Article first published as ARROW Review Season 2 Premiere on Seat42F.
After a heck of a cliffhanger, which left fans anxiously on edge all summer, the CW’s ARROW returns tonight with ”City of Heroes.” It’s been months since half of The Glades was leveled, and the city desperately needs new leadership, especially with a couple of its top CEOs dead or behind bars. Sadly, Oliver (Stephen Amell) and The Hood have been MIA, and no one knows where to find them.
After a heck of a cliffhanger, which left fans anxiously on edge all summer, the CW’s ARROW returns tonight with ”City of Heroes.” It’s been months since half of The Glades was leveled, and the city desperately needs new leadership, especially with a couple of its top CEOs dead or behind bars. Sadly, Oliver (Stephen Amell) and The Hood have been MIA, and no one knows where to find them.
As “City of Heroes” begins, one may be
forgiven for thinking it’s a flashback, which are so typical in ARROW,
and do occur in this hour. However, Oliver’s first scenes on the island
are not in the past, but in the present. It makes sense for Oliver to
retreat back to the place he was marooned, as that is where he last had
purpose and motivation, away from the life he didn’t quite adapt back
into. Losing Tommy and failing to stop the bomb, Oliver has a lot of
guilt, and doesn’t have it in him to continue at this moment.
Every hero needs a support team if they
are to get through these trying times, which inevitably occur. Oliver
has Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) and Diggle (David Ramsey), probably
the only two people capable and willing to track him down and try to
convince him to get back on the job. Their mission is not easy.
“City of Heroes” is a personal crisis
point for Oliver. It takes a lot to convince him to come home, and his
reasons for doing so have nothing to do with The Hood. The mission of
The Hood, crossing names off his father’s list and stopping corruption,
has failed. The Undertaking has come and gone. This chapter is over, and
considering Oliver put everything of himself into it, he’s lost without
it. Now, he wants to build a new Oliver Queen that doesn’t skulk about
at night.
But that doesn’t mean The Hood isn’t
still needed. Four hooded vigilantes have risen to take his place, and
their methods and missions are not the same as the ones Oliver
undertook, in a bad way. Not to mention, his family’s company is in
danger of being taken over and destroyed by Isabel Rochev (Summer Glau,
Serenity), his friends need his support, his mother, Moria (Susanna
Thompson), is facing trial for her role in The Undertaking, and things
in general just suck in the hometown.
If season one of ARROW was a personal
revenge story, season two moves the titular character into the superhero
realm, beginning to build him into a more recognizable crusader. I
liked the first arcs, but they were limited in scope, and certainly not
always in keeping with what most people are looking for in a protector.
Now, the series is allowing Oliver to grow. He can’t be The Hood any
longer, but he can become something else. ARROW was always an origin
story; now we’re moving past origin and into the meat of the tale.
Honestly, it is pretty brave to extend
the origin over the course of an entire year, and it’s not over yet.
“City of Heroes” is still getting through Oliver’s original tenure on
the island, and while I look forward to moving past that time, as
honestly those sequences drag the episodes down, it’s also exciting
that, unlike Smallville, ARROW won’t only be building its lead up to the
precipice of greatness. After ten years, Smallville felt plodding, not
getting to the parts of Superman’s legend that we really wanted to see,
Superman himself. ARROW seems poised to make it to the Green Arrow
sooner, perhaps even in the next few weeks, rather than later.
One element that ARROW does really well
is build family dynamics. Olivier’s relationship with Moira is different
than his sister, Thea’s (Willa Holland), relationship with her. And the
bond between Oliver and Thea, while strong, isn’t always top priority
for either of them. There’s also Walter Steele (Colin Salmon) to keep in
mind, who, while getting divorced from Moira, still cares about her
kids. He plays a surprising and satisfying part in this premiere.
The supporting characters are defined
enough that the entire hour doesn’t have to fall on Oliver’s shoulders,
even if he is the most important character. Thea has moved on
professionally and personally, both involving Roy Harper (Colton
Haynes), in Oliver’s absence. Laurel (Katie Cassidy) is handling herself
just fine, and we see how fine pretty early on. Quentin Lance (Paul
Blackthorne) has the biggest challenges to work past, facing
consequences for his past actions. These threads continue with or
without Oliver.
In short, ARROW is a complex series that
features characters who develop and change based on circumstance, and
stories that move with them, not always a given on television. It’s
well-written, nicely acted, and highly entertaining. “City of Heroes”
has a lot to offer, and will certainly please those who wondered how
ARROW could move past the big climax last year. I think season two
should be just as good as the first, while in some ways being completely
different.
ARROW premieres tonight at 8 p.m. ET on the CW.
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