Why You SHOULD Be Watching The CW's Arrow...

With the traditional 2013-2014 TV season coming to an end (I'm still not on board with the whole new programming airing in the summer thing… although that’s not stopping me from watching FX’s The Strain next month!), it’s the perfect time to do a little binge-watching, and get caught up on those shows that you've been putting off. Of course, you could also do things like go outside and enjoy the weather or spend time with family and friends and stuff, but, seriously, who wants to do that? What you really need to be doing is catching up on The CW’s superb show, Arrow. (I'm looking at you Alex Welch and Mark Reilly!)

Now, I am a self-proclaimed Marvel fan-girl, and I make no apologies for it. I've always been drawn towards Marvel properties and usually prefer them to DC. Does this mean that I think all DC properties suck and they need to be wiped off the face of the Earth? Absolutely not! Good is good… and while I don’t cut DC/The WB a lot of slack when it comes to their movie universe, the one thing that they do extremely well is television. Both their live action and animated properties are fantastic. 

I will admit, I knew nothing about The Green Arrow before the pilot episode. What I did know, however, was that the show was based on a comic-book (which always peaks my interest) and that Stephen Amell looked pretty damn hot doing those salmon-ladder pull-ups, half naked, in the promos. How could I not watch?

Image courtesy of The CW

I'm sorry… What was I saying? I got a little distracted… hmmm, abs… Where was I again? Oh yeah… I think I remember now…

So, right from the get go, I admit, I was hooked. Having no previous knowledge of the character or his story, I found the pilot engaging and the characters extremely interesting. The episodes move swiftly along, never really stopping long enough to get bogged down by the sometimes serious subject matter. The overall story arc of the season is interspersed with stand-alone episodes, giving the heavy plot a much needed break. The show-runners do a fantastic job of seamlessly blending the current timeline with a set of flashbacks, meant to give insight and some exposition into Oliver Queen’s transformation into The Arrow. They also do a great job of preventing the story from becoming predictable. Often times, when you think they’re going to zig, they actually zag, completely throwing off the viewer’s perceptions. They also have no problem changing the game part way through or irrevocably altering the landscape. There are plenty of Easter eggs scattered throughout, as well, and many nods and introductions of other famous characters in the DC universe. You’ll actually be quite surprised by who shows up in Starling City. The action is top-notch, especially once you get to some of the later episodes in season two. The overall production value of the series is amazing, and I have to give props to The CW for allowing the show-runners to go for it. It is definitely paying off.

While I do love the show, there is one thing that I have a serious issue with. My main problem is with Katie Cassidy’s Laurel Lance. While Cassidy kicked ass as the original Ruby on The CW’s Supernatural, her Laurel Lance is a serious dud. It’s almost as if the writers had a plan for her but changed their minds part way through, and then just kind of let her character fall by the wayside. I know that in the comic books, Laurel is the Black Canary, and while I fear that that is the direction that the show is heading, I really hope that they change their minds. They have introduced other, more interesting characters into the mix and I would prefer that they explore those characters and their story arcs. But, this is really just a me thing, because I really think that, overall, this is a fantastic series.

It will definitely be interesting to see what happens with the addition of The Flash to this universe. Up until now, the series has been pretty reality based (well, as much as a TV series based on a comic book can be!), so the addition of people with “super-powers” is going to change things significantly, I think. If nothing else, it opens up the world to many other possibilities. I'm excited to see where they take us.  

And Marvel Comes Out Swinging...

So, word broke last night that, not only has ABC renewed Agents of SHIELD for a second season, but that they have also ordered to series, Marvel's Agent Carter. Apparently, the House of Mouse is taking their foray into TV seriously.

Marvel's Agent Carter will tell the story of Captain America's love, Peggy Carter, and her struggles to fit into a post-World War II world, where women who had stepped up, were expected to step back, now that the men were home. A founding member of the covert SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve... Which goes on to become SHIELD) she must balance her administrative duties with the covert operations that she and Howard Stark continue on the side. An interesting premise, to be sure, and a bit of an unexpected one. There have been rumblings of this since sometime last year, and I am glad that Disney has followed through. I like the fact that the focus of this series is going to be on a female character, and that it is going to be a period piece. It will be very interesting to see how tightly it's tied to the MCU and Agents of SHIELD. As we follow SHIELD from it's humble origins, might we see the start of the infiltration of Hydra that has thrown the current MCU into a tailspin?

And speaking of Agents of SHIELD, I must admit that I am glad that it has been given a second season. Unlike a lot of viewers, I have stuck with it this entire season, and will admit that I have been rewarded with some great TV recently. I do, however, understand why some people jumped ship. It took SHIELD a while to find it's footing and get the audience invested. Disney, in my opinion, did two things wrong with this property. Firstly, they marketed it as a Joss Whedon show, which, it was not. Yes, Joss wrote and directed the pilot and it is a Mutant Enemy production, but the day to day show-running was actually done by Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tanchareon, Joss' brother and sister-in-law. People were expecting something along the lines of Buffy or Firefly, and were disappointed when it turned out a little differently. Their second mistake was thinking that the general public was going to be interested in the behind the scenes, day to day stuff of the non-superhero characters of their franchise. While I enjoy the in and outs and knew what I was getting in to, I think a lot of people were disappointed when the focus wasn't on the Iron Man's and the Thor's of the MCU. What exactly people were expecting, I don't know, but it definitely wasn't what they got. Although the ratings have dropped throughout the season, the show still puts up decent numbers, and a second season is justified. Especially now that it's core is directly tied to the MCU. I think it ups the stakes a little bit.

Of course, we can't talk Marvel and television, without bringing up The Defenders. Announced back in November, this joint venture with Netflix will see the characters of Daredevil, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage brought to the small screen. Set to air sometime in 2015, each character will get a set number of episodes to tell their story and then will come together for a mini-series event, The Defenders. The bonus of this format is that, with Netflix, all episodes are released simultaneously, so you can binge watch to your heart's content. According to Marvel, these will also tie in to the MCU, making the whole thing one big happy family.

I wrote earlier this week about how, even though DC's Cinematic Universe is a mess, they are still head and shoulders above Marvel when it comes to TV. I still believe that. While Marvel is trying, putting things out there, I worry that they are placing too much of the emphasis in their Cintematic Universe. By linking all of these properties, it is creating something huge... filling the canon and making things difficult to understand, if not lined up exactly right. It also forces viewers to at least keep up with all of the goings on in the various branches, whether they are avid watchers or not. This may alienate viewers, who don't have the time or inclination to catch everything that is produced. Warner Brothers, on the other hand, is spreading their properties around, leaving each incarnation as a seperate entity. What happens in one world, has no affect on anybody else's. With the trailer drop for "Gotham" and the news that both The Flash and Contstantine, at The CW and NBC respectively, have been ordered to series, DC/The WB are in good shape when it comes to TV. Now, if they could just get their crap together and get their movie properties in order...

I guess we'll see who actually wins this war once the ratings are in. With the arrival of the "comic book series" to television, the true winner is us, the fans. We no longer have to wait to see our old, or new, favourite characters on the big screen. Soon, they will be in living rooms everywhere.

OOhh, DC, What Have We Here?

So, I've been pretty hard on DC and Warner Brothers in regards to their Cinematic Universe and some of the choices that they have made. The lack of confidence they've shown in their properties, the lack of direction and planning that they've presented to us and some of their suspect casting choices are just a few of the things that I have issue with. I mean, seriously, who casts an underwear model as the most iconic female superhero ever? Who does that? That's not creative casting (like the Paul Rudd as Scott Lang in the new Ant-Man in the MCU), it's bizarre and kind of insulting...

Anyway...

Whatever the shortcomings that the WB and DC have in their movie universe, they more than make up for in their television properties. Over the years, the WB and DC have created some seriously awesome programming for the boob tube, and it doesn't look like they're stopping any time soon.

Now, I have never watched Smallville, although I have always heard really good things about it. The untold story of Superman's early life on Earth, it follows Clark Kent, before he donned the cape and tights, as he traverses the trials and tribulations of being a teenager and a young adult. It was just one of those things that I was going to watch, and then it got a couple of seasons in and there was a lot to catch up on and I never got around to it. Maybe, eventually, I will. :)

Birds of Prey, however, was a series that I loved, and watched faithfully for the very brief time that it aired. The story of Helena Kyle, aka Huntress, as she takes over the mantle of protecting New Gotham City. The daughter of Batman and Catwoman, she, along with the Oracle (Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl) and Dinah Lance help take down the metahuman criminals that the police can't handle. Although it only lasted for 13 episodes, the creators had enough thought and foresight, from the time cancellation was announced to rewrite and film a proper ending for the series. It was great to see a superhero series where all of the main characters were female and it is unfortunate that it never found it's audience.

Which leads us to the fantastic, Arrow, currently airing on the CW. The story of Oliver Queen, as he returns home from being shipwrecked on a "deserted" island, to fight the crime and corruption that is destroying his city. He becomes known as the Arrow (or The Green Arrow to you comic book purists!). The action and dialogue come fast and furious, with nods to and the introduction of many staple DC comic book characters. The plot lines and story arcs mesh beautifully, and it's obvious that the creators have a very distinct vision and direction for the series. If you are not watching it, I highly recommend it. Season 2 is just wrapping up, so it's the perfect opportunity to catch up on this highly entertaining series.

And how can you talk about Arrow, without bringing up The Flash. Created by virtually the same team that brought us Arrow, it is currently in the pilot stage over at The CW. A spin-off of Arrow, it will form a shared television universe for the DC characters on the CW. The character of Barry Allen was introduced earlier in this season of Arrow, and we were witness to the accident that is eventually going to turn him in to the Flash. Currently his is still in a coma, awaiting pick-up of his series, I assume.

And so here we are... on the verge of what has got to be the biggest and most interesting news to come out of the DC camp in regards to television in a long while...

The first teaser and trailer for the upcoming Fox series Gotham premiered last night. And boy, does it look fantastic. Already receiving a full series order, Gotham tells the story of a young detective, Jim Gordon, in his early days on the Gotham City police force. It appears as if it will also be an origin story of sorts, for not only Batman, but other Gotham characters, like The Riddler, Penguin, Two-Face, Catwoman and The Joker. How exciting is that? Now, I am not a huge fan of Fox, as they have a tendency to jump ship pretty early on a lot of their series (it's been 12 years, and I'm still traumatized by the cancellation of Firefly!). Although, with the success of the fantasy/sci-fi driven Sleepy Hollow last year (another show that I completely recommend... and only like 13 episodes to catch up on if you need to!) and the name recognition and inclusion of the Batman Universe, this one just might last. If the trailer is any indication, we are in for quite a treat. Click on the link below to view both the teaser and the trailer at Schmoes Know:

http://schmoesknow.com/gotham-gets-its-first-full-trailer/22633/