Arrow Review: “Green Arrow”

Arrow returns. Starling has rebranded itself Star City, but they still face familiar problems. Ollie and Felicity return to assist their old teammates against the forces of Damian Darhk.

Ollie puts on a new costume and a new, familiar name.

Title: “Green Arrow”

Cast and Crew
Director: Thor Freudenthal
Writers: Greg Berlanti, Beth Schwartz, Marc Guggenheim, Wendy Mericle

Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen / Green Arrow
Katie Cassidy as Dinah “Laurel” Lance / Black Canary
David Ramsay as John “Dig” Diggle / What’s my sobriquet?
Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak
Willa Holland as Thea Queen / Speedy / Red Arrow
Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance
Neal McDonough as Damian Darhk
Enid-Raye Adams as Laura Hoffman
As couple Two
Audrey Marie Anderson as Lyla Michaels
As Barry Allen / The Flash
Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Amanda Waller / White Queen

Premise

A well-coordinated gang of criminals, led by a man with more than human abilities, attacks Star City. The city’s new hero’s contact Ollie and Felicity to help them face down these new enemies.

Ollie rebrands himself as the Green Arrow. He has a new costume, but his disguise remains hilariously insufficient.

High Points

With a few years of development behind them and a successful, flashier spin-off beside them, Arrow tries to lighten its tone, and turn Ollie into someone genuinely heroic. This week made an advance turn in that direction.

We also have tantalizing references to Ted Kord, Hal Jordan, and the Hawks.

Low Point

I’ve felt for some time the backstory adventures have served their purpose. Increasingly, the flashbacks muddle and drag down the main plot. However, I was willing to cut the show some slack. Certainly, this week, the flashback material demonstrates the contrast between the first season Arrow and the kinder, greener character we’re seeing this year. We may even get the full story on that Russian connection.

But the island? Do we really need to get lost on that island again?

The Scores:

Originality: 2/6 I like the new direction, but the plot and its villain feel very familiar.

Effects: 5/6

Acting: 4/6

Story: 4/6

Emotional Response: 4/6

Production: 6/6

Overall: 5/6

In total, “Green Arrow” receives 30/42

Lingering Questions

So whose grave do our heroes visit? Is it Quentin Lance, who will die redeeming himself? Or will Felicity die, allowing the show to fall even closer to comic book canon?

And will we have to follow flash-forwards and flashbacks all season, or was the premiere’s a one-off?

2 replies on “Arrow Review: “Green Arrow””

  1. I like the mystical/magic angle. I know Constantine is going to come around, I suppose I can only hope that Zatanna might show up at some point.

    I don’t mind them going back to the Island in the flahsbacks, his awful wig bothers me more than that, since at least the island changes somewhat each time he goes back (different people taking it over, etc) and it looked to me like he was a bit disappointed to wind up there again as well.

    With him spending “five years” missing I’d expect no less than five seasons of flashbacks depending on how they handle the timelines.

    I think the flash-forward was a red herring. The presence of Barry implies it was Felicity but at the same time I find it hard to believe that Barry would have missed Felicity’s funeral for anything. So I’m thinking it’s Papa Lance, or a complete red herring and it’s someone that is/was/about to be put in the Lazarus Pit.

Comments are closed.