Review: Arrow Hits The Mark With Season Two Blu-ray

This review contains some SPOILERS for the second season of Arrow.

Arrow is one of those rare shows that has always known what it is, and so it was strong right out of the gate. But the second season of the CW / DC Comics superhero show proves that the first season was only laying the foundation for telling stories on a much bigger, more detailed canvas.

In Season Two Arrow rapidly grew into the DC comic lore, from Canary and Red Arrow (Roy Harper, now a sort of protégé to Oliver Queen) to Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad. It’s a deep roster, and when Arrow digs into it it usually feels organic to the season’s story and not comic book “stunt casting.” Stunt casting is how the use of DC heroes often came across on Smallville: an appearance from Flash or Aquaman or Cyborg was usually a one-off that didn’t do much to benefit the season’s story arc.

Case in point: The presence of Canary (Caity Lotz) is not a leather-clad gimmick to expand the roster of Starling City’s rooftop-running vigilantes. After she is introduced, the character’s pre-Canary backstory is explored extensively via Oliver’s island flashbacks. She belongs in this world (and not just because she’s family to some of our main characters), and by the end of the season it is clear that the writers simply could not introduce her without sowing her into the fabric of this show.

Also ready for deeper treatment is Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett), who was Oliver’s friend and island comrade for over a year before things went sideways. In Season Two viewers see how the legendary DC villain Deathstroke came to be, and the part that Oliver had to play in it. Bennett does a terrific job playing the off-balance killer, someone who thinks of Oliver both as his friend and as the object of his vengeance. It’s great to see the Arrow writers’ slow-burn on the character finally come to fruition. That said — by the end of the season, I’ve certainly had my fill of the character and ready to see his story concluded.

As much as Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) understandably takes center stage, it’s nice to see the supporting players get so much attention this year. John Diggle (David Ramsey) gets his own action episodes (and a love interest), as well as a fascinating third dimension to his relationship with the assassin Deadshot; Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) goes from the adorkable tech girl to a friend with deep feelings for Oliver (and she’s incredibly charming this year); Thea Queen‘s (Willa Holland) world is rocked by a discovery that causes her to question her family and her very identity; and Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) slowly begins to come into his own as … well, not as a hero, yet, but as someone who has the potential to become a hero if only he can slay his own inner demons.

Oliver himself is always on a similar journey, and that takes center stage this season as he tries to give up being a vigilante killer and start being a hero — one who will protect Starling City without killing. It’s also evident in the fact that the vigilante has surrounded himself with an increasingly large team. There is still plenty of room for Oliver to continue growing into Season Three, but the hero’s journey takes major steps forward this year.

Twenty-three episodes are on four Blu-ray discs or five DVDs. With the combo set you’ll get both versions in the same package, along with UltraViolet digital copies; Warner Bros. has also released a DVD-only edition for the high-def challenged. The Blu-ray episodes are presented in 1080p video and a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, and subtitles are available in ESDH, Portuguese, Spanish, and French. (The Blu-ray edition also adds Finnish and Swedish, and alternate audio tracks in Spanish, French, and Portuguese.)

I’ll be honest: This is the first time I have watched a show entirely in high definition. After wallowing in standard-def squalor for too long, Arrow Season Two is the first spin on my new Blu-ray player, and it looks beautiful. Images are crisp and detailed without that visually awkward vibe you get from some HD productions. This really showcases Arrow‘s production values: while some shows hide lower production values behind lower definition video, HD makes this show’s stellar sets, costumes, and lighting shine.

Menus are straight-forward and happily uncluttered. Once I figured out that the little scissor icon next to each episode plays the cut scenes (and not the episode itself), the whole thing is a breeze to navigate. I appreciate Blu-ray’s expanding menu strategy, which enables users to browse through the entire disc contents without waiting for the next menu screen to load.

If you don’t need to locate a specific episode to select, there is a “Play” option that runs everything through in order — even prompting for disc changes and auto-playing the next disc once it has been inserted. I do wish this began on Disc 1 with the first episode and not with the 45-minute recap of the previous season, which really ought to be treated like a bonus feature.

In addition to that “Year One” recap, this set includes some nice behind-the-scenes featurettes and the usual commentaries and deleted scenes that have become standard. “From Vigilante to Green Arrow” (around 25 minutes) uses footage from the show and interviews with the writers to explore Oliver’s journey from a vigilante killer — a guy messed up by the island and just crossing names off a list — to a hero who is using his skills not to hunt, but to protect. Rather than charging corrupt people with having failed their city, Oliver is trying to become a man who is actively trying to save the city. The pursuit of vengeance just isn’t enough. It’s a thoughtful piece with insight into the character’s evolution over the first two seasons.

“How Did They Do That?! Action & FX” (12 minutes) explores — as you might guess — the visual effects of Arrow. Along with stunt work this may be one of the show’s greatest strengths, and this feature is a fascinating look behind the scenes at the show’s CG. This is why we like bonus features, right? Most of the featurette may be nerds sitting at computer terminals, but seeing the detail and care that goes into every single shot makes you appreciate Arrow all the more.

“Wirework: The Impossible Moves of Arrow” looks at the stunt work and practical effects of the show, which I expected to find in the previous feature (the “Action” part of “Action and FX”). Instead it’s in this 10-minute, stand-alone feature, where we see what went into Arrow and Felicity’s dive out of the clock tower and down a zip line to the street below, and a number of wire pulls that sent the stunt performers flying across a room. These became more and more necessary this season after the writers introduced the Mirakuru serum and gave a number of characters super-strength.

Arrow is beautifully shot, and is one of the best shows on television when it comes to action. Case in point: Arrow’s infiltration of an enemy warehouse in the episode “Deathstroke” sees him taking on multiple opponents in hand-to-hand combat … and then to do the same thing again. And then again. The show’s fight choreography and stunt work continue to set the standard for the industry.

The set includes select episode commentaries, plus the show’s 2013 panel at San Diego Comic-Con. Finally, there is a gag reel and a generous offering of deleted scenes. The cut scenes are especially easy to access from the navigation menus for any individual episode. For fans of the DC universe perhaps the stand-out deleted scene is a brief appearance by Harley Quinn, who is a prisoner of A.R.G.U.S. in “Suicide Squad.”

Season Two of Arrow takes a promising show and pays it off in spades, making significant progress over the first season while retaining what made it such a strong show from the get-go: great visuals, terrific action, a willingness to play around with the broader DC universe, and a cast of actors who feel very comfortable in their roles.

Arrow is immensely entertaining with well-drawn characters and solid performances all around. The Blu-ray release seems to be responsible for delaying the season’s availability on Netflix, so if you are in need of some binge viewing (like I was) to catch up before the third season begins on October 8, this is the way to do it. This show is just fun to watch, and the Blu-ray release is a beautiful way to enjoy it.

The 9-disc Blu-ray/DVD/UltraViolet combo pack is priced at $69.97. The 5-disc DVD pack is $59.98.

Order Arrow Season Two now from Amazon!

Thanks to Warner Home Video for providing a review copy.