Yes, I know I’m not telling you anything you didn’t expect. Had Oliver died at the end of the mid-season finale, Arrow would end because he’s the star of the show. Frankly, I think the writers had Oliver almost die so that they could show the rise of the new heroes on the show.

The opening scene of the “Left Behind” episode shows Roy and Diggle out trying to follow through on Oliver’s mission to protect Starling City. Diggle obviously isn’t great with arrows, but it appears Roy has gotten much better under Oliver’s tutelage and he seemed to come into his own as Arsenal. He was able to apprehend one of the bad guys on his own. We’ll most likely see more of his skills in upcoming episodes.

Laurel finally made her appearance as the Black Canary at the end of the episode. Everyone has been waiting for her to don the wig and mask and she showed up in style as she took out two criminals who were let go thanks to a new criminal, Brick. I really hope Laurel is able to fight as well as Sara, but I doubt it. Sara was incredible with a bo staff and her story was credible because she had been trained by the League of Assassins. How will the writers explain Laurel’s skills? She worked with a guy whose specialty is boxing, which is quite different from martial arts. Where would she have learned her moves? How would she know how to use a bo staff?

Ray is supposed to be the Atom at some point, but he didn’t suit up in this episode and it appears he may not for awhile. Ray had problems with his A.T.O.M. project and asked for Felicity’s help. Because Felicity is struggling with Oliver’s death, she told Ray that she wouldn’t help him. Will he be able to figure out the problem with his project without Felicity?

What did you think of this episode?