Arrow New Episode Review: 'Public Enemy' Closes in The Walls on Oliver Queen

Season 3 of the CW's Arrow returned with a new episode on Wednesday night entitled "Public Enemy" that really put the pressure on Oliver Queen, as the whole of Starling City discovered that he is the Arrow thanks to Ra's al Ghul.

Much of the third season has explored the question of "Who is Oliver Queen?" So it's fitting, then, that this turning point for Oliver continued to explore that theme. So much of his life in the last three years has been consumed by his secret identity, and now that identity has been blown wide open for everyone to know. So who is Oliver Queen now?

Lance made it clear when he had Oliver handcuffed in the van that he thinks Ollie is a villain, not a hero. And Oliver seemingly feels the same way now. Add to this the layer of Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assassins. If Oliver takes the gig, does that truly make him a villain? Or would he be doing the heroic thing by saving the lives of Starling City's citizens from the wrath of Ra's?

Ra's has slowly been putting the squeeze on Ollie for a couple of weeks, but "Public Enemy" tightened the vice even more. The Demon's Head left Oliver with nowhere to run, and he even told his former ally, Captain Lance, about his secret identity just to crush any hope the Arrow may have had of negotiating peace terms.

So Oliver made the only move he could and turned himself into the police. His teammates looked at it as his giving up, but Oliver truly felt like he had no other choice. One could question why he simply doesn't take the job as the leader of the League of Assassins, but that's a debate for another time. Team Arrow, though, was unwilling to give up, so Roy pulled an "I'm Spartacus" routine and showed up in full Arrow garb to take the fall for him.

Elsewhere in the episode, Felicity helped Ray survive potentially fatal brain damage by using his nanotechnology to cure him. This could be what causes the Atom to be able to shrink, which would be a hell of a cool thing to see on this show, The Flash, the spinoff, or wherever else.

Ray also told Felicity he loved her, and she responded with "That's nice to hear." Her mom (Welcome back, Charlotte Ross!) told her it's clear that she still loves Oliver, so now Felicity has a choice to make.

The action is moving at a quicker pace now in the home stretch of Season 3, so we can all look forward to a satisfying and frenetic final few episodes.

Notes:

- Roy survived Oliver's puddle abandonment last week and woke up in bed next to Thea. Not a bad trade-off.

- "Do you think a day will come when everything I say doesn't sound like a double entendre?"

- Laurel really put her faith in Oliver with that trust fall.

- Nyssa appeared in this episode, but I'm still waiting to see if she turns fully against her father and the League of Assassins.

- The flashbacks had a little bit more substance to them this week, as Oliver came across Shado's identical twin. But Arrow is developing this bad habit where the flashbacks are tied too obviously to the present day. Did we really need to hear both present day Oliver and TwinShado say "You have no idea how powerful the truth is"?

What did you think of "Public Enemy"? Let us know in the comments section.