"Arrow" is one of my favorite TV shows, and the first one I started regularly following. I've never missed an episode. I've watched all 69 episodes. Season 1 started out as kind of combination of Nolan's Batman-ish trilogy and Raimi's Spider-Man style, with a vigilante protecting the city with the help of his allies, though what thankfully differences from that is that the hero is using a"Arrow" is one of my favorite TV shows, and the first one I started regularly following. I've never missed an episode. I've watched all 69 episodes. Season 1 started out as kind of combination of Nolan's Batman-ish trilogy and Raimi's Spider-Man style, with a vigilante protecting the city with the help of his allies, though what thankfully differences from that is that the hero is using a bow and arrow. The first half of the season was very uneven at best, but not on the same aimless level of Season 3's first half. After the 10th episode, the show took an acceptably new direction, being less of a rip-off, and more like its own super-hero drama in its own right way, which led us to a fantastic, spectacularly tense season finale. As I was hungry for more, I started watching Season 2, and I couldn't have made a better option than that, as the sophomore Season continued the process of Oliver's anguish of trying to be "something else", while elevating the stakes for the season, and becoming bigger and bolder than its predecessor. It was the step in the right direction, and ultimately it made for a very satisfying year (for those who watched when it aired). Season 3 tried to move forward from the Slade Wilson/Oliver Queen conflict and tried to create a subplot that addressed Oliver's struggle with his identity, but the end result was more of a thud than a bang. The season started great with "The Calm", an episode that continued Oliver's crusade with new, fresh faces, and a reasonable emotional focus, this being Oliver trying to balance his work life with his friendly relationship with Felicity Smoak. And with the episode ending on a shocking twist (Sara's death), this Season was off to a promising start. Unfortunately, that's where the inspiration went away. Followed by an overwhelmingly dark episode, "Sara" brought up a new archer in town, suspected to be Sara's killer, but after was revealed it wasn't, the entire episode felt pointless, although quite entertaining.
The 3rd episode didn't have a villain, but rather a guy who betrayed his own friend. The 4th episode didn't also have a villain (please don't say Malcolm Meryln), the 5th episode had one but poorly conceived and lame. The 6th episode was the worst Arrow installment ever, and even the villain was laughably atrocious. I can take Ted Grant being a vigilante before Arrow's presence in Starling, but having a sidekick was a little too on the nose, especially when the episode connected the Grant's subplot with Roy's subplot (if the guy even had one). The 7th episode had a villain, but... it was an Arrow-obsessed killer, and an uninteresting one. The 8th episode picked up, but I can't say I cared much for the villain. The 9th episode had a worthy foe for Oliver to face, but the overall dramatic momentum was lacking. First half of the season, and there was no sense of villain overt or dramatic impulse driving this season forward. Even if they were enjoyable, which I agree, I can't stop feeling empty after watching it.
What Arrow did good this season, that mostly outweigh the cons was its action, solid performances and characters use (not looking at you Roy). The action and the CGI is one thing that has been improved over the past three years of the show's history. With bigger budget and more opportunities, the creators have taken us to more dazzling set-pieces, and offered us more exciting action. The duel between Oliver and Ra's on the mountain especially stood out as the best action sequence in the season, if not in the whole show. The dialogue in that particular scene was surprisingly good, and I'm not much for praising dialogue in movies/TV Shows. Ra's explained how he "replaced evil with death", talking about his first murder, and why he did that. It was a powerful moment not just for the villain, but also for Oliver, as he was about to face the world's greatest asssassin. Tension was felt there. We knew Oliver was outmatched, mostly because he was vulnerable at that moment. And what's better to end the mid-season with your hero being tossed out of a cliff?
The performances from Amell, Matt Nable and John Barrowman were good, and this time around the writers took a great use of the characters. I enjoyed Laurel's arc, as she finally picked her mantle as the new Canary. Roy, on the other hand, was immensely underutilized, though the resolution to the character in the season was appealing, as he helped Oliver from getting arrested. The flashbacks were little of help this time. They were entertaining, but repetitive and they never made use of the Hong Kong scenarios to the fullest. There was also lack of momentum in there, like in the present situation.
The finale ended disappointingly, as there was no climax whatsoever, and the Damien Darhk little subplot was completely superfluous, other than to setup the next season's big baddie. Decent season but could've been better, if the main conflict was more compelling.
Final Score: 6.5/10… Expand
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