Today is the day of the Superhero. Yes, Superheroes have always been a part of our culture, mainly with comic books, but also the Batman and Superman movies have been popular for a long while. Recently, though, because of the Avengers, Superhero movies have become insanely popular and now that is leaking out into TV as well. Is Arrow the product of this hype? Well, yes. But yet at the same time I will say not quite. Why do I say this? Because Arrow is a CW show and if you recall, the CW just recently finished 10 seasons of the major hit Smallville. Despite the superhero craze as of late, I would have to say that Arrow comes because of Smallville and not because of the Avengers, but who knows, I could be wrong. Regardless, Hollywood likes to replicate success and the CW is hoping that Arrow follows in the footsteps of Smallville by giving them similar success. Is it going to work? I am going to have to say yes. I checked out Arrow when they were about halfway into the show and I immediately got hooked, caught up to where they were, and finished the season watching it live on TV every week. It's a good show.
Let's back up real quick, though. What is Arrow? The obvious answer is that it is a new TV show on the CW. The better answer is that it is a TV show based off of the DC superhero Green Arrow. Green Arrow is nowhere near as popular as other DC superheroes like Batman and Superman, but nevertheless he is a part of the Justice League, so it's not like he is unknown. He's just never really been popular enough to be given a shot at his own movie/TV show and now is his big shot. Green Arrow in the comics is a lot like a Robin Hood in that he dresses up in a green suit and uses arrows as his weapon, but different in the fact that his big trademark is his fancy arrows that do more than just shoot people. The TV show Arrow doesn't necessarily follow the comic lore perfectly, but rather is an interesting, modern take on Green Arrow that at times doesn't even feel like a superhero TV show, but rather just a regular drama. In the TV series, Oliver Queen is a rich, spoiled son of a billionaire that is living the crazy, wild life when he gets on a boat with his father that sinks, kills his father, and leaves him stranded on an island for five years. Before his father died, Oliver learns of the corruption in the city and after going through a rigorous experience on the island, he comes back a changed man and is set on righting all the wrongs in the city.
This first season spends a lot of time setting the stage and providing background before simply just jumping into it and thus at times it seems slow and unfocused, but in a TV series like this that is expected in the first season. In the first season we don't get his full back story all at once. The show decided to take the route of explaining what happened to Oliver on the island via flashback and does so bit by bit throughout the season and I really like that format. It's almost like us having two story lines to follow at once instead of us only following Oliver while he tries to set up his crime-fighting gig in the city. Speaking of that, judging by the comics it is presumed that eventually more people figure out what he is doing, but for right now they are a team of three. That three would be Oliver, Oliver's crime-fighting partner John Diggle (Diggs) that was initially his body guard when he got back, and computer genius Felicity Smoak. Meanwhile, he lives a double life as a bar owner to cover-up his reasons of being gone all the time. Towards the beginning of the series, I was a little confused because it appeared that we didn't have a main villain and instead are just focusing on a list of corrupt people that Oliver got from his Dad. Superhero series with no main villain isn't the smartest thing in my mind, but we did eventually get one and it was done in a smart way because we built up towards realizing who he was and what his main plan was. The action that happened was super awesome and I am really excited for future seasons as we slowly build up tension and develop the characters from the comics that are present in the TV series that haven't yet come to the roles they are in the comics and it is super interesting to guess what will happen based on all of that. If I have one major complaint with Arrow it is the fact that it focuses way too much on the drama, especially on the romantic drama, and not enough on the Superhero action that I want.
Wrapping this up, I would say that Arrow is a TV series that is definitely worth checking out. Like I said, the first season spends a ton of time setting the scene for the series instead of jumping right in with major superhero conflicts and that in the end could be what makes this a really good series. However, that also means that the series is still in the potential stage in my mind. There is a lot of good things for them to build off of and also a lot of things they need to work on. They need to focus slightly less on all the drama and romance while instead giving us more villains and more action. Knowing the CW, that might not happen, but I still think that this will be a good series and I am excited for the second season to get here so I can figure out where they are planning on taking this series. I also think that they need to eventually give him the nickname of Green Arrow, but that's just a side note. If you like Superhero TV shows and movies, this is a series you need to check out. Also, if you were a fan of the TV series Smallville, then Arrow is definitely your show.
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