Arrow is based on the story of a DC comic hero, “The Green Arrow”. The series revolves around spoiled billionaire Oliver Queen who is missing and presumed dead due to his yacht being lost at sea. He returns five years later a changed man, determined to clean up the city as a hooded vigilante armed with a bow.
He has a list of names and he is going to right the wrongs that his corrupt family did. The creators of the series are Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg. Brought to us by CW, it first aired in 2012 and it currently has a 7.7 IMDB score. The series averaged about 3.68 million viewers over the course of the first season and received several awards and multiple nominations.
The first half of the first season is full of flashbacks involving Oliver’s time on the island while the main focus is the characters and the stories he is trying to tell by protecting and saving his city. This was an interesting twist as the viewers could easily grow fond of the main character by understanding his actions through the flashbacks shown off what he had to endure and what happened to him during those five years he was on that island.
However, in the second half of season 1 characters start finding out who Oliver Queen is. His adventure on the island gets a lot more interesting in that midseason mark, ending the entire season on a cliffhanger. Overall, season 1 had a lot of interesting comic book characters that were adapted to fit into the realistic tone of the show, like Firefly and Count Vertigo.
In season 2, Oliver Queen feels like he’s failed his city but he eventually comes back, picking up the arrow and the hood and resuming his ultimate goal, which is saving the city. He starts out by deciding that he should stop killing people and become a better person. The first half of season 2 deals with the League of Assassins. However, during the other half, Slade Wilson appears.
Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett) is a former member of an elite division of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service as well as Oliver Queen’s former mentor. He initially was an ally of Oliver on the island, teaching him a vast majority of skills.
He was later injected with the Mirakuru serum as well as embarking on a crusade of vengeance against Anthony Ivo for killing Shado. He also swears vengeance against Oliver Queen as he finds out he decided to save Sara Lance over Shado. His powers are the accelerated healing factor, as well as enhanced agility, speed, senses, stamina, and strength.
Overall, Slade Wilson lives to make Oliver Queen’s life a living hell which only leaves viewers wondering what happened between the two of them on the island. Black Canary, originally known as Laurel Lance also appears in season 2 of the series.
Laurel (Katie Cassidy) was the sister of the late Sara Lance as well as being part of the CNRI group that helps people in need. During the tragic time in her life, she grows closer to Oliver’s best friend, Tommy Merlyn. Her abilities include the hand-to-hand advanced combat.
Season 3 introduced Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh), who plays a charismatic businessman by stealing Oliver’s company as well as Felicity’s affections. The clear villains of the season were Ra’s al Ghul and the League of Assassins as the threat they impose on Starling City become known. Ra’s al Ghul (Matt Nable) was the title of an otherwise unidentified man who was the leader of the League of Assassins.
Ra’s powers are the enhanced strength as well as longevity, being able to live for centuries with maintaining his peak health. His abilities include the peak of human physical condition, as well as having a genius-level intellect and being a master hand-to-hand combatant.
Another interesting turn this season had was the appearance of The Flash, Barry (Grant Gustin) who teams up with Oliver in order to help him get to Lyla. One of the most intriguing plots of the season was the uncertainty about Oliver – is he turning bad? Is Ra’s al Ghul going to turn him to the other side?
The premiere of season 4 introduced a different and quieter Oliver, one who was happy to leave the vigilante action behind him for a peaceful and quiet life. Oliver and Felicity also return to Star City and reconnect with Diggle, Laurel, and Thea – forcing Oliver to confront the mess he left behind in the city.
One of the best additions to season 4 was the villain Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough). Darhk and his loyal H.I.V.E agents replaced Ra’s al Ghul and the League of Assassins. Damien’s plan all along was to cleanse the Earth so that H.I.V.E would remain the only known source of leadership.
Damien’s powers included magic: life-force absorption, fatal touch, telekinesis, superhuman strength as well as teleportation, accelerated healing, and longevity. His abilities included the genius level intellect, hand-to-hand combat, and leadership. However, he also had a weakness – the vulnerability to Lazarus Pit.
Season 5 began with Oliver being convinced by Felicity that they need to form a new team – he ends up with Curtis, Wild Dog, and Evelyn Shark. Once Curtis (Echo Kellum) realized that his strength lies not in his martial arts abilities but in his intelligence, he became an extremely worthwhile member of the team as his computer skills rival those of Felicity (Emily Rickards). Season 5 also came with a new villain, Prometheus.
He is an extremely dangerous archer operating in Star City. When he was not Prometheus, he was Simon Morrison, the District Attorney of Star City which gave him the entrance into working directly with Oliver Queen, as he was the mayor.
Prometheus has a personal hatred towards Oliver Queen which led him to train and study everything about Oliver over the course of four years so that he could be prepared into launching a war between him and Green Arrow. Overall, the ratings show that season 5 was one of the most liked seasons by the viewers.
In the first part of season 6, the viewers had to deal with the aftermath of the explosion of Lian Yu as well as Team Arrow having to take on the new threat that was introduced the previous season in the form of Cayden James.
He is the leader of the organization Helix. After being freed from A.R.G.U.S. captivity at a black site facility, James starts going rogue and allies himself with Black Siren and a cabal of several other villains. He develops plans for an operation called Arclight, which might result in the death of 300,000,000 people.
As Cayden states to Oliver Queen, his motivation is that the Green Arrow cost him his son. As for season 6, the story continues with its main villain – Richard Dragon. He is also known as Ricardo Diaz Jr. and he is a vigilante and the founder and leader of The Longbow Hunters and former member of The League of Assassins.
In season 7, Oliver’s trip to prison shed some light into the female characters of the series. After surviving in witness protection and parenting William on her own for months, Felicity decided to take the fight against Diaz into her own hands. This plot twist helped with character development as well as noticing the huge impact brought to them with Oliver’s absence.
During this season, the Ninth Circle is finally introduced. A ninth Circle is a sinister group run by the terrorist financier, Dante; however, it is later revealed that the true leader of the Ninth Circle, as well as season 7’s true villain, isn’t Dante, but the new Green Arrow, Emiko Queen (Sea Shimooka). She is also a vigilante archer who became the third Green Arrow, taking Oliver’s mantle after his incarceration. Her abilities include the peak of human physical condition as well as having a high-level intellect, being a master deceiver and a master combatant.
Arrow returns to the screen with season 8 in early October 2019.
