Warning: Spoilers for season one of “Arrow” ahead. 

People tend to write The CW off as an almost-network. Most of their programs aim for the young adult age demographic, the shows revolve primarily around relationship drama and all of the actors seem to be cast from the same beautiful pool. “Arrow” has proved to rise above most of this, although I must say, the cast is still rather attractive.

“Arrow,” a television adaption of the DC Comics series Green Arrow, premiered on The CW in the fall of last year and quickly became the highest-rated new series on the network in the past five years, a title previously held by “The Vampire Diaries.” The series begins when Oliver Queen, played by Stephen Amell, returns to Starling City after spending five years marooned on an island.

The first season followed Oliver as he returned to his life in Starling City with the intention of changing it for the better. He takes on the nickname “The Hood” and spends his nights cleaning up the streets with the use of a bow and arrow, a skill he picked up on the island. 

Only a few people know of his secret life: John Diggle (David Ramsey), Oliver’s bodyguard, Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), the IT girl at Queen Consolidated and Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnel), Oliver’s best friend. While Felicity and Diggle accept Oliver’s crime-fighting style and assist him with his missions, Tommy can’t see past the fact that his best friend is now a murderer.

The first season concluded with a literal bang, as a plan put forth by Tommy’s father Malcolm (John Barrowman), levels the slums of Starling City despite Oliver’s best efforts to stop it. Tommy dies in the chaos, something Oliver blames himself for.

In addition to the present day timeline, “Arrow” also flashes back to Oliver’s time on the island. I would argue the island flashbacks are some of the most interesting parts of the series, as they give the audience a chance to see what made Oliver the man he is today.

Overall, the first season had a few sub-par episodes, but for the most part, the show kept its foot on the gas. Each episode was plot-driven, sometimes to the point of over-saturation. “Arrow” didn’t hesitate to kill off characters or reveal major plot twists during regular episodes unlike most shows that wait for sweeps and finales before anything major happens.

Now in its second year of programming, “Arrow” has deftly avoided the sophomore slump and effectively rebranded itself. Oliver now refuses to kill people unless absolutely necessary in honor of Tommy’s memory. With the fallout from the finale still playing heavily on the show, Oliver now has to do good not only with his bow, but also as one of the big names in the city.

With only nine episodes aired, “Arrow” has slowly started to integrate the idea of superpowers into its canon using both the present timeline as well as flashback to make this jump feasible.

In the mid-season finale, a new character learned of Oliver’s extracurricular activates. Barry Allen, played by Grant Gustin, showed up in the episode to help solve a break-in at Queen Consolidated. Most comic fans know Barry Allen later becomes the superhero Flash, but in “Arrow,” he’s just a normal guy getting to meet his hero for the first time.

The CW has series in the works for Flash, meaning that in its second season, “Arrow” has already spawned a spin-off. That is quite a vote of confidence from the network and not an unfounded one. The writers of the show really know what story they are telling, and Amell carries the show better than some of the leading men on television.

It is too early to accurately predict if “Arrow” will match the ten-season run of The CW’s last superhero series “Smallville,” but if it keeps going the way it is, I see no reason why it can’t.

4.5/5