Arrow: S01E08 - Vendetta.

Last week Arrow was another load of nothing that I wanted from a Green Arrow TV show. Will the trend continue? Let's find out!


This week Helena starts a gang war while she and Ollie start dating, then break up but not before he can turn her into The Huntress properly. I can't help but wonder if Ollie simply asked Helena out simply to manipulate, brainwash and control her just like any good extremist. Also meanwhile Walter is still trying to put the pieces together with Ollie's Mum.

The worst thing about Arrow, is that if this wasn't a Green Arrow TV show, I'd probably love it. The central cast are all excellent both in their performances and how believable they are with each other. They all have genuine, palpable chemistry that can make the most static scenes, really intense and the writers really know how to make the characters pop and bounce off of one another with real energy. I'm also really glad the show is going forward with the Tommy/Laurel pairing, I know that Ollie/Laurel is the heart of the drama portion but they ironically have the least amount of chemistry out of the whole cast. As a romance drama, this show is just fantastic and it really is very enjoyable but then every moment I'm enjoying it, I remember that this isn't just another one of those American Dramas, this is supposed to be a Green Arrow TV show, where the hell is the fighting and the costumes and the super villains? And that is what is wrong with the show.

Honestly what little action Arrow has isn't even that bad, it just always feels cheap, it's always weirdly staged and awkwardly shot. I understand that no human being can be as good an archer as Green Arrow is in the comics, but awkward editing and cheap CGI is doing nothing to convince me of Ollie's ability. If they stopped trying and failing to be stylish all the time it'd be a lot more enjoyable.

Then again, given how corny so much of this episode is, maybe it's for the best. It's sad really, because once Huntress gets her costume and signature weapon, it's when everything starts to fall apart. I mean it looks and feels like a panel to panel adaptation from a comic but in an otherwise Nolanesque setting, it just does not work. I mean I know I wanted it to be truer to the comics but I didn't want it to be done this poorly.

Pacing is an issue too, I actually really like the idea of Ollie and Helena falling in love, but she can't change so they end up as enemies but it's been two episodes, couldn't they have dedicated more time to this to let it naturally develop? It lost a lot of the impact it could have had by moving so fast. However, I can't help but wonder if this rushed Huntress Arc was deliberate. I've looked around and I'm apparently not the only one that thought this felt a little too much like a pilot episode for a Huntress spinoff series and with the closing shot of her riding off somewhere, is she riding off into her own TV show?

That isn't the only thing that lacks weight. When Superman lectures you about not taking the easy road (ie letting justice take its course and not taking it into your own hands), it carries punch. Superman can break a tank by looking at it funny, so the fact he fights criminals every day without reducing them to pulp is a miracle in itself. If Green Arrow really was the no kill, Supermanesque comicbook superhero, The Huntress and her dark, anti-hero persona could provide stark balance, as Arrow attempts to set her on the 'right path'. Instead, Ollie murders a room full of people with barbed arrows, then turns to look at her and tells her that killing people with dual wielding pistols is wrong with The Huntress, rightly so pointing out the hypocrisy, making it all fall flat. And despite the show bothering to voice the hypocrisy through a character, it then swiftly snuffs it under the carpet and allows Ollie to continue to preach...it's just stupid.

Once again Arrow manages to be excellent in everything I would never want from a Green Arrow show. As a comicbook adaptation it fails again but as a soap opera it's once again a perfectly solid entry.

Pros;

• I actually really like The Huntress, if she does get a spin off series, I think it'll be much better than this show is.
• Incredible romance and drama. 
• Great acting. 
• Solid writing. 
• Brilliant chemistry between the cast.
• Good action.

Cons;

• The Huntress arc was rushed as all hell. 
• Ollie and Laurel are our central couple of have the least amount of chemistry. 
• They finally made it feel like a comic...and fucked it up.
• The action is captured awfully. 
• Ollie is a hypocritical douchebag.

Think About It!

-Locke