Season 3 (Arrow)

The third season of Arrow premiered on October 8, 2014 on The CW and concluded on May 13, 2015. The season consisted of 23 episodes. It took place in conjunction with the first season of The Flash.

Official synopsis
''In the aftermath of his victory, Season Three opens with The Arrow now a hero to the citizens of Starling. Crime is down, people feel safer, and Captain Lance even calls off the Anti-Vigilante Task Force. Basking in his success, Oliver believes he can finally have a private life and asks Felicity out on a date. But the second Oliver takes his eye off the ball, a deadly villain reappears in Starling, forcing Oliver to realize that he can never be Oliver Queen – not as long as the city needs The Arrow.''

Plot
With crime in Starling City at an all-time low thanks to The Arrow and his team,

Main cast

 * Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/The Arrow/Al Sah-him
 * Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance/Black Canary
 * David Ramsey as John Diggle
 * Willa Holland as Thea Queen
 * Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak
 * Colton Haynes as Roy Harper/Arsenal
 * John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn/Dark Archer
 * Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance

Special guest cast

 * Colin Donnell as Tommy Merlyn
 * Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash
 * Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin Snow
 * Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon
 * Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer/The Atom
 * Vinnie Jones as Danny Brickwell/Brick

Recurring cast

 * Kelly Hu as Chien Na Wei/China White
 * Roger R. Cross as Lucas Hilton
 * Alex Kingston as Dinah Lance
 * Adrian Holmes as Frank Pike
 * Caity Lotz as Sara Lance/The Canary
 * Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Amanda Waller
 * Bex Taylor-Klaus as Sin
 * Audrey Marie Anderson as Lyla Michaels
 * Karl Yune as Maseo Yamashiro/Sarab
 * Rila Fukushima as Tatsu Yamashiro
 * J.R. Ramirez as Ted Grant/Wildcat
 * Katrina Law as Nyssa al Ghul
 * Matt Nable as Ra's al Ghul
 * Charlotte Ross as Donna Smoak
 * Christina Cox as Celia Castle
 * Amy Gumenick as Carrie Cutter/Cupid
 * Austin Butler as Chase
 * Marc Singer as Matthew Shrieve

Guest stars

 * Peter Stormare as Werner Zytle/Vertigo
 * Matt Ward as Simon Lacroix/Komodo
 * David Cubitt as Mark Shaw
 * Nolan Funk as Cooper Seldon
 * Nick E. Tarabay as Digger Harkness/Captain Boomerang
 * Jamey Sheridan as Robert Queen
 * Manu Bennett as Slade Wilson
 * Eugene Byrd as Andy Diggle
 * Adrian Glynn McMorran as Michael Amar/Murmur
 * Celina Jade as Mei
 * Michael Rowe as Floyd Lawton/Deadshot
 * Doug Jones as Jake Simmons/Deadbolt

Trivia

 * This is the first season to not have a main character killed off. Although Colton Haynes who played Roy Harper left the show, which technically doesn't count as being killed off. But it does continue the pattern of losing a main cast per season.
 * This is the first season where said season's main antagonist dies.
 * With the flashbacks in being revolved around Deadshot, this season marks the first time flashbacks have centered entirely around a recurring or guest character.
 * The second half of the season recieved criticism from critics and fans alike, particularly for the handeling of Ra's al Ghul and Slade Wilson, the finale, the underuse of Laurel Lance, the loss of Roy Harper, the love triangle between Oliver, Ray and Felicity, and the repetitive nature of the last few episodes.
 * Most of the season's praise was for the first nine episodes, the improvement of Thea Queen, the Black Canary story arc where Starling was left without Oliver, the action sequences and the mystery surrounding the death of Sara Lance.

Home media release
A boxset of the third season, titled Arrow: Complete Third Season, was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 22, 2015. It contained additional features, deleted scenes, a gag reel and the Arrow panel from the San Diego Comic-Con International 2014.