Arrow (Season 3)

"Arrow" ( Eng. Arrow ) is an American adventure - superhero television series with drama elements, created by Greg Berlanti , Mark Guggenheim and Andrew Chrysberg ^[1] . The series is a completely new look at the character of the Green Arrow, as well as other comic book characters from DC Comics . Despite the fact that in the main cast of another series of The CW, “ Smallville Secrets ”, a similar character already appeared, the creators decided to restart the story from scratch, so they invited another actor ( Stephen Amell ) to the main role. They also emphasized how life on the island influenced Oliver's personality. In almost every series there are flashbacks that tell about the events of those five years during which the main character was considered dead ^[2] . Basically, the plot focuses on the former billionaire playboy Oliver Queen, who, after spending five years on the island, returned to become a masked avenger, fighting crime in his hometown with a bow and arrow ^[3] .

On May 11, 2012, The CW Channel ordered a pilot episode ^[4] , which premiered on October 10, 2012 ^[5] . On October 22, the television channel extended Strela for a full season, consisting of 23 episodes ^[6] . In 2017, it is planned to produce the sixth season of the series ^[7] . Arrow is the first television series to subsequently become part of a single television universe, best known as the Arrow Universe . Also part of the Arrow Universe are Flash , The Legends of Tomorrow , Vixen , and others ^[8] .

Casting

The series “Arrow” was extended for the third season on February 12, 2014 ^[9] . Most core cast members, including Stephen Amell ^[10] , David Ramsey ^[11] , Emily Bett Rickards ^[12] , Katie Cassidy ^[13] , Paul Blackthorn ^[12] , Colton Haines ^[14] and Will Holland , have returned to their roles in the third season. After the events of the finale of the second season, the character of Manu Bennett, Slade Wilson, was locked up in the organization’s super-jail of A. R. G. U.S. ^[15] , and the actor as a result left the main cast, but later appeared in the guest role in the episode “ Return ” ^{[16 ]} . In addition to Manu Bennett, actor Colin Donnel again returned to the series as a guest, who appeared in the episode " Sarah " as his character, Tommy Merlin ^[17] . Katie Lotz was involved in three episodes of the third season, one of which told the story of her joining the League of Assassins and meeting Nissa al Gul ^[18] . In addition, Cynthia Addai-Robinson ^[19] , Audrey Marie Anderson ^{[19] [20]} and Katrina Lo ^[21] , as well as , who played the role of Shado in previous seasons, periodically returned in the third season. given returned as her twin sister, May ^[22] .

In connection with the death of Moira Queen in the twentieth episode of the second season (" Enraged "), the project left Susanne Thompson . The creators called her character, her desire to keep secrets of various kinds, the main reason for the decision to “kill” the character, because of which her relationship with the rest of the characters was a series of quarrels and reconciliations - this could create the impression that “Arrow” “became a soap opera” ^{[23 ]} . According to the actress herself, “the scriptwriters ... did not want too many side storylines ... For Moira to be a full-fledged character, her side line would really have to be developed. She should have been given peace. She is too big a figure to not give her a world in which she will not only be Oliver’s mother worrying about him ” ^[24] . Suzanne Thompson temporarily returned to the show during the filming of the thirteenth episode to record a message on the answering machine that Oliver hears when he calls home from Hong Kong ^[25] .

May 15, 2014, the day after the episode "The Unthinkable " was released, it was confirmed that John Barrowman , who played in the series of Malcolm Merlin, was promoted to the actor of the main cast ^{[26] [27]} . Since in the final of the second season you can see Thea leaving with Malcolm Merlin in an unknown direction, many associated his role in the third season with the Thei storyline ^[28] . According to Barrowman, “he will teach her to be a strong person, to be a cynical bitch. She is already a strong personality, but she needs to be stronger ” ^[29] . Also, in the opinion of the actor, Malcolm “desperately needs a family that he lost. He is obsessed with control, so he desperately needs to control this too ... Malcolm is selfish. I don’t think Malcolm will give his life for the idea ” ^[30] . Fans also suggested that Malcolm Merlin could become the main antagonist of the third season - on the eve of the second season, they similarly upgraded to one of the main characters Slade Wilson performed by Manu Bennett, who turned out to be the main villain in the second season. In favor of the latter theory, the fact was cited that Merlin was actually the only one who defeated Oliver by implementing the plan for the destruction of the Glades despite the hero’s best efforts ^[31] .

A month after Barrowman’s promotion, The CW announced that in the third season there will be 4 new characters, who are conditionally named Daniel, Seth, Toshi and Akiko ^[32] . Daniel and Seth, according to the plans of the creators, were supposed to appear in Starling City of the present, while Toshi and Akiko became flashback characters ^[15] . Daniel was described as a “handsome, mysterious” person, “a very smart entrepreneur who develops the technology of the future.” It was also revealed that, simultaneously with the public image, he will have a secret and tragic past, which over time will turn him into a superhero thanks to technological innovations. In addition, he was supposed to become a competitor to Oliver in both personal and professional spheres ^[32] , which suggested that he, like Malcolm Merlin, could become the main antagonist of the season ^[15] . It was assumed that this character would be , a comic book superhero, also known as the Blue Beetle ^[33] , but later it turned out that under the pseudonym “Daniel” hid Ray Palmer , aka Atom , whose role was received by the famous film “ Return ” Superman ”actor Brandon Routh ^[34] .

All that was known about Seth was that he was “a well-educated criminal with great ambitions and knowledge in chemistry” and “takes power over his enemies by exposing them to a drug that deprives them of their will” ^[32] . In July, it became known that Werner Zaitl, the successor to , was hiding under this name. Zaitl led the trade in the mutated drug Vertigo after the death of Earl. For the role of the new Earl of Vertigo, it was decided to take the actor Peter Stormare ^[35] . Toshi and Akiko positioned themselves as a married couple, husband and wife, who would become Oliver's sponsors and mentors in Hong Kong. They also have some relation to the organization of A.R.G. U.S., have skills in the field of martial arts, and Toshi is also experienced in handling weapons and methods of obtaining information. It was later reported that Akiko will be played by actress Devon Aoki , and the character's real name is ^[35] . However, in August, for unspecified reasons, instead of Aoki, the actress Rila Fukushima ^[36] known for the film “ Wolverine: Immortal ” took the same role. For the role of her husband, Tatsu was invited to ^[33] .

At the end of July 2014, it was announced that Ra’s al-Ghul would be the opponent of Oliver Queen in the third season ^[37] . This was announced at the 2014 Comic-Con in San Diego during the pre-screening pilot episodes of the television series Gotham , Flash and Konstantin , as well as the premiere series of the third season of Strela. In the same place, Stephen Amell demonstrated an extended trailer for the third season, in which a scene was added at the end showing a man in a richly decorated green robe and a sword on his belt, while various characters described the threat of Ra's al Gul to Strela personally and Starling City in general. The upper part of the figure of Ra's al-Ghul was not shown in the trailer, because at that time the actor for this role had not yet been approved ^[38] . Mark Guggenheim said the following about the character: “He is a strong figure, especially in the sense that is usually the case in comics. We do not want to milk it dry and use it as a bargaining chip. We do not just give you the first idea of ​​Ra's, we always talk about him, mention his name ” ^[37] . In early September, it was officially confirmed that the head of the League of Assassins would be Matt Nable. ^[39]

Along with Ra's al-Ghul, Amell introduced another recurring character - Ted Grant, also known as the Wild Cat . It was confirmed that Grant would in some way be associated with Laurel Lance, perhaps even start an affair with her ^[38] . A few days later it became known that this role was received by ^[40] . According to the actor, “Ted has a rich past in the comic book world. He is a man who has experienced a lot of things in life. He saw a lot of darkness and a lot of struggle ... He opened a gym to help children and remove them from the streets. He is a truly kind person, no matter how cool he looks. Right now he is glad that Laurel appeared to work with him ” ^[41] . In early August 2014, Charlotte Ross joined the cast, who was approved for the role of Donna Smoke - the mother of Felicity ^[42] , and in October 2014 - Winnie Jones , who played in the third season of gang leader ^{[ 43]} .

Script

With the ending of the second season of the series, according to Mark Guggenheim, who remained the only showrunner in the third season ^[44] , a certain chapter ended in the history of Strela. As a result, the film crew sought to make the new season with a focus not only on long-time fans of Strela, but also on new viewers ^[45] . The atmosphere became darker, but at the same time more frivolous ^[46] , the characters got the opportunity to joke, and there was also a place for emotional scenes that would have been more critical before (for example, the situation with Diggle paternity) ^[47] . However, first of all, the themes of the season were based on such topics as self-determination (the main character had the “opportunity ... to be both Oliver Queen and Strela”) ^[47] , as well as devotion and loyalty - the creators made their heroes decide which side ^{[ 38]} . Part of this process of understanding moral and philosophical concepts was the fact that Roy, entering the Strela team, at the same time begins to question the legitimacy of what they are doing ^[48] . In addition, the season retains the structure of the episodes; flashbacks are still encountered in them, which demonstrate yet another main storyline - Oliver from the island moves to Hong Kong, where he begins to work on the organization of A.R. G. W. S., learning the art of combat and methods for obtaining information ^[15]

The producers had a clear plan for the whole season ^[49] , and they decided to start the first half with an episode in which Sarah Lance dies and end with the battle between Oliver and Ra's al Gul, which Queen loses ^[50] . The decision to kill Sarah was made after the creators came to the conclusion that her death will have a huge impact on many characters, "will create a secret that will lead us for ... at least the first half of the year," and also send Laurel along the way, "Which she never went before" ^[18] . In addition, in the first episodes of the season, despite the fact that Willa Holland remained in the main team, Thea Quinn does not appear - as Guggenheim explained, they did not want to “lay eggs in one basket”, and also used it as “one of the mysteries” ^[45] .

Ray Palmer’s character was introduced, among other things, because the producers wanted to “shake up” the series, bring some humor to it, create a partner for Felicity (since “two are needed for playful skirmishes”). Guggenheim also almost immediately warned fans that the authors were not going, at least in Strela, to give Ray Palmer the ability to decrease in size that his prototype from comics possessed ^[45] . The character of Malcolm Merlin was proposed not to be made a typical villain. According to Guggenheim, Malcolm has a “clearly defined code of honor.” It also meant that he would not reveal Thea the secret of Strela’s personality, as this is “Oliver’s secret”. In addition, the creators did not want to repeat what was already used in the case of Moira Quinn - a certain character knows the secret of Strela’s personality, which Strela himself does not know about ^[51] . The episode, in which Roy suspects that Miracuru remained in his body, was created as a reference to the drug addiction that Roy Harper suffered in comics ^[52] . The conflict between Ted Grant and Strela in the “ Guilty ” series was added to show fans what could happen to the main character in the future ^[13]

In the episode " The Secret of the Origin of Felicity Smoke, " instead of the usual flashbacks in which Oliver trains in Hong Kong, flashbacks showing the past of Felicity were used. This was partly done so that later, when Oliver’s five-year absence was told, fans of the series could learn from other flashbacks about the past of other characters ^[47] . Similar flashbacks have also been used in the episodes Uprising and Suicidal Trends to show the past of Merlin ^[53] and Detshot ^[54] respectively.

The storyline, according to which Thea kills Sarah under the influence of a plant ^[55] , was used primarily as part of the main conflict that led to the events of the episode " Rise " ^[56] . The battle with Ra's al-Ghul in this episode was planned from the very beginning ^[50] , and since Oliver had to lose it, the choice of weapons fell on the swords, which Strela supposedly wields worse than Ra's ^[57] . According to Amell, the creators refused to use the Pit Lazarus to heal Oliver ^[58] . It was also revealed that the three episodes that began the second half of the season were introduced specifically to show what would happen to Starling City if the city did not have Strela ^[59] .

In order to correctly remove Haynes, whose contract has expired, from the project, a scene was written in which he pretends to be Strela before the police and after he is forced to leave Starling City. The producers did not begin to kill his character, since their plans included returning him in the future for several episodes ^[60] . In addition, such a scenario step exacerbated the relationship between Oliver and Lance. The latter, still considering Queen Arrow, vowed to prove that Roy is an impostor ^[61] . Later, the character was returned for a while to “put an end to the three-season love story”, giving him and Thea “say goodbye” ^[62] .

Diggle's fatherhood and wedding situations were added to bring emotional release to the storyline ^[47] . The season also contained two bed scenes featuring Felicity. A stormy affair with Ray Palmer was proposed by executive producer Andrew Chrysberg, who did not want Felicity to wait a long time for Oliver ^[63] . According to Amell, “Felicity still has strong feelings for Oliver ... but she must consider other options as well” ^[64] . The bed scene at the end of episode 19 was added because of the intention of the crew to show the full relationship between Oliver and Felicity before the season finale ^[65] . In addition, the creators wanted to consider a situation in which Strela’s team would be without Oliver, but not because of his death (real or imagined, as in episode 10). As a result, it was proposed to make Oliver the villain of the week. However, the creators did not want to increase the crime rate in Starling City, as it was already used in the conflict with Brickwell ^[65] . Instead, they created a new team consisting of Laurel, Diggle and Felicity, each of which perceives what happened to Oliver in his own way ^[62] .

In the final episode, in order to answer some questions, it was decided to make a small cameo by Barry Allen. As Guggenheim explained, this should first of all explain why Strela's team does not contact Flash to help them in particularly difficult situations ^[66] . Also, the showrunner revealed that the death of one of the significant characters was planned for the finale, with only one ^[67] . Subsequently, it turned out that the main villain of the season, Ra'c al Gul, was supposed to die ^[68] .

Filming and training actors

One of the regular directors this season was Glen Winter, who was previously involved in special effects, his style was called by Kreisberg “breathing new life”, “a new look at the series”, “almost fabulous” ^[47] . The main shootings of the season took place in Vancouver and its environs ^[69] . The filming process began on July 9 ^[70] . On July 11, the day the shooting took place near the BBC Place stadium ^{[location 1] [71]} , where the scene of the press conference of the Starling City Police Department was filmed, in the evening the film crew moved to the rooftops in the Plaza of the Nations ^[72] . The Buller Studio building ^{[location 2] [73] was} often used as the location for filming.

In the third season, the scene of the flashbacks moved from the island to Hong Kong, but all the flashback scenes were also shot in Vancouver. According to Chrysberg, “Fortunately, Vancouver and Hong Kong have a lot in common. They are both relatively new cities. Both have a coastline - therefore, using some interesting optical tricks, [we can create Hong Kong] ” ^[47] . The street along which Oliver escapes from Maseo Yamashiro in the episode “Calm” was recreated in an alley near the Terminal City Iron Works metallurgical plant (the building of this plant was usually used as the facade of the Verdant club) ^{[location 3] [74]} . Filming the scene from the episode “Put your bow down”, in which Oliver and Tatsu rescue Maseo and Akiko in the port of Hong Kong, were shot at the Rogers Sugar Mill Museum ^{[location 4] [75]} , the docks of Hong Kong were recreated at the shipyard of the shipyard ^{[place 5] [76]} . In addition, the Hong Kong scenes were filmed at the ^{place [place 6] [77]} , Aura night club ^{[place 7] [78]} , in the territory of the ^{[place [place 8] [79]} and in some other places.

According to actor Jay Ar Ramirez, who plays the role of Ted Grant (aka Wild Cat), he already had skills in martial arts, he owned karate , taekwondo , and was engaged in boxing in his school years. For practical purposes, the actor practiced with his friend in order to be ready for the role ^[80] . To train Amy Gamenik, who appeared in several episodes like Cupid, archery, a film crew invited a special expert ^[81] . In season three, Malcolm teaches Thei the basics of combat. According to stunt director James Bamford, Malcolm is a very strict teacher, his lessons are "akin to military training." The stunt director developed Thei's fighting style, as for other characters, asking the questions “How did they study?”, “Who taught them?”, “With whom did they train?”, “What are their skills?” In addition, he included the individual character traits in the battle technique. Thei’s style he created is more based on sword fencing, and due to her small stature, unlike Strela, she often uses punches rather than fists ^[82] . According to the plot of the third episode, Thea practices this fighting technique in Malcolm’s house on Corto Maltese ^[83] - in his capacity was shot the Casa Mia mansion in Vancouver ^{[location 9] [84]} .

On the set of The Secret of the Origin of Felicity Smoke series, Emily Bett Rickards was forced to wear a black wig to demonstrate the image of Felicity Goth . As the actress said, he was "prickly, heavy, hot" and "terribly uncomfortable." According to her, this image is so different from the Felicity Smoke that she usually plays, that the partners on the set did not always recognize her ^[85] . The scene of the battle of Oliver and Ra's al-Ghoul from the series “ Rise ” was filmed on Mount Graus Mountain ^{[place 10] [86]} in the Vancouver city at sub-zero temperatures. In order to correctly perform all the movements, Stephen Amell went through two-week training and practiced them five or six times with the stunt director, Nable, who performed al Ghul, and his understudy. Nevertheless, Bamford periodically advised Amell and Nable (as well as the latter's understudy when it was used). As Amell recalled, despite all the precautions, the actors received several rather serious injuries: “Swords, even if we don’t use very sharp metal, will certainly pierce the skin, even in this case, if you miss, it will really hurt ... I had a trace from the boot on my forearm because I’m being kicked in the forearm, and the only possible way to do it was to really kick me ... I should have been ready to take my hand away, but I think that I just caught the blow and took all its power " ^[87] .

The last episode of the series was shot from April 8 ^[88] to April 18 ^[89] . Its culmination - the final battle of Strela and Ra's al-Ghul - was filmed on Cleveland's dam ^{[location 11] [90]}

Costume Design

The third season showed the viewer several new costumes designed by costume designer Maya Mani ^[91] and concept artist Andy Poon ^[92] . Arsenal’s suit, as in the case of Strela’s suit, was leather with inserts of freely stretchable materials, however, it had significant differences: first of all, a special lacing on the forearms and chest was added, which facilitated freedom of movement ^[93] , and the bow shaft included a characteristic butt ^{[ 48]} . At the end of the season, Thea puts on this costume, for which she had to change the design to the “miniature” figure of Willa Holland, making the costume more feminine ^[91]

According to Maya Mani, the Black Canary costume is a modified version of the costume that Katie Lotz wore as a Canary. Mesh gloves were added as a hint of canonical mesh stockings from comics, and the design as a whole was revised so that “if Laurel had no mask and holster, then she could just be a girl walking down the street” ^[91] . The Atom costume for a long time existed only in the form of concept art, according to which it was completely different from the costume featured in comics ^[92] . Since it was assumed that the character of Ray Palmer would sooner or later become “a superhero whose capabilities are provided by the technique” ^[32] , there was a risk that he would be too similar to another comic book character - Iron Man . As a result, in order to create an “own image”, a number of tricks were applied, among which, among other things, was the full creation of parts of the costume, which in the case of Iron Man were made using computer graphics. As a result, Atom’s costume became part of the plot only after it was completed ^[94] .

Guests

13 сентября 2015 года лейбл WaterTower Music выпустил диск с саундтреком к третьему сезону сериала «Стрела». Автором всех композиций стал Блэйк Нили ^[118] . В одном из своих интервью Нили на вопрос о том, что повлияло на темы Нанда-Парбата и Лиги убийц, ответил так: «Ра'с аль Гул был одним из моих любимых персонажей среди тех, для кого я сочинял музыку. Мне пришлось изучить ближневосточные звукоряды, гармонии и инструментовки. Его владение — Нанда-Парбат — было насыщено мистикой и воспринималось как другой мир и другое время. Они были злобными и мрачными. Поэтому я был в восторге от возможности таким образом расширить палитру, добавив женский вокал, дудук , восточные ударные. Мне не кажется, что на меня повлияла какая-то конкретная музыка… В этом сезоне я уже скучаю по Нанда-Парбату и с нетерпением жду возвращения к Мерлину и Яме Лазаря» ^[119] .

Первые признаки предстоящего кроссовера начали наблюдаться после того, как в течение телевизионного сезона 2013—2014 в «Стреле» появились Барри Аллен, Циско Рамон и Кейтлин Сноу, которые потом стали основными персонажами «Флэша» ^[121] . В июле 2014 года было объявлено, что восьмые эпизоды первого сезона «Флэша» и третьего сезона «Стрелы» станут двухчасовой серией кроссоверов ^[122] . В рамках третьего сезона телесериала «Стрела» вышла вторая часть кроссовера, получившая название « Отважный и смелый », её премьера состоялась 3 декабря 2014 года. Эпизод «разделил своё название… с существующей долгое время серией DC Comics о команде героев» ^[123] . В качестве гостей в «Отважном и смелом» вновь появились актёры основного состава телесериала « Флэш » Грант Гастин , Карлос Вальдес и Даниэль Панабэйкер ^[124] . В сентябре 2014 года стало известно, что в роли главного злодея в кроссовере появится известный по сериалу « Спартак: Кровь и песок » актёр Ник Э. Тарабей ^[125] . Кроме того в эпизоде появились Синтия Аддай-Робинсон и Одри Мари-Андерсон ^[19] .

Среди серий «Стрелы» кроссовер по количеству зрителей уступил лишь пилотному эпизоду , вышедшему 10 октября 2012 года, однако оказался успешнее его по рейтингу среди публики в возрасте от 18 до 49 лет. По сравнению с эпизодом « Отложи свой лук » заметен рост на 46 % и 56 % в общем объёме телеаудитории и рейтинге от 18 до 49 соответственно ^[126] , что сделало его самым популярным из передач среды в сетке канала The CW за предыдущие два года ^[127] . Отзывы критиков были также исключительно положительными, некоторые из них назвали «Отважного и смелого» лучшим эпизодом третьего сезона ^{[128] [129]} , а главный антагонист эпизода, Капитан Бумеранг, был назван лучшим злодеем сезона ^{[130] [131]} .

Сезон выходил по средам в 20:00 по североамериканскому восточному времени на канале The CW с 8 октября 2014 года ^[132] по 13 мая 2015 года ^[133] . В Великобритании он выходил на канале Sky1 начиная с 30 октября 2014 года ^[134] , в Канаде — на канале CTV ^[135] . В день премьеры следующего сезона 3-й сезон начал транслироваться каналом Netflix ^[136] . В России показ серий осуществлялся каналом Sony Sci-Fi начиная с 31 мая 2016 года ^[137] .

Ratings

В среднем сезон посмотрело 3,52 миллиона зрителей, ранг среди всех шоу сезона — 135 ^[138] .

Reviews

На сайте Rotten Tomatoes третий сезон телесериала «Стрела» имеет 100 % свежести со средним рейтингом 8,55 из 10 ^[151] . В то же время отзывы критиков не были столь однозначно положительны. Джесси Шедин из IGN поставил сезону оценку 6,9 из 10 и отметил, что, несмотря на «несколько сильных эпизодов», «более удачное использование злодеев и второстепенных персонажей» и «впечатляющую хореографию», сезон не оправдал высоких ожиданий и не сумел поддержать уровень, установленный в первые два года. По мнению Шедина, сюжетная линия флэшбеков в этом сезоне скучна, а финал шаблонен. Основной проблемой сериала в этом году критик назвал то, что создатели не использовали потенциал неожиданных поворотов сюжета, в результате чего «импульс от них просто сходил на нет», а также то, что Ра'c аль Гул и Лига убийц слишком поздно были ясно обозначены как главные антагонисты сезона (а то, какая именно опасность от них исходит, стало ясно ещё позже). Лучшими эпизодами сезона Шедин назвал кроссовер с «Флэшем» и финал полусезона ^[152] . Эрик Кейн, пишущий для журнала Forbes , раскритиковал многие сценарные решения третьего сезона. Прежде всего это касалось смерти Сары Лэнс и её последствий — по мнению Кейна, создатели убрали одного из лучших персонажей, причём сделали это слишком рано и без особой нужды. Кроме того, Кейн связал убийство Сары Лэнс с романтической линией Оливера и Фелисити (при этом раскритиковав их в качестве пары влюблённых): по его определению, Лару убили, чтобы освободить место для этой сюжетной линии. Вкупе с другими проблемами, такими как радикальная смена позиций Лорел и её отца по отношению к Стреле, по мнению рецензента сделало сериал похожим на «мыльную оперу» ^[153] . На сайте Movie Pilot Джон Лалли тоже высказал серьёзную озабоченность по поводу романтической линии, не стесняясь таких определений как «горячечный бред CW» и «превращение Стар-сити в Бухту Доусона » ^[154] .

В своей рецензии для Den of Geek Роб Лин перечислил многочисленные проблемы третьего сезона «Стрелы». В первую очередь было подчёркнуто «жонглирование» слишком большим количеством злодеев (включая реинкарнации уже выбывших ранее) и положительных персонажей, в результате чего не всегда удаётся найти время для развития главного героя. Лин также посетовал на слишком большое экранное время, получаемое Фелисити; хотя эта героиня стала любимицей поклонников сериала, её популярность, по его мнению, стала настолько большой, что порой вредит развитию основного сюжета: «Был ли нам нужен целый эпизод о её „тайне происхождения“? Нужно ли нам было потратить столько времени на её роман с Рэем, когда очевидно, что ей суждено в конце быть с Олли? Возможно, ответ на оба этих вопроса „нет“». Единственным впечатляющим моментом критик посчитал битву Оливера на мечах с Ра'сом в финале полусезона, отметив «реальное чувство опасности» и постановку поединка, хотя и было понятно, что неведение, в котором зрителя оставляла концовка боя, будет в дальнейшем развеяно ^[155] . В другом отзыве мотивы главы Лиги убийц были оценены как плохо определённые, а поворот сюжета, согласно которому он намерен передать своё место Оливеру, не получившим достойного разрешения, не считая того, что для Старлинг-сити в очередной раз возникла экологическая угроза ^[156] .

Крис Кинг, критик из TV Overmind , обозначил в третьем сезоне две основные проблемы, связав их с определёнными персонажами — Малкольмом Мерлином и Ра'с аль Гулом. Во втором случае он находит показанные в сериале мотивы аль Гула (в том числе его стремление сделать Оливера своим преемником) непродуманными и неубедительными, а актёр, по его мнению, не смог удержать «мистическую атмосферу, которой был окутан персонаж в двух первых эпизодах», на протяжении всего сезона. Перейдя к Малькольму Мерлину, критик положительно оценил его роль «друга-врага» команды Стрелы, но отметил, что главный герой на протяжении сезона принимает по его вине множество «невероятно сомнительнных решений». Критик пишет, что появления этого персонажа часто выглядели как попытки сценаристов любой ценой оставить Джона Барроумэна в сериале, а то, что Оливер позволил Малькольму уйти от ответственности и даже возглавить Лигу убийц после того, как тот, манипулируя Теей, заставил её убить Сару, названо неискренним и неправдоподобным ^[157] . Помимо вышеуказанных проблем рецензенты обратили внимание на многочисленные случаи «плагиата» историй о Бэтмене . В частности они отметили ряд врагов Бэтмена, появившихся в сериале, выбор Ра'са аль Гула на роль главного антагониста сезона, а также момент, в который Ра'с предлагает Оливеру занять место его преемника, где почти полностью скопирована сцена с главой Лиги убийц и Брюсом Уэйном из комиксов о Бэтмене ^[158] .

Rewards

Третий сезон «Стрелы» в США вышел на DVD 22 сентября 2015 года в виде набора из 5 дисков ^[163] , за 16 дней до премьеры четвёртого сезона. Несмотря на критические отзывы, издание попало в 30 самых продаваемых на той неделе DVD, заняв 15-е место с 16 239 покупателями и почти 633 тысячами долларов выручки и отстав от первого сезона «Флэша» лишь на 2 позиции ^[164] . Тем не менее, уже по итогам следующей недели DVD с третьим сезоном сериала покинули список лидеров продаж ^[165] . В Великобритании сезон вышел на DVD 28 сентября 2015 года ^[166] , в Австралии — 23 сентября 2015 года ^[167] . На Blu-Ray в Регионе A сериал был издан 22 сентября ^[168] , а в Регионе B — 28 сентября 2015 года ^[169] . Также третий сезон распространялся путём цифровой дистрибуции на сервисах iTunes ^[170] и Amazon Video ^[171]

Locations