Arrow Season One Review
Intro: I knew that the show’s title would create confusion for people; they thought that this show was a different take on Robin Hood. For those of you who don't know, this show is based on a comic book character name Green Arrow. I was surprised and a little disappointed that this show isn't a spin-off of the Green Arrow in the TV show Smallville. What's the point of creating a new show to establish a character that's already established? A lot is riding on this series; besides Batman, DC is having a hard time making their characters successful outside the comics.
Here are some examples
The last three Superman movies are bad, if you ask me.
Despite Smallville lasting ten seasons, I wasn't crazy about this series, due to the soap opera direction and lack of action. ( I know it wasn't always like that; however, those things affect my enjoyment of the show.)
None of the Superman video games are good, especially Superman 64. How that game got made is beyond me. Heck, most of the games that are based on other DC characters aren't decent.
Birds of Prey got canceled because of low ratings. It lasted one season with 13 episodes.
The Green Lantern movie wasn't successful financially or critically. There was a Green Lantern animated series that I liked, but it got canceled due to low toy sales.
There was suppose to be a Wonder Woman TV show two years ago. If you saw the unaired pilot, then you understand why it was canceled.
Now that I've got the history lesson out of the way, let's see if this series hit its mark.
Arrow: This show is centered on Oliver Queen/The Hood, who was shipwrecked on an island for five years. After he gets rescued, he goes on a crusade to clean his city of crime with the help of a hit list from his deceased father. That becomes difficult when another archer gets in his way and learns about a conspiracy that will ruin his city. So Oliver has to figure out what it is before it's too late.
This show made me mad! No! I didn’t think it was bad, but that's the reason why I’m mad. Why wasn’t Green Arrow popular or a well-known figure to the general public like Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman? I mean, it seems like people want heroes they can relate to, that’s what made Batman popular. Also, why didn’t this character get his own show ten years ago instead of Birds of Prey?
The themes of this series are family and redemption; almost everyone in this series has done something they want to redeem themselves for, or is dealing with family drama. The pilot episode was OK; however, the writers tried to establish a lot in the pilot. At first, I thought this show was going to be routine. I mean, each episode is going to be about Oliver going after someone from his list. That wasn’t the case after I saw episode 5, which is one of my favorite episodes of this season; that episode got me into this show. The changes the creators made from the comics didn't bother me that much. In fact, if this were the New 52 Green Arrow, I would read it. What stood out to me about this series is the fight scenes; they made the action scenes in other shows look fake compared to this.
People compare this show to Mr. Nolan’s Batman movies and the TV show Lost. To be fair, there are some scenes and lines from those films being put in this series. Also, there are some similarities between Batman and Green Arrow, plus there are other Batman references besides Mr. Nolan’s films. The reason why this show is compared to Lost is because this show has flashbacks on Lian Yu. ( That's the name of the island he was on.) This is the best part of the show for me because some of the events on the island tie in with an episode. Also, I enjoy seeing how Oliver slowly goes from a typical spoiled rich kid to what he is now with the help of allies. The flashbacks are about Oliver getting caught in the middle of the soldier's search for a man name Yao Fei. I wish the mystery of who can Oliver trust was handled better.
Oliver Queen/The Hood has matured into a responsible and cunning man who still maintains his Playboy image. When he's the hood he's a surrogate Batman. I have mixed feelings about him killing people. On one hand, he talks about justice; you can't do that if you're committing mass murder and working with the bratva. If he's going to continue to work with the Detective in this series, that needs to get fixed. On the other hand, I like that he doesn't pull his punches. Law Enforcement doesn't do that, why should you? (Plus, he reminds me of the Punisher.)
I don't like Oliver's mom, Moira Queen, because she's shady. You'll see what I mean when you watch the show.
Thea Queen (Oliver's sister) is a troubled girl; it's understandable why she's like that because she's having a hard time dealing with the death of her father and brother at the time. She could have been sympathetic if she wasn't so impulsive and testy.
Laurel Lance is a good-hearted lawyer who fights for the little people. She suppose to be a strong female character, but she ends up being a damsel in distress. Fans may or may not be happy with her history with Oliver.
Tommy Merlyn is Oliver's best friend. We think he's the usual goofball best friend. Later on, we see that there's more to him than that.
John Diggle is Oliver's bodyguard and his voice of reason. He also aided Oliver on his crusade. What bugs me about him is that we learn that he's not so noble; this is an issue because it makes him look like a hypocrite.
Felicity Smoak is the comic relief who works at Queen's Consolidated. ( Queens Consolidated is the Queen's family business.) She assists Oliver on his crusade by providing tech support. The reason why she's helping Oliver is lame. Despite not being on board with Oliver's body count, she sees that he's doing some good.
Det. Lance (Laurel's father) is a by-the-book Cop who develops an uneasy alliance with the Hood. He also resents Oliver for what he's done to his family.
Malcolm Merlyn (Tommy's father) is a calculating and ruthless businessman. We learn that something tragic happened in his past that caused him to be like this. Despite that, he's pleasant to be around in public. The only complaint I have with him is that he did something that created tension between him and Tommy. I understand why Malcolm did that; however, this is something he should have done sooner.
Roy Harper confuses me. I mean, we see that he wants to do the right thing, but he gets himself into trouble. I wonder what his upbringing was like.
Slade Wilson (Oliver's mentor) is a charismatic, tough guy. Despite that, he does have a bleeding heart.
The Dark Archer (The main villain) is OK, he poses as a physical threat, and he parallels with the Hood. The problem I have with him is that he didn't become interesting until towards the end of the season. Plus, we barely see him. Also, his suit makes him look fat.
The gripes I have with this show are the inconsistencies with the characters and what was established in previous episodes. Something happened in episode 21 that undermines the father-son story that this show had, plus opened up a can of plot holes around the main villain's plan and Oliver's hit list. Speaking of the Father and Son story, it's hard to appreciate it when we don't know what Oliver's relationship with his father was like before he died. The conflict in this season wouldn't exist if characters stood up for themselves.
I don't like the love triangle towards the end of the season because it makes the characters involved look bad. I have an issue with characters calling Oliver's alter ego a whole bunch of names like Robin Hood, the Archer, the Vigilante, the Hood Guy, the Hood, Green Hood, Green Goblin, and Green Ranger. I understand why he isn’t called Green Arrow yet, but give him one name and stick with it. I’m glad that this was addressed in one episode.
The bottom line is this is a good show that I would recommend this to both fans and non-fans alike. I’m surprised that this show is going to get a second season because things happened in this season that I thought were going to happen later on, plus it wouldn't have gotten a second season if this series were on any other network. The real question is, how long will this show last?
