Everything You Need to Know to Catch Up on Arrow

CW/Warner Bros. Television

The CW’s Arrow might have launched with low expectations—not only were few people thinking of any non-Marvel superheroes at the time, but it also followed the not-exactly-wonderful Smallville on the network—but, by the end of last season, it had won many over with its particular brand of over-the-top action, comic book Easter eggs, and willingness to treat its leading men like hunky pieces of meat.

With the show’s third season beginning tomorrow, you might be wondering what you need to know to jump onboard. This is it: millionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) was once shipwrecked on an island, and when he returned he decided to become a superhero. What’s that, you want a real reminder of what happened at the end of last season, just in case someone mentions something? Oh, OK, fine. Because you insist.

Last Season’s Cliffhanger

Instead of any outright cliffhangers, the second season of Arrow ended with a collection of loose ends and things laid out for future episodes and seasons, if desired. For example, when Oliver’s half-sister Thea (Willa Holland) said that she was “never coming back” to Starling City when she left with Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman), who really believed that? With villain Slade Wilson/Deathstroke (Manu Bennett) defeated and incarcerated—well, for now, because it’s not if he’ll escape, but when—the biggest cliffhanger of the episode was the father of Oliver’s ex Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) collapsing and coughing up blood after an arrow punctured his lung. Spoilers: Paul Blackthorne, who plays the character, has been confirmed for Season 3, so unless he’s playing a ghost or appearing in lots of flashbacks (admittedly, that’s not entirely unlikely), chances are he’ll survive.

Where Is…?

By the end of “Unthinkable,” Oliver was in a pretty good place having not only defeated the bad guys but also proven to himself that he wasn’t a killer by leaving Slade alive. That said, we did get a flashback that suggested that he has more ties to A.R.G.U.S. leader Amanda Waller (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) than anyone may have thought previously, so expect that to come up again in the new season. He’d also potentially declared his love for Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), although both he and Felicity may not have believed it at the time (you both know it’s true, come on).
Laurel, meanwhile, looked as if she was going to take up the mantle of the vigilante Black Canary, after her sister Sara appeared to pass a very important jacket/costume on to her before disappearing during the climactic battle. Turns out, she wouldn’t be the only one considering taking on a costumed identity; Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) was also looking at the red mask and costume of Red Arrow/Arsenal with some interest at the end of the season, as well.
Thankfully, not everyone is thinking about becoming a superhero. John Diggle (David Ramsey), Oliver’s bodyguard-turned-right-hand-man, found out at the end of the season that he was going to be a father … something that he didn’t share with Oliver or anyone else on Team Arrow. That doesn’t bode well for the future.

Questions Season 3 Better Answer

By now, we’ve come to accept that we’ll never get an answer to the ultimate question: “When will Stephen Amell grow a goatee like the comic book Oliver Queen sported for decades?” But there are, thankfully, lots of other things we still need answers for. For example:

What is Oliver’s relationship to Amanda Waller? Or, more correctly, what secret is in both of their pasts? Was Oliver the member of an earlier incarnation of the A.R.G.U.S.-affiliated Suicide Squad, or does he owe her some kind of favor that you just know will come back to bite him in the ass?
Where is Oliver’s relationship with Felicity going next (especially given the scenes in the trailer below)? (Also: Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer in that trailer! Small things can lead to big trouble, we suspect.)
Just how quickly will that high-security A.R.G.U.S. jail introduced at the end of the second season have its own jailbreak? Just like Chekhov’s gun, it’s not something you just introduce in the first arc without planning something terrible to go off in the third. (And, while we’re at it, what other kind of dangerous people are in there besides Slade?)
Whither the League of Assassins? Laurel’s sister Sara (Caity Lotz) joined up with League member Nyssa al Ghul (Katrina Law) to return to the League at the end of last season, but said that she’d be back. Whether or not that means she’ll return as a good guy or not remains to be seen. It is a league of assassins, after all. Especially when we already know that Nyssa’s father and League leader Ra’s Al Ghul is going to show up this year.

(It’s worth noting that the currently-running Arrow Season 2.5 digital comic might be of interest to those wondering about other questions. It’s written by Marc Guggenheim and Keto Shimizu, both of whom write for the show itself.)