Spoiled billionaire playboy Oliver Queen is missing and presumed dead when his yacht is 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.
When it first hit the screen I loved this show. It's rather bare knuckle, vigilante grittiness really broke the candy covered shell, that encases so many comic book hero's.
Sadly in spite of strong stories and mature characterizations for me this show slowly started a downward spiral, gradually exchanging its originality for mainstream complacency.
What really ruined things, in my view, was the migration of the character from a kind of anti hero to a politician. As if this wasn't bad enough, a thread of brittle and downright tiresome, lecturing political correctness crept in too.
The result was bland, predictable, opinionated and uninteresting. What a shame. 4/10 from me.
Peter89Spencer
10
Reviewed by Peter89Spencer
It has been a great 8 year journey with this show.
When I first began watching season 1, I had my skepticism, but halfway through it it got more interesting, and over the years it became...something else!
From heart stomping action to a great cast - especially when it featured nearly all the main cast from the Spartacus series! And even epic crossovers
This show will be missed.
misubisu
7
Reviewed by misubisu
MobieGuys summed it up beautifully: https://www.themoviedb.org/review/5ca169649251411a18088d77
Seasons 1 to 4 were a solid 9 out of 10... and each season after that was worse. I didn't even watch season 8. Couldn't bring myself to do it
GenerationofSwine
1
Reviewed by GenerationofSwine
IF you only watch the first few seasons it's pretty good. It actually starts off decent enough, and had they kept on that track I'd give it 10 stars.
But, unfortunately, it spiraled into CW trash pretty fast and what was once a decent and gritty superhero show ala Grell, it quickly turned into Smallville meets The Dating Game.
As the show progresses, it becomes more and more muted, more and more toned down, and the gritty darkness that made it good fun turned into shallow CWness.
Watch the first few seasons, and then tune out.
