I used to categorize the TV programming of the CW network as “attractive twentysomethings have problems”. In more recent years, while that description may still be more or less accurate, the network has added a number of genre programming in the form of a lot of sci-fi and superheroes. The superheroes angle may not be that surprising. The CW’s parent company of Warner Brothers also owns DC Comics, so a little corporate synergy can probably grease a few wheels on licensing agreements. That said, 2012 saw the premier of Arrow, a superhero series about longtime DC Comics second string hero Oliver “Green Arrow” Queen. Green Arrow began life as more or less of a Batman rip-off, but being less known, it did make a certain amount of sense that producer Greg Beranti could get his hands on a character that wasn’t likely to get a big screen adaptation anytime soon.
Flashforward eight years, and we have Arrow coming to an end while the various shows that spun off of it (The Flash, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and Batwoman) have all been renewed for a new season while two potential new additions (Superman and Lois and Green Arrow and the Black Canaries) wait in the wings. Plus, there’s Black Lightning which sort of got grafted onto the Arrowverse (as it’s known) somewhat recently. But what about Arrow itself?
That’s not a bad question. Arrow changed quite a bit over its eight seasons, with the series finale perhaps highlighting that fact by flashing back to scenes from season one. Season one showed Stephen Amell’s Oliver Queen more inclined to go it alone and use lethal force. That season likewise kept to something closer to a standard CW drama. Oliver had his secret headquarters built under a nightclub that appeared frequently to play the most recent Top 40 songs and show attractive young people grinding away. I’m pretty sure that’s a standard CW trope since at least Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and personally, I’ve never been a fan of scenes at the club as a regular staple.
Likewise, Oliver, referred to mostly as “the Hood” when he grabbed his archery set and went out at night, is an angrier man, and not the inspiration for other heroes that he would become. And the odd earthquake machine notwithstanding, the series attempted to keep things relatively realistic, or at least as realistic as a crimefighting archer could be. Over time, superpowered people could come to visit, and the more mystical and strange stuff could happen. Having Ollie hang out with time travelers or speedster heroes wasn’t much of a stretch, particularly when the drug enhanced Deathstroke (Manu Bennett) came along. True, the series always spent a lot of time dealing with romantic complications in the lives of its characters, but season one may have been the time when those complications seemed the most akin to a daytime soap.
And that may be why I tended to still dig Arrow in the end. Yes, whole seasons may not have been up to snuff, and I honestly skipped the last few for season three and never really minded. Arrow was always more appointment television depending on who the villain was. Bennett’s Deathstroke and John Barrowman’s Malcolm Merlyn were both great villains, but longtime Batman foe Ra’s al-Ghul was a bit more forgettable. And sometimes a potential villain just doesn’t work on one show but does on another. Character actor Neal McDonough is always a treat, but his Damien Darhk worked better on the more comedic Legends of Tomorrow series. I’m not sure Green Arrow should be casting spells.
So, why did I enjoy this show? For starters, given the lower budget compared to, say, anything Disney puts out with the Marvel heroes even on TV, Arrow always tended to have some really exciting fight choreography. Likewise, the cast camaraderie really worked. Amell really grew into the role, and he had good chemistry with David Ramsey as bodyguard-turned-brother-in-arms John Diggle and Emily Bett Rickards as superhacker-turned-love interest Felicity Smoak.
By the by, Smoak was only supposed to be a one-off character, but the producers were charmed by Rickards so much they kept her around as a regular. Considering they were probably hoping to make Katie Cassidy’s Laurel Lance Oliver’s main love interest, that’s quite impressive. And considering how bland Cassidy was the first few seasons (she improved quite a bit over time), that’s probably for the better.
But knowing Arrow was ending on a shortened ten episode half-season, I’d say the creators did right by the series. Fan favorite characters were brought back, some of them from the dead, for at least one last go around in Star City as Oliver did his rounds and said goodbye to both the characters and the fans. The series foreshadowed Oliver’s eventual death last year during the annual crossover event with the other Arrowverse shows, so his death wasn’t really a shocker. The moving part was the final episode, one where Amell is almost completely absent save for flashbacks to earlier episodes. While many moments were clearly put in for fan gratification (and I’m not complaining about them), the finale focused largely on Ramsey’s Diggle, the only other cast member to have been a regular for the entire series run. Using Dig as an audience surrogate to sum up how the show felt Oliver grew as a man and a hero was the right touch, even as his friends and family gathered for one last goodbye before they went their separate ways. True, there were a few people missing, but the important ones people remembered best were there. As such, Arrow went out the right way, perhaps not overstaying its welcome too much (I’m looking at you, Supernatural, with your 15 seasons!), but at least leaving fans with the right send-off for the character who perhaps inadvertently jumpstarted a TV superhero universe. Arrow may have never been great television, but it was always at least fun, TV comfort food.
Grade: B
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