The Review at the End of the Universe
“Starling City” Arrow begins its eighth and final season with a trip down memory lane to the beginnings of Oliver Queen’s crusade. TV shows in their final season often get nostalgic because they’ve earned the right to do so. Seven seasons on the air builds up a significant legacy and Arrow has always been good…
“Tribute” Arrow deals with identity as a concept following Oliver being potentially outed as the Green Arrow last week. This episode deals with identity in a very literal sense -with the investigation into Oliver Queen- but also in a broader sense. I’ll cover the literal first because it’s the most simplistic. Arrow has done this…
“Fallout” Arrow returns for a sixth season and answers the mystery of who survived the destruction of Lian Yu at the end of last season. Opening season 6 was always going to be an uphill struggle for the writers of this show. Season 5 was a creative high and the finale numbers among the best…
The DC TV Universe -sometimes referred to as the Arrowverse or the Berlantiverse- will soon return for another dose of superhero insanity. Before that happens; Kneel Before Pod just do a series of episodes on the previous seasons. The concluding chapter is Arrow season 5 where Craig and Chris do a quick round-up of their…
“Lian Yu” Arrow closes off its fifth season by focusing on Oliver’s final battle with Adrian Chase and bringing an end to the flashbacks. Last week set the stage for the conflict by outlining the stakes and setting up Oliver’s temporary team with the enigmatic cliffhanger showing him asking Slade Wilson for help. The opening…
“Missing” Arrow sets the stage for the season finale when the next phase of Adrian Chase’s plan is set in motion and Oliver struggles to counter it. One of the most frustrating tropes in modern genre storytelling is the villain being caught because it’s part of their plan. It can be clever when executed correctly…
“Honour Thy Fathers” Arrow deals with putting Oliver’s past behind him when Adrian sends one of Robert Queen’s long buried secrets. When I say “long buried” I mean this literally. Receiving a body encased in concrete is a really bizarre thing to receive especially when it has no connection to either Oliver or Adrian. On…
“Underneath” Arrow reflects on the Oliver/Felicity relationship when they are stuck alone together in the Bunker after Chase sets off an EMP blast. Regular readers of this site will know that I’m not a fan of angst driven by romantic relationships. I don’t think that these types of stories are always terrible but the writers…
“Dangerous Liaisons” Arrow returns from hiatus and deals with Felicity’s association with helix and how that relates to her role on Team Arrow. Felicity heading down a darker path has been a really interesting arc for her this season. She is a good character but there is often a tendency to leave her in the…
“Disbanded” Arrow picks up the pieces from Adrian’s brutal torture of Oliver and addresses his decision to shut the team down as the problem of Adrian still looms over the show. Last week made for a really strong episode and offered a fascinating deconstruction of Oliver as a character. What naturally follows that is a…
