Arrow was an American superhero series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg. It was based on the DC Comics character called Green Arrow, a crime-fighter and skilled archer created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp. The show centres around Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), a wealthy playboy who's found on a small island after five years missing and presumed dead. Oliver returns home to his family and friends in Starling City, though with him comes a new attitude, new skills and a new cause. He decides to put everything to use and fight crime as a hooded vigilante with a bow and arrows. To honour his late father, Oliver takes it upon himself to target all those listed in his father's notebook. But things become less clear for him when a few people learn of his secret and other matters get in the way. From some point onward, this new Oliver Queen is left to figure out who he truly is as well as what he is destined to achieve. Here are seven questions regarding commonly thought opinions from the general audience about Arrow:
1. What had happened to Felicity Smoak?
It was sometime in the midst of the first season when we were introduced to tech-savvy Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards). She immediately became Oliver's go-to woman for assistance in all matters requiring a computer. Everybody instantly fell in love with her, as she'd go about her business with the sweetest of smiles and the dorkiest of attitudes. Many of us had too caught on to her secret attraction with Oliver, and were quick to further nudge the likes of Guggenheim into lighting a romantic flame from the sparks. There was no doubt about it. Felicity soared into fan favouritism for bringing the light in the dark hour, providing most of whatever humour was offered. But a further two or three seasons in, then saw a drastic change. Almost a complete 180 that would have the IT girl going from being a chocolate cake to a poisonous mushroom. How was this possible? What exactly happened for it to turn out this way?
Felicity's place in team Arrow was always met with strong welcome. But it looked as if things started taking a turn when the writers further explored the waters of the much anticipated 'Olicity' relationship. With each passing moment, the couple grew stronger and their romance became more of its own theme within the series. At the same time however, we were gradually introduced to a side of Felicity that we just couldn't ever seem to appreciate. She would more often than not, allow her emotions to get the better of her. She would be seen as overly demanding and she would often twist ethics to suit her personal preferences. Not making the situation any better, was the amount of attention thrown towards her character. Many people felt Felicity was taking over, as stories involving her parents as well as her business work took much of the focus away from Oliver. Stories were heavily driven by computers and hacking, leaving the Green Arrow at certain times becoming a trivial plot device in his own show. Felicity as a result of everything, had turned into a package of excess drama. She was overworked and force-fed to every viewer in a way that almost left her irredeemable. It was damage that took quite some time to fix.
I myself, was not much different from others when seeing the problems. During the first couple of years as I slowly but surely built my interest in Arrow, my view of Felicity Smoak was like most. I naturally warmed up to her vibrant presence and I too foresaw the significant role she would play throughout the series. For me, it was all about her enchanting personality and how many other characters she could create chemistry with. But strangely enough, I was never one to chase for the Oliver and Felicity romance. I was still too invested in Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy), and I couldn't help but think that 'Olicity' was just not going to work out well. At least for a little while I was right. Felicity in the end didn't so much become a character I disliked, but rather one I lost all feeling for. She was nothing more than 'meh' to me. All the magic was lost and there was just no way for anybody to bring it back. I like to think a lot of the reason was how misused she was, since it was seasons three and four when I began to experience this.
2. Was having a team of vigilantes the way to go?
Any issue here I feel would be more linked to the people behind the series rather than the series itself. The truth is that there was no possible way for Oliver Queen to go about his work as the Green Arrow all on his own for eight seasons. One of the few things that made this show so highly respected for me was the development and impact of certain friendships, especially those involving Oliver. There's no looking past the deep and lasting impact loyal right-hand man John Diggle (David Ramsey) had on his best friend, with Oliver having confirmed this a few times himself. The love from Felicity also played a major part. But it did not just stop here. Over a span of eight years, the Green Arrow was made to inspire a new wave of vigilantes. Both his legacy and spirit too was shown to live on through his children, a further twenty years into the future. In spite of the numerous highs and lows experienced by each and every friend both past and present, Oliver and the gang couldn't ever deny the influence they had on each other.
A team Arrow was always the way to go. But this isn't to say that there weren't moments the team game had failed to work properly. Here is when it becomes more of a 'behind the scenes' problem. I did come to notice the difficulty of keeping Oliver at centre stage whilst he led a fairly large team several times throughout the back half of the series. There is a lot of responsibility in writing stuff like this for a show. One has to ensure that each member gets a fair share of the spotlight. They have to carry a certain purpose and distinct fighting skills, all whilst too building a unique relationship with most of the other members. Arrow has once or twice, struggled to handle big teams of vigilantes. Occasionally the leader was lost within the group and other times had seen one or two characters fast written out. Because of the many bigger challenges faced towards the end, Oliver adopting the 'strength in numbers' practice was always ideal. But what hurt him here was something beyond the Arrowverse.
3. Was killing off Earth 1 Laurel Lance a huge mistake?
There will never be any concrete answer to this, since there's no telling what was to happen next had Laurel not get killed off. Let's just say though that it most definitely was a mistake at the time. And after a couple of decisions the crew went with for season five, it can be concluded that they saw it as somewhat of a mistake too. The approach Arrow had taken to fix what it broke here was one I found to be too unimaginative and overly convenient for my liking. Sure it opened the door for another actress to shine and allowed Cassidy more of a chance to explore her acting range, neither of which I can complain about. However, these two ideas couldn't be stopped from appearing like a band aid solution given the time they were brought in. They were merely a cheap way of covering the shot wound in the show's foot. Earth 1 Laurel's death most likely looks alright now, since a fair number of us had to adjust to the new direction. Plus, we were given a fair bit of time to do so. But as I said, there is still no finding a concrete answer to this question. It will only ever be a matter of opinion.
4. Did the future storyline truly succeed?
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5. Was Oliver Queen done dirty in the end?
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6. Exactly how good was season five?
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7. Exactly how bad was season four?
Really Bad, and I do mean REALLY BAD! Abysmal may be a better way of putting it. I would nearly consider season four of Arrow the worst of all the Arrowverse seasons. It was the season that almost broke me and left me not wanting to continue with the show. And to think I won't have much to say here, as I try hard to forget it even exists. Perhaps I am going a little over the top with this, but then again there has rarely been a time when I've felt this way about any part of a television show. Ignore the thoughts of "expert" critics for a second and compare this abomination to the rest of the series. Season four in my eyes ended up being so corny and unprofessionally written. The story looked out of place, and many parts just seemed as they were heavily inspired by fan fiction and soap operas. It was flooded with unlikable characters and painful moments. Not even the annual crossover with The Flash could save it as that too was a forgettable event. Sorry peeps, but I'm probably going to need help in finding something positive about these episodes since I cannot recall a single thing. Can you blame me?
It turns out I am not alone here either. The fourth season is known for its bad reputation and has long been the butt of many jokes online. Common criticisms have cited many reasons for its debacle from the villain Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) to the entire storyline. People saw the concept of magic as being unsuitable for the show's overall atmosphere. Stunts and choreography were too labelled by a few as looking more like teen movie dance battles than proper fight sequences. A majority of viewers had expressed disapproval of Felicity along with her large amount of screen time and the direction her character was taken. Not to forget most comic book lovers were left appalled by the writing room's decision to kill off Laurel Lance/Black Canary. Even some of the costume designs such as Diggle's spartan helmet received ridicule. In relation to Arrow's recognized approach and past success, season four as a whole was both unconvincing and overly attentive to its audience.
Travis "TJ" James
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