My Name Is………………….

Yesterday, news hit Twitter via Stephen Amell that hinted that the hit show Arrow will be coming to an end.  Various sites further clarified the CW’s Arrowverse lead show’s future with confirmation that an abbreviated eighth season will see Oliver Queen bow out.

It can be argued that recently the once great Arrow has had it’s reputation tarnished.  Whether this is due to the increase of the characters involved, the movement away from Oliver’s quest to right his father’s wrong or that almost disastrous Damien Darke season, the last couple of seasons have been hit or miss.  But cast your mind back to October 2012.

Back then there was no superhero tv shows around.  Smallville’s Clark Kent had finally learnt how to fly and faster than a speeding bullet he was off the air.  Then came Oliver Queen with his mission of fixing his father’s mistakes, rooting out the people who “had failed this city”.  The show was darker than Smallville, with more stylised violence clearly influenced by Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy.  With Stephen Amell, the show had a charismatic  lead; one part Bruce Wayne and one part obsessed vigilante in a way that could be seen as further homage to the similarities between Batman and Green Arrow. and who set the benchmark when it came to watching  guys exercising  in  rundown factorys.  Through Amell, we were introduced to a cast of characters including Laurel Lance, her father detective Lance, Thea Queen, Tommy and Malcolm Merlin, Felicity Smoak. Roy Harper and John Diggle, a character himself inspired by Green Arrow comic book writer Andy Diggle.  Together and apart, they took on a variety of classic comic book villains ranging from the Black Archer, to Prometheus via Deathstroke and Ras al Ghul.

As stated, the increased cast has meant that the show has become more an ensemble piece, potentially negating the charm and presence that Amell could bring to the small screen, a presence that through force of character has launched several charity shirts, of which I own two.  Through it all Amell has worked hard to maintain the quality of the show.  But in fact, ironically it is the writers who have failed this show.  Originally slated to fit the five years that Oliver Queen was stranded on Lian Yu, there was no effective alternative when the past and the present met.  Also, the continuity of the show is starting to weight it down; a recent episode features an Oliver angry at his father for hiding an illegitimate child and keeping her away from the family without any concept that Oliver himself has done exactly the same thing with William, which caused a break in the Olicity relationship.  Since Oliver left prison, William remains in England away from his family.

Of course, Arrow’s impact can be seen on any number of nights during the week, in the shows that it helped to create, specifically The Flash and DC Legends of Tomorrow, the success of which lead to Supergirl and Black Lightning and resurrecting John Constantine, leading to the annual crossover events that rival the DC cinema universe.  It could even be argued that without Arrow,  would we have had Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and the new DC Universe (at least the CW shows are available internationally), shows.

Did Arrow have flaws, of course it did; it could be argued that the show hit it’s peak in season two (the Deathstroke season) or season three (the Ras al Ghul season).  But through the thick of the ups and downs, there was always a genuineness to the cast with Amell the then almost present focal point.  After eight seasons, of mostly high quality superhero action, Stephen Amell, with his Oliver Queen a modern day Robin Hood with his own band of merry men and women, can rest assured that he never once failed his fictional city or his loud and popular fan base.

 

 

 

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network

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