Watching the first season of Arrow for me back when it originally aired was mostly a case of "it's a superhero show, I'm a nerd, I'm honour bound to give this a shot" (the early '10s were simpler times, please forgive me). I didn't really get on with the grimdark heroics of the current-day story, nor with the bleak flashbacks, but I guess I was enough of a TV glutton back then to stick with it. Thankfully, both this show and the universe it spawned grew on me over time, but I still didn't expect much, going back to watch Arrow S01E01 again, a decade later.
Imagine my surprise when it turns out that the many subsequent episodes of character and story development seems to have retroactively lent a pretty significant amount of meaning and emotional resonance to a show that wasn't quite equipped to deliver much of the sort at the time. Don't get me wrong, it's still pretty rough around the edges, mostly due to the directors and writers at this point only having the most rudimentary idea how to get the best of out their assembled ensemble. But: because I know how much the work of most of the involved (both in front of and behind the camera) will improve over time, it's easier to forgive the clunky lines and line deliveries. Because I know where Oliver Queen is heading, and where he's actually been as this pilot starts, it's easier to look past the show's brutal super-heroics at the outset.
I can't believe it, I'm actually looking forward to the rest of this rewatch?
Review by GranitoroVIP 6BlockedParent2022-02-24T13:25:54Z
Watching the first season of Arrow for me back when it originally aired was mostly a case of "it's a superhero show, I'm a nerd, I'm honour bound to give this a shot" (the early '10s were simpler times, please forgive me). I didn't really get on with the grimdark heroics of the current-day story, nor with the bleak flashbacks, but I guess I was enough of a TV glutton back then to stick with it. Thankfully, both this show and the universe it spawned grew on me over time, but I still didn't expect much, going back to watch Arrow S01E01 again, a decade later.
Imagine my surprise when it turns out that the many subsequent episodes of character and story development seems to have retroactively lent a pretty significant amount of meaning and emotional resonance to a show that wasn't quite equipped to deliver much of the sort at the time. Don't get me wrong, it's still pretty rough around the edges, mostly due to the directors and writers at this point only having the most rudimentary idea how to get the best of out their assembled ensemble. But: because I know how much the work of most of the involved (both in front of and behind the camera) will improve over time, it's easier to forgive the clunky lines and line deliveries. Because I know where Oliver Queen is heading, and where he's actually been as this pilot starts, it's easier to look past the show's brutal super-heroics at the outset.
I can't believe it, I'm actually looking forward to the rest of this rewatch?