How This Week’s Arrow Showed Us the Real Oliver Queen 

It goes without saying at this point, but I’ll just repeat it one more time:

Season 3 has been all about identity and no person’s more so than Oliver Queen’s. Oliver has gone from believing he could only be the Arrow, to having that title stripped away from him completely, to now adopting a new one entirely as he officially joins the League of Assassins as “Al Sah-Him” in this week’s episode, “The Fallen.” (For the record, I know that “Al Sah-Him” technically means “The Arrow,” as Ra’s said in the episode, but I’d argue it’s still a different identity.)

And while I thought “The Fallen” was another solid episode in what has been quite an entertaining, if slightly uneven, season of

(although I’ll stand by my claims that this season has done right by most, if not all, of the show’s characters), the reaction I’ve seen from a lot of people on the internet has said the opposite, that this was another disappointing hour filled with fan service for Oliver and Felicity “shippers.” However, those who are claiming that the central couple’s relationship has taken over the show or changed the series’ main character in any way would be wrong: “The Fallen” showed us who the real Oliver Queen is.

, Oliver is in a place he’s never been before. He is no longer the Arrow, and he is about to become a person that he does not know or recognize in order to save his sister. For this short period of time, he is only Oliver Queen, and it is at this point, when Oliver has no titles to live up to or expectations to meet, that we see the true version of him, the man we got a glimpse of in the Season 3 premiere, before the threat posed to his loved ones caused him to hide underneath the Arrow hood for many of the episodes that followed.

Without the burden of being the Arrow (and it is a burden, despite how noble a venture it is) and the inevitability of becoming Al Sah-Him hanging over him, Oliver finally exists in a place where he does not have to be anyone but himself. He is able to express who he truly is in “The Fallen” and take action in many ways that he believed he couldn’t before. As the Arrow, Oliver thought he had to hold in his feelings, both positive and negative, that he, in many ways, had to be solely a weapon for justice instead of an actual living, breathing human being, and it created an emotional separation between him and his family. However, when faced with the idea of becoming a member of the League, and thus being physically separated from those he loves, of never being able to see any of them again, Oliver breaks through his emotional barriers and opens up.

And in those moments that he does express his feelings, Oliver is not just speaking to Felicity. While their scenes together are a crucial to the episode (because Oliver and Felicity’s connection, whether platonic or romantic, is the most important relationship on

—there’s no arguing that), Oliver also shares heartfelt goodbyes with Thea and Diggle. Notice how different these exchanges are than his farewells to them in “The Climb,” an episode where Oliver knows he is most likely going to die while fighting Ra’s al Ghul. In “The Climb,” Oliver is still the Arrow, still carrying that form of his identity and letting it control his actions, but in “The Fallen,” as he calls Diggle his brother and kisses Felicity one last time, there is nothing blocking those he loved from the man he truly is. In these quiet, emotional scenes, Oliver is simply himself, and nothing more.

Ultimately, it’s these heartfelt exchanges that exist throughout “The Fallen” that make it such a crucial episode for

as it heads towards the end of Season 3. While the show has certainly had it issues this year (chief among being the convoluted ways that they keep Malcolm in the series, and I say this as someone who loves John Barrowman’s performance), the main story that this season of

has been telling is about Oliver recognizing who he is and who he can be, and we get no clearer look at who that is than in “The Fallen.”

So who exactly is Oliver Queen? Simply put, he’s a person. He’s a person who values family, whether they’re blood (Thea) or not (Diggle). He’s a person who has honor, which is why keeps his agreement with Ra’s. He’s a person who, despite the protests of some fans, loves Felicity Smoak, and has grown because of their relationship. When it really comes down to it, Oliver Queen is just a person like anyone else, desperate for connection and protective of those he loves, and it is that love that will ultimately separate him from the Arrow or Al Sah-Him—it’s what will pull him out from underneath an even darker hood so that he can finally embrace who he is meant to be.

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Chris is the Managing Editor of TVOvermind. A graduate of Saint Joseph\'s University in Philadelphia, where he majored in English and Film, he has been writing for TVOvermind for over two years and has written about several different television shows, such as New Girl, Breaking Bad, Glee, and Homeland. Contact him through Twitter (@ckinger13) or email (chris@tvovermind.com).

fantastic review.. There are only few people out there who write in depth Arrow reviews. Most reviews are so superficial and those who write them don’t have any connection to characters. Anyway, glad to see an exception

Well said. He wore his emotions on his sleeve because he felt he had nothing more to lose. And Stephen Amell was up for the challenge. So many little insightful moments into the real Oliver Queen.

I’m not going to lie- I saw Oliver and Felicity’s relationship as platonic until 3.09. However, I don’t like how some fans blame the writing for this season on “fanpandering”. First off, this season as a whole has a lot less romance than the past two seasons. Yes, the fan reaction to Oliver and Felicity was so much greater than Laurel/Oliver, but the writers aren’t going to write an ENTIRE season just to please a small section of the fanbase. That’s such an inane argument and absolutely ridiculous. Some people claim the writers “destroyed” Felicity, when all they did was make her grow more as a character and make her more than just the comic relief. Whatever. Most of the people complaining and making childish arguments are no better than the “crazed tumblr shippers”; they dislike Oliver/Felicity because it hurts the comic-based Laurel/Oliver relationship.

The problem with those people I think is that they’re not getting what they want so it’s “fanservice” but they’re not thinking about what’s best for the show and it’s characters. This season has had BIG problems and I can only count a handful of episodes I really liked and only four that I loved, but the growth of Oliver, Felicity, Diggle, Thea, Roy, and even Lyla Michaels have been very well done and THAT is not fanservice. All of those people I mentioned has helped Oliver grow, and Felicity(and Digg) has been the biggest part of that. I started shipping them this year but I’ve always seen the influence she’s had on him and I always felt that he needed her before I even saw a romantic element. My favorite episode of Arrow is whenever it’s a little more focused on Oliver the man and not just The Arrow and The Fallen was up there as one of the finest examples of that particular premise.

That was a lovely review and truly encompassed what happened on Arrow this week, as well as what’s been happening all season. Thank you.

If you don’t know you are, you can’t be anything. Not completely. It’s a journey, steps should be done. A construction of a hero takes time and that is the bigest mistake that many has done when are talking about the show. Oliver Queen isn’t a hero yet! But he is closer than never. Love read your words.

Excellent review. I think a lot of viewers want to just see him as The Arrow. What I love about the show is how very human Oliver obviously is. Inner turmoil, guilt, fear- all wrapped up in a lethal package. I love getting to see emotional Oliver and this episode killed me (in such a good way)

I have no problem with Laurel. She is his past. She knew him when he was someone else. That is done.

Felicity met THIS Oliver, fell in love with THIS Oliver and Oliver fell in love with her because he knows she can see all of him. Through him. It is obvious she keeps him balanced and sane- with Digs help, but she’s the heart of them.

The damn emotional feels in this episode was ridiculous, in such a great way. Bravo to Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards for making me believe!

I really enjoyed this review! I especially loved how you mentioned the importance of Thea, Felicity and Diggle in Oliver’s life, while I don’t like to compare the relationships because I believe that Oliver needs all three (his sister, his brother and the love of his life) to be whole, I especially appreciate how you get the depth of Oliver and Felicity while still respecting the bromance of Oliver and Diggle and the great brothersister bond of Oliver and Thea. It is these three people who will save him and help him finally exclaim “My name is Oliver Queen”

Fabulous read and very well put. I love Arrow and I adore Oliver Queen this year. I’ve struggled with parts of the show (mainly structure stuff and some pacing) but the peeling back of Oliver to show the man he is underneath it all… his love for Thea, for Diggle, and his absolutely love for Felicity — as well as hers for him — has been amazing. Oliver & Felicity are fantastic and I totally ship it.

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