SPOILERS AHEAD
It has been long enough to digest season 2 of 'Arrow'. I have to say that was one of the greatest things ever put on TV. Everything bad in season 1 (Laurel, Thea's attitude, CW crap) was mostly removed. That was step one in making this season truly epic. Laurel was just always back and forth in season 1. She was either really mad or Tommy or Ollie, or she loved one of them. She was always mad at something. She usually never had a reason to be mad, but she was. So in season 2, they cut down her time. Her story was still annoying. The whole abuse story was a miss for me. It didn't add much to the story, but to quote Batman "We fall so we can pick ourselves back up". Once Laurel fell, she really improved as a character. Her road back to normalcy made me like her more. She improved a lot. And it was nice to see her have an actual backbone. Thea was a bit of the same way in season 1. She was always mad for some reason. It was usually stupid and petty, but also annoying. This season she was given a positive outlet (Verdant) to express herself and a loving boyfriend in Roy. It led to some CW moments, but it wasn't I have to change the channel or barf type moments. When she was mad it also had merit. Later on in the season, she got mad for everyone lying. It led to tons of dysfunction in the Queen family, but it was also interesting. I loved the fact the Malcolm Merlyn wasn't dead, because 1. It implied there is a Lazarus Pit in this universe and 2. We got that awesome reveal that Malcolm is Thea's biological dad. This led to great acting moments with Stephen Amell. Before I go into those, I must say Stephen Amell really stepped up his acting game this season. He did great and gave me chills at times. Some of those times were when he told Laurel to get her crap together and that he is done caring for her and then when he tells Moira that he doesn't want anything to do with her following the reveal of Malcolm as Thea's dad. I actually didn't mind the romance, either. It wasn't overbearing. I thought the idea to bring Sarah back was great. It added a new aspect to the show. I was mad at the using of Felicity in the season finale, because I am now on the Olicity train. Seeing that fake moment actually made me believe in them. But there were threads left dangling for more. As for the comic book stuff, well that is what truly elevated this show. There were so many fangirl moments this season. Sebastian Blood was a bit of a miss for me, just because he would disappear for long periods of time. I didn't like that and I didn't feel they earned the changing of him from bad to good. Some of the smaller villains were bad too. Clock King was average, but would've been a miss if you couldn't relate to him. Shrapnel was a waste. Bronze Tiger was also pretty pointless. The return of Count Vertigo was fantastic for many reasons. It was another point for Olicity. It made him reconsider some things. And it didn't really focus on the drug aspect. The Suicide Squad episode was good, but not great. It was really Diggle and Deadshot team up again, but it did have the intro for Harley Quinn. So that was awesome. The introduction of Barry Allen was amazing. I wasn't sure of him the first episode, but the second episode was when I accepted him. That second Barry Allen episode was the best of the series for me. That was the episode that revealed Shado died. I had my jaw drop so many times that episode. Shado's death, the origin/creation of Solomon Grundy, the reveal of Slade Wilson in Starling City, and the creation of the Flash literally made me sit for the episode with my mouth hanging open for about 10 minutes afterwards. That was a finale episode in the middle of a season. It was just a truly awesome episode for comic book fans. I will say after that the season dragged a bit. I think they just couldn't match the epicness of 'Three Ghosts'. The rest of the season was still great. You had Oliver put into a new situation (no money in the real world), struggling even more with being the Arrow, and taking on his biggest challenge yet, Deathstroke. Deathstroke was epic. He was a physical and mental match for Oliver. Always 2 steps ahead and thinking even further than that. Instead of Oliver beating him up, Oliver was the one getting beat-up. I loved the choice not to kill Slade, because it leaves the opportunity for more Slade, but also shows Ollie is still trying to honor Tommy. The only things I really didn't like this season were the flashbacks (because they never really added to the story, although there were some times that it did), and Roy getting injected with Mirakuru. That was a horrible choice. It didn't add anything to the story and he was just plain annoying all the time. Other then those two gripes, I had no big problems with the season except it losing steam a little during the midpoint. This season of 'Arrow' was still one of the best seasons of a TV show I have seen. I can't wait for season 3!
It has been long enough to digest season 2 of 'Arrow'. I have to say that was one of the greatest things ever put on TV. Everything bad in season 1 (Laurel, Thea's attitude, CW crap) was mostly removed. That was step one in making this season truly epic. Laurel was just always back and forth in season 1. She was either really mad or Tommy or Ollie, or she loved one of them. She was always mad at something. She usually never had a reason to be mad, but she was. So in season 2, they cut down her time. Her story was still annoying. The whole abuse story was a miss for me. It didn't add much to the story, but to quote Batman "We fall so we can pick ourselves back up". Once Laurel fell, she really improved as a character. Her road back to normalcy made me like her more. She improved a lot. And it was nice to see her have an actual backbone. Thea was a bit of the same way in season 1. She was always mad for some reason. It was usually stupid and petty, but also annoying. This season she was given a positive outlet (Verdant) to express herself and a loving boyfriend in Roy. It led to some CW moments, but it wasn't I have to change the channel or barf type moments. When she was mad it also had merit. Later on in the season, she got mad for everyone lying. It led to tons of dysfunction in the Queen family, but it was also interesting. I loved the fact the Malcolm Merlyn wasn't dead, because 1. It implied there is a Lazarus Pit in this universe and 2. We got that awesome reveal that Malcolm is Thea's biological dad. This led to great acting moments with Stephen Amell. Before I go into those, I must say Stephen Amell really stepped up his acting game this season. He did great and gave me chills at times. Some of those times were when he told Laurel to get her crap together and that he is done caring for her and then when he tells Moira that he doesn't want anything to do with her following the reveal of Malcolm as Thea's dad. I actually didn't mind the romance, either. It wasn't overbearing. I thought the idea to bring Sarah back was great. It added a new aspect to the show. I was mad at the using of Felicity in the season finale, because I am now on the Olicity train. Seeing that fake moment actually made me believe in them. But there were threads left dangling for more. As for the comic book stuff, well that is what truly elevated this show. There were so many fangirl moments this season. Sebastian Blood was a bit of a miss for me, just because he would disappear for long periods of time. I didn't like that and I didn't feel they earned the changing of him from bad to good. Some of the smaller villains were bad too. Clock King was average, but would've been a miss if you couldn't relate to him. Shrapnel was a waste. Bronze Tiger was also pretty pointless. The return of Count Vertigo was fantastic for many reasons. It was another point for Olicity. It made him reconsider some things. And it didn't really focus on the drug aspect. The Suicide Squad episode was good, but not great. It was really Diggle and Deadshot team up again, but it did have the intro for Harley Quinn. So that was awesome. The introduction of Barry Allen was amazing. I wasn't sure of him the first episode, but the second episode was when I accepted him. That second Barry Allen episode was the best of the series for me. That was the episode that revealed Shado died. I had my jaw drop so many times that episode. Shado's death, the origin/creation of Solomon Grundy, the reveal of Slade Wilson in Starling City, and the creation of the Flash literally made me sit for the episode with my mouth hanging open for about 10 minutes afterwards. That was a finale episode in the middle of a season. It was just a truly awesome episode for comic book fans. I will say after that the season dragged a bit. I think they just couldn't match the epicness of 'Three Ghosts'. The rest of the season was still great. You had Oliver put into a new situation (no money in the real world), struggling even more with being the Arrow, and taking on his biggest challenge yet, Deathstroke. Deathstroke was epic. He was a physical and mental match for Oliver. Always 2 steps ahead and thinking even further than that. Instead of Oliver beating him up, Oliver was the one getting beat-up. I loved the choice not to kill Slade, because it leaves the opportunity for more Slade, but also shows Ollie is still trying to honor Tommy. The only things I really didn't like this season were the flashbacks (because they never really added to the story, although there were some times that it did), and Roy getting injected with Mirakuru. That was a horrible choice. It didn't add anything to the story and he was just plain annoying all the time. Other then those two gripes, I had no big problems with the season except it losing steam a little during the midpoint. This season of 'Arrow' was still one of the best seasons of a TV show I have seen. I can't wait for season 3!