Does anyone remember the first year of "Arrow?" If you're a late comer, or just nostalgic for actual, good writing, I'm sure that there are some places where the old shows can be still found. Sigh.
It would be difficult to tell when this show started to go off the rails. The first glaring stupidity I can remember was the end of Season 2, when Thea went off with Malcolm, whom she supposedly 'wanted nothing to do with,' to get to know him better. It was also around that time that the citizenry, rallied by a speech from Oliver, managed to defeat a heavily armed force by sheer gumption (Lou Grant: "I hate gumption.") I should not have been so generous and let those huge gaps in logic escape me. It would have saved me years of disappointment. These were followed by (and I am just covering the worst of many moments in the series) the time when the team disbanded because they resented Oliver surveilling all of them to find who the traitor was talking to the DA. Then Mad Dog almost kills Oliver. Then everyone overreacts to Oliver going to extremes to stay alive. Then later they all get back together and everything is hunky-dory again, with few recriminations, explanations, or apologies. And it goes on and on, culminating in Emiko's unfathomable, last minute conversion to Oliver's side at the twelfth hour.
It hasn't all been bad, of course, but the massive gaps in logic nullify all the rest of the efforts. Cause and effect just goes out the window at every convenience. You might as well go by the logic: "Oliver, why did you kill the Mayor?" "Because, the moon was blue, of course?" "Oh, OK"
It was only by exerting terrific self-control (and probably poor judgment), and thinking that this would be the last season, that I was able to hold on and see the last few episodes and finale, hoping against hope that there would be sufficient justification to stay with the show.
The last scene promised a possibly totally new direction for "Arrow," and that gives me some hope, but if I don't see that promise fulfilled by anything I see between now and September, I will not be back.
It would be difficult to tell when this show started to go off the rails. The first glaring stupidity I can remember was the end of Season 2, when Thea went off with Malcolm, whom she supposedly 'wanted nothing to do with,' to get to know him better. It was also around that time that the citizenry, rallied by a speech from Oliver, managed to defeat a heavily armed force by sheer gumption (Lou Grant: "I hate gumption.") I should not have been so generous and let those huge gaps in logic escape me. It would have saved me years of disappointment. These were followed by (and I am just covering the worst of many moments in the series) the time when the team disbanded because they resented Oliver surveilling all of them to find who the traitor was talking to the DA. Then Mad Dog almost kills Oliver. Then everyone overreacts to Oliver going to extremes to stay alive. Then later they all get back together and everything is hunky-dory again, with few recriminations, explanations, or apologies. And it goes on and on, culminating in Emiko's unfathomable, last minute conversion to Oliver's side at the twelfth hour.
It hasn't all been bad, of course, but the massive gaps in logic nullify all the rest of the efforts. Cause and effect just goes out the window at every convenience. You might as well go by the logic: "Oliver, why did you kill the Mayor?" "Because, the moon was blue, of course?" "Oh, OK"
It was only by exerting terrific self-control (and probably poor judgment), and thinking that this would be the last season, that I was able to hold on and see the last few episodes and finale, hoping against hope that there would be sufficient justification to stay with the show.
The last scene promised a possibly totally new direction for "Arrow," and that gives me some hope, but if I don't see that promise fulfilled by anything I see between now and September, I will not be back.