‘Arrow’ season 2, episode 3 review: Can we have more Paul Blackthorne stories, please?

What “Arrow” is doing for season 2, at least so far, is extremely smart: Showing that Oliver is not the only capable “hero” out there, and that every other player in the cast has a backstory that is complicated and interesting in its own way.

When it comes to Quentin Lance, Wednesday night’s “Arrow” was all about it courtesy of a case and a man in the Dollmaker who he made his obsession after the death of Sarah. He became so transfixed on capturing this guy, it took him a while to even figure out why: He was blaming himself for the circumstances that could have led to Sarah getting on that boat with Oliver Queen. We wonder still what Lance would think if he were to realize that the Arrow was also the man who was at the center of Sarah’s death. That is a story for another day, but even with that, we have a feeling that Paul Blackthorne’s character would kill it if given the opportunity. This is the most underrated member of the cast; a guy who can convey pain so well, and isn’t just some blundering cop character desperate to rely on a vigilante all the time.

The reality here is that both Lance and Oliver were essential in capturing the Dollmaker for good, and doing so in a way that ensures that he has to suffer in prison. Getting at least one important officer on his side is going to be huge for him in the future, especially when you have Laurel in her present state of mind, acting in her own way against the Arrow rather than blaming herself for what happened with Tommy’s death. She started to come around near the end, but this is going to take a little bit of time.

The reason why it works for Quentin to be working with Team Arrow now is because the show took its time, and that is the same reason why it works that Roy Harper now is, as well. His mission was to hunt down the Black Canary, and thanks to a mysterious street urchin name Sin (Bex Taylor-Klaus is making a living these days playing street urchins with interesting names after “The Killing), he was able to find her.

Now, we turn to the only concern we have from “Broken Dolls”: That perhaps the show is trying to do a tiny bit too much here. We’ve just met the Canary, so do we really need to meet many of the other characters she is tied to? You don’t want to get overwhelmed in a story like this, and some things are worth being patient for.

But overall, “Broken Dolls” was another super-solid episode of the show, and that is without even mentioning Moira Queen possibly facing the death penalty. We buy into most of the characters, and what made this one so important was we discovered that Quentin, a supporting character who is not always even involved, has just as interesting a backstory as Oliver Queen. The more fleshed-out these people become, the happier we are.

We also have to briefly point out how happy we are for Blackthorne, who has been on his fair share of quickly-canceled series, to finally have a lengthy job on a primetime show. Grade: B+.

Want some more “Arrow” scoop? Then click here, where you can see a preview for next week’s episode.

Photo: The CW