that it was going to be this season when she will begin her journey, but no one could've predicted that it would start at the end of this season's opener. It was a genuinely shocking moment that definitely had repercussions to the entire cast of Arrow. Felicity suffers the most after seeing the person she believed to be ultimate embodiment of female power get put down so easily. And it doesn't help that Oliver appears to not feel anything for Sara's death.

While Roy and Diggle are definitely affected by Sara's death, they do dedicate most of their time into finding out who is responsible. It is this sign of emotion that automatically makes Oliver's expression very noticeable. He seems to be emotionally attached. His body language says he's affected, but his face tells a different story. It is shown even from how his voice has slightly changed into a more deeper and authoritative voice. He is determined to find out who did this to her, yet he is under the impression that he has to be the one who remains level headed because he's in charge. However this greatly affects his relationship with Felicity, who doesn't seem to be able to comprehend why Oliver is being emotionless about Sara's death. While it does make sense from a character standpoint, especially given how far Oliver has evolved into the hero he is, it makes sense for him to be this way. But it does not make sense to Felicity why he would not be an emotional wreck after losing someone he possibly was in love with. The flashback plot in Honk Kong may have offered some answers, but in honesty, it wasn't very well thought out.

While in captivity in Hong Kong, Oliver was able to activate his e-mail account, alerting his friend Tommy Merlyn to go to Hong Kong to search for his missing friend. While it was great to see Colin Donnel return in the flashback plot, it really didn't seem to offer anything new that we didn't already know about Oliver. This part of the story involves Oliver being tasked by Amanda Waller to kill Tommy because she can't allow anyone to discover that he's alive yet. It does show how much he cares about his friends and how he is willing to find alternative means in order to keep them alive. The problem is, this flashback plot would've worked better if it could've somehow tie in to what is going on in the main plot. Usually they do, and I'm sure the flashback plot was meant to show that he does care about all his friends. But it probably didn't match up with the main plot of the episode as the writers hoped. Therefore the one who really has to drive the emotional part of the main plot falls to Laurel.

This episode is really ground zero for Laurel. As I've stated before, it is no surprise that she will become Black Canary, and this episode pretty much solidifies it. She may have basic self defense training and learned a thing or two from Sara, but this is the first time we actually see her taking on a more vigilante stance. From her emotional breakdown in wanting to blame this week's villain for Sara's death, to how she went about interrogating suspects by taking advantage of their injuries, it is clear that she knows what path she wants to take now. But really the emotional weight that falls on her is having to tell her father that his youngest daughter has died once again. Except this time, she really is dead. But given the way that Captain Lance is dealing with a heart issue, Laurel feels that knowing about Sara's death would be too much for him to handle. So really, the only option for her is to strive to become like Sara. Only time will tell if she will succeed. Because even though comic fans know her path, that doesn't mean this show will remain faithful to that. Otherwise we would've never have Sara taking the mantle of Black Canary. There are plenty of twists and turns for this series to go, even though the road ahead seems like an obvious one.

SCORE: 8.7/10 - A major turning point for Laurel and a nice return of Tommy Merlyn

STATUS: Continue to Watch - When things get worse, it gets more entertaining

Review of Previous Episode - CLICK HERE