Review: Arrow ‘Identity’

This week on Arrow, Oliver is officially back in the hood and setting out to clean up the streets of the city, though has a new outlook on life that prevents him from blatantly killing everyone in the process.  And the first enemy he finds is a group of thugs that are ripping off shipments of medical goods.  Given the state of The Glades after the earthquake machine hit, they kind of need those supplies, so off goes Oliver to save the day.

Unfortunately, the enemy stealing the supplies happens to be one of Oliver’s old nemeses, China White.  And what’s more, she has a new side-kick in the form of a guy that has claws on his hands.  If I knew the Green Arrow canon better, I could probably tell you who is he, but as far as the show goes he remains unnamed.  So the first time around goes poorly and Oliver is forced to run when the police show up.  The second time around, he manages to capture China White and save the supplies.

But, of course, the police are less interested in the fact that medical supplies are being stolen than in catching Oliver.  Whether they are being controlled from somewhere higher up or not remains to be seen, but if that’s not the case than I have a bone to pick with the writers.  Though the new attitude that Laurel has, as a staunch hater of all things vigilante, suggests that she may have at least some part in it.  When Oliver finally confronts her on the issue, she expresses that she’s got hurt feelings and has now decided that the vigilante can’t be trusted because he didn’t save everyone from the earthquake machine.  Say what?

As you may be able to tell already, the new season is not impressing me at all.  The pretense for various actions is weak, the dialogue just as bad as always and even the action, previously one of the show’s highlights, is beginning to look pretty sad.  What’s more, they’ve decided that every woman in the show now needs to dress like they’re a hooker going to a cocktail party, whether they happen to be a lawyer or a computer hacker.  Yes, even Felicity is tromping about in high heels and a mini-skirt.  Sigh…

So as Arrow goes downhill, here I sit waiting for it to recover.  It’s done so in the past and will hopefully do so again, though I’m having my doubts.  It almost seems as if a new producer has come onboard and begun to shape the show in a way that they feel will be the most profitable.  Sorry folks, the reason Arrow worked before was because it was at least a little gritty.  Now you’ve candied it up and turned it into a super hero soap opera.  Please fix it before it’s too late!

Anyways, head here for a look at next week’s episode, ‘Broken Dolls.’

Photo Credits -           

Arrow Identity courtesy of thegreenarrow.net