It’s still wild to believe that we have a real, legitimate, live action Batman TV show on the air. Granted, it stars Green Arrow, but beggars can’t be choosers. I kid, I kid. Arrow is a pretty awesome show. The previous superhero show on the CW, Smallville, was more about Superman as a teen heartthrob than Superman as Superman. So it’s simply fantastic that we have a show about a dark, gritty superhero vigilante who fights crime, deals with entertaining drama and doesn’t shy away from costumes, sidekicks and evil super-villain plots to destroy the city with an earthquake machine.

You could put an eye out with that…oh

I’m not sure how to review TV shows. I reviewed the first episode of Arrow, but I have neither the time nor energy to review each and every episode. That sounds exhausting. But I’d still like to talk to you guys and gals about Arrow. So I decided that the best thing to do would be to review the entire first season as a List of Six. And here we are: 6 thoughts on the first season of Arrow.

6. I really like the show

As well I should

Arrow is a good show. It’s not great, but it’s good. If I were going to give the season a grade, like in my usual reviews, I’d give it a solid 4/5 for the whole season. The episodes are always generally entertaining, the action is very well done and the characters are, mostly a treat. I definitely enjoy Stephen Amell in the lead role of Oliver Queen, I think he’s doing a fine job, and has only gotten better as the season progressed. I love the idea of splicing the show with flashbacks to the island. I think that has a lot of potential. But like I said, it’s not a perfect show. There haven’t been any really standout episodes or characters or even just moments.

When I think back on some of my favorite TV shows, I can remember specific scenes or episodes that really hit me emotionally, and I love going back and rewatching those moments and feeling that again. But that hasn’t happened yet with Arrow. The season has pretty much just blended together into one long event. I’ve never felt overly invested in Arrow. It’s just a solidly entertaining show about Green Arrow, so I’m going to watch. If it was about some original, created-for-the-show superhero, I probably wouldn’t be all that interested.

5. The finale was amazing

Because John Barrowman rules

My favorite episode of the season has to be the finale, ‘Sacrifice’. I think the show did a fine job setting up Malcolm Merlyn as the villain with his big, villainous ‘Undertaking’. I kind of like that the show wasn’t afraid to do something kind of corny like an ‘earthquake machine’. By all means, bring out the earthquake machine. It raised the stakes for Arrow in exactly the way a season finale should. Not to mention everyone was just on their A-game.

Amell was fantastic as Ollie, juggling his various friends and family members on his way to making the ultimate sacrifice to save the city. I loved how he gave everyone just a bit of lip service, then politely brushed them off because he had superhero stuff to do. And the ending was just great. The heroic, climactic battle against his arch enemy. The desperate attempts to save the city by the various supporting characters. The devastating failure. The death of Tommy. Great stuff. Hopefully the quality stays this good in season 2.

4. I like what they’re doing with Roy Harper…for now

Get it? He’s wearing red

My favorite character in Arrow is probably, kind of, Roy Harper. As readers of my blow know, I’m a big fan of sidekicks, and I absolutely love that the producers brought in Roy Harper so early in the series. In the comics, Roy Harper is Green Arrow’s sidekick, pretty much the Robin to his Batman. And, of course, Roy Harper was at the top of my list of characters I wanted to see on Arrow. So I’m glad he’s there, and I’m glad the show is taking the time to really build up his eventual partnership with Ollie. I liked the scene where they first met and shook hands. It was just fun. And I liked Roy’s heroic turn in the finale. Of course, Roy Harper has always been something of a disgrace and problem character in the comics. He’s also been a drug addict. So I’m a little worried that the producers are just setting him up to fail. Still, I think we’ll get some great episodes of Roy donning his own costume and become his own hero before it all probably comes crashing down.

As for other characters, I like Amell as Ollie, and I like Slade Wilson and probably Felicity Smoak…but then I think everybody likes two. I didn’t like Felicity in the beginning. She was kind of annoying and a little too much of a cliche sort of character. But once she joined Ollie’s crusade, she definitely came into her own. And I loved all the scenes towards the end where none of the other characters knew who she was. That was legitimately funny.

3. They need more island stuff

Everybody’s a damn archer in this show

There were times throughout the show where the adventures in Ollie’s past on the island were just more exciting than the present day superheroics. Especially that one episode that was almost entirely island scenes. Ollie has an entire 5 years to spend on that island, so I’m sure there are plenty of stories to tell. I just hope they’re really exciting. A lot of the island stuff we’ve seen so far was fun. But then it ended up just being Ollie and his buddies stopping a bad guy from blowing up a plane. Really? That sounds like generic action movie stuff. I want to see some real personal growth and some really unique, creative ideas on that island. Ollie can play soldier anywhere. I want to see some real soul-searching stuff. But there’s plenty of time to really delve into a rich island storyline in a way that supports and emphasizes the present-day superhero storyline.

Just look at what Lost accomplished when it mixed islands and flashbacks.

2. I hate the central romance

Your storylines and character development are bad and you should feel bad

I hate the romance between Ollie and Laurel. It’s the worst part of Arrow, and yet the show keeps insisting on it. I realize there is some comic-based foundation, but it just doesn’t work in the show. The two actors have zero chemistry and absolutely no reason to hook up. He cheated on her with her sister! Her sister, for crying out loud! And that got her sister killed! How do you not only forgive something like that, but then also fall back in love with the person and sleep with them? Not only that, but I really, really liked the relationship between Laurel and Tommy. When that sparked up at the start of the show, I thought it was a very cool twist, because it was obvious from the first few minutes that Ollie and Laurel were ‘destined to be together’, because that’s how bad TV works. So to actually create a legitimate relationship between Laurel and another guy felt new and interesting – but then they blew it. Tommy wussed out and Laurel fell back in love with the man who cheated on her with her sister. Worst part of the show, hands down.

1. The superhero action is great, the superhero aesthetics are terrible

Boxing glove arrow, please?

What’s the best part of the show? The superhero stuff, of course. Ollie really is an arrow-shooting, butt-kicking, rooftop-jumping vigilante badass, and it totally works! We already know that kind of thing works in the movies, but movies are only two hours long, and can be scripted so that the superhero stuff makes perfect sense. Arrow has to fill an hour a week for 22 weeks. I imagine it’s much more difficult to keep away from the silliness and the camp. But Arrow pulled it off. The villains were always strong, and there was real growth to Ollie’s heroism. He didn’t start out fighting crime, but over the course of the show, he learned to think beyond his stated goals and actually help people selflessly. That’s good superheroing.

The problem is everything else to do with his identity. The costume is mostly fine, if unremarkable, but the real problem is that stupid faux-mask. People in real masks don’t look as good as they do in the comics, I get that, but Stephen Amell just looks terrible with that thick eyeshadow over his face. Whoever thought it was a good idea should be dragged out into the street and shot.

Does he keep a makeup kit on his utility belt?

It doesn’t stop at the ridiculous makeup. His bow is unremarkable. It’s short and old and looks like it was made out of wood. I realize it has sentimental value, but bows these days are really cool, intricate machines. I want to see our hero sporting a bow that matches his badassery.

And he needs a name. For the entire first season, they called him ‘the Hood’ because he wears a hood. Like that’s the most interesting thing about him. Ask yourselves, did that work for The Cape? No, it most certainly did not. They don’t even call him ‘Arrow’. Why not? And why not even call him Green Arrow? Is that really such a bad name? Why not just use the age old cliche of having the newspaper name him? But ‘the Hood’ and ‘the Vigilante’ have got to go.

Fingers crossed for the second season.

Oh also, as an Honorable Mention, I’m loving the comic character adaptations and Easter Eggs. Keep’em up! Except for that Flash joke. That was a little too corny.

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So what did you guys and gals think of the first season of Arrow?