Straighter ARROW This Season

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.

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.

Arrow not quite a bullseye

Grade: 85%

My first impression of the CW’s new superhero saga, ARROW, are mixed. On one hand, it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Justin Hartley playing the hooded vigilante, especially because his long run on Smallville only recently ended. For another, the “Pilot” is far from perfect, with a number of plot holes and things that should be handled differently. But overall, it’s an exciting hour with an enticing backstory, and the bugs can mostly be worked out over time.

Many are already familiar with the history of the DC comic book character. Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell, Hung, Private Practice) is shipwrecked on an island alone for several years. Finally rescued, he returns home in peak physical condition, a handiness with a bow and arrow, and driven by a determination to clean up the city that has become a mess, thanks in part to Oliver’s father (Jamey Sheridan, Homeland). Donning a hood, Oliver goes by the moniker Green Arrow, acting as a modern day Robin Hood.

Missing Hartley aside, Amell makes a great Green Arrow, and plays him in a different way, avoiding too many comparisons. Whereas the Smallville version of the character could be a bit goofy, ARROW takes a more serious tone. There is greater anger and pain in Amell’s eyes, and it’s easy to believe that he can accomplish the physical feats he engages in.

But there are some things that don’t add up. Why doesn’t Oliver return from the island malnourished? Why doesn’t anyone recognize his famous face with just a hood and some green eye makeup? There isn’t even the voice changer that Smallville employed. Why is Oliver the first to tell the police about the Green Arrow, when the timing is already suspicious enough to make the cops suspect that Oliver is the one behind this new “hero” on the scene? He just doesn’t go about things very smartly.

There is also a disconnect as to who the previous Oliver was. He had a good enough heart to befriend the help (Kathleen Gati, Alphas), inspire loyalty and affection from friends and family, and win the heart of the beautiful, intelligent, compassionate Dinah Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy, Gossip Girl, Melrose Place), who would not have been swayed by his money. Yet, he is also said to be a womanizer and a drunkard, cheating on Dinah with her sister, Sarah (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, The Bold and the Beautiful). It doesn’t quite make sense.

The “Pilot” sets up the story pretty well. Oliver builds a lair in one of his father’s abandoned factories and begins his mission by making Adam Hunt (Brian Markinson, The Killing, Caprica) pay, literally, for his misdeeds. After giving Adam the chance to do the right thing, and Adam declines, Oliver sweeps in for big action sequences that totally deliver to the superhero fans in the audience.

My complaint is, why does Oliver cross Adam off his list after robbing him of millions? This is just money, and while it helps the victims, it doesn’t truly lead to justice. Why not bring Adam back for an arc, as it appeared might be the case earlier in the episode, after taking the time to introduce several cohorts of Adam’s? Oliver is going to run out of names to cross off soon, and some will have the means to exact revenge, so these should not be one-shot stories, played out in a rote, procedural manner. Give them more to do!

Also, how come the rewarded victims get to keep the money? Surely the police can figure out what Oliver did, even if Laurel tells them to keep quiet about it. As right as it may be for them to receive the cash, Oliver gets it by illegal means, which should mean that it will be taken back, and may even hurt their court case.

That being said, every single one of the characters is enjoyable. Besides the ones listed so far, there’s: Detective Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne, The River, Lipstick Jungle), who, considering his daughters, has plenty of reason to dislike the young Mr. Queen; Oliver’s little sister, Thea (Willa Holland, The O.C.), who is repeating Oliver’s mistakes; body guard John Diggle (David Ramsey, Blue Bloods, Dexter), who is just screaming for sidekick status; Oliver’s best friend, Tommy (Colin Donnell, Pan Am), who is happy to be cavorting with his buddy again; Queen business partner Walter Steele (Colin Salmon, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret), who is now married to Oliver’s widowed mother, Moira (Susanna Thompson, King); and Moria herself, who has Oliver secretly kidnapped to try to figure out what his father told him. All of these set up plenty of plot to be explored.

And that’s why I like ARROW, in spite of its flaws. There are so many ways it can go, and even with uneven writing, the production looks fantastic, and gets the adrenaline pumping. Yes, some elements may need cleaned up a little, and better attention to detail should be paid. But there are already all of the ingredients here for something special, maybe even better than Smallville. I’m more than willing to give it a chance to improve.

ARROW premieres this Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on the CW.