Arrow 2.1, "City of Heroes" Review

rating: 3

Well, CW's Arrow has kicked off again with the debut episode of the second season, which seemed to begin with a bang. We were left off at the end of the first season with Malcolm and Tommy Merlyn dead and half of the Glades destroyed. When we are returned 5 months has passed and things have certainly changed. Firstly, Oliver Queen has run off back to the Island, seemingly to avoid the fall out of the Undertaking and also to escape the realities of Tommy's death. Once Diggle and Felicity convince Oliver to return to Starling, it is clear that Starling City is almost in a similar place to where it was at the start of the first season, with the Glades floundering in poverty. The difference now is the growth of Copy-Cat vigilantes in The Hood's absence. Upon Oliver's return he is left to also deal with a few personal matters, with Moira in Iron Heights, Thea running Verdant, tension with Laurel over Tommy's death and Queen Consolidated is about to be swallowed by Stellmoor International. The writers built up the tension Oliver felt about returning to Starling City, and becoming the Vigilante again, using the drama surrounding Tommy's death to allow doubts about what he was doing to creep into his mind. After setting this up perfectly, it all seemed to make sense that Oliver had escaped the confines of Starling City to return to Lian Yu, but the status of the island is incredibly unclear. While Oliver initially insists that the island is still incredibly dangerous, aside from Felicity's near miss with a land mine it barely seems that way. Indeed, Fyers is confirmed to have deceased in the following flashback, but it also confirms that more people have arrived on the island to take Fyers place. The whole narrative about the island becomes very confusing at this point, and really detracts from the fear of the Island that the writers had done so well to put into the audience throughout all the flashbacks in Season 1. Following Oliver's well published return to Starling City, he is still reluctant to resume his vigilante duties, maintaining the belief that to go back would be an insult to Tommy's memory who died believing Oliver to be a murderer. However, when he does return and assume his place as the head of Queen Industries we are introduced to one of the promised season 2 villains in Isabel Rochev, played by Summer Glau, as a representative of Stellmoor International. While the brief of Glau's character is brief, there is a large amount of promise for her character to develop. However, the meeting was interrupted by more copy cat vigilantes in which Oliver narrowly escaped with Felicity but is greeted by grief from Diggle and Felicity for not taking out the vigilantes. After a short visit to his mother in Iron Heights, Oliver turns to the last member of his family to help him out. After the Vigilante copy cats seek out Oliver at Verdant, they decide to take Thea hostage instead. News of Thea's hostage seems to rock Oliver into action and makes him head back down to his Vigilante headquarters. It is discovered that the copy cats are involved in a support group for victims of the Undertaking in the Glades. The concept is really well worked on by the writers, and the build up to Oliver's return as the Green Arrow with Diggle and Felicity by his side is something that will surely excite the fans from season 1. The fight scenes and actions are fantastic and continue from exactly where the series left off at the end of last season. Aside from the confusing set up of the Island at the start, the episode was a great and highly promising start to season 2 and there is certainly a promise of more to come. Both the plots on the Island and for Starling city are both set up well for the second season. Episode Highlights: Oliver rescuing Thea from the Copycat vigilantes Debut of Isabel Rochev and the Black Canary Cliffhanger at the end of the episode