Distributor: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Episodes: 23
Duration: 45 min (per episode)
Arrow: Season 2 (Blu-ray) – Series Review
Lately, superhero movies and series are pretty popular. We’ve got the bunch of upcoming Marvel movies, Arrow and its spin-off The Flash. As I’m a superhero fan myself, it’s great to see how the ‘mainstream’ public receives great series like this one. For fans or casual watchers alike, Arrow is not the series you’ll want to miss out on.
Season 2 picks up where the previous season left us in awe. If you haven’t seen the first season of Arrow yet, I’d strongly suggest to skip this paragraphs as it’s nearly impossible the talk about the story content without spoiling previous events… So everyone ready? You’ve seen everything that must be seen? Okay, here we go. The Glades have been hit hard by the earthquake device. Tommy’s death weights incredibly hard on both Laurel and Oliver. The latter seems to have bailed to The Island once more. Oliver’s best friends and assistants in fighting crime, John Diggle and Felicity Smoak, convince him to come back as a lot is going on back in Starling City. Right of the bat, The Arrow gets confronted with imposters, attacks on his family and psychopaths while the man behind the mask, Oliver Queen, has his hands full with saving the family business. The plot maintains a steady level of interestingness, although some subjects are a bit more engaging than other ones. Overall, it’ll be pretty hard to become bored with the story as there’s enough diversity to make everyone feel content at the end of the day.
The second season of Arrows knows a diverse pacing. One episode will be more action oriented while the other features family drama within the Queen household. It’s pleasant to see that Oliver isn’t just another mighty superhero but that he has to deal with a lot of real life problems as well when he puts the mask off. The series tends to switch a lot between present-day and flashbacks, which are mostly enjoyable to watch but sometimes it feels like it becomes a bit too much. Don’t get me wrong, seeing how everything started is of course a big plus, but if you’re in the middle of an incredibly exciting event, you don’t want flashbacks popping up every 3 minutes or so.
Near the last few episodes, there’s a very exciting buildup to the season finale and a lot of things, both expected as completely unexpected, happen right after one another. It’ll be very hard to stop watching once you’re dying to know how this season ends. More so, the season finale creates a perfect path for the next season to follow. To be honest, I want nothing more than to dive right in the third season.
The only remark worthy of mentioning is that some special effects could’ve used a bit more polishing up. One time, Oliver got grabbed by his feet and thrown in the air but it seemed like the strict laws of gravity weren’t applying at that certain moment. Most of the time, the effects are pretty good though, it’s just very occasionally that they attract attention.
Arrow features an incredible cast but this was already pretty obvious in the previous season. Stephen Amell is great as The Arrow and knows how to switch between his vigilante and his rich, tranquil CEO personage. Emily Bett Rickards who plays IT-nerd Felicity Smoak has, in my opinion, one of the most important jobs in Arrow: keeping things light and humorous. She makes the most brilliant remarks and it’s hilarious to see her struggling with a job that’s not really up her alley. In season 2, she still succeeds in firing witty one-liners at the perfect time or gets herself in trouble as she’s incredibly stubborn and a bit naive. When Grant Gustin (Barry Allen) appears on the show, the chemistry between him and Felicity is just fantastically put in picture. Although I know The Flash got its own spin-off, it’d be great to see Barry back further down on the road.
After you’ve watched all 23 episodes of season 2, there’s still enough material on the discs to prolong the Arrow adventure quite a bit more. First of all, a bunch of deleted scenes are ready to be watched. Opinions may vary on this one but personally, I like to see cuts that eventually didn’t make it into the actual movie or series. Often, you get a lot more background information from deleted scenes that might only be about 2 minutes long. Worth to check it out, I’d say. If Felicity’s humor isn’t enough to give you a permanent face cramp, then the Gag Reel might be worth a visit. You’ll even see The Arrow actually laugh once in a while (which doesn’t seem to happen too often in the series itself)! In “From Vigilante to Hero”, we see how The Arrow struggles with his nature as a vigilante and tries to be a better person, a protector. In this extra, the makers talk about the psychology behind the whole transformation into a “superhero”. Another extra shows the audience a bit more about the visual effects in Arrow and “Wirework: The impossible moves of Arrow” does the same concerning… well, the wires used in stunts. If you love to see the technical side behind a series, this is definitely recommendable to watch. Last but not least, the Arrow 2013 Comic-Con panel is also included.
Conclusion
Arrow season 2 knows how to keep the audience entertained by serving a more than decent plot, brutal action scenes and a lovely cast. The amount of flashbacks throughout the season might’ve been a bit excessive at certain times, but on the other hand, they do add a lot of background information. Some special effects aren’t that good but that’s about the only thing worth mentioning. Superhero fans, you might want to pick this series up (and get The Flash as well while you’re at it!).
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