Arrow: Complete Third Season

The second season of Arrow—a series that launched the new wave of DC superhero shows on the CW—introduced The Flash, who now has his own series. The third season of this brooding show, which is set in a shadowy corrupt city, debuts two more superheroes. Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy)—assistant D.A. and former girlfriend of Oliver Queen, aka Arrow (Stephen Amell)—becomes Black Canary, while tech tycoon Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh), the new CEO of Queen Consolidated, creates a high-tech suit that gives him strength, flight, and other powers, all of which is destined to turn him into The Atom. Arrow also continues the structure established in the first season, featuring flashbacks of Queen's ordeal during his lost years shipwrecked on an island of assassins. This season pits him against international crime boss and cult leader Ra's al Ghul, who vows to murder the people Queen loves unless he will take over the League of Assassins, and it also makes him a wary ally of Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrymore), a villain in his own right but an enemy of Ra's al Ghul and the father of Queen's sister Thea (Willa Holland). Arrow follows the CW formula of colorful characters, splashy action, romantic complications, and melodramatic tangles, all with a superhero noir style showcasing night in the city—with wet streets, splashes of light, and dark hideouts and lairs. Compiling all 23 episodes from the 2014-15 third season, extras include audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and a Comic-Con 2014 panel discussion. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)