Review: Arrow, “Uprising” (Season 3 Episode 12)

Olicity. Feels. Killing. Me. World. Going. Dark.

Yep, like any good fan-girl, I’m going to eat my dessert first and start at that ending.

Felicity performed the show stopping number of the night so to speak, telling Oliver that she didn’t want to be a woman that he loved. After listing off the fates of the women he has loved – namely Thea and Sara – she admits that she doesn’t want to be a member of that club, and then drops the mic.

Her reasoning is rock solid, and honestly, you have to respect Felicity for her decision to tell Oliver to screw off. She’s spent the last month grieving him and pushing herself to uphold the ideals that he stood for. Seeing him return with none of those ideas intact? I’d be pissed too.

Compared to that heart-wrenching rejection, the rest of the episode kind of fades to the background, but let’s hit all the important stuff, shall we?

Malcolm Merlyn, for all his evil doings and machinations, turns out to be a redeemable guy. Through flashbacks, we get to see a loving father, a grieving husband, and a hopeless train wreck of a man — kind of a nice change up from the cold-blooded assassin. Merlyn chooses to embrace that previous mentality in the present, when he lets Brick live, even after finding out that the career criminal murdered Tommy’s mother, Rebecca.

I wouldn’t get too excited, though. If this show has taught me one thing, it’s that just because someone is redeemable, it doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily be redeemed.

Diggle: “If you don’t think things are dark, you haven’t been paying attention.”

Laurel gets put on the back burner a bit for this episode. As much as I love her origin story as The Canary, the show is called Arrow for a reason, and Team Arrow needed to take center stage. Or should we call them “The Hood Squad” now?

I have to say, one of my favorite things about Arrow is the constant tie-ins to The Flash. Arsenal being mistaken for the “Red Flash” was a cute way to remind the audience that Oliver isn’t the only superhero on the block. These writers really try to connect the two worlds together, and even if it’s just a spare headline or a teasing joke, it serves to make the shows feel united. Watching The Vampire Diaries and The Originals stubbornly refuse to make even that kind of small effort only serves to make The Flash and Arrow seem more amazing.

Something to be on the lookout for in the weeks to come is Captain Lance’s growing suspicion about Sara. Now that Sin has planted the seed about Sara not really being Sara, you can bet he plans to follow up with Team Arrow and Laurel.

You can also bet that Ra’s al Ghul will be following up with Oliver in Starling city. His very public speech to The Glades should have Ra’s knocking on his door soon, which puts not only Oliver, but Thea and Malcolm in grave danger.

Did you go gaga over Uprising? Or are you still licking your Olicity wounds? Be sure to give the episode your own rating and sound off in comments below!

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Arrow airs Wednesday at 8/7c on The CW.

Lindsay MacDonald

Lindsay is an associate editor for Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer, viewer, and internet addict. Her obsession with TV started with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and has been going strong ever since; current favorites include Scandal, The 100, The Walking Dead, and Arrow. She considers a perfect Friday night to be a joint-cuddle-session between an adorable puppy dog and her Netflix queue. Follow @lindsayjoane