Arrow Season Three Kicks Into High Gear With "The Fallen"

With only a few episodes left of the season, Arrow kicks things into high gear with The Fallen.

Still reeling from the departure of Roy Harper, Team Arrow is forced to return to Nanda Parbat in response to Ra's al Ghul's latest maneuver. With their lives and freedoms on the line, Ollie and his friends are pushed to the brink as they attempt to save and protect each other from a seemingly unstoppable force. The choices that they make will change their lives forever. Assuming they survive in the first place!

The Fallen is an intense and action packed episode. Whereas the previous two season finales dealt with massive threats to Starling City, season three is putting a lot of focus on both faraway places, and personal dangers to the team. This expansion could feel forced if it was in the hands of others, but instead it is handled in such a natural way that it fits into the show's history well.

Karl Yune is definitely a standout this week. While much of what happened to Maseo to make him join the League of Assassins has been left a mystery thus far, Yune has constantly portrayed the character in both time periods with grace and skill, and this week takes it up a notch higher.

Stephen Amell gives one of his stronger performances in this episode. Both Ollie and The Arrow often guard their feelings, but this week there is no hiding any of the pain or love. John Barrowman does a fine job of playing Malcolm's vulnerability, to the point where there are times you can almost forget all of the awful things Malcolm has done. Rila Fukushima should always have a sword in her hand. Her performance as Tatsu is strong, but her fight sequences are always out of this world!

However, the real and true star of this episode is Emily Bett Rickards. Felicity has clearly been a fan favorite since her introduction, and this week she's probably going to win over some holdouts. Emily's shifts between Felicity's humor and heartbreak, as well as her awkwardness and fierceness, are so seamless that it seems like Rickards is playing six characters in one, but you never doubt that each and every one of them is Felicity. Every moment she has in this episode was stunning.

The Fallen does a fine job of setting up the end of the season, with plenty of promise for the things to come, and lots of intrigue as well. Season three has a very high bar set for it when it comes to season finales. As it stands, one thing remains clear. After Wednesday night, Team Arrow will never be the same again!