Arrow Season 3 Epsidoe 20 - The Fallen Review

Arrow Season 3 Episode 20 – The Fallen Review

So many emotional goodbyes.

 

The Fallen followed the consequences of Thea being killed by Ra’s al Ghul. Team Arrow head to Nanda Parbat as Oliver trades his life for Thea’s and agreed to become heir to the demon.

 

This episode was phenomenal, I really enjoyed it. I’m going to say it, Ra’s al Ghul has reached the same level as Deathstroke in terms of being awesome. He’s such a great villain but for entirely different reasons. Ra’s is like a master chess player, everything he does is methodically thought out and he always knows exactly what to say and do. He also however has depth and we heard a little of his backstory but more importantly he thinks he’s doing what’s best for the world. He’s not just a mindless killer he thinks the world is cruel and wants to change it for the better and he managed to break Oliver into becoming irrational. He has such a presence whenever he’s on screen, he’s a delight to watch.

 

Nanda Parbat itself has a great atmosphere to it. It’s fun to have a little change from Starling City from time to time and the atmosphere to Nanda Parbat really fit the mood. I also really enjoyed the ritual scene with Thea coming back to life. It felt really intense and the chanting made the situation seem a whole lot bigger. I also appreciated being told about the origin of the word assassin.

 

This was an episode that revolved heavily around the relationship between Felicity and Oliver and I do think it was done well. They have been building up to this for a very long time and I think it was a good way to send them off in different directions. I really enjoyed the scene with Felicity talking to Ra’s, it highlighted that strong character we’ve all known over the seasons and showed us as Ra’s said the fire within her. I liked how even with the emotional goodbye while getting all the necessary emotion across she still made Oliver chuckle slightly, for me that’s what her character is all about. Also is you’re an Olicity fan then you can rejoice in happiness now. I’m not an Olicity fan as being an 18 year old guy I’m far too pretentious and uber masculine to appreciate romance but I do think they have good chemistry and they’re talks are good to watch.

 

Speaking of talks there were a lot of them in this episode and they all hit the mark. All the deep one to one conversations got across the tone and purpose they were trying to. It makes us feel sorry for characters and it makes us respect them more. In particular, Felicity talking to Ra’s as I’ve already mentioned but also Diggle talking to Maseo and the rather fitting farewell scene towards the end. Diggle talking to Maseo was a real eye opener in terms of why Maseo is where he is and how great Diggle is. A lot happened in this episode and I’m glad they integrated Diggle in so well. Diggle is great as that wise older brother type character and I loved how he picked on the weakness of a mighty assassin. I thought it was great how a talk with Diggle is what convinced Maseo to let Team Arrow go. The farewell scene was very touching, not only with Felicity but with Diggle too.

 

Finally for the good stuff, Malcom Merlin is such a badass. His actions scenes were great but more than that every time he’s on screen you take notice.  He is acted excellently and he’s such an interesting character to see progress.

 

Negatives time. Flashbacks … yeah, they’re not good anymore. In season 2 they all linked in to what was going on in the present with Deathstroke and Sarah. Now they don’t really connect to what’s going on in the present, the pacing is a bit off and it doesn’t really feel like a connected ark. I think they’re getting to something but it feels like multiple paths that will eventually overlap rather than one continuing arc. I won’t carry on complaining about the flashbacks but it was worth mentioning.

 

I wanted them to go into the effects of the Lazarus pit on Thea a bit more. There was that bit where she jumped out and attacked Oliver but other than that she barely had a line. I realise they will go into the side effects of being resurrected more later on and in the next season but they could’ve had a bit more to it.

 

Finally the lack of Laurel bugged me. I really think she should’ve had some sort of goodbye to Oliver and the small glance we saw of her comforting Felicity and her acting calmly to console her friend despite how awful she must have felt really highlighted how far she’s come as a character. On the bright side she had some great scenes with Cisco on the Flash, she was really quite charming and fun which is far away from the Laurel we all remember from seasons 1 and 2. She was enjoyable, had some funny lines (Especially when she said she’d kill him) and that photo was hilarious, the look on Cisco’s face was priceless.

 

I’ve gone of topic so overall what did I think?  This was a brilliant episode I thought, it really tied together some of the plot threads created this season as well as set up Arrow for the future with Oliver becoming a member of the league of assassins. I really look forward to seeing where they go with this and whether he returns to Starling for the start of season 4. Yep so overall great episode and I’ as excited as ever. Now I’m going to sit here … and wait around for next week for The Flash and Arrow … I should get some friends or something.