Arrow Season 2: Impressions So Far?

[gamernerdtg2]

I started a crazy thread on how I thought Arrow was the best show on TV during it's first season. Many of you responded saying "Game of Thrones is the best show on TV".

I'm wondering where we're at with Arrow at this point, with Canary and Flash and whoever else they're planning on revealing through the course of this current season.

I have to say, it's a solid story that they've created for the TV adaptation up to this point, and I can't get enough of it. Well cast IMO. I'm not a fan of the comics btw, but I really enjoy the show.

So where are we with the current season? Have we been keeping up with it? Is Game of Thrones still the best show?

 

[omega 616]

Game of thrones is just porn with a story, that by the sounds of it cycles actors by just killing them off ... "such a body has been naked a few times, time to get rid of them for some new boobs!".

Arrow is a good show but I miss a lot of the stuff that people in the know are going "awesome" at like Barry and Roy are obviously both super hero's in waiting but I have no clue who they are ... I stumbled across who deathstroke and Black Canary are on wiki but during the show I am left clueless.

The only things I don't like are the love triangle things, like with the lawyer and her dad cop with Oliver and black Canary, Oliver's mum with Tommy's dad, Tommy with the lawyer chick, shadow and soldier boy on the island ... it's like a soap on TV. I want to see a guy with a green leather fetish shoot arrows at bad guys, not some weird romantic drama.

 

[Kolby Jack]

Is Black Canary actually Black Canary now? If not, I'm still gonna have to pass.

 

[kurupt87]

I think it's bloody awful, but I watch it anyway /shrug

 

[Nielas]

Is Black Canary actually Black Canary now? If not, I'm still gonna have to pass.

It's a different character than whom people initially expected her to be and so far she is only called Canary. however, she is able to use her staff to fight Oliver to a standstill and uses sonic weapons for distractions. She was apparently trained by the League of Assassins.

 

[Gizmo1990]

I gave up a few episodes into season 2. I really tried to like it but all I could think was that it so badly wanted to be Batman. Starling City is simply Gotham light and instead of using bad guys from Green Arrows rogues gallary (granted I know nothing about his rougues gallary) they are simply using either Batmans (Deadshot, The League of Assassins) or the Teen Titans (Deathstroke, Brother Blood).

Plus the island reveal stuff is taking far to long.

 

[nacthenud]

Yup. It's my favourite show on the air right now.

 

[RedDeadFred]

I almost gave up part way through season 1. So glad I stuck with it. They ended season one in such a great way and I'm really happy that the writers didn't take the easy way out of having Ollie stop Merlin only to have Tommy to take up the mantle in season 2. Having the Hood fail and Tommy die was shocking and it's helped morph the Hood into Arrow -a much more likeable and deeper character.

Season 2 is basically improving on season 1 in every way. One of the few shows where they actually listen to criticism and fix stuff or get rid of stuff that isn't working. Remember how almost every episode used to have that shitty voice over? Apart from the intros, that's gone. They also have the island flashbacks interwoven with the modern story now instead of them just being jarring transitions back and forth that aren't really related. It's not perfect but it's probably undergone the most dramatic improvements I've ever seen in a show. I think a lot of people dismiss it because it's on CW. The only thing I dislike about the show is Laurel.

On a side note, how's the other big super hero show doing? I watched the first 5 episodes and gave up on it just like I almost did with Arrow. Can anyone say if the show has improved yet? Is there an overarching plot going on now that's actually interesting? Have the characters become even remotely likeable? Have they killed off Skye yet? I really wanted to like this show so if anyone here has been watching it and seen it improve a lot, let me know.

 

[Ieyke]

Game of thrones is just porn with a story, that by the sounds of it cycles actors by just killing them off ... "such a body has been naked a few times, time to get rid of them for some new boobs!".

Arrow is a good show but I miss a lot of the stuff that people in the know are going "awesome" at like Barry and Roy are obviously both super hero's in waiting but I have no clue who they are ... I stumbled across who deathstroke and Black Canary are on wiki but during the show I am left clueless.

The only things I don't like are the love triangle things, like with the lawyer and her dad cop with Oliver and black Canary, Oliver's mum with Tommy's dad, Tommy with the lawyer chick, shadow and soldier boy on the island ... it's like a soap on TV. I want to see a guy with a green leather fetish shoot arrows at bad guys, not some weird romantic drama.

Game Of Thrones is NOT just porn with a story. Not even a little.
It's ALL about the story.
Hell, the boobs ratio has dropped waaaaaay off since the first season.

Arrow spoilers:

Spoiler

- Barry Allen is the Flash.

- Roy Harper is the Red Arrow (AKA Speedy, AKA Arsenal), the Green Arrow's sidekick.

- Cyrus Gold from that last episode is the supervillain Solomon Grundy, as per the poem Oliver stumbled across in the sterile apartment. He's basically a supervillain zombie Incredible Hulk.
"Solomon Grundy,
Born on a Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Took ill on Thursday,
Grew worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday.
That was the end,
Of Solomon Grundy"

- Dinah Laurel Lance (the "lawyer") is the Black Canary. Presumably her sister, Sarah(the Canary) will die for real and Laurel will take her place as the Black Canary.

- Tommy Merlyn is the dark archer simply known as "Merlyn". His dad, Malcolm Merlyn(the Dark Archer), may have taken his place.

- Slade Wilson is Deathstroke The Terminator. Basically an anti-hero/assassin/supervillain who is like Batman...except harder, better, faster, stronger, with a healing factor.

- Helena Bertinelli is the Huntress. I'm not sure if they ever properly established her title in the show.

- Dr. Ivo(from the boat) is a robot inventor who creates the robot Amazo. The ship on the show is called the Amazo, so that may be as far as that goes on the show.

 

[omega 616]

Snip

In regards to those spoilers.

Spoiler

So the woman who has shown to have fuck all fighting ability is Black Canary but her sister who got trained by the league of assassins dies as the Canary?

Tommy Merlyn was rather dead the last time I saw him, you know with that big rebar sticking through him? He also had fuck all fighting ability.

So eye patch guy is deathstroke and the guy who had half his face melted off dead hulk? They seem a little interchangeable.

Helena is the Russian woman who hasn't been in like a season and a half?

 

[Antendo]

I'm... strongly disliking it. I'm not saying the first season was good (it was OK at best) but the second season is just... *sigh*

Spoiler: Quick rant about my main reasons for hating it

I guess the main reasons why I'm hating the 2nd season are the Canary and Deathstroke. We all knew Slade would eventually become Deathstroke, yet they tossed in a dude to look like a deathstroke in the first season.
And for Dinah to not be the Black Canary... what the fuck? What were they thinking? "durrrr oi guise, we has dis stronk indentpendent wooman charracter here, wut shuld we do?" "hurrrrr LETS TURN HER INTO A WHINY LAWYER!" And the fact that the sister actually isn't dead after a full season of everyone bitching and moaning about her death and how it was Olivers fault? Just... gah... >_>

I probably wouldn't dislike the show as much as I do if I haven't read any of the comics, but having read a large chunk of them, I'm just getting overly annoyed over all the changes to the characters. Or are they taking their inspiration from the New 52 Green Arrow? Wouldn't know since I stopped reading it once I realized I'm not enjoying it one bit.

Also, FYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERS!!!

 

[schrodinger]

Snip

About Laurel:

Spoiler

NO,[HEADING=2]NO[/HEADING]
That pointless shell of a character, who has shown next to zero fighting skills, will not become the black canary. At least her sister trained with the League of assassins and probably has little chance in dying at the end of the season.
More than likely Laurel will die because they begun to phase her out bit by bit, and there's little use to her character beyond pointless romance subplot C

I like the show well enough to keep watching because they're now introducing more of the super powered element of the show and the writing is improving.

 

[Ieyke]

Snip

In regards to those spoilers.

Spoiler

So the woman who has shown to have fuck all fighting ability is Black Canary but her sister who got trained by the league of assassins dies as the Canary?

Tommy Merlyn was rather dead the last time I saw him, you know with that big rebar sticking through him? He also had fuck all fighting ability.

So eye patch guy is deathstroke and the guy who had half his face melted off dead hulk? They seem a little interchangeable.

Helena is the Russian woman who hasn't been in like a season and a half?

Spoiler

Laurel actually has been shown to have some fairly decent fighting skills early on in the first season.


Tommy being dead....you know dead doesn't mean anything in comics, right? The rule is "No one stays dead except Uncle Ben and Bucky." ...and then Bucky came back to life.


Eye patch guy is Deathstroke, the guy from the island who got half his body burned by the bombing, "died" when they tried to save him by injecting him with Mirakuru, and then came back to life because the stuff healed him and gave him super powers.


Solomon Grundy is the guy who was amped up on Mirakuru, died, and then got a load of acid or something to the face and a chunk of ceiling dropped on him.
So yea, Deathstroke and Grundy have similar sources of power because Grundy's Mirakuru came from Deathstroke's blood.


Helena is the crazy vigilante girlfriend Oliver taught to use a crossbow.

 

[gamernerdtg2]

It's supposed to be the League of Shadows, but they're calling it the League of Assassins for arrow.

As someone who isn't familiar with the Green Arrow, I'm hooked. It's a good show. One of the writers said "Alchemy vs. Fidelity" is a major issue. If you stay true to the source, you loose a new audience. If you don't use any of the source material, the original fans won't give you the time of day. I enjoy the way that they balance this issue.

I like the casting because it's diverse (which is something that you don't see on TV). I have to say that Laurel is the only character who I'm "on the fence" about. Moira Queen is one of the most fascinating characters on the show. She can't be easily defined. I like how all the relational stuff affects Oliver Queen. They've killed someone from season 1. Slade's character is becoming more central to the overarching story, so we'll start seeing some interesting dynamics between Oliver, Diggle and Felicity. I personally would like to see them go through something that makes them a stronger team than they already seem to be.

They (the writers) create great motivations for the violence in the show. It'd be one thing to just have great choreography, but I agree with Bruce Lee when he spoke about fight scenes. Arrow delivers. You're never wondering why they're fighting.
They've brought in Canary, Flash, and other characters. It's going to be wild to see how they tie everything together. I would LOVE to see the Huntress again. Sorry for all the random thoughts, but I'm loving this show.

Game of Thrones is way too dark. I hear the complaint about porn and all, but that's the universe it's been set in - barbarians, incest lovers, power hungry people, etc. It's a world we've all seen before, but fans seem to be drawn into it because it's dark and you can't predict what's going to happen unless you read the books. I tried it, but when I read ahead I got turned off. I need more hope in my stories. It's kind of like Depressing Abbey...Downer Abbey. I know people (especially on this site) are against archetypes, but Game of Throne type stories are too heavy handed for me. Not enough balance.

 

[gamernerdtg2]

I gave up a few episodes into season 2. I really tried to like it but all I could think was that it so badly wanted to be Batman. Starling City is simply Gotham light and instead of using bad guys from Green Arrows rogues gallary (granted I know nothing about his rougues gallary) they are simply using either Batmans (Deadshot, The League of Assassins) or the Teen Titans (Deathstroke, Brother Blood).

Plus the island reveal stuff is taking far to long.

You really have to go back to season one and start from there. Yes, the first few episodes of season one smell like Batman. Not gonna lie about that. But it diverges. Felicity, Diggle, Moira Queen, The Dark Archer...dude you really owe it to yourself to check it out from season one episode one. You won't mind the Batman associations when you see the way they develop the story.

 

[gamernerdtg2]

Spoiler: your observations

I almost gave up part way through season 1. So glad I stuck with it. They ended season one in such a great way and I'm really happy that the writers didn't take the easy way out of having Ollie stop Merlin only to have Tommy to take up the mantle in season 2. Having the Hood fail and Tommy die was shocking and it's helped morph the Hood into Arrow -a much more likeable and deeper character.

Season 2 is basically improving on season 1 in every way. One of the few shows where they actually listen to criticism and fix stuff or get rid of stuff that isn't working. Remember how almost every episode used to have that shitty voice over? Apart from the intros, that's gone. They also have the island flashbacks interwoven with the modern story now instead of them just being jarring transitions back and forth that aren't really related. It's not perfect but it's probably undergone the most dramatic improvements I've ever seen in a show. I think a lot of people dismiss it because it's on CW. The only thing I dislike about the show is Laurel.

I totally agree with you about Tommy 100%. Technically, Ollie didn't stop anything, especially if you've seen "The State vs. Queen". If you think about it, there will be a whole bunch that the writers will have to resolve as season two moves forward. I can spoiler tag my thoughts on that if you're interested.

I hope that we actually get to see the Flash on Arrow. He's gonna get his own show as a spin off, but I hope we see him on Arrow.

I have to disagree about the island sequences - they are always related to something going on in the present day. Plus, the back story provides us with the characters motivations for the present. Slade...I'm not sure if you're up to date, but Slade is gonna be a major player. Mind you, I don't know the comic lore, so I have no idea what's coming. I just take everything as they write it each week and it's really engaging.

I'm almost ready to agree with you about Laurel though...like I said in an earlier post, I'm not sure how I feel about her character. For the first few episodes she was important, and with Canary coming through, Laurel was very important. But she's sort of "there" now, and I don't know what they're gonna do with her. She's smart, and she can fight, that's about all I know.

 

[GiantRaven]

Season 2, the last couple of episodes especially, has been awesome as fuck. the first season was pretty cool but they're knocking it out of the park now.

Can't wait until the show starts back up again.

 

[Gizmo1990]

I gave up a few episodes into season 2. I really tried to like it but all I could think was that it so badly wanted to be Batman. Starling City is simply Gotham light and instead of using bad guys from Green Arrows rogues gallary (granted I know nothing about his rougues gallary) they are simply using either Batmans (Deadshot, The League of Assassins) or the Teen Titans (Deathstroke, Brother Blood).

Plus the island reveal stuff is taking far to long.

You really have to go back to season one and start from there. Yes, the first few episodes of season one smell like Batman. Not gonna lie about that. But it diverges. Felicity, Diggle, Moira Queen, The Dark Archer...dude you really owe it to yourself to check it out from season one episode one. You won't mind the Batman associations when you see the way they develop the story.

Sorry my post is not very clear. I saw all of season 1 and then gave up a few episodes into season 2 because the Batman associations bothered me. I get why people like it and I really did like Diggle and Felicity just not enough to continue.

 

[hazabaza1]

Better. Still not great but it's better. The acting's improved considerably and the action is somewhat fun even if this whole "I'm gonna smack dudes with a bow" thing is still very silly.

Still I can't say I would recommend it to most people unless you're really desperate for some schlok. There's better TV and there's better schlok.
Also Felicity is still awful.

EDIT: Also it's an official product but fucking nobody knows how to say Ra's Al Ghul. Dumbest shit.