Arrow: Season 1 (2012/13) - Written Review

The first season of Arrow seemed to come at the right time. In 2012, The Dark Knight Rises and Avengers Assemble came out at the cinemas, and became not only two of the highest grossing comic book movies of all time, but also two of the highest grossing movies of all time. For all those looking at what new TV Shows were starting that year, Arrow stood out as being based on a comic book, and following a fairly well-known superhero, brought into a more realistic world.
Put simply, Arrow became a big success with fans and new audiences alike, so now that the series is currently on its mid-season break in its third year, I thought I’d make a spoiler-free review of Arrow Season One.
Arrow follows Oliver Queen, son of a billionaire, who was thought to be dead for five years until he is rescued off the coast of the island of Lian Yu. However, when he returns home to his family and friends in Starling City, it becomes clear he is not the same man he was when he left.
Half the series is told in flashback sequences, explaining how Oliver became the man he is at the start of the season, and half is told in the present day with Oliver becoming the super hero Green Arrow. The use of flashback in the story could have massively backfired on the show, but in Season One, it works in showing Oliver’s character development, and often what happens in the flashbacks somehow links back to what happens in the present day scenes. The writing is always top-notch at balancing both storylines, and they always seem to work with each other.

The present day half of the season follows Oliver’s journey to becoming Green Arrow, and while by the end of the Pilot he already has the suit, the equipment and the abilities, he is still isn’t quite the Green Arrow everyone knows, and the series follows him becoming the hero. It’s not something they drag out, but it’s a character arc that makes the series not only interesting to follow but also have an end goal. It doesn’t feel like an overlong origin story, but simply is used as character progression for Oliver Queen, and actor Stephen Ammell sells it perfectly. He is the perfect casting choice for this interpretation of Oliver Queen, going alongside the list of perfect superhero actors including Robert Downey Jr., Edward Norton, Michael Keaton and Tom Hiddleston.

The rest of the cast are also brilliant, although the real standout for me is John Barrowman as the mysterious Malcolm Merlyn. Merlyn is the main antagonist of the season, and his story is the main super villain storyline of the season. Its built up very well, with the audience learning more about Merlyn as the characters learn more about his plans, and there are some interesting character dynamics explored with Malcolm’s son being Oliver Queen’s best friend. The arc certainly gets a satisfying conclusion in the season finale though, and it’s perfectly paced throughout the season. It doesn’t rush the story or drag it out, but perfectly transfers it to screen. John Barrowman is brilliant as Merlyn though, and I think this is his best performance to date. The writers clearly enjoy writing for him and he clearly loves playing the role. It’s fantastic to watch.

You do also get to see other villains throughout the season with Deadshot, the Huntress, Count Vertigo and Deathstroke appearing, along with a few, lesser-known others. The main ones aren’t also just villains of the week as they have multiple episodes throughout the season, and there is even a whole arc focussing on Deadshot and Oliver’s friend Diggle.

Visually, the season looks great, save for a couple of moments of slightly dodgy CGI, and the action is great to watch. However, with Arrow only having a TV budget, the action isn’t a frequent or as big as in most superhero movies. The action is still great and relies on a lot of practical and stunt work but with this restriction Arrow is able to focus more on its characters – an element some superhero adaptations barely focus on. It’s the characters who are the main focus of Arrow, and there are some great and memorable ones throughout. It’s the characters who drive the story instead of the other way round, and this is what makes Arrow work so well.

The score by Blake Neely is instantly iconic and works perfectly with what’s going on on-screen. From Oliver Queen’s tragic theme to the big, bombastic fight sequence themes to the Arrow theme itself, it’s all great and the soundtrack is worth a buy if you can.
Sadly though, Arrow is not without its problems. The pacing of the season is great, although mid-way through a new character - McKenna Hall – is introduced but doesn’t actually add anything to the season. There’s nothing interesting about her character and it feels almost like the writers needed to kill some time, but with as many characters as Arrow has, I don’t understand why. It feels like a waste of time. There are also quite a few plot elements that feel similar to Batman Begins, and this first season at least seems to adopt a similar approach to Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, in bringing a superhero into a much darker, grittier and more realistic world. Arrow doesn’t feel like a rip-off as such though, as the series isn’t as grim as Nolan’s films and loses the realism quite early on. Certainly after the first season, the ‘realistic’ approach is gone and the show works much better for it.
All in all though, for a 23 episode season, these problems are few compared to what many shows do. Arrow season one is great. The cliff-hangers throughout the season and plot twists keep you watching it, and despite being 23 episodes it doesn’t feel overlong and if you’re anything like me, you’ll probably have finished watching the whole season within a month.
Arrow season one not only works as a self-contained season, with the ending simply being an open one, where the story can continue but there’s also a nice conclusion in there as well had the show not continued. Thankfully though, it did, and deservedly so.