1). This show should come out of it’s “hero” shell.
This week’s main villain was, once again, crappy Lex Luthor but with hair this time. Now, as a show that’s trying very hard to be like the Nolan Batman series, it makes perfect sense for Arrow to focus on the street-level/corporate crime that made Batman Begins and The Dark Knight huge successes, and confused a bunch of people who saw The Dark Knight Rises. “Normal” crime is good for the series right now and the best parts of this episode happened when Green Arrow was punching out thugs. I just cannot wait for the series to move up to “Super-Villain” level crime, which it almost did this week with the use of China White as an enforcer for Not Lex Luthor. Granted this is pretty much the same plot as last week when an incredibly obscure Green Arrow villain was the enforcer for a corrupt businessman; but, with next week’s Deadshot episode, the plot formula should shake up a bit. Which is great since…
2). The supporting cast is so dull.
Every character on Arrow is an attractive upper-class yuppie who complains while having loads of sex and drugs, a bad-ass assassin/vigilante who likes punching Not Lex Luthors or Green Arrow. Since rich people complaining and doing is the type of television The CW was founded on then, by God, you better put some in this here superhero show of yours! I’m not saying that every superhero story should be all punching; my favorite comic X-Statix is about ten percent fighting and ninety percent personal issues. Arrow’s characters, however, are just the same type of generic rich people who made Gossip Girl popular and that’s fine for those shows, but when your show’s title is literally a weapon then the ratio of “whining” to “shooting” should be 1:2 at the very least. Maybe the whole interpersonal connections would come off as so much engaging if it wasn’t for the fact that…
3). The dialogue is pretty bad.
Arrow’s one of those shows that has some really fun moments, but the dialogue in this show feels a cross between “I AM EDGY AND YOUNG” and “HERE ARE MY MOTIVATIONS”. Just in case viewers couldn’t piece it together, the Lances, including the father who looks like a young Jack Nicholson, are very upset at Ollie for having sex with their sister/daughter and letting her die. You’d think that would be a clearly established idea when they had this conversation last week. The actors are doing their best and while I’m loving Stephen Amell as Ollie; others, like the girl who plays Speedy, aren’t doing too well. It’s like The Walking Dead where there’s some utterly fantastic moments bogged down by everyone repeating how they feel for infinity. Which is a shame, because as I said last week…
4). THIS IS SUCH A GOOD PREMISE!
I never really cared too much for Green Arrow. Sure, I enjoyed some stuff he was in and understood his appeal, but he always felt like just another superhero fighting bad guys to me. Yet, in Arrow Ollie has a clear and defined goal that I haven’t seen in too many superhero stories. Not only that, but Ollie’s moral compromising and attitude towards his friends and family concerning his defamation of the Queen name are plot elements that I find interesting in a character on a show that’s a spiritual successor to Smallville. That’s incredible! I figured this show would be just like Smallville where there’s a bunch of unlikable characters in between one fight a season, but it’s a bunch of mostly unlikeable characters with a few shining exceptions (Dig!) in between one fight an episode. Certainly an improvement that could definitely lead to this show becoming something great.
5). The Island is more interesting than the Starling City plot.
While Not Black Canary and Not Merlyn are discussing their past affair and Not Speedy is fighting an addiction to pills, Arrow truly shines whenever it has a flashback to the island where Ollie was stranded. This episode featured Ollie setting up a viking funeral for his dad when he’s hit in the shoulder with an arrow from a mysterious assailant dressed just like Green Arrow! Between Mystery Arrow (Rainbow Archer?!), Deathstroke, and Deadshot, Arrow is actually setting up some really great plots. It’s such a shame that the other 70% of the show is the bad parts of The Walking Dead.
Review Score: 6/10 This show look like it’s going to get a whole of a lot better, it’s just going to need some time. Maybe next week they’ll take a shot at it! Because Deadshot!
5 1/2). Was anyone else reminded of “Honor Thy Marshal” when they say this week’s title.
