'Arrow' Was Revolutionary for Superhero TV

After eight seasons, the curtain finally falls on Arrow.  I was underwhelmed and unsure of some of the choices the narrative opted for in the end, but overall, the finale satisfied.  I guess that simply reflects what I feel about this show as a whole.  I didn’t like everything about it, but I am satisfied with the series overall.

Arrow was a TV show that I wasn’t always enthusiastic about.  While the early seasons put it in my annual picks for best TV shows a few times, the middle seasons didn’t always work for me.  Nevertheless, I was able to follow its entire run closely.  As far as I can remember, I got to see all of its 170 episodes.

I didn’t immediately watch it when it first came out.  It was only when I confirmed that The Flash, when it debuted, was a worthwhile show to watch that I also decided to watch Arrow.  I knew that The Flash spun off from Arrow, and I reckoned that, if the former was worthwhile, then the latter must be as well.  Moreover, I recognized that a shared universe was being developed, and that was something worth investing on early as a fan.

And indeed, from the get go, it seemed like Arrow was always looking for as many opportunities as it could to bring as much of DC Comics mythology into this live-action small screen universe.  In just those opening seasons, it established in this universe many DC characters who aren’t necessarily directly tied up to core Green Arrow lore, such as the Huntress, the League of Assassins, Ra’s al Ghul, Deathstroke, Amanda Waller, Suicide Squad, Barry Allen (who would end up becoming the Flash and getting his own show), Ray Palmer a.k.a. the Atom, and tons more.  Moreover, its depictions of obscure (e.g. Felicity Smoak) and original (e.g. John Diggle, Thea Queen) characters turned out being as noteworthy as those easily recognizable comics-based characters.

Being the first of what would eventually be several live-action DC superhero shows in The CW, Arrow laid a solid groundwork for this shared TV universe, and thus, it got to be named after it – the “Arrowverse” (I personally wish it was named “DCW Universe”, though).  In the process, it significantly contributed to defining superhero live-action TV for the post-Smallville era.

Essentially, Arrow is to the Arrowverse as Iron Man is to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Both had set the tone for their respective franchises/shared universes to be the dominant superhero brand in their respective media.  Moreover, their eponymous characters – whose comic book counterparts were merely B-list characters at best when they started out – became the respective faces of those brands, and the in-story de-facto leaders of their respective superhero communities.

However, Arrow was special, not only because it pioneered a successful superhero shared universe on TV, but because, as a show per se, it did have a couple of striking aspects.  The flashbacks (which became flashforwards in latter seasons) are clever storytelling gimmicks (even though the latter flashback storylines had mixed results).  The fight scenes have some of the most jaw-dropping and kickass choreography I’ve seen in modern TV (especially before Marvel and Netflix released Daredevil).  And the salmon ladder pull-ups, which became an iconic part of the show, are quite awesome.

Most importantly, Arrow somewhat served the purpose of scratching our itch for a live-action Batman series in the 21^st century.  Potentially speaking, the most exciting live-action DC TV series would have been a legit, gritty live-action Batman TV series.  That’s something we would probably never have at this time, for it seems like the powers that be want a live-action Batman to be exclusive in the big screen.  Thus, Arrow was – and currently, still is – the closest thing to a “legit, gritty live-action Batman TV series” we’d ever get.  After all, Green Arrow originally functioned in the comics as a Batman analogue that happens to work with bow and arrows.  And Arrow nailed this quintessential characterization.

In the end, I won’t necessarily miss Arrow.  Ending it after eight seasons was the right call.  In that way, it avoided reaching a point where it had to run on fumes to muster a pathetic conclusion.  Instead, it got to go out on its own terms and while it was still on top.

Also, the Arrowverse is still ongoing.  And thus, its legacy continues.