Arrow or Flash

I have been a fan of The Flash since watching season 1.  It is fast, has lots of actions, twists and humour.  I had watched a few episodes of Arrow then but I never really got into it.

After Catching up with The Flash (well not literally) episodes I then got a chance to watch Season 2 of Arrow via the Free trial with Amazon Prime.

I found it enjoyable to watch and watched several episodes back to back.

With the Arrow we have two character stories running alongside each other.  In The Flash there is a few references and flashbacks to say when Barry’s mother is killed, but in Arrow the flashbacks are a seperate storyline which start in the past and are building up alongside the running storyline.  They are showing how Oliver becomes Arrow after his accident at sea leading him to being trapped on a remote island where he meets a few strangers who train him up.  The flashbacks themselves have twists leaving you wanting to know more.  Its interesting to see how he was and how is is now in the present time.  It is something that works well and not something I have seen done before in superhero series.

Arrow is more serious…

Arrow is to The Flash what Oliver Queen is to Barry Allen.  Oliver is more senior, mature and hardened by lifes troubles and trials.  Oliver had to earn his skills, he had to train hard.  Barry got his powers by accident.  Most of the characters in Arrow and more older than in Flash.  There is less humour and it is darker.  There is more killing in Arrow and more sinister groups at large like the league of Assasins.

Arrow has more heroes?

It seems like lots of ‘good’ guys in Arrow end up becoming a masked hero…We have Arrow, Willa, Roy Harper, Sara & Laurel Lance.  These are the regular characters but there are also other characters who have dubious intentions..i.e they play bad roles and good.  For example one of Olivers old friends Masheo starts off being a friend in the flashbacks but then in the current events he has joined league of assasins   Nyssa al Ghul starts off a part of The League of Assasins (as Ras al Ghul’s daughter) but then plays a good person role in several episodes even helping out Team Arrow.  Malcolm Merlyn is seen as a bad person, even a villain after he killed lots of people in the city and due to his secrets.  But in season 3 he returns to help his daughter in the process ends up working with Team Arrow to defeat their foes.

The Villains are more realistic?

Ok by saying realistic we are comparing to The Flash where the villains run at speed of light traversing time and space or jumping through mirrors.  We dont really see this in Arrow.  There are powered people in Arrow but not as much as in Flash.  Slade Wilson for examples acquires enhanced strenght and healing but from a drug he is given.  Instead of Zoom we have Ras al Ghul who is a dark feared villain but is more  a sword wielding martial artist than a super powered speedster.

Arrow has more crossovers?

In Arrow we have several characters introduced that we know from other shows or films.  We have Deadshot and Amanda Waller from Suicide Squad, we also have Atom and Canary (Sara) from Legends of Tomorrow and then we have Barry Allen (Flash) who has saved Arrow from numerous tricky situations.

There is more romance and love interest in Arrow, Oliver alone has flings with several women including dating two sisters and even marrying the daughter of the demon head Ras al Ghul.

You can make some comparisons, both Arrow and Flash work from a central station and have allies.  You can liken Cisco to Felicity and Roy Harper to Kid Flash.  Detective West can be likened to Captain Lance and Willa to Caitlin Snow.  You also have similarities with Slade and the fake Harrison Wells (who is really Reverse Flash in season 1) as they both are involved in training the hero and then turn against him.  They are both hell bent on Protecting THEIR city.  They both kinda make their own lawas when it comes to taking down the bad guys, even having their own special prisons for bad guys.  They share the same ‘universe’ and crossover to help each other out numerous times.

i think with the Arrow its something I have to watch back to back to keep me interested, if I have to wait a week or more Im prob just going to watch The Flash as its lot more entertaining if you like sci-fi super hero stuff.