TV Review: Arrow (Season 3), The Flash (Season 1), and Legends of Tomorrow (trailer)

Watch| The CW has been airing reruns of Arrow and Flash all summer, plus the first two season's of Arrow are on Netflix
Starring| Arrow- Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen), Katie Cassidy (Laurel Lance), David Ramsey (John Diggle), Willa Holland (Thea Queen), Paul Blackthorne (Quentin Lance), Emily Bett Rickards (Felicity Smoak), Colton Haynes (Roy Harper), Brandon Routh (Ray Palmer), and John Barrowman (Malcolm Merlyn); Flash- Grant Gustin (Barry Allen), Candice Patton (Iris West), Danielle Panabaker (Caitlin Snow), Carlos Valdes (Cisco Ramon), Tom Cavanagh (Harrison Wells), Jesse L Martin (Joe West), and Rick Cosnett (Eddie Thawne); Legends of Tomorrow- Arthur Darvill (Rip Hunter), Ciara Renee (Hawkgirl), Franz Drameh (Jay Jackson), Victor Garber (Martin Stein), Caity Lotz (Sara Lance), Wentworth Miller (Captain Cold), Dominic Purcell (Heat Wave), and Brandon Routh (Ray Palmer).
Rating| Arrow Season 3 B-, Flash Season 1 A, Legends of Tomorrow Trailer A

These shows finished airing a bit ago, but I wanted everyone who watches to be caught up.  There will be SPOILERS down below, so read at your own risk.

I'll be making the reviews rather short, because, while I will talk about some details, I really just want to give my overall impressions.  I'm a major fan of both shows- I watched the series premier of Arrow with my family; same with Flash.  They're great shows, and I'd recommend them heartily if you haven't started them yet.

This was not my favorite season of Arrow.  Season two is easily the best, having the best villain so far.  But this season relied to heavily upon making the fans happy and trying to entertain new and old audiences.  I know they had some trouble with getting characters they wanted thanks to the new roster of DC movies.  Before the season started they wanted to use Blue Beetle and were stuck with the Atom, which is why that character feels more like Iron Man.  They also wanted to rely more heavily on Suicide Squad, but with that movie just on the horizon, they had to back off.  Not super happy about that.  I'll see the new suicide squad movie when it hits theaters, but I much prefer the cast from this show.  The fact that they killed of Deadshot makes sense, but it was still pretty upsetting.  Of all the characters who left, though, I'm most angry with Colton Haynes.  I can't STAND that he left.  And they gave him the most ridiculous exit.  (I could rant about him all day, to be honest.)   I also didn't like all the sex scenes; they'd have been much better if they were just fade to black.  The ending was cute, but that means things can only go down hill from here.  I also dislike how Merlin is now in charge of League of Assassins, and not Nyssa.

So what did I like?  After all that complaining, you may think there isn't much left.  But, I really think Stephen shown this season.  I've gained a bunch of respect for him as a person and as an actor recently.  They also did an incredible job with Black Canary.  I went into the season hating Laurel.  Now I'll defend her with my dying breath.  I was hoping that the villain would be a bit more... villainous... but I thought he pulled it off.  The flashbacks kept me interested, and I liked that they took place in Hong Kong rather than the island.  The shakeup helped keep me awake.  The story was pretty straight forward, and it did have some twists.  They didn't really catch me off guard, but I enjoyed them all the same.  Plus, Nyssa was in a ton of episodes and I adore her.

As for The Flash, I went into the season only thinking of it as a lighter version of Arrow.  Which,it pretty much was for the majority of the season.  This sort of whimsical feel took away from some of the draw, though the actors seriously knocked my socks off.  Later, when it started to get darker, it really held me attention.  The final few episodes were so emotional, and the show tied up nicely.

It took me a while to like any of the villains.  There were a couple that shown out, but I wasn't a fan of many of the actors.  It took until the second half of the season before I even started to see many of them as threats.  Besides that, though, there isn't much to complain about.  Oh!  Except that one tiny little thing at the end of the season when that small character named Eddie Thawne dies.  Yeah, I can complain about that.  Eddie was my favorite character.  I'm not kidding.  People laughed at me for it, sure.  But he was my favorite.  And they killed him off.  Some of my friends actually offered their condolences.  It made sense, but I'm very unhappy with it.  (Same goes for what happened to Tommy in the Arrow season 1 finally.  He was my favorite character, too!)

Like I said, though, the show was pretty amazing.  The special effects took some time to improve, but they were generally done very well.  The Easter eggs in this series just made me so happy.  There were so many of them!  I live for Easter Eggs.

And, then there's Legends of Tomorrow.  Not gonna lie, I think the title is so very stupid.  But I like the cast, and I like the characters, so I'm more than willing to follow this one.

The trailer looks pretty decent, and I love that it's airing in the off season when Flash and Arrow are on their breaks.  I'm curious to see how it fits in, and whether some of the characters will be introduced via the other shows.

Overall, I'm getting a good vibe from it, but only time will tell, I suppose.

Sorry this review seems like it goes on forever.  it kind of does.  But if you took the time to read it, thanks!  And even if you didn't, thanks just for stopping by.