Arrow Season 5 Review

Another year, another few months we must post our green hoods and quivers up until the CW’s Arrow returns to television. Unlike last year…and the years before that…we’ve got a real cliffhanger, though, so that’ll keep us guessing as to the fate of certain characters, as well as where the show can go from here. There’s some hints and clues in the last few episodes, but overall the finale was pretty final in terms of the story we’ve seen the last five years. Arrow this season was about cycles and about history repeating itself (not like The Flash, which involves actual time-travel). And it was the return to form that everyone was looking for, making it the second best season of the show.

FULL SPOILERS FOR SEASON 5 FOLLOW

Are Environments Their Own Characters?

Settings are one of the more overlooked aspects of fiction, in any medium, it would seem. Most of the time, critics (including myself when I do reviews), or even teachers, will overlook the important elements of setting in a story. The setting is just meant to be where the characters exist to do their thing and it allows for the story to take place in a believable way. Many would present the story as just that: the presentation. Yet if setting, and in particular environments, are so unimportant, why do we remember so many of them?

Arrow Season 5 Hopes

I think we can all agree that the last two seasons of the CW's Arrow have been underwhelming compared to the greatness of the first two. You can't really pin it on the writers and the creative teams (they are, after all, juggling the ongoing and complex storylines of three other major television series) and the actors haven't turned in bad performances at all. But, results are results. Arrow has now become the most divisive series among fans of the CW-verse (some saying it's the worst of the bunch, and some saying it still holds up compared to the other series in the universe). I tend to fall in the latter category. Is it the best? Probably not. Supergirl couldn't find much of an identity, Legends of Tomorrow lost me partway through, and The Flash''s season finale was, again, a major whimper of an ending. 

"Arrow" Season 4 Review

Ah, Arrow. It's always the best time of the year when this show comes back, and the worst when it has to leave me for the summer to wallow in such thoughts as, "What happens next?" "What will the next flashback sequence entail?" and "Why did you waste the great potential of Komodo?" You know, the important questions. This season we get much more closure than I expected, and it does make this season, more than most others, feel like a pretty complete story...although that doesn't mean it was the best season of the series. 

Top 10 Heroes (Redux)

Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and accept the fact that mistakes were made and that things just need to be redone. I'll stand by the fact that, at the time, those characters were my favorite heroes, but times have changed and nearly two years have passed by now. If you would like to check out my previous Top 10 heroes list, you may certainly do so here.

While I don't want these sorts of Top 10 lists to become an annual thing, in which I go back and make a "redo" list, it is always fun to assess and look back on where I was and what characters have captured and held my attention for so long. Or, rather, what heroes.

The idea of making an anti-hero list has always amused me, and it would not be one too difficult to make. It certainly makes placing characters on this list hard. It can often be a tough line to draw for a heroes and anti-heroes list with me, as characters of late have been in a morally grey area. While there are some very clear good guys on this list, there are also some that you may tilt your head at.

Also, like my previous villains list redo, there will be some repeats on here...though not necessarily in the same order. This list is much different than the one before. With that said, let's get right into it!

Green Arrow (2011) #35-40 Review

Well, Arrow is coming back for a fourth season tonight, and there is going to be a dramatic shift in terms of tone for the season, apparently. I'm completely fine with that. Last season tried to get super dark and edgy and instead, mixed with horrendous marketing and early spoilers, it ended up a colossal mess, the highlight of the season being the stuff early on with the various archers, anything with Nyssa, and Episode 18 "Public Enemies," which is actually one of the best Arrow episodes yet. 

I bring up "Public Enemies" because of its impact on what we're taking a look at today. Around this time last year, I took a look at Green Arrow #35, in which the creative team behind Arrow took over the Green Arrow comic. You can check out the review here. When it first came out, I loved the book. After going over it again, and in a complete story?

Yeaaaahhh, not so much. 

"Arrow" Season 3 Review

Spoilers for Arrow Season 3

So, this sucks. I always hate waiting for TV shows to come back, especially when they leave on an ambiguous note like this one did. It's like being on a ride when suddenly the ride stops with the promise that it will get going again. "What do we do now?" I'll tell you what: we watch the series again in preparation for Season 4, bring on the DVDs/ Blu-Rays!

Though maybe I'll have to take a breath before jumping back into this season...

Arrow "The Fallen" Review

FULL EPISODE SPOILERS FOLLOW

So you can thank the final-season-arc trailer of The Flash for ruining this episode of Arrow. The whole point was wondering if Oliver was going to actually end up joining the League, but the Flash just went ahead and told us that he does. Now it'll be interesting to see how Oliver winds up on The Flash seeing as how Ra's has him on such a tight leash, but it's sad to see that mystery ruined. 

Arrow "Public Enemy" Review

FULL EPISODE SPOILERS AHEAD

Phew. Just watched the episode, so I can finally catch my breath. Normally around this time, the season takes a bit of a down-turn only to finish out extremely strong. Looks like we're going to just be finishing strong all the way through, as evident through this week's episode (and, to an extent, last week's).

I mean, this episode had everything done right. Action. Romance. Comedy. Suspense. Plot advancement. Character development. Fun times in the flashback. Potential set-up for super-powers. What more could a person ask for?!

Arrow "Suicidal Tendencies" Review

FULL EPISODE SPOILERS AHEAD

Another very solid entry into the log of the CW's Arrow this week as we saw another split storyline between the (new) Suicide Squad and Oliver dealing with things in the city to take down a criminal obsessed with him. Honestly, he really has an issue with that. Although this time it was more of another superhero.

It really did feel like this episode was split in two and almost could have been one very different episode. It makes me hopeful that either the Suicide Squad will return more prominently in the next season of Arrow or be featured as sort of a "back-up" team to whatever Justice League forms in the upcoming new show featuring a bunch of new heroes and villains. Much like The Flash we saw some goofiness from our characters that has been sorely lacking in superhero live-action media, even in some of the Marvel movies where the jokes are written, not necessarily acted out. But I'm getting off topic.

Arrow "The Offer" Review

FULL EPISODE SPOILERS FOLLOW

Yet another solid entry into the annals of the CW's Arrow. It wasn't "fantastic" or have any mind-bending moments, but in many ways it felt like the series returning to its strengths. Great action. Great acting. Great character interaction. And a fun looking villain!

Yeah, Murmur was kind of pointless to the story but did what most villains on Arrow normally do and serve the purpose of Oliver realizing what an idiot he was in the first half of the episode and becoming better for it. In that, there were many other one-off villains who could have filled the role, but like I said, he looked cool. That's what matters, right?

Arrow "Nanda Parbat" Review

FULL EPISODE SPOILERS

Sheesh, as if they weren't pulling from Batman lore before...

Now it's so obvious it kinda hurts me.

This week's episode of the CW's Arrow was another League-centric one, which meant one thing: MORE NYSSA! *throws confetti* While she wasn't in more action scenes, she did serve a pretty interesting piece in her scenes with Laurel and Thea, and was also one of the two major cliffhangers of the episode, the other coming off a little more forced than before.

Arrow "The Return" Review

FULL EPISODE SPOILERS

Would you believe me if I told you Thea was officially hardcore? Probably not back in Seasons 1 or 2. Maybe 3.

This episode kinda solidifies that, though. This was as much her episode as it was Oliver's, where Thea seemed to dominate in the present and Oliver in the flashbacks. Both worked very well and had great dramatic moments.

Executive Producer Marc Gunggheim said that this episode would serve as something of a love letter to the fans, and I couldn't agree more. There were so many touche throughout the episode that hearkened back to moments or characterizations from Season 1 ("I had the hood up to conceal my eyes!" "That wouldn't even work even if you put grease over your face!"/ Lance's drinking or Thea's drug problems/ Slade Wilson's "promise"/ the notebook of names).

Arrow "Canaries" Review

FULL EPISODE SPOILERS

Man, this episode pulled no punches with it's delivery, huh? First Oliver calls Laurel not a hero, then Roy and Felicity give it straight to Oliver, then Laurel tells Lance about Sara. Sheesh. Guess they really wanted to overwhelm us following last week's underwhelming episode.

As it is, this was a pretty good episode. Yeah, the title implies that it's all about Laurel, but I thought that the equally interesting parts were about Thea. Oh yeah, that's a thing. But we'll cover that.

Arrow "Uprising" Review

FULL EPISODE SPOILERS AHEAD

So if Season 1 of the CW's Arrow was meant to be Batman Begins, and arguably Season 2 had themes of The Dark Knight with Oliver contemplating how to deal with Slade without compromising "the one rule." then this little season we've got going on thus far is definitely The Dark Knight Rises. I mean, they're not really masking that fact, either:

Death by League of Assassins. Fall down a long hole. "Reborn" through methods that make little sense. Ra's al Ghul. And returning to a city that has fallen to its knees and coming back just in time to fight a brute of a man who has a funny accent.

AND a sidekick!

Arrow "Midnight City" Review

Spoiler warning for Arrow through this episode

If I could compare the CW's Arrow to "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy...well, I probably wouldn't under normal circumstances.

But this is a show where people can be frozen for four days and magically come back to life, so, I'm gonna.

Arrow "Left Behind" Review

Arrow is back! Well, sort of. Not really. But...uh..

Laurel?

FULL EPISODE SPOILERS

The show is back, there we go. And we have an all-new villain, a new development in the flashbacks, and some startling discoveries. Plus, big cliffhanger. HUGE.

Arrow "The Climb" Review

FULL SPOILERS FOR EPISODE AHEAD

Dang, there goes my theory that Tommy killed Sara...

Dang, there goes the potential for Katana to be a part of the TV JLA

Dang, there goes...Oliver down the mountainside...

Oh.

Arrow "The Brave and the Bold" Review

FULL EPISODE SPOILERS BELOW

And so, onto part two! Huzzah!

Man was this episode great! I know I usually say this after a few more context sentences, but yeah, it was great! In my opinion, it was even better than the episode from yesterday, from The Flash. Part of that, I'm sure, is that there was little need for the characters to adjust to each other. But another part of that was the increased amount of comedy, and the terrific Arrow action that we saw. Captain Boomerang was fantastic (sadly not Australian) and I hope he comes back, because he was not only a cunning villain but an adept fighter as well.

Arrow "Draw Back Your Bow" Review

"It means foreigner. Outsider."

hehehehehe OUTSIDER'S WAR!!

But not really.

This week's Arrow featured another archer coming to Starling City and killing some dudes. Far fewer than before, and leaving not as much of a long-term impact, but at least the villain was somewhat relevant to the overall plot of the episode. This one was a return to the previous story-line of Olicity and seeing if that ship could float.

Long story short: no.