summercomfort (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
summercomfort) wrote2013-11-01 08:39 pm
summercomfort) wrote2013-11-01 08:39 pm
Weekly Arrow thoughts
I've been trying to find someone to talk to about Arrow, and/or watch together, but it's hard, because everyone's busy, and there's lots of other shows to watch, and to watch it, you really need to watch the first season, which takes quite a while to get through.
This is the first time this has happened to me -- I'm really into a show that people in regular speaking contact with me aren't. Usually I don't get *into* a show -- I prefer procedurals that don't really have a story element (and sometimes I purposely skip episodes that have continuity). It's also usually hard for me to get into an American tv show that has a solid storyline, because they tend to be either too literary/high concept (The Wire), or too conspiracy theory (Nikita, what I think Lost is, Doctor Who). But I guess Arrow hits just the right mark for me -- enough swashbuckling adventure that I don't feel like I'm watching some indie film that happens to be episodic, and the plot twists are sufficiently grounded that I don't feel like rolling my eyes in disgust every episode.
But unlike a movie, it has new episodes every week, so I can't just wait for it to be done and then write about it. (Well, I can, but that'd require too much waiting for me).
So I'm just going to put random spazzing about the most recent episode behind a spoiler cut. (Jono recommended that I post this on tumblr, but tumblr feels too public a place for this sort of writing. If you prefer this migrate to tumblr, please say so.)
In general -- the action in Season 2 has been less fun. The first 2 eps had some pretty comic booky villains, so the fights looked really fake. There were also a bunch of machine guns and the "mysteriously appearing arrows" stuff -- what I like about the action are usually the cool hand-to-hand combat moves, so I'm sad there's less of that. I'm wondering if it's because the actor is trying to do more of the stunts himself -- while he has the physical strength, he doesn't really have the martial arts training for the cool flips and moves.
I love the new stronger Thea that we have, and the first 2 episodes had some great Thea and Moira moments. I love that Thea is supportive of Roy, but also doesn't indulge in his BS -- on the one hand, she does try to help him find the Arrow, etc. But when she sees him as going too far, she basically calls it as it is: Roy is being reckless, and she doesn't need that in her life.
I also like Laurel's character arc right now. In the first 3 episodes, she's REALLY anti-Arrow, and it seems really out of character. She just has all this resentment for Arrow that seems to be really irrational. What I love about episode 3 is that her dad calls her out on that, basically saying "you're feeling guilty about something, now stop blaming the Arrow for something he couldn't do." And at the end of the episode, Laurel admits that she was blaming the Arrow because she couldn't deal with the guilt she felt over Tommy (which makes sense, since their relationship was such a clusterfuck at the end of the 1st season).
I thought that was the end of Laurel's angst, that she'd be "reset" to Season 1 Laurel, but no! Even though she identified the guilt, and no longer blames Arrow, she's still blaming herself, and she's doing this really classic "pushing people away" thing right now that feels real. When her dad and Ollie reach out to her, she says things that I'd totally imagine myself saying in her position: Why should she take advice from family that has failed her? Can't they trust that she can deal with it herself, as an adult? etc etc.
The latest episode, Crucible, had a pretty lame line about crucibles, but I felt like they handled it well with the conversation between Ollie and Sara at the end of the episode -- Sara making the decision to stop living in constant-battle-mode was not easy, and she only makes it when Ollie shows that he's willing to give up a piece of his peace with the Lances in exchange. So excited for the developments for the next episode!
I love Sara's reveal, btw. I knew who she was, but that scene was really well done: Arrow approaches, saying "who are you?", and Black Canary responding, "once you know, it'll change everything," and then calls him "Ollie." That one word shows that (a) she knows who he is, and (b) she's someone close to him.
Also, the part of the fight where they switch weapons was pretty fun. I like it when Ollie does hand-to-hand combat as Arrow, and he's been doing too little of that.
This is the first time this has happened to me -- I'm really into a show that people in regular speaking contact with me aren't. Usually I don't get *into* a show -- I prefer procedurals that don't really have a story element (and sometimes I purposely skip episodes that have continuity). It's also usually hard for me to get into an American tv show that has a solid storyline, because they tend to be either too literary/high concept (The Wire), or too conspiracy theory (Nikita, what I think Lost is, Doctor Who). But I guess Arrow hits just the right mark for me -- enough swashbuckling adventure that I don't feel like I'm watching some indie film that happens to be episodic, and the plot twists are sufficiently grounded that I don't feel like rolling my eyes in disgust every episode.
But unlike a movie, it has new episodes every week, so I can't just wait for it to be done and then write about it. (Well, I can, but that'd require too much waiting for me).
So I'm just going to put random spazzing about the most recent episode behind a spoiler cut. (Jono recommended that I post this on tumblr, but tumblr feels too public a place for this sort of writing. If you prefer this migrate to tumblr, please say so.)
In general -- the action in Season 2 has been less fun. The first 2 eps had some pretty comic booky villains, so the fights looked really fake. There were also a bunch of machine guns and the "mysteriously appearing arrows" stuff -- what I like about the action are usually the cool hand-to-hand combat moves, so I'm sad there's less of that. I'm wondering if it's because the actor is trying to do more of the stunts himself -- while he has the physical strength, he doesn't really have the martial arts training for the cool flips and moves.
I love the new stronger Thea that we have, and the first 2 episodes had some great Thea and Moira moments. I love that Thea is supportive of Roy, but also doesn't indulge in his BS -- on the one hand, she does try to help him find the Arrow, etc. But when she sees him as going too far, she basically calls it as it is: Roy is being reckless, and she doesn't need that in her life.
I also like Laurel's character arc right now. In the first 3 episodes, she's REALLY anti-Arrow, and it seems really out of character. She just has all this resentment for Arrow that seems to be really irrational. What I love about episode 3 is that her dad calls her out on that, basically saying "you're feeling guilty about something, now stop blaming the Arrow for something he couldn't do." And at the end of the episode, Laurel admits that she was blaming the Arrow because she couldn't deal with the guilt she felt over Tommy (which makes sense, since their relationship was such a clusterfuck at the end of the 1st season).
I thought that was the end of Laurel's angst, that she'd be "reset" to Season 1 Laurel, but no! Even though she identified the guilt, and no longer blames Arrow, she's still blaming herself, and she's doing this really classic "pushing people away" thing right now that feels real. When her dad and Ollie reach out to her, she says things that I'd totally imagine myself saying in her position: Why should she take advice from family that has failed her? Can't they trust that she can deal with it herself, as an adult? etc etc.
The latest episode, Crucible, had a pretty lame line about crucibles, but I felt like they handled it well with the conversation between Ollie and Sara at the end of the episode -- Sara making the decision to stop living in constant-battle-mode was not easy, and she only makes it when Ollie shows that he's willing to give up a piece of his peace with the Lances in exchange. So excited for the developments for the next episode!
I love Sara's reveal, btw. I knew who she was, but that scene was really well done: Arrow approaches, saying "who are you?", and Black Canary responding, "once you know, it'll change everything," and then calls him "Ollie." That one word shows that (a) she knows who he is, and (b) she's someone close to him.
Also, the part of the fight where they switch weapons was pretty fun. I like it when Ollie does hand-to-hand combat as Arrow, and he's been doing too little of that.