Note: Full spoilers for the Arrow: Season 3 premiere follow.

Arrow’s second season was nothing if not dark and brutal. The first episode kicked off with Oliver Queen in seclusion and mourning the death of Tommy Merlyn. The eventual emergence of Slade Wilson in Starling City created a chain reaction of death and despair in Ollie’s life. The Arrow could really use a break for a change.And that’s what he got as Season 3 debuted. Things are looking up for team Arrow. Crime is way down. Ollie and Felicity’s romance is beginning to kindle. Diggle is about to have a baby. But as you would expect from an episode titled “The Calm,” it wasn’t long before the cracks began to show again. The mix of lighthearted superhero adventure and darker plot twists made for a very satisfying premiere episode.“The Calm” started out by showcasing the entire crew in action, functioning more as a well-oiled machine than ever. That included Roy as Speedy or Red Arrow or whatever his codename is supposed to be (they've called him Arsenal in promotional materials, but no name was given on the show). It was great to see Roy playing a more traditional sidekick rather than the angry bruiser hopped up on Mirakuru he was for much of Season 2. We didn’t see much of the character outside that capacity, but that left the writers more room to focus on the core trio of Ollie, Felicity, and Diggle.Right away, it’s clear that one of the central struggles of this season will be the need of characters like Ollie, Diggle, and Detective Lance to balance their private and professional lives. Is it even possible to have both when you make a habit of dressing in a costume and shooting criminals full of arrows? Ollie thought so at first. I really enjoyed the interaction he and Felicity shared throughout the episode, especially during their all-too-brief date night. Their kiss in the hospital was bittersweet, showcasing the love that’s grown between them even as it was clear Ollie was ending the relationship before it could grow into something more. There’s clearly more mileage to be had out of their relationship than I would have expected a year ago.This episode also addressed one of my recurring complaints from Season 2 in that Diggle has been too much of a sideline character. That reluctance to be kept off the battlefield became very much a point of contention between Ollie and Diggle. I didn’t quite buy the resolution, with Diggle thanking Ollie for making the choice to leave him out. That kind of flies in the face of Ollie’s assertion that Lance endangers himself and his loved ones as a personal choice. Why can’t that be true for both men? But at least it’s clear Diggle is more of a focus this season.This episode also introduced a number of new players into the mix. On one hand, we got a new take on Count Vertigo as Peter Stormare debuted as Werner Zytle. This new Count is immediately leaps and bounds ahead simply because of the much stronger casting choice. Maybe we didn’t get much of a glimpse into Zytle’s motivations or history, but Stormare brought a sense of charisma and menace to the role that Seth Gabel’s Count was always lacking. It’s also interesting to note that the Vertigo drug now has a fear-based component. You have to wonder if that’s a hint towards the eventual appearance of Scarecrow as Vertigo’s partner or master.Several other big-name DC characters showed up during the course of “The Calm.” Ted “Wildcat” Grant had a cameo during the boxing sequence. We saw a little bit of Katana and her husband in the flashbacks. Even Barry Allen briefly dropped by, in case you were wondering exactly where exactly the Arrow and Flash timelines fall in relation to each other.But easily the most significant introduction outside of Vertigo this week was Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer. Once you get over the initial shock factor seeing Superman in Starling City, Routh left a very strong first impression. He was charismatic in a very different way from Vertigo - all bubbly personality and charming playboy and ruthless businessman. And it seems Palmer will be a major thorn in Ollie’s side, threatening to steal away his company and likely creating a love triangle as he woos Felicity. But it’s a testament to Routh’s acting that Palmer never comes across as overly obnoxious or antagonistic. Even if this show never actually has Palmer transform into the Atom (an opportunity it seems doubtful the writers would pass up), Palmer is amusing enough in his own right.Two other elements are worth mentioning this week. The first is that the flashbacks offer a nice change of pace from the approach taken in the first two seasons. The show’s format might have grown stale if every season involved Ollie encountering a new villain trying to exploit a different hidden resource on the island. The move to Hong Kong is just the sort of overhaul these sequences needed. It opens up all sorts of questions about what Ollie was doing and why he didn’t try to return to Starling City, questions that started to be answered here. It’s clear we’re going to see a more ruthless side of Amanda Waller this year. I’m also very interested to see how the dynamic between Ollie and the Yamashiro develops in the weeks ahead.

Arrow EP on Why Season 3's Premiere Ended With That Shocking Event

The other element, of course, is the big cliffhanger. It seemed a bit random and unnecessary to bring Sara back into the fold again. But as we saw, her newest team-up with Ollie was also her last hurrah. Someone wanted her dead and wanted the blame to be placed squarely on the Arrow. I don’t know that I’m thrilled Sara has been killed off. It seems like there was more potential with her character. But on the other hand, it’s a natural way to bring the League of Assassins back into play. And it could easily lead to Laurel making the long-awaited transformation into Black Canary herself.