Board Thread:DC Universe Discussion/@comment-34954086-20121013054202/@comment-1895174-20130625212116

To this day Stephen Amell's Oliver Queen bugs me.... Don't forget a lot of hypocrisy. Like distancing himself from Helena for her methods while his own methods are little different. Like killing off a bunch of nameless mooks while letting the really dangerous people (China White, the Count) live. Diggle continues to be my favorite character on the show. I think he's really the only consistently portrayed character on the show, and I'm looking forward to more of David Ramsey in season two. Interesting choice. Not one I can find fault with, but most people I've talked to about the show have taken to other characters. Smoak's a fan-favorite for her mannerisms more than anything, Slade gained popularity for the way Manu Bennett snarls his lines, and Tommy Merlyn became popular in the later episodes due to his characters transformation from "useless baggage" to "emotional heart of the show" in the matter of an episode or two. Now, Laurel Lance.... I think the biggest problem with Laurel is that the show really wants to push her and Oliver as an item, and no one else is interested. Oliver and Smoak, Oliver and Shado...Oliver with any other female character other than his mother and sister is more popular than Oliver and Laurel. And as for Tommy.... To repeat myself a bit, the guy also went from the show's most useless character to one of the more important within a couple episodes. If anything, the show should have used him like that earlier in the season so the writing staff wouldn't have killed him off because they had no idea what to do with him.

And I hated how A Tale of Two Cities ended, so I hated how Tommy died. Back to the topic at hand, I think most of the other recurring characters did remarkably well.... Thea's crowning moment might have been her annoying texting-while-driving PSA in the finale. Because the person I should take driving tips from is the person who got a DUI on her first day as a legal driver.

Minor Characters You Didn't Mention LIGHTNING ROUND: I think one of the biggest introductions this season, without a doubt, was Roy Harper.... Way too attractive? This is The CW we're talking about! "Way too attractive" is a prerequisite to get a job there. But, that being said, Roy should have been introduced at a later date. This first season of Arrow burned through so many narrative plotlines that I actually worry about the show's longevity. As for the finale itself?... It was pretty surprising that Malcolm actually won and the Glades were destroyed. That there was another earthquake machine had shades of Ozymandias' "I did it thirty-five minutes ago," so that's a good thing. What was maybe more shocking was why Oliver had to fight Malcolm in the end.... Because this is a superhero show, so there needs to be some kind of showdown with the Big Bad. That being said, it was a big disappointment that both Merlyns had to be killed off in the same episode. I was half expecting Malcolm to die and Tommy take up his mantle to get revenge on Oliver. Then he returns as the big bad for Season 3, complete with flashbacks to him in Nanda Parbat (more on that later). If Tommy's anything, he's...well, he's Harry Osborn, but that's for another day. And now for my favorite part of the season, Oliver's adventures on the island... I'm actually disappointed they didn't end with this season. It's dangerous for this show to tell Ollie's origin over several seasons. They run the risk of the show ending before they can finish with the origin story, and on the other hand they run the risk of the show continuing past when they plan to finish telling that story, at which point it has to be replaced with something else (we call this a jump-the-shark moment) or artificially extend it. There's also going to be a day when we've already seen enough of this hero being a hero to care about his origin anymore.
 * Detective Lance - Is now Commissioner Gordon. Also, how has he not figured out Oliver is the Vigilante?
 * McKenna - Can't believe they let her leave for Green Lantern-ville before Ollie Shiva-bombed.
 * Helena - Arguably the show's worst recurring character. Jessica DeGouw's performance doesn't help.
 * China White - How is she still alive?
 * The Count - Tried for the Joker and...eh, somewhat successful.
 * Deadshot - I love that Diggle's having all these background adventures.
 * Moira - Had a Lady Macbeth moment when she betrayed Mr. Lau.

It would have been better if the flashbacks and the present-day storylines merged in the finale by setting up Fyers' boss as the next season's Big Bad. Instead, we didn't get any appearance from her, meaning it was pointless to tease her in the season's penultimate episode. Speaking of pointless teases, this is where Nanda Parbat comes into play. If we weren't going to go to Nanda Parbat, Malcolm's mention of that place is now just a grating name-drop like Moira saying she'll be "back in a flash" from Central City. If Tommy went there, it would have also set up the League of Shadows/Assassins as the Big Bad for another season, like how teasing Fyers' boss could have been teasing a future Big Bad. But none of that happened, so instead of seeing a plan for where this series could go, we just have some big ol' question marks and an artificially drawn-out origin story. Like I said, I worry how this series will look in the long run.

7 or 8 out of 10.