First Thoughts On 'Arrow' Season 4 (Episodes 1-9)

To be honest, Arrow: season 3 really hasn't held up very well in retrospect. I became very negative in my thoughts on the season as it went on, and got a bit fed up with the show in the end. Alas though, the makers seemed to realize this, and thus sold Season 4 as...fan service, comic book-styled, closer-to-The Flash and much better...apparently.
Yeah, there is a ton of fan service in these first 9 episodes. Oliver Queen is now Green Arrow, Thea is Speedy, Starling City is now Star City, not to mention the inclusion of Black Canary, Malcolm as Ra's al Ghul, Kurtis Holt (who?), Damien Darhk, HIVE, John Constantine, Anarchy, Diggle's brother, Felicity's mum, Diggle in costume and that "Olicity" internet trend that the CW seem to adore.
Who needs good stories when you can have all this fan service, am I right?
The over-arching narrative of the season is...there, but so little of it has been explored that I have nothing to say about the flashbacks and very little to say about HIVE other than that hiding information from the audience doesn't build up a story over 23 episodes, it just hides information that would otherwise drive the story forward!
This season feels a lot closer to the tone of The Flash, and comes across a bit more as a relatively fun comic book action series than a gritty take on a superhero drama that Seasons 1 and 2 accomplished so well. It's not very consistent in its tone, but the lighter aspects make it more enjoyable. It's awesome to see Oliver don the Green Arrow costume, even if without the sleeves it looks quite odd in some shots, and as for Diggle's helmet...it's not even a helmet! It's a mask tied to his head with a rubber band! And it looks ridiculous!
Laurel and Thea look cool in their costumes though, and John Barrowman instantly has more on screen chemistry than the original Ra's al Ghul last season.
Oh, and they brought back Sara Lance from the dead. And scrapped Oliver's "retirement". Is Season 3 being entirely retconned now? If so...I can deal with that.
I really do like the addition of Kurtis Holt though. I worried at first he'd be Felicity's even more annoying sidekick, but actually I've grown to really like him. He seems like a genuinely friendly guy, and I wouldn't mind the series giving him some more character moments.
Also, it's fantastic to see that the Constantine TV series won't be completely forgotten with Matt Ryan guest-appearing as the character in Episode 5, tying the two shows together into the same Universe and allowing DC's Television "franchise" to spin out into some Gothic territory. I hope to see Matt Ryan reprise the role in future episodes, maybe as a series regular or possibly on Legends of Tomorrow, which the eighth episode sets up with The Flash crossover event.
To be honest, I feel like I'm trying to write about too much in too little space. Arrow: season 4 is fairly average, bordering on good at points. It's very self-aware and panders far too much to its fan base, but on the whole this could shape up to be a much better season than the last. Despite this though, last season had a pretty good first half as well...
...oh, and no way did they kill off Felicity. The show doesn't seem to do genuine character deaths anymore.