"Arrow"

So we didn't do the Arrow thing when the series first started on the CW. I watched the first few eps, and decided it would be more violent than either of my housemates would care for.

And then The Flash started up, with cross-overs, and it got to be sort of, "Hey, we should check that out … especially since we're getting Netflix to watch Daredevil."

We started off watching both, but, honestly, Daredevil makes Arrow look pretty cheesy. But, once DD was over, we were back on GA.

And we've been "binge watching" it since. (Though my daughter notifies me, with a raised eyebrow, that watching 7-8 episodes a week doesn't really qualify as "binge watching." But we're old, and need to sleep now and again.)

Tonight we finished Season 2. And now I need to figure out how we're going to catch up through Season 3 before Season 4 starts in October …

Overall eval:

1. Popcorn!

2. I watched a lot of All My Children growing up — it was my mom and my grandmother's soap of choice, and, for a couple of years, the default setting for the TV lounge at my dorm at college (the other couple of years: Twilight Zone.) So I know of what I speak of when I say Arrow is a soap opera, with occasional action scenes, parkour, and archery. The quickly-shifting drama, the unexpected revelations, the constant lying ("for your sake"), the manic-depressive guilt trips that everyone goes through — yeah, it's a soap.

3. But, with arrows, and DC Universe trappings. I can live with that.

4. I've enjoyed the cross-overs from various SF genre actors and actresses — John Barrowman, Alex Kingston, Sean Maher, Summer Glau, plus others. Oh, well, especially Paul Blackthorne.

5. It's definitely an alternate, and mostly less-exciting DC Universe. But there have been elements of it I've thought were handled very well. Manu Bennett did a very nice job as Slade Wilson.

6. Hell of a body count, even after Ollie stopped killing people.

6. Within the bounds of soap opera sensibilities, and trying to keep some vague resemblance to the DCU characters, the story lines have had some good stuff — enough to keep us watching.

7. To date, that's almost 34 hours net of my life that I won't get back. But, y'know, I've probably spent 34 worse or less worthwhile hours.

View on Google+