Recently, I've reverted to old viewing habits, wherein I would binge an entire season's worth of episodes at every viewing session I can wrangle. I found that it's harder to keep up with TV series if I watched in weekly episodic doses, especially since I was having a hard time sticking to a regular viewing schedule. I ended up getting backlogs on episodes anyway, so checking off one title or season at a time was my best option... and I didn't have to worry about trying to remember details when the last episode I viewed was months ago.
And with my recent subscription to iFlix (awesomely affordable, btw), it was easier for me to keep track of the episodes of the TV series titles in their roster that I have in my viewing list. I actually started with The Flash's second season, but there were crossover episodes that concluded on Arrow's, so I ended up finishing the latter first.
I'm not much of a DC fan, but I've always enjoyed the CW's adaptations for both Arrow and The Flash (I've yet to get started on the freshman seasons of Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl, which is moving from CBS to CW). EP Greg Berlanti is doing great in balancing great TV storytelling and staying faithful to the spirit of their source materials. Which is why I find it annoying that they're not folding in the TV series to the cinematic universe that Warner Brothers is attempting to build for DC. Especially when their TV offerings are making great strides in storytelling.
In season 4 of Arrow, Oliver Queen's (Stephen Amell) dreams of quietly retiring with Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) from his vigilante superhero persona Arrow comes to an end, when Laurel / Black Canary (Katie Cassidy) and his sister Thea / Speedy (Willa Holland) inform him that their new team with John Diggle / Spartan (David Ramsey) is having a hard time dealing with the new threat against Starling City, now renamed Star City to honor the reportedly deceased Ray Palmer / Atom (Brandon Routh). An armed group dubbed the Ghosts are wreaking havoc, destroying businesses and the sense of peace in the city. They learn that Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough), a former League of Assassins member, is leading them and is enacting a plan called Genesys with the group Hive.
I've read some of the reviews for Arrow, with some griping because of the focus on Olicity in the season. I found that this wasn't really much of an issue in my viewing, but probably because I've been shipping those two so hard since they first shared screen time together. While I do want them to get their happy ever after, Oliver hasn't always been someone who's comfortable with happy endings for himself, especially when taking on the mantle of Arrow is involved. Season 4 returns to this frequently, especially when their return to Star City allowed him and Felicity to see the cracks in their relationship. It's hard not to accept that this is something that would define the course of it and how it would affect their future together.
Beyond the specter of Olicity, however, there's a solid overarching story to enjoy in Arrow. Damien Darhk is an excellent big bad, with Neal McDonough effortlessly weaving between charming and menacing. Darhk thwarts them time and again, and it seems a miracle that the Green Arrow (no longer just Arrow) and his team didn't die in their first encounter. Instead of the pure physical threat that last season's big bad Ra's al Ghul (Matthew Nable) presented, Darhk draws his strength from something mystical, which means that the Green Arrow might have to tap into the magical realm in order to meet Darhk equally. This means asking those who are more in tune with magic or the supernatural. One such help comes in the form of John Constantine (Matt Ryan), an appearance which I welcomed with glee since his own show was wrongfully cancelled (boo, NBC).
There are other story lines featured in season 4 of Arrow worth noting, such as Thea's contentious relationship with her father Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) and her battle with the blood lust she gained from being healed by the Lazarus Pit, Laurel's decision to use the same pit to bring her sister Sara (Caity Lotz) back to life, John's discovery that his brother Andy is alive and working for Darhk, and Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne) making a deal with the devil. This allows every cast member to shine, and all their guest stars are put to great use.
Laurel doing the unthinkable and using the same pit to bring her sister
When watching a series like the Arrow, the adventure and the personal drama, what with the stakes to those who play at being a superhero, are a given. And the action was very much apparent... kudos to whoever choreographed the season's fight scenes and whoever decided to feature continuous shots of those scenes in some episodes. I didn't realize how invested I was with Arrow (aside from watching four seasons of it, I mean) until a tragedy strikes their ranks, and I found myself ugly crying while trying to keep quiet while the toddler is napping. There's still the dark tone that sets it apart from The Flash, but the series has been good with mixing in the right amounts of humor (particularly in the voice of Felicity, and Palmer Tech employee Curtis Holt, played by Echo Kellum, who seems to be joining the team next season) to keep it balanced, and a good dose of growth (and occasional backsliding) for its characters.
You can always rely on Arrow to provide you with a rollercoaster season of wins and failures. Their reliability on providing big wins may be questionable, but when bittersweet ones enrich the narrative that we have enjoyed so far, it's a viewing win for audiences through and through.
Happy viewing!Labels: Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Arrow, CW, DC, Drama, iFlix, Must-Watch, Superhero, TV, TV Series
_001.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20151102231326 "Damien Darhk")