Jessie Robertson reviews the season 7 premiere of Arrow…
We’re back with the one that started it all! I would have had no idea 7 years later, Arrow would still be going and to some degree, still trying to tell new stories (kind of.) The new format is below, we’re going positive and negative, and remember: SPOILERS AHEAD!
The Good:
– I have to say, I have been very excited about seeing Oliver in prison and what that could entail, but honestly, the stuff I was more drawn to so far is seeing where the team is and what they’re up to. Renee, you know, he grew on me a lot in the last season even if his character can be all over the map as far as motiviations and actions but him teaching young kids boxing in the Glades (besides giving me Cutty flashbacks) is perfect and I loved his enthusiasm when involved with Dinah (new police captain! RIP Lance) as they were trying to tackle the newest vigilante issue. Dinah, who I also had issues with a lot of last season, also is on solid ground in her new role as well and I love the interplay between these two as one stands for what Oliver made his sacrifice for and the other stands for what he always did: trying to help the people of Star City just survive.
– The stunts! The stunt team is upping their game and I know everyone talks about Daredevil’s fight scenes on Netflix, but Arrow has always brought it with the fights and tonight was no exception whatsoever. I wasn’t nuts about the earliest prison fight between Ollie and the lamest group of villains ever (see The Bad), but the Arrow flipping that business dude over his head through the crate was balls out amazing! The shower fight scene, Felicity doing flips through their coffee table and that last scene with Oliver, thank you for adding that by the way, all tremendous.
– Lastly, our Flash-forward- yep, that’s a Lost reference, folks. I definitely had a feeling that was William the whole time but I was not expecting him to find an older Roy all crazed out on Lian Yu as he’s looking for his Dad. I am not really sure where that’s going but I’m digging it so far.
The Bad:
– Honestly, the opening montage with the cheesy music: I was like let’s bring prison like we haven’t yet in the Arrowverse; it always looks like a soundstage (i.e. the cafeteria) not a prison and this seemed no exception. Oliver’s look with the beard is badass (I thought it was longer in photos on Stephen’s Instagram over the summer) but I am not into the prison stuff so far. The trio of villains you would have to be a longtime hardcore fan to even recognize them as I believe Bronze Tiger hasn’t been around since season 2? Could be wrong. Samson, phew, besides being a famous wrestler, boring. And Brick….well, he has potential but again, not cool. Why did the guards let the other prisoners kick that weak prisoner dude too? I can’t quite figure out the in’s and out’s of how this prison works? I guess loosely but not clear.
– Felicity and William…..ah, no. Felicity’s “disguise” in witness protection feels like just an excuse for her to dye her hair pink. Over the summer, I feel like the Diaz threat has faded away; and after seeing Felicity kind of kick his butt, it really has. Hold on , Argus save her? But I guess Diaz got away? And Felicity’s already out of Witness Protection (which sucked royally) and is shipping William off? If Diaz found him under the closest guarded secrecy of the government how is boarding school supposed to be better? And I’m sorry, but Jack Moore (young William) is just not a good actor and he rarely ever has anything worth a crap to do.
Wrapping it up, there have been better Arrow premieres, I’ll be honest, this one’s not bad, it seems to be keeping the street level storylines up and I’m intrigued with the flash forward so we’ll give it a 7/10
Jessie Robertson
