Teen
Wolf is on hiatus so I needed to get my cheesy
supernatural fix from somewhere – I figured why not give the CW’s Arrow a second chance. I watched the
first couple of episodes of Season 1 as they aired but it didn’t hook me to I
gave it up (there’s only so many shows I can watch at once). I’m kind of bummed
I didn’t stick it out because it turns out that once it found it’s groove Arrow is actually pretty awesome. Why is
it is awesome? Well here’s ten reasons just to get you started.
10.
Fantastic Female Characters
This is kind of my thing but there’s a
reason for that. So many truly fantastic shows rely on cookie-cutter-clichés
for their female characters and it’s so disappointing the their male
counterparts are so phenomenal. Not so in Arrow.
I actually like most of the female characters as much – if not more than the
male ones. There’s something for every style and they just keep bringing in new
ones. It’s great.
9.
The Fan Favourite Ship COULD Become Canon
So it’s not slash, and chances are they
will probably stick with the original endgame but it’s nice to ship something
that actually has a chance. Especially something that was never intended but
just grew out of chemistry and fan support. I’m not going to tell you what this
ship is, because it’s nice to let it grow on you but it’s pretty easy to guess.
8.
Surprising Social Commentary
Okay so it’s not The West Wing or whatever show the intellectuals are frothing over
at the moment. But it has some interesting things to say about the class war
and the distribution of wealth. Also all the hero’s a wonderfully morally
ambiguous in a way that makes you question what it makes to be a hero in the
first place.
7.
The Cast
TV shows are so much more than just the
show now, it’s all about the social interaction. A good, social media savvy
cast can enhance the viewing experience immensely and this cast is either very
savvy or the PR team behind them is doing an fantastic job of making them look
good. Whatever, the entire cast and the official Writer’s Room Twitter are
definitely worth a follow on Twitter if you’re into the SM thing.
6.
Refreshing Sincerity
Look I love a bit of self-reflexivity as
much as the next millennial but it’s reached a point of over saturation. What I
love about Arrow is that it is what
is. It’s a superhero show, and it doesn’t pretend to be anything else. Heroes
and villains are serious business on this show. That’s not to say that it’s not
funny or that it takes itself too seriously. There’s just a refreshing
sincerity about this show that is kind of lovely.
5.
Shirtless Workout Montages
Sometimes I am very shallow. I’ve accepted
it. And I don’t care what you say if watching Oliver do those pull up jump
thingies is wrong then I don’t want to be right. There is usually some kind of
shirtless workout montage is every episode because this show knows that while
audiences like exciting stories and interesting characters they also really
like it when pretty people get sweaty.
4.
Team Arrow: It Takes a Village to Save a City
My fave thing about the current superhero
trend is that they are moving away from the lone hero and realizing that a hero
is only as good as his team. I’m all about the “found-family” and Arrow has a pretty amazing one. In Team
Arrow is a family and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside when
they all have to utilize their unique skills to take down the latest bad guy. Plus
they refused to let Oliver go all Batman-broody.
3.
It’s Finally Found its Feet
Like a lot of genre shows, Arrow flounders a little in the first
season because it’s not really sure what kind of show it is. But luckily as of
Season 2 it’s finally found it’s feet and I love it. The first season isn’t bad
or anything, it’s just not as good as the second season. So push through the
first few episodes because it does get better when it figures out what kind of
story it wants to tell.
2.
Geek Casting
Genre shows do this a lot – they borrow
cred from other popular genre shows by casting fan favorite actors but Arrow has this down to a fine art. If
you’re a fan of genre shows there is probably someone you know and love on this
show. Katie Cassidy (Supernatural),
Willa Holland (The OC), Manu Bennet (Spartacus), Colton Haynes (Teen Wolf), John Barrowman (Torchwood), Alex Kingston (Doctor Who) and Summer Glau (Firefly). Seriously it’s like a who’s
who of the convention circuit.
1.
Felicity Smoak
Without a doubt the breakout character of
the show is the cute IT girl Felicity Smoak. Played by relative newcomer Emily
Bett Richards, Felicity was only supposed to stick around for a couple of
episodes but everyone liked her so much that she’s now an integral part of the
show. It’s so nice when the fan favorite character is a girl and she is definitely
worthy of being everyone’s favorite. She turns up in Ep. 2 and she’s the reason
I wish I’d stuck around for one more ep for giving up when I first started
watching. I just love her okay.
Well there you have it? Are you convinced?
I hope so because I am vastly becoming a little obsessed with this show so you
will probably be seeing more about it in future. I’m a total Arrow convert.
