...this show is almost indescribably bad. It makes me angry just to think about.
Caveat: I don't know a whole lot about Green Arrow. His name is Oliver Queen, he gained his skills while marooned on an island, he's rich, and he is SO EASY to make fun of. But this isn't an attack on the concept. I've seen sillier concepts work out to be much better shows.
Arrow is one of those shows where wooden acting, poor directing, and writing about on par with the Twilight Saga come together to create one of the most offensive television experiences I have ever had. And I've seen Jersey Shore.
Stephen Amell as the titular hero Green Arrow and Katie Cassidy as Laurel are particularly bad, with approximately one-and-a-half facial expressions between them and a penchant for removing themselves from the room as the standard method of showing anger. You could make a drinking game out of it, truly.
The writing is staggeringly awful. However, when I say "writing," I'm not speaking about the plot. That might yet unravel over time, but it's too early to tell. What I mean is the actual words which come out of people's mouths. There is a specific scene which comes to mind where Oliver and his best friend, Tommy, are seated at a table, discussing their friendship. Tommy reveals that he's been sleeping with Laurel, and Oliver's only reaction is, "That's okay, I forgive you." I closed my eyes for this scene and realized that I could not even tell who was saying what at certain points. They have no verbal mannerisms, and the "funny" best friend has no real sense of humor that I could discern. Plus, his jokes plain suck, but I guess that's a minor point, all things considered. I should point out that, recently, a friend told me that Tommy Merlyn turns into Green Arrow's nemesis, which means they of course have a lot in common and might seem like the same person at times. But that doesn't really come across as purposeful on this show.
The directing is maybe the worst offender, here, because a good director could turn cruddy actors and poor writing into something downright entertaining. Just look at Sam Raimi's work on Spider-man 1 and 2. Instead, I find myself imagining David Barrett or John Dahl or any number of the other directors on this show, sitting there texting while scenes are happening. Maybe eating a sandwich or something. Not paying attention must be hungry work.
I'm getting into a lot of detail, so I'm just going to cut this off and say that I should have seen it coming. Just look at the promo picture. Really consider it. That was the very first thing we were shown regarding this series. Ask yourself what that says about their priorities.
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