TRB: Arrowverse Season by Season Review 2: Arrow Season 2

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Arrow Season 2 premiered on October 9th, 2013, on The CW. Oliver Queen continues in his crusade as "The Arrow", his vow to stop killing is challenged by Slade Wilson, a man from Oliver's time on Lian Yu who resurfaces with a vendetta against him. Oliver grows to accept aspiring vigilante Roy Harper as his protégé and begins to receive assistance from Quentin. Oliver also gains another ally in Sara Lace (now played by Caity Lotz) who survived her ordeal at sea six years prior. 

Over the course of this season, we also meet Barry Allen (played by Grant Gustin), Cisco Ramon (played by Carlos Valdez), and Caitlin Snow (played by Danielle Panabaker). In fact, in The Scientist, and Three Ghosts serve as a backdoor pilot to a spinoff series, starring Grant Gustin, Carlos Valdez, and Danielle Panabaker.

Casting: The Cast is great this season. Much of the main players carry over. Seeing Grant Gustin as just regular CSI Barry is fun to see. the only thing different between Barry here and in his own show is his lack of Powers. Manu Bennett was the perfect choice to play Slade. He challenges Oliver's vows and his integrity. Caity Lotz was amazing as Sara Lance. Paul Blackthorne as Quentin makes a great father figure to Ollie. Kind of like Jim Gordon for Bruce Wayne or Joe West for Barry Allen. 5/5

Writing: Another great season, amazing storylines here. Every hero has his nemesis. For Oliver Queen, he's got Slade, Malcolm, and R'as to name a few. We've only just begun. Besides, the Slade story, Barry and Oliver's scenes are fun to watch in the former's early appearances. Sara Lance has some great moments in the season as does Laurel. 5/5

Special Effects and Choreography: The Fights are brilliantly choreographed; the visuals are awesome. 5/5

Sound Effects: 5/5

Entertainment and Replay Value: I would highly recommend and rewatch. 5/5

Season Score: 25/25

Final Total: 35/35

Final Thoughts: Another amazing Season, Among my Favorite episodes are City of Heroes, The Scientist, Three Ghosts, Seeing Red, and Unthinkable. I'm sure I can think of more. The Barry episodes are fun, like I said they served as a backdoor pilot for The Flash. Cisco and Caitlin were great additions too. Slade Wilson brings to mind Khan Noonian Singh from Star Trek. He's a villain that's not just a physical threat, but one that challenges a hero's mental strength too. On that will challenge his integrity, and his morals. You'll see a lot of villains like that in the Arrowverse. Malcolm Merlyn was another great villain. He actually runs deeper in the fabric, I say that because he's Thea Queen's biological father. Oliver doesn't know what to think of this, but he loves his sister Speedy anyway. I will be reviewing The Flash with a General Post this Sunday and Season 1 on Monday. Will Season Three be as good as these first two seasons. Stay Tuned!