If you asked me five years ago one thing I would never do again? I would've told you that I will never again watch the CW. The only show I really that ever really caught my eye was One Tree Hill (fuck you, its a great show). But then, in 2014, something magical happened; they launched The Flash. Next to the caped crusader, Flash is my guy. I think I saw some Justice League cartoon once as a kid and was just taken aback by his nonchalance swag. God I love characters that give 0 fucks.
So you can already book it that I'm going to watch every episode of that series, that much I expected before even watching the pilot. What I didn't expect was me getting hooked on the show that runs alongside it, my new favorite ongoing TV show, Arrow.
It will soon become abundantly clear how much of a prisoner of the moment I am when it comes to new shows that I really like. There are some shows I love that I know a lot of other people won't. People don't have to all like the same thing, I get that. But this is not one of those shows, I am going to go to bat for this show. This show is pure genius, and everyone that doesn't watch this show is fucking missing out.
I love superheroes. Ever since I started watching Power Rangers in Space as a kid, I have loved superheroes. I have also been fortunate to grow up in a time where the technology has finally caught up with their abilities. This led to an unprecedented amount of movies in what can only be called "the super-hollywood movement". It started with the Tobey Maguire-led Spiderman in 2002, and the movement has never looked back and never looked better.
In the next six years alone, there will be at least an additional 25 superhero movies made. I'm putting the over under at around 34.5. If there's one thing Hollywood knows how to do best, it's squeeze every ounce of profit out of a good thing. So as you can see, I am not alone, a lot of people love superheroes. But does that mean it can translate to a week-to-week format?
Just like everything else in life, this movement has its weakness: the inevitable ending. Superheroes almost always come out on top. Their default setting is to be unbeatable and awesome. All these movies do is test their limits without ever exceeding them. And at the end of the day, each hero's default setting stays the same; they are unbeatable and awesome again and again and again.
Superhero movies can never shock an audience like Game of Thrones can. It's never a matter of if a villain gets defeated, it's how. Eventually this formulaic movie-making process will run its course, but we are right in the heart of it now and there's no end in sight. People may be willing to sign up for five predictable, albeit highly entertaining, superhero movies a year, but 1 every week? That boredom can get 0 to 100 real quick.
Now you can see the problems standing in the way of any superhero TV show. But let me assure you, Arrow is the solution. It has everything we love about superhero movies and manages to keep you on the edge of your seat from week to week. And it does so in three basic yet effective ways.
So you can already book it that I'm going to watch every episode of that series, that much I expected before even watching the pilot. What I didn't expect was me getting hooked on the show that runs alongside it, my new favorite ongoing TV show, Arrow.
It will soon become abundantly clear how much of a prisoner of the moment I am when it comes to new shows that I really like. There are some shows I love that I know a lot of other people won't. People don't have to all like the same thing, I get that. But this is not one of those shows, I am going to go to bat for this show. This show is pure genius, and everyone that doesn't watch this show is fucking missing out.
I love superheroes. Ever since I started watching Power Rangers in Space as a kid, I have loved superheroes. I have also been fortunate to grow up in a time where the technology has finally caught up with their abilities. This led to an unprecedented amount of movies in what can only be called "the super-hollywood movement". It started with the Tobey Maguire-led Spiderman in 2002, and the movement has never looked back and never looked better.
In the next six years alone, there will be at least an additional 25 superhero movies made. I'm putting the over under at around 34.5. If there's one thing Hollywood knows how to do best, it's squeeze every ounce of profit out of a good thing. So as you can see, I am not alone, a lot of people love superheroes. But does that mean it can translate to a week-to-week format?
Just like everything else in life, this movement has its weakness: the inevitable ending. Superheroes almost always come out on top. Their default setting is to be unbeatable and awesome. All these movies do is test their limits without ever exceeding them. And at the end of the day, each hero's default setting stays the same; they are unbeatable and awesome again and again and again.
Superhero movies can never shock an audience like Game of Thrones can. It's never a matter of if a villain gets defeated, it's how. Eventually this formulaic movie-making process will run its course, but we are right in the heart of it now and there's no end in sight. People may be willing to sign up for five predictable, albeit highly entertaining, superhero movies a year, but 1 every week? That boredom can get 0 to 100 real quick.
Now you can see the problems standing in the way of any superhero TV show. But let me assure you, Arrow is the solution. It has everything we love about superhero movies and manages to keep you on the edge of your seat from week to week. And it does so in three basic yet effective ways.
- Character Development- By portraying Oliver Queen (The Green Arrow) as more of an anti-hero, Arrow is really able to delve into his character arc. I watch a lot of TV, but after three seasons, I understand no character better than I do Oliver Queen. Which is weird because he is also one of the most complex characters in all of television.
- Bad-Ass Villains- I have never seen a villain push a hero beyond his limits like I have seen on Arrow. Bane in The Dark Knight Rises is the closest comparison, but even that is really not that close. Oliver is broken many times throughout the series to a seemingly irreparable extent. And I know what you're thinking: he always comes back better than ever and everything is good again. Right? Wrong. The villains have-long term affects on Oliver and everyone around him. After every season, the default setting changes. That's what makes this show so special.
- Teamwork makes the Dream Work- Who doesn't like when superheroes squad up? Arrow may be the story of one superhero, but luckily for us, that superhero has a lot of sidekicks and allies all of whom refer to themselves (fittingly) as Team Arrow. This is my favorite part of the show. Not just because it is entertaining to watch a bunch of superheroes kick ass, but also because the state of the team is always so dynamic. The team and the relationships that it contains are continuously changing and evolving and that is something not a lot of shows do well.
If it hasn't yet been made clear, Arrow is not your average superhero story. It's vastly different from what we are used to but it still manages to work at an exceedingly high level. Basically it's a dope show with dope actors, a dope story and dope villains. How can you argue with that? Go watch the fucking show.
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