For my first, inaugural blogging, I can think of nothing more fitting than what is currently my favorite show on the air, Arrow, as it begins its third season. This is a rather pivotal moment for me, and the first two episodes of this new season are, I believe, pivotal for the show.

Usually, when you’re watching a show, the big events, the huge ones that define the season, even the series, the one’s which count as spoilers when you talk about them, come more towards the end of a season, particularly the deaths of beloved major characters. But Arrow, once again, upsets the expectation.

If you don’t want to know without seeing it yourself, then stop reading right now. I mean right now. Do not look down, do not continue, close your browser right now, because this is a MAJOR SPOILER ALERT.

The end of season three, episode one, titled “The Calm,” (one can guess the unspoken “before the storm”) had me going, “THEY DID NOT! THEYDIDNOTTHEYDIDNOT! THEY! DID! NOT!”

They actually killed off Sara?! They killed Black Canary?! She was my favorite, too! What the what?!

The storm hits, all at once.

Fortunately, this is Arrow we are talking about, where death has real consequences, and it’s easy to see how this one, tragic moment is going to propel things forward.

The second episode, fittingly titled “Sara,” gave us a glimpse into how the various characters reacted to her death in different ways. Grief, fear, revenge, justice, etc. everyone was being driven by something believable, and the characters drove the story, a mark of truly good storytelling. We don’t know who done it yet, though we can guess that Sara knew her killer. As justice has yet to be delivered, we can see people making their choices in response. Felicity wants more out of her life, Roy is afraid for Thea, Digs was leaving the team for the sake of his new family but is back in for as long as it takes to find Sara’s killer, Oliver’s mission continues, a fact he is clinging to even while he fears dying in the darkness, and Laurel, perhaps, is about to take her first steps towards becoming the next Black Canary.

(which answers my question about reconciling how the classic Black Canary is named Dinah Laurel Lance, not Sara Lance)

And, bonus points, we are seeing how kind and sincere Ray Palmer is, and we were even treated to seeing another dear, departed friend in this episode’s flashbacks.

All in all, Arrow isn’t content for just “going strong.” They are upping their game, and I can’t wait to watch it!