Arrow 'Guilty' Review: A Weapon in His Arsenal

Season 3 of Arrow rolled along with "Guilty," an episode that focused largely on Roy and his dreams of murdering Sara. The show is taking its time with this mystery, but it took an important step forward on Wednesday night.

Roy's dream at the end of the last episode was a shock for many fans because hardly anyone thought he could have been the killer. Even after the fact, some fans immediately assumed this was misdirection and that the real killer had yet to be revealed. But the beauty of Arrow is that sometimes it really does go there with the craziness. Roy could have been the killer and it wouldn't have been 100% surprising.

But as we learned, Roy was subconsciously transferring his repressed memory of killing the cop last year. Sara's death by arrow mirrored Roy's stabbing the police officer, hence his dreams of flinging arrows at Sara. Oliver helped Roy recall this memory, but it sent Roy running for the exits.

Roy has just existed on this show for quite a while now. He was a sidekick for Ollie and a love interest for Thea, but he didn't have a truly defined character of his own. This episode went a long way toward fleshing out his personality, as we saw Roy tortured by the possibility that he could have murdered someone so close to his friends. And to his credit, Colton Haynes took this material and pulled it off well.

Roy's story dovetailed nicely with Ted "Wildcat" Grant's, as we learned the latter used to be a vigilante with an apprentice of his own. But when said apprentice went too far and took a man's life, Ted cut him loose and the sidekick went on a quest for revenge.

The parallels between the two stories were a bit obvious, but they never felt heavy-handed. The episode explored the differences between Oliver's current work as a vigilante and the way Ted used to run his operation. I wouldn't go as far as to say Ted had veteran experience from which Oliver could learn, but he did predate the Arrow by several years, so he could definitely teach Ollie a thing or two.

And that's precisely what he did, in a roundabout way. Ted cautioned Oliver about his working relationship with Roy, but Ollie countered by saying Ted's problem was he lost faith in his apprentice. The teacher/student relationship between Oliver and Roy is a strength of the show, and it helps develop Roy's character when we see him learning how to be his own costumed hero.

Oliver and Laurel butted heads throughout this episode, and it's kind of hard to completely side with Ollie on this one. He obviously wants to protect his friend, but he of all people should understand what she's feeling, and she's channeling that rage into something constructive. Of course, he knows better than anyone the path that Laurel is trying to walk, so perhaps he's right to try to dissuade her. But is preaching to her really the best way to go about it?

We still don't know who Sara's killer is, but we can rule out Roy now unless the writers decide to swerve us again. Roy was in rough shape at the end of this episode, so I'm looking forward to see where he goes from here now that he knows the truth about his Mirakuru days.

Notes:

-       Cupid was outside the police station midway through the episode, and sure enough she appeared at the end to wreak some havoc. An Arrow-obsessed stalker/killer? How can this go wrong?

-       The long-awaited Boxing Glove Arrow finally made its appearance, and it was damn cool.

-       It was great to see Roy take the initiative and bring down the bad guy on his own. And of course, he flipped! And this time it worked!

-       Roy also got his proper nickname, Arsenal.

-       Was it too cold of Diggle to suggest Oliver abandon Roy so quickly?

-       It would have been nice if the episode touched on the fact that Oliver stone cold killed numerous people in Season 1 when he was chiding Ted for killing one person.

-       "Don't tell me it's an STD." Never change, Felicity.

-       "Mine's bigger."

-       Seriously, who killed Sara?!?!

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