(This review may contain spoilers).
Early on in creating my blog, I decided I wasn’t going to review episodes of television series, because given my other commitments, I watch so much, I wouldn’t be able to do anything else other than review episodes. So I decided to review seasons. Which is often hard, because I’m likely to watch a few episodes of something, get bored, go onto something else, then start watching the first series from the beginning again. And repeat.
So, if it hadn’t been for my younger brother, I might not have ended up watching this. But he wanted to watch it, and with me, so that’s what we did. And despite an initial reluctance, I found myself drawn into this series.
I noticed some similarities between Oliver Queen and Tony Stark. I did quite like Oliver throughout this series. There were some scenes with him that were really amusing, particularly when he kept on ditching Diggle, who is probably one of my favourite characters in Arrow as well.
I did think the flashbacks worked particularly well in this series. For the most part, they linked in really well with the modern-day events. And it was really good to see the evolution of Oliver from the spoiled rich boy to the vigilante so desperate to save his city from those harming it from within.
What was intriguing was to see the differences between the two sets of relationships Oliver formed. There were the people on the island and the people in Starling City. I felt that the struggle Oliver had between his two lives wasn’t explored as well as it could have been, though I did think there were some instances where consequences were shown.
I did like the family elements in this series, a bit more than the romance. I would have liked to see more of them, particularly Oliver’s relationship with Thea. There were times I really felt sorry for her, feeling that her family seemed to neglect her more than they spent time with her. In many ways, I liked it better when Roy came into the picture.
It was also cool to see John Barrowman in this. I’ve only seen him in Doctor Who and Torchwood, that I remember, so it was good to see him playing a different type of character. I was also intrigued by his relationship with his son. I really didn’t like his character, but his relationship with Tommy showed him as more well-rounded than he originally came across as.
I also recognised the actress who played Laurel in this, having seen her in Supernatural. I liked a lot of the actors in this and I felt there were some really good comedy moments, as well as some serious and a lot of emotional scenes in this. The family relationships I did see were intriguing and drew me even further into the episodes.
I was a bit unhappy that the first season ended on a cliffhanger, but it makes me want to watch season two, so I guess it’s done its job. It’ll be good to see the aftermath of the season one finale.
Ink of Blood 