Arrow binge-watch

I've finally taken the plunge and started watching the CW's Arrow. The show is currently in it's second season on broadcast TV and has been renewed for a 3rd. It's based on the DC Comics "Green Arrow" property.

I'm only about half-way through the first season, and I'm enjoying it so far. I'd followed the news about the show as it came out, so I knew a lot about the show already going in. I knew, it being a CW show, that it would be full of interpersonal drama with some subtle and not-so-subtle comic-book elements thrown in. I was watching one episode and realized how soap-opera-like the show is, the dialogue and even the camera work. It's like two different shows: the soap opera, and the superhero show. Which I guess is exactly what it's supposed to be. My wife came in during the episode after my realization of that, and said "This is a soap opera. You're a woman now!"

The fun comic-book-based elements make up for the teen drama parts that are sometimes oh-so-sappy. The action scenes are well-choreographed and filmed well for a CW show. As there are no super-powers involved (other than trick arrows), there's no need for bad TV special effects like on Smallville.

I particularly enjoy the flashbacks to Oliver Queen's 5 years stranded on an island. The use of those adds a depth to the story telling... if only the actor playing him didn't stare off in the instant just before a flashback occurred. That's when you can see the directing in the acting.

I plan on finishing up the first season soon, and if the second season is on Netflix or Hulu, watching that as well, if it hooks me enough.

Binge-Watching TV Catch-up

I finally finished watching Leverage a few weeks ago. Fun show, and I kinda miss watching it. I needed a replacement for it... and remembered I had enjoyed watching Haven on SyFy, but was a season or two behind.

Turns out, I had watched the first two seasons of Haven, and stopped. Netflix and Amazon have the third season of Haven streaming, so I watched that over the past few days. Good show! But now I have to wait for season 4 to hit the streaming services...

Star Wars: The Clone Wars finally hit Netflix streaming too. All of their five seasons that aired on Cartoon Network, as well as thirteen new episodes that they had been working on when the show was cancelled. So yeah, I binged on those thirteen new episodes the day they came out! More good stuff. That show was cancelled in it's prime and could have gone on to tell more amazing stories in the Star Wars universe for quite awhile.

I'm thinking about watching Orphan Black next... The first season is streaming on Amazon Prime. Any other suggestions?