Superheroes Unite... on TV - Arrow

Ensign Lestat's TV Log, 24/05/15

Arrow

They really need to update their poster.
Finally, a bonafide superhero. Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) is stranded on a 'hell-ish' island for five years, and returns to save his city. Not sure why they decided to use the word 'hell-ish', it certainly detracts from the credibility of the statement.

'Arrow' was the first in the new wave of superhero television (or at least that's how I recall it), and its initial success has spawned spin-offs and inspired Marvel to enter the small screen (no proof of the latter, I just assumed it).

For the longest time, 'Arrow' was more a soap opera with action thrown in, than a superhero drama. The mechanisations of Oliver and his many loves, and the messed up lives of all he knew in Starling City sometimes trumped the actual action.

I'm not sure what helped it ride out the tide of its first season, but I think a lot of that had to do with that shocking season finale, when the deed was done, and hundreds were killed.

But as Amell got more comfortable in his role and spread his emotive wings, the show concentrated more on developing his arc, while still expanding the universe. We know Ollie and what makes him tick. He has a present storyline, and a similar past storyline when stranded on the island.

But with the sole character of colour, Diggle (David Ramsey) being shunted to the side - his importance trumped up by what Ollie said of him, rather than what work was given to him, the show seemed to fall away from its original potential promises.

Season 3, with its twists and turns and many shocking overhauls, has been problematic throughout. The season began with the death of Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), at that time, the sole female hero on the show. It also cemented the Olicity romance between Oliver and the sole female member of Team Arrow, Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards). It successfully reduced Felicity to love interest, who occasionally speaks tech, instead of the other way around.

The issues with the 'Arrow' female characters continued with several fridged women - his mum and 2 of his girlfriends. Add to that Lyla's (Audrey Marie Anderson) decision to quit ARGUS, and we have the same routine where her husband (Dig) remains heroing, while she quits and stays home with the kid (nothing against that, but a shake-up of the norm is required. One of the most enlightening elements of 'Torchwood' was that it's central female protagonist never gets waylaid by life when it comes to her work. Boyfriend, affair, marriage and child all happen around her work. She lives a full life, but when the world needs saving, she takes matters into her own hands. And I think a character with as much potential as Lyla deserves similar treatment.)

It's not all doom and gloom for 'Arrow', though that's how I make it sound. I continued watching the show despite it's initial drag because it gave me my superhero fix. (Also, Stephen Amell looks a lot like someone else I like, but that's beside the point.) But where 'Arrow' has given its viewers a lot, it's also reneged on a lot of its promises.

'Arrow' was the first comic book adaptation for Marvel and DC to include an LGBT character. By making Sara bi-sexual, we got a sense of some much needed diversity in the superhero universe, except that was never explored. There's a brief but beautiful moment between Sara and her father, Captain Lance (Paul Blackthorne) when her relationship with Nyssa (Katrina Law) is revealed, and she asks him if he's mad. He answers that given everything she's been through, all that matters to him is that there was someone to love her during that time. It's precious and inclusive.

The Lances have been the main source of melodrama during the three seasons. Quentin Lance's past and present plague him, but his actions affect his daughter Laurel (Katie Cassidy) the most.

Where Laurel was just the love interest who'd moved on to another man in season 1, the broken up addict in season 2, she has grown and flourished in season 3. Perhaps the only character given any justice in season 3 is Laurel.

Laurel and her troubles were, for the longest time, one of the weakest links in the series - though Thea Queen (Willa Holland) remains the weakest character on the show. But, with the death of Sara, she was allowed to grow, learn and become a hero.

Laurel's had a really weird arc in the series - and strikingly, I find that the decisions made for Laurel were quite novel. Making her an alcoholic in season 2 rounded off her character in a way most series do not. I also like that the alcoholism (and some substance abuse) is her only bad decision in that season. They did not let her go down a path of debauchery and get her mixed up with low-lifes. She was kidnapped several times that season, and struggled through it all with increasing and decreasing addiction. I also like that the finale of season 3 touches on the idea that she and her father continue the struggle against their shared addictions on a daily basis. The father-daughter dynamic of the Lances has been a revelation, as Captain Lance has to keep learning to let go of his daughters, and he does so out of love and respect for their abilities. Their scenes are often the most touching and drive home the dramatic elements of the show.

In this season, Laurel's insistence on picking up where her sister left off has been a striking arc. I love that she goes through several failed attempts to be a hero - once ending up in hospital. She gets a trainer who believes in her, which just helps her to believe in herself more. She doesn't back down when Ollie (wrongfully) lectures her on her inability to be a hero. By the end, she's the one (more often than not) holding Team Arrow together and leading them. The addition of the iconic Canary Cry to her armoury is at once bizarre and gorgeous.

Laurel has now become one of my favourite characters on the show, and it's because she's been able to shed the tag of Captain Lance's daughter/Sara's sister/so-and-so's DA/Tommy's girlfriend/Ollie's ex-girlfriend. She's Laurel Lance, the Black Canary. I do miss the fact that her job was often front and center in her life and in the show, but this is much more awesome.

So, let's see how thoroughly season 4 can ruin this character.

This season of 'Arrow' often felt overburdened by its growing cast. The more importance the supporting cast were given, the less main characters grew. Add to that a second storyline to explore, and the main cast might as well have stayed home for the most part.

As I've said before, I'm all for ignoring romance in most mainstream media, because it always feels forced and an extra cog in the wheel. Where plaintive looks and glances between two characters with chemistry adds a dynamic to the story, an actual romance usually detracts from the same, because the characters by this point have no chemistry with each other, or the ones in the romance never had any chemistry to begin with. The biggest problem with Olicity is that Ollie and Felicity have no chemistry. I don't see it. Especially not in this season, when it's what we should be pining for. Ollie has more chemistry with Dig and Roy then he does with Felicity, and that's a travesty in itself. In that sense, Dig and Lyla have a comfortable chemistry which makes it believable that not only were they together before, but that they're right to give it a shot again.

On the other hand, the two people with the most electrifying chemistry this season don't even get a chance at romance. From the moment Nyssa re-entered the scene this season, she and Laurel have been electrifying in their scenes together. While I'm never fond of people easily navigating towards the siblings of their dead partners, this one seemed like a sureshot with the two of them bonding over Sara's death, then taking turns leaning on each other when they needed help. Nyssa spends a lot of time in Starling, and her decision to train Laurel (most likely not a decision but giving in to Laurel's persistence) means that she respects Laurel a lot. They have a couple of lovely moments together, and the fact that Laurel tries to stop at nothing to keep Nyssa away from the League of Assassins suggested there was more to their relationship. I'm all for a strong female friendship, and that is what we got, but this one seemed headed for more.

Nyssa's treatment in this season has been the most upsetting. She looks to be the sole female member of the League, which makes no sense, considering Sara was also part of the League [and how cool would it have been had Tatsu Yamashiro (Rila Fukushima) been the one to join the League because of her grief instead of Maseo (Karl Yune)]. Add to that Nyssa's final episodes all revolve around her being married off to brainwashed Ollie on the insistence of Ra's al Ghul (Matt Nable) and 'Arrow' proved once again that it may be set in the present, but its thought processes belong in the 1800s. Irrespective of how old and conservative Ra's is, he's had time to learn that YOU DON'T JUST DO THAT! And you'd expect the writers, who are writing in the TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY to not go down such a trope-filled and disturbing path. It really annoyed me. She still gets a badass fight scene, but in the end, when I was hoping the new Team Arrow would have three female members, we see Nyssa's back in Nanda Parbat, but instead of leading the League, she's kneeling before the new Ra's (because the old one got defeated pretty damn easily). This character deserves so much more.

I touched on the fact that Dig has been steadily shunted out of the picture. The episodes that were dedicated to him were, unsurprisingly, the most memorable ones. His team-ups with the Suicide Squad were refreshing, because he and Lyla were the only trustworthy ones on the team. But we got little else by way of characterisation. There were far too many hints of him leaving the team, especially with the birth of his daughter. The see-sawing of his character makes me wonder if Diggle should just leave in season 4. He deserves better. Yeah, 'Arrow' makes me say that a lot.

The other character who got short-changed, and eventually short-circuited, was Roy Harper (Colton Haynes). It didn't make much sense why Roy got a suit and a mask, while Dig, who'd been there from the beginning, ran around in plain-clothes (it's hinted that he doesn't want to suit up). However, throughout Roy's time as Arsenal he succeeds in being a hero only once - when he plans his own demise.

Roy is useless in a fight, he's usually knocked out in the first few minutes, or needs Ollie to save him. He adds nothing to team strategy meetings (his job appears to be: stand around, look confused/concerned), and gets no information on his recon missions.

The decision to add Roy to the main cast had made me very happy, because Colton is gorgeous, and that is literally his only positive trait. With nothing else added to his character, Roy crashed and burned part way through the season. Which, breaks my heart. It really does.

Roy being the architect of his own demise still seems far-fetched to me - he couldn't possibly think up that entire plan on his own, could he? They say he did. We'll go with that. Him passing on the Arsenal mantle might just make Arsenal more relevant again. But, man, am I going to miss Roy Harper and his utter uselessness.

[Side note: Ollie has a go at Laurel whenever they're on a mission together, picking on her inability to win a fight, but he never says the same to Roy, who was not only trained by him, but has been at this slightly longer than Laurel has. This was poor writing by the 'Arrow' people.]

The bright spark of this season was Brandon Routh's Ray Palmer. Yes, he's stunning and the directors often feel the need to have him shirtless, but that wasn't what made Palmer special. His humour and penchant for faux pas (a la Felicity) made him endearing. He has a dark-ish back story (with yet another fridged woman), but his heroism is (was) a learning arc. He was the perfect foil for the Arrow, and it's a shame they reduced that potential dynamic to rivals for Felicity's affections.What a lost opportunity.

[UPDATE: Thanks to io9, I now have another bone to pick with the 'Arrow' creators. I have always wondered why the head of ARGUS, supposedly a scary organisation, never left any impact on me. I couldn't make head nor tail of what Amanda Waller (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) was all about, I just took it for granted, she's the head, so listen to her. However, turns out the creators converted an iconic character into a mundane one. This article enumerates the issue. Come on, people, we need this kind of diversity in mainstream media. One character who is not the norm would not harm anyone, especially if she's already canon!)

Season 3 has been inconsistent in its tone. Where the first season (and most of the second) was brilliant due to its raw action scenes, showcasing the hard work the actors put in to make those scenes come alive, this season had long shots and jumpy cuts to hide away the very obvious stunt doubles for Ra's, Roy, Thea and Malcolm Merlin (John Barrowman). It took away from the authenticity of the show, something both Amell and Caity prided themselves on during their initial stints.

Most of the League storyline was gripping, because Ra's was tearing Ollie apart, but the past storyline in Hong Kong was a mess. The moment the past moved to Hong Kong, I knew it would be a disaster. Aside from introducing the short-lived brilliance of Maseo and Tatsu, the Hong Kong storyline's sole purpose was completely missed and dragged on too long. In fact, I don't know why it was even featured in the finale.

The season only ever came alive when it embraced the humorous side (mostly through Ray). With Felicity pining over Oliver most of the time, her usual quirks lay by the way side. The episodes that are meant to be funny, aren't. Introducing Felicity's mom may have been an attempt at lightness, but it never worked. I don't actually want to see her mom return again.

Season 3 ends on a high note for Ollie - but Team Arrow has been shattered and altered to a point where 'Arrow' itself is non-existent. This could just give the show the impetus to subvert comic book norms and explore the supporting characters as heroes and people outside the Oliver Queen sphere.

The success of 'Arrow' has led to a couple of spin-offs, but the show itself needs to up the ante. It needs to make the bold strides that comic book adaptations are born for. It's entertaining, but to keep us hooked, it needs to do justice to its characters and its stories.

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