It's a toss-up for who the MVP of early Arrow is; it's either the stunt coordinators/choreographers or Susanna Thompson's performance as Moira Queen. The intensity of the action was definitely one of the most eye-catching and moreish qualities of the show when it launched; the rest of it mostly felt like the CW line-up-filler it was probably considered to be on the executive level. At the time, you can't underestimate how exciting it was for the audience to see a superhero TV show with action that felt on par with most movies in the genre had offered up to this point (remember, in 2012, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was not quite the all-conquering cultural juggernaut it is today).
For me, though, Arrow's actual unique selling proposition was about to be its approach to melodrama, Greg Berlanti and the rest of his creative team hitting upon a way to marry the signature soapy stylings of its network home to the already heightened world of the DC comics source material. This was, of course, nothing new; both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural had already worked the same formula, at the same network. Arrow still had a lot to do to get there, though, and that's why I see Thompson's performance in these early episodes as maybe even more crucial to the show's eventual (creative) success than the kinetic superhero action. Among the principal cast members, at this point, Thompson was the only one consistently hitting the unexpectedly gripping emotional notes that were to become the show's stock in trade. You can see how she galvanises the performers opposite her in pretty much every scene she's in, leading by example, instantly identifying the dramatic potential in the hokey genre show she'd signed up for.
Thompson working alongside Willa Holland in their scenes here in particular is so thrilling to me. The stock CW teenager Holland has been assaying thus far just falls away, revealing the sardonic, weary Thea Queen I know with hindsight I'm about to grow to love. It's doubly impressive because there's nothing too spectacular in the writing – it's the kind of plot line I'm sure was dismissed by nerd recappers as the boring bits between the cool superhero stuff – but Thompson and Holland make it sing.
Good episode overall and enjoyed seeing Oliver doing some detective work when going after Deadshot. Once again Quentin Lance and Paul Blackthorne's performance is what stand out. His interaction with the Hood and Oliver were really good. Even though i have really enjoyed seeing Oliver work solo, this episodes leaves with an interesting cliffhanger with Diggle finding out his secret. So far only good episodes in arrow.
Mediocre episode, but introduction of Felicity to Oliver and Diggle to Arrow are both great
Deadshot shows up way earlier than I remembered
A decent episode, but quite slow. Not a huge fan of deadshot. The Green Arrow himself is rarely in this episode, which is another negative. The characters were goods in this episode, especially the Queens and Walter. Overall, a very average episode thats sole purpose is to set up the ending, which was also good.
Final Score- 65%
first appearance of Deadshot
awesome character really enjoy this version of the character as well much better than Will Smith did in my opinion
Best episode of the season so far. Things in this show are starting to get really good. I hope that continues for a while.
Shout by Darren RennelsBlockedParent2022-04-04T09:09:22Z
Slight improvement on the last episode, if only because more elements are coming together and the soap opera melodrama is starting to grow on me. Still not sold on Colin Donnell, and Katie Cassidy is doing the best she can with pretty mediocre dialogue. The stuff with Thea is already starting to wear thin, hope she gets to do something substantial soon.