X-Men: The (fan fic) Series

I think this may have been the best episode yet… I’m kinda annoyed now I waited so long to sit down and watch it.

I know I’ve been putting down the flashbacks a lot but in this episode the flashback is the A-plot while Diggle and IT-Girl Felicity are the B-plot. The flashback itself is a complete story from beginning to end and actually gives us really useful insight not only on Oliver, but on Slade, Yao-Fei and Fyers. Here the flashback is more than just random window-dressing. As for Diggle and Felicity (too bad Black Cat is Marvel), sure, they are mostly just standing around doing exposition but at least these two actors can keep it from being too boring as Diggle is just awesome and Felicity is also, well, awesome.

There was also no ‘cameo villain’ in this episode, instead existing villains are given a bit more depth and the overall plot arc is explored. As a special bonus, Thea is not really in the episode and there is a distinct lack of whining. Oh, there was still whining at the end (Arrow, dur, your mom was playing you so she could get the gun) but it’s not thrown at us every five seconds with long speeches.

Oh, speaking of mom… dang! Now where know where Oliver gets it.

Now, it wasn’t an awesome episode by any stretch, but I wasn’t screaming at it every five seconds, telling people to shut up, or shouting ‘oh, come on!’. They did take better care putting this episode together and if they can keep that going and work on it then Arrow could start getting up to the level it should be.

Lastly, I was remiss in not pointing out last episode that notably Oliver killed (or at least seriously maimed) all those hired guns but the bad guy is just cuffed and sent off (I know he stopped the dad but why didn’t he do it himself? He said so himself that is what guys like him do, not cops, even though that cop willfully followed Arrow knowing that people were going to get hurt so I think the moral high-ground was already lost in the shuffle).

I need to find the article and reblog it, but they writer pointed out that Arrow is not about ‘the little guy’ cause he does seem to do this, kill the hired guns but let the rich get away without a scratch to either ‘clean up’ or ‘get arrested’… and we all know how well it turns out for rich people who get arrested… rather well for them actually.

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Review: Arrow S01E13 “Betrayal”

For about five seconds there I thought he said “Wade Wilson” and I was “OMG THIS SHOW GOT A ZILLION TIMES BETTER” then I realized, duh, Slade Wilson.

This episode was actually better than the last few, well, up to a point. Could have done without the continued ‘parental issues’ theme because, come on, haven’t we had enough of that? Now it’s Laurel and Dresden. At least this was ‘somewhat’ reasonable here under the circumstances and therefore somewhat tolerable… until the end. Seriously, the dude just saved your life, risked everything for you, his job, his beliefs, all to save your whiney little butt. That’s how you repay him? Hold still so I can throw my shoe at you.

Diggle continues to be one of the most interesting and fun characters in the show, the voice of reason as well. Of course, Oliver doesn’t take it to well that his mom lied to him about the Queen’s Gambit. Come one, we just went through this with the sister, are these episodes on the wash-rinse-repeat cycle?

Once again the villain is an after-thought and only made interesting because, dude, Dr Whale! There was no real sense of peril, and not because we know Arrow will save her, but because the villain might as well be a fairy-tale character for all we know. The audience is given nothing to work with, it’s all a bunch of soap opera nonsense. Now, I like a little soap in my superhero fun, but I don’t want to drown in it.

The ending was interesting but somehow I doubt we’ll get a good payoff in the next episode… if we do then color me impressed… for the first time in this show.

Also, if that was Slade then who was in the suit? Guess we’ll find out.

Though, you know what I really want to happen in Arrow… I know she’s technically a ‘Batman villain’, but have Harley and some of her clown goons roll into town looking to expand operations for Mr J. No Joker, no Batman, just Harley with her bad-a attitude and big freaking mallet. She’s had to deal with Bats so she would be able to give Oliver a run for his money for at least a three episode arc. It would be epic!

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CW’s Arrow

Review: Arrow S01E12 “Vertigo”

Can we just kill off the little sister? I’m down with that.

She’s annoying, bratty, and pointless. “It was just me and mom, you were dead!” “I hate mom, wish she had died!” “Oh, dad was the cheat? I’m so sorry!” We might give a crap about this plot line if it wasn’t so, well, bratty and pointless. What do we gain through all this? Character development? Nope. We already knew who the dad was and what everyone was like, the only person figuring this out now is Thea, a character that does absolutely nothing for the show but go around and whine. But of course, everyone jumps to her rescue after she mucks up. I say the brat should have been put in jail.

I suppose there was some kind of mimic here where Oliver is trying to ‘save her’ like he’s trying to protect the city, but it’s fail, utter fail.

Speaking of which, we have what should have been the main storyline and that is of Oliver going after The Count, another villain who is woefully addressed, not to mention badly acted. What was he going for? Joker on speed?

SSSSSSSSSssssssssoooooooooooooooooooooo much potential in this episode to really take the ‘mind bending’ aspect and run with it. Instead it’s pushed aside to make room for Thea’s plotline and a flashback which was totally obvious and pointless at the same time. Seriously, if the flashbacks are going to be nothing but ‘let’s see how many times Oliver can get caught and escape’ I’m going to start throwing things.

Lastly, come on Dresden, really? REALLY? You’re just going to take Oliver’s word that he was ‘just trying to get eyes on The Count’ when his own sister was caught with the drug? You’re a cop, even though Oliver was ‘technically right’ he still lied and you shouldn’t have just taken his, or anyone’s, word for it.

This show just continues to frustrate me, but at least I’m getting a lot of good advice on how not to treat a superhero show.

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