Review: Arrow Season One

Well here we are, a full season of the CW’s Arrow has passed, and it is time for a review.  I’ll address the season as a whole with only some minor spoilers.  Arrow grabbed me from the beginning, and my interest only continued to grow.  My wife is now a fully commited Green Arrow fan as well, and though we only got a hint at the name “Green Arrow,” I’m sure they will stop calling him the vigilante soon.

When the season first started, I felt that Stephen Amell was very stiff in his acting.  He corrected this right before the midseason break and when the show started again, I saw not just an actor playing a part… I saw Oliver Queen.  You can tell that the nervousness went away, and he became the character, and enjoys playing the part.  Overall, the acting has been done well, though I feel like the Huntress needs a little work, but she’s just a guest star.

Plotwise, this can’t be beaten.  Sure there are some cheesy moments, but it somehow works.  The CW hasn’t made this a full on soap opera like it did with Smallville.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge Smallville fan, but Arrow has it beaten by a million miles.  Someone asked me what makes it so good?  I said this…  “It is DC Comics, meets Law and Order, meets 24, with a slight touch of humor and romance.”  It is a show that can be watched and enjoyed by both men and women, and has pleased many comic book fans despite the lack of superpowers.

Each episode ended with a conclusion to that story, but an overall continuing story arc that makes you want to come back for more.  If any of you have read my novels, you know why I enjoy this approach.  When they announced their approach, I was skeptical, but overall pleased at what we were given.  Green Arrow (Oliver Queen), Roy Harper, China White, Deadshot, Merlyn (Dark Archer), Firefly, Count Vertigo, Deathstroke (Slade Wilson), Shado, Brutale, and other mentions like “Speedy” (Thea Queen), “Black Canary” (Laurel “Dinah” Lance), Ferris Aircraft, Bludhaven, Ted Kord, and “getting to Central City in a Flash” were awesome, but even the original characters were welcome additions.

I realize that we will never get “Star” City, and I will have to accept the “Starling” name, but if we continue to get the goods, I will ignore that.  In season two I have a few hopes…  At this point I feel that with the Black archer, the green archer, and of course a soon to be Red archer sidekick, I think it is time to call Oliver’s alter Ego by his appropriate name.  It would get too confusing to those characters in the story not to.  I also want to see more DC appearances, and for the creators of the show to give us characters with powers (despite claiming they won’t).  I also get that Stephen Amell is in great shape, but we don’t need to see him shirtless in every episode for no reason at all.

My review is 8 out of 10 arrows.  If you haven’t seen it or only gave it a one time shot, then give it another chance.  It will be worth your time in the end.