Each Friday we will be bringing you weekend-viewing movie picks available for streaming on Netflix! From the popular to the obscure, we will browse Netflix’s Streaming library so you don’t have to, and bring you what we consider to be “Must Watch” selections!
Arrow
Starring Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey
At this point, I feel like I’m beating a dead horse, but for the love of whatever God you believe in, you should be watcing “Arrow”! I get why you haven’t given this show a shot yet; it’s on The CW, the marketing campaign is little more than its star staring at you with his shirt off, and “Smallville” is still fresh in everyone’s mind (for better or worse). But trust me, this is the best superhero-related television show you’re not watching.
Forget about whatever you are assuming about the type of show “Arrow” is; it’s not a teen drama, our hero is not some whiny, barely recognizable version of the Green Arrow. “Arrow” is not afraid to be dark and gritty, our hero lives very much in a gray area of being a vigilante, and he sure as hell isn’t afraid of taking many lives to achieve a goal he believes to be noble. Sure, there is some romantic complications, some strained relationships, but unlike “Smallville”, these aspects don’t overshadow the main draw of this show: superhero, vigilante action and suspense.
One of my favorite aspects of this show are the flashbacks. While the present day goings-ons get rolling right from episode one, we get to find out how Oliver Queen became Green Arrow (or, “The Hood”, as some choose to call him in this series) on that infamous island via some great flashbacks interjected throughout each episode. It’s almost like getting two different Green Arrow television shows at the same time and it makes for great television.
Like any series, “Arrow” takes a few episodes to find its footing, but once it does, it builds to one of the best season one finales I have seen in a long time that sets a great tone and environment of change for the show’s sophomore season. The vigilante sequences are badass, the “villains” are based in reality, but in my opinion appropriately over-the-top, and when Oliver isn’t wearing the green hood there is plenty of suspense with family secrets, bitter detectives, and a moral line that is always being questioned. The cast may not be “A-List”, but they do a great job on this show. Stephen Amell especially improves a lot, emotionally, as the series goes on and the supporting cast does a great job being strong characters, not just background stand-ins for our hero to interact with.
Season two of “Arrow” has been – not exaggerating – amazing television so far. I assure you, though, you need to watch season one to appreciate all of the current cogs turning currently in the show. Fortunately, everyone can catch up because the first season of “Arrow” is available on Netflix instant. Start streaming today and get caught up because I have a feeling season two, as a whole, you will not want to miss out on. Warner Bros. is showing they are not afraid to bring in some major DC players into this universe established by their Emerald Archer and you’re going to want to be along for the ride.
Alternatively, if you’d like to own the first season of “Arrow”, you can swing over to Amazon and pick it up on DVD or Blu-ray!