What happens after Oliver Queen meets Ra’s al Ghul?

Here’s Mike’s Arrow “Left Behind” review…

ThisArrowreview contains spoilers.

Arrowreturns with Left Behind and immediately does exactly what it does very best.

But for real, it was great.

Did anybody else get a little bit of an originalRoboCophomage with that opening?

The overmatched and outgunned cops chasing a panel van with a dude blasting at them out the back.

Hell, even one guy gets thrown (or yanked) out the back!

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Aside from looking amazing (holy moley, those exploding arrows!

Actually, thats not a good thing.

You know what I talk about almost as often as the killer opening stunts inArrowepisodes?

The real Green Arrow has only been gone for three days, and youre already crapping the bed?

Take some lessons from Central City.

Those folks have it together.

I keep going on tangents.

The fact that Oliver has only been missing for three days is an interesting little diversion in itself.

Its the first time in memory thatArrowhasnt been taking place in real time.

I was wrong, and Im sure the show will catch up after this three episode arc finishes up.

For an episode with virtually no present-day and conscious Oliver Queen, though, Left Behind was quite good.

The death of Oliver Queen could have turned out to be a really cheap gimmick.

Actually, I should say, especially Felicity.

She runs the show this week.

Thats right, Roy and Diggle.

You answer to Felicity Smoak now.

I do like how theyre still keeping us guessing with Malcolms true intentions.

I suspect its a little of both.

In terms of action/story balance, Left Behind is exactly the kind ofArrowepisode I want to see more of.

There were no needless soap opera digressions and little, if any wasted time.

Also: what do you folks think?

Was this the loudest, most gunfire heavy episode ofArrowweve ever seen?

I dont believe weve ever seen so many firearms discharged in the course of an episode.

Meanwhile…On an Island…

I was prepared to dismiss this weeks flashback sequences as fluff again, but the payoff was worth it.

We already knew Maseo was alive in the present, and now we know that Tatsu is, too.

This complicates things a little, but well get to that in a second.

But yeah, it was a nice setup for Ollies necessary resurrection.

I could have dealt with more time with Ray Palmer this week, for example.

in another article.Check it out here.

Yes, I included names on the screens, too.

Annnnd…Laurel is now Black Canary.

Im not going to harp about this anymore.

Im going to accept it.

I think Katie Cassidy can pull it off.

And I dig the sonic scream tech, too.

In the comics, Brick is a dude with impenetrable skin.

So is his gun schtick a trick in this episode, or are those bullets really glancing off him?

I think it would be okay forArrowto explore more low key metahuman abilities like this.

They dont all have to be partitioned in Central City.

So, Maseo is alive.

This is…complicated.

In the comics, Maseos death is one of the things that spurs Tatsu to become Katana.

I naturally assumed this would all happen in the flashback sequences.

Clearly, I was wrong.

So we might see Katanas origin this season?

She isnt fond of Oliver now…imagine how little shes going to like him after Maseo croaks!

(sigh) No Lazarus Pit.

Ras probably keeps those for himself.

I need to get to the gym.

Seriously, Mike Cecchini needs to get his ass to the gym.Motivate him on Twitter.

Rating:

4 out of 5