Just got around to finishing the second season of Arrow on Netflix. I was a huge fan of the show after the first season and most people told me that season two is a noticeable improvement. I have to agree that the second season is better. From start to finish the season was consistently entertaining (the middle of season one was a bit of a drag). I also really enjoyed how the show managed to integrate "comic book-y" type stuff into Arrow's more grounded universe without crushing suspension of disbelief. It feels like the writers watched the Nolan Batman movies and basically improved on the formula all around.
I lightly kept tabs on ArrowGAF during season two's airing and it seemed like most people agreed that Laurel was an insufferable character during the second season. I kind of agree and yet still disagree. She was annoying to have on screen in the first half of the season because she was a crying stuck-up mess, but second half of the season Laurel is much more bearable so I didn't think she was too bad. The character I couldn't stand, especially in the second half of the season, was Thea. She becomes a whining pest that won't shut up and tries to make everything about her and then pretty much shoves people away the moment they actually try to help her out. Then she complains that nobody tells her
the truth about who her father is
she's the daughter of a psychopath
I really hope her getting into Malcom's limo at the end of the season while telling Roy "I'm never coming back" was them writing Thea out of the show, but I'm probably naive to believe she'll be gone.
Deathstroke was awesome, I don't think much more needs to be said about that. Slade's actor has a massively strong presence when he's on screen and really nails it as a delusional villain. Was a pretty big fan of the Deathstroke costume as well, although I prefer the mask he wears on the island more than the one he uses in Starling.
Now for some more spoiler-y stuff.
I was actually kind of surprised that we didn't get an Oliver & Malcom Merlyn team-up at the end of the season to fight Deathstroke . I kind of figured Deathstroke kidnapping Thea and murdering Moira would put Malcom on a direct collision course with Deathstroke and end up making Malcom and Oliver allies due to a mutual enemy. So the League of Assassins showing up at the end was a nice twist I wasn't really looking for.
I'm not a huge fan of any of the Argus stuff, even if we did get a Harley Quinn tease through it. I'm not a fan of seemingly everyone knowing about Oliver's nightly activities. And Argus trying to level Starling City during Slade's siege felt like it was really borrowing from The Avengers' ending a bit.
The motivation behind Summer Glau's character was admittedly weak. She decides to agree to a plan that will destroy the Queen family and Starling City all because Oliver's dad decided to stop sleeping with her? This is probably one of the big weak points I found in the season. But hey, at least Summer Glaus' kiss of death effect she tends to have on shows didn't bleed into the rest of the show
Now I really want to watch season 3.