poor Arrow. I delighted in viewing it much more when it was the only superhero TV show. now there are a lot much more choices, with much more range in tone, and I’m finding a few things not so pleasurable any more.
Like the demand that there be some type of flashback plotline throughout the episodes. now in season three, those have transferred to Hong Kong, where five years ago, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) was purchased around by a skinny Amanda Waller as some type of spy assassin in training. I’m not a fan of espionage thrillers, and I found myself thinking about these segments as something to fast-forward through.
I also didn’t care for the method the producers kept breaking up the team. I don’t have a issue with a hero character having lots of backup and good friends who help, but this season is where they got rid of, in different ways, Canary (Caity Lotz) and a traumatized Roy (Colton Haynes) and Thea (Willa Holland), who’s sent off to Corto Maltese to learn how to be a bad-ass.
The reliance on the dated idea that “I can’t have a close connection with anybody because I should sacrifice everything in purchase to be heroic” makes me grind my teeth, so I was rather pleased, besides the exaggerated drama of this season, to see Oliver get a (temporary) pleased ending. I know it’s all going to be blown up again for the next season, because that’s how serial home entertainment works, but for a bit, I could be much more optimistic. Took a long while to get there, though.
Arrow‘s got it tough. the most commercially successful DC home entertainment media job of the last decade is a grim-and-gritty Batman, so Arrow aspired to that pattern, with a tortured hero who needed a good psychiatrist. (Trying to be Batman is in keeping with the character’s original golden Age comic book history, too, because for a while there was an Arrow-Car and an Arrow-Cave and such.) only now there’s Gotham to give those fans something closer to the genuine thing, and The Flash for much more conventional heroics, and Arrow has to navigate between the two.
Introducing Ra’s al Ghul (Matthew Nable) and the league of Assassins doesn’t help, particularly once Oliver is enlisted to become his heir. I want to see heroes and good friends count on each other, not double-cross each other for “their own good”, so this plotline wasn’t my favorite. This season also introduces one of the comics’ most significant “get out of jail” card, the Lazarus Pit.
My favorite part of the season was the introduction of the Atom, Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh). I liked that he was a wise creator with a sense of humor, and I delighted in seeing the byplay with him and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards). His heroing is much more typically light-hearted, so that’s much more to my taste as well. I’ll follow him to whichever other show he ends up being part of.
I admire the method the creators have mixed CW-style personal drama and angst with superheroes, particularly the method they’ve broadened their world this season, but the options they’re using, such as the suicide Squad, just don’t appeal to me. That’s why it’s such a good thing that there’s now a range of superhero show tones. much more for everyone!
Key episodes this season include the following:
“The trick origin of Felicity Smoak”, episode 5, introduces Felicity’s mother (Charlotte Ross) and has a lot of flashbacks about her computer background.
“The take on and the Bold”, episode 8, concludes a crossover with The Flash.
“My name Is Oliver Queen”, episode 23, packs lots of hero action into the season finale.
Special Features
The set has 23 episodes on four discs. In addition to the typical smattering of Deleted Scenes, there are two commentaries. executive producers Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle talk about “The Calm”, the season opener, and “The Climb”, episode 9, the mid-season cliffhanger (literally), featuring Oliver’s first face-off with Ra’s. There’s also a four-minute gag reel and an Arrow panel from Comic-Con 2014 (29 minutes). because of the timing, it’s looking back at the second season and hinting at this season.
“The man below the Suit: The Atom’s first Fight” is seven minutes about the introduction of the character of Ray Palmer and the super-suit he develops and operates. “Nanda Parbat: building the Villain’s Lair” is considerably longer, at 23 minutes about the setting essential to the second half of the season. “Second Skin: producing the uniforms of Arrow” (17 minutes) was much more interesting to me. The show is normally set at night, so it’s neat to see the details of the costumes in much more common light. They also talk about making options that show both the symbolism and the practicality of needing to do stunts.
Season 4 has just started on The CW. It airs Wednesdays at 8 PM Eastern/7 PM central and promises a much more active fast and a guest appearance by Constantine (Matt Ryan). (The studio offered a evaluation copy.)
Shanull