Arrow | |
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Arrow (TV series) | |
Genre |
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Based on | Characters appearing in DC Comics |
Developed by | |
Starring | |
Composer | Blake Neely |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 56 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Production location | British Columbia |
Cinematography |
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Camera setup | Single-camera |
Running time | 43 minutes |
Production companies | |
Original release | |
Network | The CW |
Release | October 10, 2012 present | –
Related | |
The Flash |
Arrow is an American television series developed by writer/producers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg. It is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, a costumed crime-fighter created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp. It premiered in North America on The CW on October 10, 2012, with international broadcasting taking place in late 2012. Primarily filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the series follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen, portrayed by Stephen Amell, who, after five years of being stranded on a hostile island, returns home to fight crime and corruption as a secret vigilante whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrow. Unlike in the comic books, Queen does not initially go by the alias "Green Arrow".
The series takes a realistic look at the Green Arrow character, as well as other characters from the DC Comics universe. Although Oliver Queen/Green Arrow had been featured in the television series Smallville from 2006 to 2011, the producers decided to start clean and find a new actor (Amell) to portray the character. Arrow focuses on the humanity of Oliver Queen, and how he was changed by time spent shipwrecked on an island. Most episodes have flashback scenes to the island.
Arrow has received generally positive reviews from critics, and was the CW's highest-rated new series in five years. The series averaged about 3.68 million viewers over the course of the first season, and has received three awards and multiple nominations. To promote it, a preview comic book was released before the television series began, while webisodes featuring a product tie-in with Bose were developed for the second season. The first season is available on DVD and Blu-ray in regions 1, 2 and 4; a soundtrack was also released. The second season of Arrow premiered on October 9, 2013, and is available on DVD and Blu-ray in regions 1, 2 and 4; a soundtrack for this season has also been released.
Season three premiered on October 8, 2014,[2] with a spin-off series set in the same universe, titled The Flash, airing on October 7, 2014.[2] On January 11, 2015, Arrow was renewed for a fourth season.[3]
Main article: List of Arrow episodes |
The series follows Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), billionaire playboy of Starling City, who spends five years shipwrecked. Upon his return to Starling City, he is reunited with his family and friends. The first season focuses on Oliver reconnecting with everyone and spending his nights hunting down the wealthy responsible for "failing the city" as a hooded vigilante who is not afraid to kill his targets. He becomes at odds with a secret organization that plans to destroy a section of the city that has become overridden with crime. John Diggle (David Ramsey) and Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) assist Oliver in his crusade. The first season also features flashbacks to Oliver's time on the island, and how it changed him; this continues in subsequent seasons.
In season two, Oliver is driven to stop crime without killing criminals, and comes under attack from Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett), a man from Oliver's time on the island who resurfaces with a vendetta against Oliver. Oliver must contend with outside forces attempting to take over Queen Consolidated, and continued revelations of his own past, as well as those of his family and friends. Oliver also accepts aspiring vigilante Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) as his protégé, and begins to receive assistance from Laurel's father, Officer Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne).
In season three, Arrow becomes a public hero in Starling City following Slade's defeat. Queen Consolidated is sold to wealthy scientist Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh), Oliver struggles to bring his family back together, an old enemy returns, and Oliver becomes embroiled into a conflict with Ra's al Ghul (Matthew Nable).
Main article: List of Arrow characters |
On January 12, 2012, The CW was preparing a new series centered around the character Green Arrow, developed by Andrew Kreisberg, Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim.[24] A week later, the series, now known as Arrow, was ordered to pilot, which was directed by David Nutter, who also directed the pilot for Smallville, a series following Clark Kent on his journey to become Superman.[25] At the end of the month, Stephen Amell was cast in the titular role of Oliver Queen.[26] When developing the series, producer Marc Guggenheim expressed that the creative team wanted to "chart [their] own course, [their] own destiny", and avoid any direct connections to Smallville, which featured its own Green Arrow/Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley), opting to cast a new actor in the role of Oliver Queen.[4] Unlike with Smallville, the series does not initially feature super-powered heroes and villains. Instead, the creative still took inspiration from Smallville, as one of the main themes of Arrow was to "look at the humanity" of Oliver Queen, as Smallville had done with Clark Kent. The decision not to include superpowers was, in part, based on the executives' desire to take a realistic look at the characters in this universe.[27] Production on the pilot began in March 2012 in Vancouver,[28] which would continue to act as the primary filming location for the series.[4] The series' skyline shots use a combination of footage from Frankfurt, Germany, Center City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Back Bay, Boston, and Tokyo, Japan.[29] The series was given a full season pick up on October 22, 2012.[30]
"I think the idea is to—not all the time, and not with a set regularity—but I think it is critical to explore how he went from the person that he was when he left the island—which is extremely different: he’s spoiled, he’s entitled, he’s a bit of a jerk—and he comes off it something very, very different. So we’re going to explore how he gets there."[27]
—Stephen Amell on the use of flashback storytelling.
Arrow features two storylines: one in the present, and the other, shown in flashback, during Oliver's time on the island five years before his rescue. These flashbacks are used to illustrate how Oliver transformed into the man that returns to Starling City.[27] Filming for the island flashbacks takes place in Vancouver's Whytecliff Park area, near beachfront homes. Much planning is required to keep the buildings out of camera frame.[31] Guggenheim said, "Stephen [Amell] has to wear a wig, and his look has to be changed... there's a lot. It's actually incredibly ambitious to do these flashbacks every week, every single episode. Because like Andrew [Kreisberg] said, it's almost like it's its own show."[31]
The series develops relationship triangles: some love triangles, others designed to catch characters in "philosophical debates".[32] Kreisberg provides one such example: "Every week, Oliver will be facing a bad guy, but the truth is, his real nemesis is Detective Lance, who's trying to bring him into justice.[...] His daughter is going to be caught in the middle, because she loves and respects her father, and she's always believed in what he believed, but at the same time, she's going to see this dark urban legend out there that's actually doing a lot of good; the kind of good that she wants to be doing in her role as a legal aid attorney."[32] Learning from previous experiences working in television, the producers worked early on identifying the major story arcs for the series, specifically the first season, including "mapping out" how to accomplish them. Taking inspiration from Christopher Nolan's Batman film series, the creative team decided to "put it all out there" and "not hold back" from episode to episode.[32]
The team strives to include various DC Comics characters and aspects of the DC universe. Guggenheim cited Big Belly Burger, a restaurant franchise introduced in the Superman comics, which appears in Arrow's third episode and onward. Kreisberg said, "There are so many characters in the DC Universe who haven't gotten their due in TV and film. We're so excited to reach into [the DC comics] roster and take some of these lesser-known characters that are beloved by fans, and do our spin on the characters."[31]
The realistic approach to the series included the costume design for Oliver's vigilante persona, created by Colleen Atwood.[33] According to Amell, it was important for the suit to be functional, and the best way that he knew for that was if he could put the costume on by himself: "If I can put it on by myself, I think that people will buy it. And that was our idea. That’s our world."[27]
In the second half of season two, Oliver replaces his "paint" mask with a domino mask, similar to one worn by the character in the comics. The change is addressed on-screen, with Kreisberg saying, "He doesn't just put on a mask. It's actually a big plot point in an episode, and there really is a story behind, not only the need for the mask but also who provides him with it."[34] On adding the mask now, Kreisberg stated that, "Conceptually, it was something we wanted to do because Oliver himself is evolving as the Arrow—from vigilante to hero, sort of from Arrow to Green Arrow—and we wanted to see that progression in his costume as well. As Oliver is embracing being a hero, being a hero means stepping out of the dark and being more of a symbol, so he has to take steps to conceal his identity more."[34] He added that it will "allow the Arrow to interact with people who don't know his identity in a much more organic way than having him constantly keep his head down."[34]
Costume designer Maya Mani put together roughly 50 mask options for the producers. Kreisberg said, "What's so wonderful about the design that Maya came up with is that it really is very simple, and it feels as if it’s been part of his costume since the beginning...once we finally had this mask and put it on Stephen [Amell], even Stephen was like, 'This is the right one.'"[34] In the episode "Three Ghosts", Oliver receives the mask from Barry Allen, who is able to create a mask that will help conceal his identity, while still being functional and allowing Oliver to see clearly.[35]
To compose the score for Arrow, executive producer Greg Berlanti invited Blake Neely, with whom he had first worked with on Everwood. Neely created a score that combined electronic and orchestral cues, varying between action themes and romantic ones. According to Neely, "Of course, Oliver has his main theme but also sub-themes for the many layers of his character. He and Laurel have a love theme. Mom had a theme for the Undertaking. The bad guys all have themes, which makes it sad for me when one of them dies. So I try not to become attached to bad guy themes. Diggle has a theme. Even the Island itself has a theme."[36] A soundtrack for season one was released on September 17, 2013 by WaterTower Music.[37][38] Two versions of a soundtrack for season two was released on September 16, 2014 by WaterTower Music and La La Land Records; the compact disc release includes with two exclusive tracks not available on the digital release.[39][40] On December 18, 2014, WaterTower Music and La La Records released a selection of music from The Flash/Arrow crossover episodes, as well as two bonus tracks from their respective 2014 midseason finales.[41]
Arrow premiered on The CW network from October 10, 2012, during the 2012–13 television season.[42][43] In Canada, the show is broadcast simultaneously on the same day as the United States.[44] The show premiered outside North America in South Africa on October 19, 2012.[45] Throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland,[46] and Latin America on Wednesday October 22, 2012.[47] In India the series premiered on January 23, 2013,[48] and in Australia on May 1, 2013.[49]
Season one received favorable reviews, with a Metacritic score of 73 out of 100, based on reviews from 25 critics, making it the highest rated CW show in five years.[50][51] Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes calculated an approval rating of 86%, based on 35 reviews, for the first season. The site's consensus reads: "The CW nails the target with Arrow, a comic book-inspired series that benefits from cinematic action sequences, strong plotting, and intriguing characters."[52]
Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times called the series an interesting setup with a quality look, describing Amell as "a poster boy (no doubt literally) for the Katniss Everdeen set."[53] Brian Lowry at Variety described the series as a handsome but stiff surrogate for Batman that could benefit from sharper execution.[54] In reviewing the final episode of season one, Alasdair Wilkins of The A.V. Club gave the season as a whole a rating of B+, noting that the show "hasn’t quite figured everything out yet, but it’s had some standout episodes."[55]
Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly gave the first half of season two a rating of B+, saying, "Arrow possesses an intelligence that shines through its TV-budget production values, which aren't too shabby. The writing is adult and witty, the action is exciting, and Amell holds the center with well-cultivated ease."[56] The A.V. Club's Carrie Raisler gave the first half of season two a rating of A-. She said, "Arrow [has] officially established itself as one of the most satisfying shows on television. The most satisfying thing of all is that it did so by respecting its characters... [Arrow respects] the character’s comic-book roots in its overarching plotlines, all while using the network-appropriate soap-opera stories to do the heavy character lifting."[57]
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Rank | Average viewers (in millions) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||||
1 | 23 | October 10, 2012 | May 15, 2013 | 147 | 3.68[58] | |
2 | 23 | October 9, 2013 | May 14, 2014 | 181 | 3.28[59] | |
3 | 23 | October 8, 2014 | May 13, 2015 | 120 | 3.52[60] | |
4 | 23 | October 7, 2015 | May 25, 2016 | 145 | 2.90[61] | |
5 | 23 | October 5, 2016 | May 24, 2017 | 128 | 2.21[62] | |
6 | 23 | October 12, 2017 | May 17, 2018 | 119 | 1.76[63] | |
7 | 22 | October 15, 2018 | May 13, 2019 | 125 | 1.58[64] | |
8 | 10 | October 15, 2019 | January 28, 2020 | 172 | 1.52[65] |
Arrow's premiere episode drew 4.14 million viewers, making it The CW’s most-watched telecast of any show on any night in three years, and The CW’s most-watched series premiere since The Vampire Diaries in 2009. In its second episode, Arrow became the only new network drama in the 2012–13 season to hold its ratings in both adults 18-34 and adults 18-49 from its premiere to its second week.[30]
Year | Award | Category | Recipients | Outcome |
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2012 | Satellite Awards[66] | Satellite Award for Best Television Series – Genre | Arrow | Nominated |
IGN Awards[citation needed] | Best TV Hero | Stephen Amell/Arrow | Nominated | |
2013 | People's Choice Awards[citation needed] | Favorite New TV Drama | Arrow | Nominated |
Leo Awards[citation needed] | Program | Joseph Patrick Finn, Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, Melissa Kellner Berman, Drew Greenberg, Jennifer Lence, Wendy Mericle, Carl Ogawa | Nominated | |
Cinematography | Glen Winter ("Pilot") | Won | ||
Gordon Verheul ("Lone Gunman") | Nominated | |||
Best Visual Effects | Jean-Luc Dinsdale, Pauline Burns, Andrew Orloff, Dave Gauthier ("Burned") | Won | ||
Best Production Design | Richard Hudolin ("Pilot") | Won | ||
Best Casting | Coreen Mayrs, Heike Brandstatter ("An Innocent Man") | Nominated | ||
Best Stunt Coordination | J.J. Makaro ("Pilot") | Won | ||
J.J. Makaro ("Vertigo") | Nominated | |||
NewNowNext Awards[67] | Best New Indulgence | Arrow | Nominated | |
Cause You’re Hot | Stephen Amell | Nominated | ||
Saturn Awards[68] | Best Youth-Oriented Series on Television | Arrow | Nominated | |
Teen Choice Awards[69] | Choice TV Show: Fantasy/Sci-Fi | Nominated | ||
Choice TV Breakout Show | Nominated | |||
Choice TV Actor: Fantasy/Sci-Fi | Stephen Amell | Nominated | ||
Choice TV Breakout Star | Nominated | |||
Choice TV Actress: Fantasy/Sci-Fi | Katie Cassidy | Nominated | ||
Canadian Society of Cinematography Awards[70] | Cinematographer Awards for TV Drama Cinematography | Glen Winter csc, Arrow ("Pilot") | Won | |
Broadcast Music, Inc.[citation needed] | BMI Television Music Awards | Blake Neely | Won | |
TV Guide Award[citation needed] | Favorite New Series | Arrow | Won | |
2014 | IGN Awards[citation needed] | Best TV Hero | Stephen Amell/Arrow | 2nd Place |
People's Choice Awards[71] | Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor | Stephen Amell | Nominated | |
Satellite Awards[72] | Satellite Award for Best Television Series – Genre | Arrow | Nominated | |
Saturn Awards[73] | Best Youth-Oriented Series on Television | Arrow | Nominated | |
Leo Awards[74] | Program | Greg Berlanti, Joseph P. Finn, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, Wendy Mericle[75] | Nominated | |
Cinematography | Gordon Verheul ("Sacrifice") | Nominated | ||
Make-Up | Danielle Fowler ("Keep Your Enemies Closer") | Nominated | ||
Stunt Coordination | J. J. Makaro ("The Scientist") | Nominated | ||
Lead Performance - Male | Stephen Amell ("Crucible") | Nominated | ||
Lead Performance - Female | Emily Bett Rickards ("Three Ghosts") | Nominated | ||
Constellation Awards[76] | Best Male Performance in a 2013 Science Fiction Television Episode | Stephen Amell ("The Odyssey") | Nominated | |
Best Science Fiction Television Series of 2013 | Arrow | Nominated | ||
Teen Choice Awards[77] | Choice TV Show: Fantasy/Sci-Fi | Arrow | Nominated | |
Choice TV Female Breakout Star[78] | Emily Bett Rickards | Nominated | ||
Young Hollywood Awards[79] | Super Superhero | Stephen Amell | Nominated |
A Green Arrow skin based on Oliver Queen's appearance in Arrow appears in the 2013 video game Injustice: Gods Among Us as downloadable content. The playable skin was given as a bonus reward to the first 5000 voters of Injustice's promotional Battle Arena competition, but was later released as a free download. Stephen Amell lends his voice and likeness to the skin.[113]
Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham features an Arrow downloadable content pack that adds multiple playable characters, including Oliver Queen / Arrow; Diggle; Felicity Smoak; Helena Bertinelli / Huntress; Slade Wilson; Roy Harper; Sara Lance / Black Canary; and Malcolm Merlyn; as well as vehicles and an exclusive level set during Oliver's time on the island. Amell voices the traditional Green Arrow in the game.[114]
Complete Season | DVD/Blu-ray Release dates | Additional info | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Region 1/A | Region 2/B | Region 4/B | ||
1 | September 17, 2013[115] | September 23, 2013[116] | October 2, 2013[117] | The DVD/Blu-ray box sets contain additional features, including making-of featurettes, deleted scenes, gag reel, and highlights from the Paley Fest 2012. |
2 | September 16, 2014[118] | September 15, 2014[119] | December 3, 2014[120] |