The continued critical and commercial success of Arrow has been quite the pleasant surprise. Produced by The CW network, a channel most often associated with programming aimed at teenagers, Arrow debuted in October 2012 to high ratings and mostly complimentary reviews. After half a season of finding its feet, the show blossomed quite considerably and has gone from strength to strength in its subsequent seasons. All the more impressive when you consider it is based on Green Arrow, a DC Comics character with a dedicated cult following but, prior to the show, very little mainstream recognition. 2014 in the world of Arrow included the second half of season two and then the first nine episodes of the third season, which kicked off on October 8th. Season two was consistently superb, with the latter half being particularly good. The show made wonderful use of the source material, cannily realising that the use of characters from the Batman mythos would add immeasurably to the on-screen world. Manu Bennett made a formidable villain as Deathstroke and the show became a massive favourite among comic book fans but also just as popular with viewers who simply enjoyed the top notch action and tangled inter-personal relationships. Season three has had a strong start as well, building to a particularly shocking and daring cliffhanger at the close of its mid-season finale. Fans are now excited to see Ras Al Ghul as Arrow's newest nemesis, and his introduction was a clever move by the producers considering the character has a certain recognition factor after being used in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy.
