Arrow season 1 up to ep 10
Sep. 28th, 2013 08:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethI think I <3 it.
It's actually trying for moral complexity and calling Oliver out every time he's actually being several kinds of wrong! ... and, okay, the 'yaay I can kill again' episode was sort of offputting, but mostly it's calling into question the whole vigilante thing and getting stuck in to exactly when and why he might possibly be needed, and the ways he's actually screwing things up and making them harder, instead of just being all 'now he's a vigilante! They Fight Crime!'
It's all about families and revenge and being so absolutely sure you're right you are willing to kill and die for it. Lots of different angles on that. Including a 'you're a dumbass' angle.
And the women are turning out interesting. Moira has a story that goes beyond a one word relationship title, Thea... tells people off a lot, Felicity is a little awesome (though I feel I've seen her on a lot of other shows before), Laurel follows through on her principles and does it with several different kinds of strength, and then there's Helena :-)
Oliver trying to 'save' Helena was irritating right up until Dig pointed out that was what he was doing and used the junkie simile. Because yes. Oliver tried to turn her into him, because he's so damn sure he's drawn the line in the right place, and there's arguments to be made about random gun violence vs the control he was trying to demonstrate, but that doesn't make him right. The show doesn't think he's right :-)
Dig is a bit awesome but I'd kind of like to see him do more himself and not just chivvy Oliver along. But he has a different agenda and he's getting Oliver to follow Dig's agenda so that's win.
I was worried that Walter was going to be evil but instead he's being the guy who gets fridged for motivation. He is the damsel. To motivate Moira. I did not see that coming.
I don't know what Moira's deal is yet, but it's interesting finding out. And if she turns out to be evil it probably won't be boring cackling evil.
Merlyn! ... okay, I have discovered I can recognise John Barrowman by his shadow/movement and his eyes in a balaclava. That's embarrassing. But! Tommy's whole story is going to be so much more interesting now. Will he find out and oppose him? Will he be sidekick guy? Will he go dark vengeance when Oliver does something final? Will Oliver be stuck with his best friend and worst enemy being the same guy as a result of his own actions? Or will he be avenging his best friend, who chose the right thing and got cut off by his dad a little too literally? All the possibilities sound awesome.
... I'm uninvested in his love life though. really, he's placeholder guy and it's just sad. also, he seems to be trying to be a better guy to get the girl, which isn't a great plan because what if the girl doesn't want to be got? girls aren't for the getting. so that's not going to end well one way or another.
I am epic bored with stuff on the island. Epic. I care not. I can think of a few things I might like to know from then, but nothing at the moment I want to find out in the form of another stupid hair flashback. And I'm a Highlander fan. Stupid hair flashbacks are a perfectly valid storytelling tool. But you have to use them to tell a part of the story that you can't tell another way. This one seems to be using it as a sort of emoticon? Like, he's stoic guy now, so if he's having a feelings they have to have a flashback to tell you what feelings. But I'm still bored.
I also miss the costumes. I know superhero costumes are difficult to do, and what we've seen works as the kind of very dramatic street clothes translation, but... shiny? Where shiny?
The costumes are for mythmaking, for building symbol sets around. I miss them when they go all ordinary.
On the other hand I approve of Oliver's aversion to shirts. I'm plenty shallow enough to think that brightens the scene up nicely. Also, all the training sequences, yaays.
(again reminding me of Highlander)
(I guess my tastes remain consistent)
I like TV box sets and not having to wait a week for the next one, but I also miss thinking things over for a week between stories. I've watched a bunch of things lately that just didn't make enough of a splash to leave me wondering for a week. I'd quite like to watch Arrow with some waiting built in. But as far as I can find I'd need more channels of TV.
I'm keeping my comics comparisons under control, but it is bothering me a bit that everything is an origin story. I mean, when I started reading comics, it was decades into the story, and it never bothered me. But once it's on TV it's all beginnings all the time, and you don't get the multi generational perspective any more. But taken on its own terms, I think I'm liking this version.
It's actually trying for moral complexity and calling Oliver out every time he's actually being several kinds of wrong! ... and, okay, the 'yaay I can kill again' episode was sort of offputting, but mostly it's calling into question the whole vigilante thing and getting stuck in to exactly when and why he might possibly be needed, and the ways he's actually screwing things up and making them harder, instead of just being all 'now he's a vigilante! They Fight Crime!'
It's all about families and revenge and being so absolutely sure you're right you are willing to kill and die for it. Lots of different angles on that. Including a 'you're a dumbass' angle.
And the women are turning out interesting. Moira has a story that goes beyond a one word relationship title, Thea... tells people off a lot, Felicity is a little awesome (though I feel I've seen her on a lot of other shows before), Laurel follows through on her principles and does it with several different kinds of strength, and then there's Helena :-)
Oliver trying to 'save' Helena was irritating right up until Dig pointed out that was what he was doing and used the junkie simile. Because yes. Oliver tried to turn her into him, because he's so damn sure he's drawn the line in the right place, and there's arguments to be made about random gun violence vs the control he was trying to demonstrate, but that doesn't make him right. The show doesn't think he's right :-)
Dig is a bit awesome but I'd kind of like to see him do more himself and not just chivvy Oliver along. But he has a different agenda and he's getting Oliver to follow Dig's agenda so that's win.
I was worried that Walter was going to be evil but instead he's being the guy who gets fridged for motivation. He is the damsel. To motivate Moira. I did not see that coming.
I don't know what Moira's deal is yet, but it's interesting finding out. And if she turns out to be evil it probably won't be boring cackling evil.
Merlyn! ... okay, I have discovered I can recognise John Barrowman by his shadow/movement and his eyes in a balaclava. That's embarrassing. But! Tommy's whole story is going to be so much more interesting now. Will he find out and oppose him? Will he be sidekick guy? Will he go dark vengeance when Oliver does something final? Will Oliver be stuck with his best friend and worst enemy being the same guy as a result of his own actions? Or will he be avenging his best friend, who chose the right thing and got cut off by his dad a little too literally? All the possibilities sound awesome.
... I'm uninvested in his love life though. really, he's placeholder guy and it's just sad. also, he seems to be trying to be a better guy to get the girl, which isn't a great plan because what if the girl doesn't want to be got? girls aren't for the getting. so that's not going to end well one way or another.
I am epic bored with stuff on the island. Epic. I care not. I can think of a few things I might like to know from then, but nothing at the moment I want to find out in the form of another stupid hair flashback. And I'm a Highlander fan. Stupid hair flashbacks are a perfectly valid storytelling tool. But you have to use them to tell a part of the story that you can't tell another way. This one seems to be using it as a sort of emoticon? Like, he's stoic guy now, so if he's having a feelings they have to have a flashback to tell you what feelings. But I'm still bored.
I also miss the costumes. I know superhero costumes are difficult to do, and what we've seen works as the kind of very dramatic street clothes translation, but... shiny? Where shiny?
The costumes are for mythmaking, for building symbol sets around. I miss them when they go all ordinary.
On the other hand I approve of Oliver's aversion to shirts. I'm plenty shallow enough to think that brightens the scene up nicely. Also, all the training sequences, yaays.
(again reminding me of Highlander)
(I guess my tastes remain consistent)
I like TV box sets and not having to wait a week for the next one, but I also miss thinking things over for a week between stories. I've watched a bunch of things lately that just didn't make enough of a splash to leave me wondering for a week. I'd quite like to watch Arrow with some waiting built in. But as far as I can find I'd need more channels of TV.
I'm keeping my comics comparisons under control, but it is bothering me a bit that everything is an origin story. I mean, when I started reading comics, it was decades into the story, and it never bothered me. But once it's on TV it's all beginnings all the time, and you don't get the multi generational perspective any more. But taken on its own terms, I think I'm liking this version.