Broken Arrows
Ug. Okay, I just finished episode 4 of Arrow and… headdesk.
When I said this show had potential, I wasn't joking. It does. The set up is interesting, the protagonist is delightfully unapologetic about his actions, and the complete lack of superhero posturing and idealation is lovely. That said, I think my eyes almost fell out from rolling so hard.
What strikes me about this is the fact that everyone seems to forget Oliver spent five years on an island, alone, with absolutely no way of surviving without changing who he was. I'm assuming after the rescue, authorities went back to the island to confirm and get background details on his story, as I believe they did attempt to talk to him in the pilot in the hospital. Oliver was a silver spoon 1 percenter whose biggest trouble in life was punching the paparazzi and getting caught cheating on his girlfriend. This island, from what we'e seen in the flashbacks, is completely barren. Very grey, very little in the way of warmth and comfort, probably not much in the way of finding food. You don't survive five years in this place without changing. You get hard. You focus. You get rid of what won't help you and learn to assimilate what will. The Chinese guy who inexplicably shot Ollie last episode and then dragged him to the cave even said it, 'you stare at [Laurel's photo] all day, you won't survive.'
I can understand the soldier-at-war effect going on. Familes like to believe that who leaves is who comes back. But EVERYONE seems to forget. Even Diggle, lovely lovely man that he is, trivialized it. I'm not saying going away to war isn't intense, but I am saying that Oliver didn't sign up for anything, had no training, and no inclination nor idea how the hell to make it through alive. He had to learn on the fly. And the fact that people assume that he's still the same asshole who went off on the Loveboat irritates the shit out of me. DUDE HAS A TON OD SCARS AND PTSD LIKE WOAH. HE'S NOT EVEN HIDING IT THAT WELL. He didn't even blink when he told Diggle Robert shot himself. I think that's a clue.
Next on the 'oh God' meter: Laurel's speech. Sweetie, you know he's a vigilante. Your daddy has been talking about him for weeks. He's dangerous, clever, kind of a creeper, and has no qualms about killing people. While I understand the whole 'he's not what I thought he was' mentality, I don't get why a lawyer, and a good one from what I'm to understand, would change their opinion after like three meetings, none of whch were very long, and involved discussion of blatant law-breaking. Lady, I get he's getting things done. Don't soliloquize about it.
Also: The footage of Oliver in the stairwell. Why did no one see this sooner? I think they said it was from the shooting last episode. Dude creeps in a stairwell, grabs something from a trashcan, then takes off? Suspicious. Why do we need prompting to think this is sketchy?
On a lighter note, I think there was like 75% less Fucking Narration ™ this time, John Barrowman appeared (!!), and the previews showed someone who looked delightfully like Deathstroke the Terminator~ <3
When I said this show had potential, I wasn't joking. It does. The set up is interesting, the protagonist is delightfully unapologetic about his actions, and the complete lack of superhero posturing and idealation is lovely. That said, I think my eyes almost fell out from rolling so hard.
What strikes me about this is the fact that everyone seems to forget Oliver spent five years on an island, alone, with absolutely no way of surviving without changing who he was. I'm assuming after the rescue, authorities went back to the island to confirm and get background details on his story, as I believe they did attempt to talk to him in the pilot in the hospital. Oliver was a silver spoon 1 percenter whose biggest trouble in life was punching the paparazzi and getting caught cheating on his girlfriend. This island, from what we'e seen in the flashbacks, is completely barren. Very grey, very little in the way of warmth and comfort, probably not much in the way of finding food. You don't survive five years in this place without changing. You get hard. You focus. You get rid of what won't help you and learn to assimilate what will. The Chinese guy who inexplicably shot Ollie last episode and then dragged him to the cave even said it, 'you stare at [Laurel's photo] all day, you won't survive.'
I can understand the soldier-at-war effect going on. Familes like to believe that who leaves is who comes back. But EVERYONE seems to forget. Even Diggle, lovely lovely man that he is, trivialized it. I'm not saying going away to war isn't intense, but I am saying that Oliver didn't sign up for anything, had no training, and no inclination nor idea how the hell to make it through alive. He had to learn on the fly. And the fact that people assume that he's still the same asshole who went off on the Loveboat irritates the shit out of me. DUDE HAS A TON OD SCARS AND PTSD LIKE WOAH. HE'S NOT EVEN HIDING IT THAT WELL. He didn't even blink when he told Diggle Robert shot himself. I think that's a clue.
Next on the 'oh God' meter: Laurel's speech. Sweetie, you know he's a vigilante. Your daddy has been talking about him for weeks. He's dangerous, clever, kind of a creeper, and has no qualms about killing people. While I understand the whole 'he's not what I thought he was' mentality, I don't get why a lawyer, and a good one from what I'm to understand, would change their opinion after like three meetings, none of whch were very long, and involved discussion of blatant law-breaking. Lady, I get he's getting things done. Don't soliloquize about it.
Also: The footage of Oliver in the stairwell. Why did no one see this sooner? I think they said it was from the shooting last episode. Dude creeps in a stairwell, grabs something from a trashcan, then takes off? Suspicious. Why do we need prompting to think this is sketchy?
On a lighter note, I think there was like 75% less Fucking Narration ™ this time, John Barrowman appeared (!!), and the previews showed someone who looked delightfully like Deathstroke the Terminator~ <3