Arrow Season 2 Review

While not flawless, this season of the CW's Arrow did come pretty darn close, and showcased some of the best action sequences I have ever seen on any medium of television. Oh, and it was dramatic, too, very dramatic and traumatizing at times. The story was well-paced and while at first it seemed that Arrow would have too much to swallow, the show proved that to be a simple task. Well, for the most part

There were a few clunky characters and episodes that kind of made me go, "Huh?" There was the return of "villain-of-the-week" syndrome, though to compare it to season one, there was a very minute amount of this. When this did occur it didn't further the story and ultimately served as a way for fanboys to go, "Oh, I know his backstory." Some of the clunky characters were some like Laurel, who for the longest time could just go away and the show would be better, or Moira, or heck even Thea sometimes, as she swayed from happy club-owner to make-up ridden drama queen.

Where those were there, though, there were episodes that proved to be some of the show's best. For every "Birds of Prey" there was a "Heir to the Demon." For every Laurel there was a Slade. DEATHSTROKE!

Luckily this season did a far better job with its story than last season and it showed through the characters. Each character was driven by something, even some of the minor ones that appeared for an episode or two *cough Barry Allen cough*. Not only that, but the flashbacks tied in greatly with the present time, leading all the way up to the finale where the show was literally able to go back and forth between past and present to an identical moment. Coolest part of the finale, by the way.

This season, also, had an underlying theme. Sort of mentioned in episode four, this episode dealt with crucibles and how people could overcome them. While Oliver did not technically suffer from any crucibles, he did have to undergo a change from vigilante to hero. This showed in Officer Lance's view on the character. When at first they were foes they soon became friends to the point where Lance did not want to know who was under the hood, as it would destroy his respect for the hero. Oliver's metamorphosis also showed in his name change, from The Hood to The Arrow.

Oliver struggled with not killing and doing the right thing. He would hunt down Starling City's worst in an effort to clean up a city tarnished by the Quake caused by Malcolm Merlyn. For a while it seemed the story would flow like that until it was revealed that Brother Blood and Slade Wilson were behind all of Oliver's recent battles, such as Cyrus Gold and even the uprising of the Glades.

Before the midseason break it was very unclear where the story would go, but this time also helped set up major things to come. I believe that most of the big twists came out of these nine episodes, as did some of the biggest characters not only in Arrow but in all of DC comics. We were introduced to Barry Allen, the Black Canary, Slade Wilson (with the eye-patch), Solomon Grundy, and go name of the Demon himself, Ra's al Ghul. We were also re-introduced to some of Green Arrow's biggest foes such as Count Vertigo and Malcolm Merlyn. Most of these characters in some way came to shape the season, be it through being a foe, a secret, a cause, or even just a mask.

Speaking of all these characters, though, I suppose I should touch on how this season alone affected the greater DC universe in film (probably just TV but whatever). Each of the performances, minus probably Count Vertigo, by these characters was an extremely memorable one that would easily translate greatly to the big screen. Not only that, but the performances provided reason for each character to stick around. Manu Bennett's Slade Wilson/ Deathstroke was just as menacing as he needed to be. From the two Flash episodes given, Grant Gustin's Barry Allen was memorable and was the Barry Allen that we've needed. Caity Lotz's Black Canary was a great counter to Stephen Amell's now-iconic Green Arrow. And the big tie-in herself Amanda Waller was portrayed excellently by Cynthia Addai-Robinson, as she had all the attributes Amanda Waller needed. Also Katrina Law as Nyssa Raatko was perfect and she needs to be on the show more often.

Of course I should also mention the little Harley Quinn cameo, as it does indeed mean, by deductive reasoning if you follow that kind of thing, that yes, the Batman himself exists to some light in the Arrow-verse. Maybe we will someday see at least Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Batgirl, or Batwoman, maybe not the Batman himself unless it is Ben Affleck in which my mind will be blown, but still. Food for thought.

And as cool as all of these new introductions were, they all served the greater good of the story. Which is important nowadays, as many movies or shows are unable to do this. As we've seen in Iron Man 2, Amazing Spider-Man 2, and even Spider-Man 3, it's difficult to jam-pack fan-favorite things into a TV show without an important element suffering. And Arrow did not do that. It introduced the Suicide Squad, League of Assassins, Deathstroke, Brother Blood, Team Arrow, and super-powers all without fail. And almost all of these things are still left open.

Arrow managed to seamlessly segway out of reality and into a more meta-human world with the introduction of Mirakuru. Though not entirely scientifically plausible, it is still something grounded in science. Unlike The Flash which will introduce Speed Force though in a way that makes sense, Arrow was able to make sense and give logic to the effects of Mirakuru as if it were a real drug. Hallucination, mood swings, enhanced reflexes and endurance, it made sense even if it couldn't exist.

Will it move onto to bigger things like aliens? No, I don't think so. I think that this season of Arrow established the physical limits of its own show. Super-powered beings are fun, but Arrow still showed this season that at it its core it is still an action-drama and going over-the-top with all of this alien or magic mumbo-jumbo would be a bit much. Now if they're able to explain magic with science, then go ahead, but I wouldn't expect too much of it.

While remaining grounded in its own reality, too, it made sure that the characters remained human. Laurel became something of a drug addict and we saw the effects on her as it would in real life. Slade took something that should have killed him and we saw the side-effects. I'm not entirely sure rat-poison is plausible but we got to see its side-effects as well. Sara was torn between a home she'd known for five years that taught her to be tough. Oliver struggled with justice and injustice. Each of the characters were real and hardly any of them were cheesy.

Even the final fight between Oliver and Slade was not over-the-top action. It was exactly as expected. They weren't bouncing off of walls or breaking down buildings. No, they were fighting at a level that cannot be matched by anyone that has not experienced the torment they have. And when the fight was over there was not cheesy one-liners, they were able explain their motivations. It wasn't as black and white as good versus evil.

Which is another thing this season excelled at. Through Oliver's struggles over whether to kill or not kill, we saw him suffer the consequences of doing the right thing. Everything, good or bad, has a cost. Oliver not killing showed that he had resilience and that in the end he was a stronger person than Slade could be as Slade was driven by one thing and he conceded to the shadows while Oliver managed to escape and see the light that was justice and fought for it, taking the sacrifices as they came as fuel for his fire.

Ultimately what this season of Arrow did was define what it meant to be a hero, for all of the characters, not just Oliver. Diggle and Deadshot had great synergy whenever they were together and Felicity discovered what kind of war she was getting into. Roy, what little screen-time he had, learned what he would have to do to keep his loved ones safe. Oliver, of course the star of the show, morphed from what was once vigilantism into heroism.

Though there were a few episodes out of place, they still managed to highlight key features of each character that still helped out. Felicity having a battle of wits with William Tockman or Sara having a showdown with the Huntress was good fuel for each character. Still, weak is weak.

But strong is still strong, and that's what this season of Arrow was. A strong season filled with great story, great fan-service for the DC Arrow-verse, and great fun all around.