After last week's premieres, Arrow was off to the best start of all the CW superhero shows. It started off so strong that I was hoping they could back it up again this week.
This episode followed through big time. Starting from the new Team Arrow logos, this episode didn't have a low point. Everything flowed really well and really started to get into the themes of what I think this season is going to be and that is Oliver trying to move one from his like as the Green Arrow.
Something that really stood at to me as a massive positive was the writing of the dialog. There were so many quips and good one liners mixed in with meaningful sections that gave the overall dialog a really well balance between the grounded superhero show Arrow is and the fun side that superhero shows can be.
The return of Anatoly was great. I have really enjoyed him in past seasons and by the looks of it we might be getting a whole lot more of him this season. I think David Nykl does a really good job with the character when walking that line of being a friend while still being a foe.
We have gotten a fair few different types of relationships across these CW superhero shows but this is the first were we have had to see the building of a relationship between one of our heroes and their child. I'm really liking the direction they are taking this Oliver and William relationship because it appears that it will be a key force in this season going forward. I had some concerns with the actor who plays William but I think he did enough this episode that he will be able to hold his own for the most part.
On Arrow, Diggle is my favourite character so it is really great to see him getting an interesting plot line. I'm liking the back and forth he is having with Diana because it's not often that he isn't the voice of reason in a conversation. Going forward, now that he has accepted the hood of the Green Arrow, I'm really interested to see what comes of his problems and what his conversations with Diana looks like going forward.
Into something I was mixed about this episode was the new character of Samantha Watson. I really liked the actress Sydelle Noel in GLOW and I think she fits the detective role really well. I thought she was written really well this episode and her scene with Lance and Renee was one of my favourite of the episode. My concern however is with what they are going to do with the character. They brought her on quite strong with little evidence on Oliver and based off that she is sticking around despite the evidence being shown as fake. To me, her presence was warranted but I don't want her to be hanging around when she is the only one believing that Oliver is the Green Arrow.
What was my only real negative this episode was the resolution of the photo. While the anonymous photo to begin with isn't enough to lock Oliver up for good, it is understandable that the media would jump all over it. However, I don't think an anonymous source proving it is false was enough to dismiss the photo. While we don't know what their proof was, the way it played out was the there was no investigation into their proof like there was into the original photo.
Overall, which I had a few concerns, this is a near perfect follow up to last week's premiere. I'm really excited to see where this season is going to go based off the opening two episodes of the season.
10/10
This episode followed through big time. Starting from the new Team Arrow logos, this episode didn't have a low point. Everything flowed really well and really started to get into the themes of what I think this season is going to be and that is Oliver trying to move one from his like as the Green Arrow.
Something that really stood at to me as a massive positive was the writing of the dialog. There were so many quips and good one liners mixed in with meaningful sections that gave the overall dialog a really well balance between the grounded superhero show Arrow is and the fun side that superhero shows can be.
The return of Anatoly was great. I have really enjoyed him in past seasons and by the looks of it we might be getting a whole lot more of him this season. I think David Nykl does a really good job with the character when walking that line of being a friend while still being a foe.
We have gotten a fair few different types of relationships across these CW superhero shows but this is the first were we have had to see the building of a relationship between one of our heroes and their child. I'm really liking the direction they are taking this Oliver and William relationship because it appears that it will be a key force in this season going forward. I had some concerns with the actor who plays William but I think he did enough this episode that he will be able to hold his own for the most part.
On Arrow, Diggle is my favourite character so it is really great to see him getting an interesting plot line. I'm liking the back and forth he is having with Diana because it's not often that he isn't the voice of reason in a conversation. Going forward, now that he has accepted the hood of the Green Arrow, I'm really interested to see what comes of his problems and what his conversations with Diana looks like going forward.
Into something I was mixed about this episode was the new character of Samantha Watson. I really liked the actress Sydelle Noel in GLOW and I think she fits the detective role really well. I thought she was written really well this episode and her scene with Lance and Renee was one of my favourite of the episode. My concern however is with what they are going to do with the character. They brought her on quite strong with little evidence on Oliver and based off that she is sticking around despite the evidence being shown as fake. To me, her presence was warranted but I don't want her to be hanging around when she is the only one believing that Oliver is the Green Arrow.
What was my only real negative this episode was the resolution of the photo. While the anonymous photo to begin with isn't enough to lock Oliver up for good, it is understandable that the media would jump all over it. However, I don't think an anonymous source proving it is false was enough to dismiss the photo. While we don't know what their proof was, the way it played out was the there was no investigation into their proof like there was into the original photo.
Overall, which I had a few concerns, this is a near perfect follow up to last week's premiere. I'm really excited to see where this season is going to go based off the opening two episodes of the season.
10/10