Arrow Season 3 Premiere 'The Calm' Review: Oliver Tries to Balance Love and Duty

For months, fans have anticipated the Season 3 premiere of Arrow because they knew Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) would go on a long-awaited date. Happily, the premiere episode, "The Calm," delivered on that front and also delivered a shocking ending that is sure to reverberate throughout the season.

Season 3 opens with Oliver in the best place we've seen him since the show began. Crime is down in Starling City and the police department has not only called off its search for the Arrow, but has actually honored him for his service in stopping Slade Wilson and his army. Diggle (David Ramsey) is about to be a father, and Oliver can finally take a deep breath and let his foot off the gas a little bit.

To that end, he decides it's finally time to try to be happy and asks Felicity out on a date. She happily accepts, and for a few moments it seems like everything will go swimmingly for the couple affectionately known as "Olicity." Oliver opens up to her and sweetly tells her that she is the first person he has truly trusted since he returned home from the island.

But at that moment, Oliver's world literally explodes as a new villain adopting the Count's old gimmick of using Vertigo as a weapon fires a rocket launcher into the restaurant and nearly kills Oliver and Felicity. Oliver is furious with himself that he did not see the tracer on his gear and reasons he has lost his focus.

Oliver spends so much of the episode trying to make himself and everyone around him safe and happy, but he ultimately comes to the realization that he cannot be both Oliver Queen and the Arrow. It was a bit heavy-handed that Oliver had to fight himself and then "choose" the Arrow after Peter Stormare's character hit him with a syringe full of Vertigo, but the point was clear: Oliver Queen is only a mask, and The Arrow is the real face.

Of course, Oliver will likely wrestle with this identity crisis for much of the season. Felicity is having none of that, however, as she tells Oliver to stop dangling the possibility of a happy relationship in front of her. If they're never going to work, then so be it. But no more "maybes" and "eventuallys" for the two of them. They finally kiss, but Felicity realizes it's over before it even begins and leaves. It's agonizing watching these two people who clearly love each other forced to choose duty over happiness, but things could always change down the road.

Now, let's talk about the ending. If you saw that coming before the end of the episode, then I'm calling you a liar because that genuinely made my jaw drop. Sara (Caity Lotz) returns to town to help Oliver and deliver a few words of wisdom. She talks with Laurel (Katie Cassidy) for a bit, and then a mystery assailant pumps her full of arrows and she falls off a roof to her death.

It's likely Sara's killer was someone from the League of Assassins, and possibly even Ra's Al Ghul himself. The shocked look on her face would imply that the killer was someone she never expected to see, so Ra's fits the bill. It's also likely her death will spur the main conflict between Oliver and Ra's this season.

The Season 3 premiere of Arrow was a rousing success, punctuated with the exclamation point of Sara's death. The show certainly hit the ground running for the third season, so here's looking forward to next week.

Notes:

-       "You have failed this city." I'm so glad it's back.

-       Arrow threw in a link to its spinoff, The Flash, by setting up the conversation between Oliver and Barry on the roof that occurred on The Flash one night earlier. It was a small touch, but very well done. The major crossovers will be great, but these more minor connections will truly make the universe feel cohesive.

-       Diggle's a daddy!

-       The flashbacks in this episode were meager, which was fine given the quality of the action in the present day. But we did learn that Amanda Waller forced Oliver into working for her by threating a child and his family. The flashbacks set the table for the rest of the season, so we'll see where it goes.

-       Oliver said he was in Hong Kong and hinted at other destinations during his time away from Starling City. Any guesses as to where else he went?

-       Brandon Routh had an affable presence as Ray Palmer, but he also showed he could be a ruthless businessman if need be. And his rapport with Felicity was NOT good news for Olicity fans.

-       Ray also wants to change the name from Starling City to Star City, a nod to the comics.

What did you think of the Season 3 premiere of Arrow? Let us know in the comments section.