The consummate under-dog, CW’s Arrow quietly staked a claim in the periphery of the DC-verse at the outset of the 2012 TV season. I don’t think anyone expected much from the show – and early episodes struggled to balance its comic-book aspirations under a TV-friendly budget. But over the course of its first season and especially in its second year, Arrow slowly came into its own, deftly balancing sci-fi heavy tropes within a surprisingly grounded moral quagmire. It became clear that Arrow himself wasn’t the prototypical hero he or the audience initially believed. As the dark nuances of the titular character were explored, the show grew by result. Much of the credit to the show’s qualitative success can, of course, be laid at the feet of star Stephen Amell. Amell has since become the poster-child for the DC Television verse – and with his dapper looks and sharp stare it’s not hard to see why.

In the following round table interview with star Stephen Amell, he discusses just when the character will finally become ‘The Green Arrow’, his relationship status on the show, and why he’s sick to death of talking about The Justice League. For the full interview, hit the jump.

In addition to picking up Peter Stormare, Devon Aoki and Brandon Routh for its third season, The CW’s Arrow held a panel today at the San Diego Comic-Con where unveiled a trailer for the aforementioned (and apparently action packed) Season 3.  To be honest, I’ve never seen an episode but what I’m seeing here looks like it hits its intended target.

Arrow stars Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Wolland and Caity Lotz.  It returns on Wednesday, October 8th at 8pm ET/PT.  Hit the jump for the Arrow Season 3 trailer.  For more on the show and its spinoff, The Flash, check out our interview with writer/producer Andrew Kreisberg.  We’ll also have more on the panel shortly.

The CW’s Arrow has had some great supporting characters in their two short years with excellent casting to fill the roles.  For the upcoming third season, the action/drama will be adding Peter Stormare and Devon Aoki, who will each appear in the season premiere on October 8th at 8pm.  Stormare, who chews the scenery with the best of them in numerous feature film roles, will act as the first villain Team Arrow takes on in the third season.  Aoki, who starred in Sin City and 2 Fast 2 Furious, will take on the role of one of Oliver Queen’s mentors.  We’ll keep their character reveals until after the jump if you want to avoid spoilers.

Speaking of Oliver Queen, Stephen Amell himself took to Facebook recently to proclaim his victory over Comic-Con and teased three big things on his upcoming schedule.  Hit the jump for more. 

Catch your breath, it’s all over.  The surprisingly consistent and always entertaining second season of The CW’s Arrow is now complete.  There were quite a few pieces still in play when last we left Team Arrow, with Starling City burning down around them, and likely ruined for good either by Slade’s marauding army or the missile-happy drones of A.R.G.U.S.  While the final hour, “Unthinkable,” did a grand job of wrapping up the major plot arcs of the season at large in a wholly satisfying way, it also managed to advance a number of smaller roles that served as teases for the anticipated third season.  Hit the jump for my Arrow recap to see how it all ended, and where we go from here. 

This week’s Arrow took a bit of a detour from what we’re used to, as the gang went out in search of one of their own rather than spending the hour tracking down a typical baddie.  It seems that Roy (Colton Haynes) is not handling his injection of mirakuru well (or subsequent hook-up to a blood transfusion machine), and that has him tripping out on a mindless rage-filled bender.  Not good for the citizens of Starling City, and much worse for Arrow & Co.  Despite Roy’s behavior forming the bulk of this episode’s conflict, it was a real blindside of an ending that took viewers by surprise.  Hit the jump for my recap.

In anticipation of this week’s episode of Arrow, we thought we were going to see a showdown between the title hero (Stephen Amell) and the season’s big bad, Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett).  What we got wasn’t exactly that straightforward, but was all the more exciting for its mysterious cat-and-mouse plot twists.  Slade has proven to be a match for the team both physically and intellectually, staying a step ahead of them at every turn and weathering every feeble attempt to defeat him either on the island or off of it.  And as we learned in tonight’s episode, he’s got far more in store for Oliver’s family and friends.  Hit the jump for my recap and review.

Now that you’ve seen tonight’s episode of Arrow, titled “Birds of Prey”, you can check out series star Caity Lotz’s recent interview without too much fear of spoilers.  She wasn’t lying when she talked up the crazy amount of action, stunts, and fight sequences in this hour.  While this episode certainly satisfied adrenaline seekers, there was plenty of drama to be found as well.  Hit the jump for my recap and review, and for a reminder of why you shouldn’t take rides from strangers.

Tonight’s anticipated arrival of the Suicide Squad made for one fast-paced and thrilling hour of Arrow.  True to the episode’s title and the nickname of the task force itself, not all of its members made it out alive (or at least we’re led to believe that anyway).  The fan-favorite team-up from the DC comics allowed for a plot-driven episode that also let John Diggle (David Ramsey) stretch his legs a bit, while Oliver/Arrow (Stephen Amell) took a relative backseat on the action.  And in a change of pace, rather than “Island Time”, we got “Desert Time”!  Hit the jump for tonight’s recap.

On Season 2 of the hit CW series Arrow, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) has rededicated himself to his mission of being more than just another vigilante, and is attempting to become a beacon of hope for the city’s most vulnerable, as The Arrow.  With everything changing in both the present-day and the past, there are sure to be big reveals, lots of action, romance and new secrets, in the remaining episodes of this season.

During this recent interview to promote the remaining episodes of Arrow Season 2, executive producer/writer Marc Guggenheim talked about how the number of people who know Oliver’s secret will increase before the end of the season, whether viewers might see any of the Suicide Squad characters again, what made now the right time to bring back The Huntress, that they already have an idea for her return in Season 3, where things are headed for Thea, just how insane Slade Wilson might be, the Harley Quinn rumors and speculation, the appearance of two of the characters from The Flash in Episode 19, the inevitable big showdown between Oliver and Slade, and how many more Olicity moments viewers might see.  Check out what he had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

Whoa.  So was that a regularly scheduled episode of Arrow last night, or the first half of a made-for-TV movie?  The production quality was through the roof!  My one mild complaint about the show in recent weeks was that it has become ever-so-slightly predictable and by-the-numbers, even if those numbers are spectacular.  My prayers were answered in this week’s episode, “The Promise”, which not only changed up the story structure in a big way, but did it with explosive panache.  Hit the jump for my recap and review.

We’ve got a sneak peek at 23 images from an upcoming episode of The CW’s Arrow to share with you today.  While you’ll have to wait about two weeks to see these guys and gals in action, the appropriately titled episode “Suicide Squad” looks to shake up the established order of things.  If you keep up with the show (and our recaps), then you know that Oliver Queen and John Diggle have been busy rounding up villains like Deadshot and Bronze Tiger.  Now, it looks as if Queen could be on the wrong side of the law, while Diggle is aiding the very criminals he helped put away in a clandestine operation!  What is going on here??

Stephen Amell, David Ramsey, Caity Lotz, Michael Jai White, Michael Rowe, Sean Maher, Audrey Marie Anderson, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson star.  Hit the jump to check out the images.  Arrow’s “Suicide Squad” airs Wednesday, March 19 (8:00-9:00pm ET) on The CW.

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve had our Arrow fix, but I’m happy to say that the gang is back and everything’s running like clockwork (see what I did there?).  Tonight’s episode featured one of my favorite villains from DC’s rogues gallery (one version of him anyway), who was used in such a way as to quite possibly make him my favorite baddie to appear on the show so far.  Bold words, I know.  Hit the jump for my recap and review.

Although we won’t see another episode of Arrow for three weeks, tonight’s episode gave fans quite a bit to chew on.  There are still ten episodes left in the season, so it was no surprise that this particular hour served as more of a setup for what’s to come, introducing new wrinkles by way of character additions, relationship tweaks and threats looming on a few different levels.  How will all this setup pay off in the weeks to come?  Hit the jump to find out.

Oh man, are DC fans going to be excited at the end of this week’s Arrow.  There’s a curious little exchange that happens in the final few moments that might pique the interest of a casual viewer, but should cause die-hard fans to jump out of their seats.  Before we get to that, however, we have to address quite a few things that happened in the bulk of the episode, including secret identity reveals, DC character cameos and MacGuffins.  Hit the jump for my recap and review of “Tremors”.

Tonight’s episode of Arrow was a relative slow burn for the normally fast-paced series.  The good news is that “Blind Spot” gave a few characters who often get less screentime more room to breathe and develop; the bad news is that the show runs through its plot lines so fast that one wonders if they’ll have to resort to stretching some storylines over the season’s 12 remaining episodes.  I’m not too worried though, because a slow night for Arrow is a homerun for almost any other show out there today.  And while the bulk of tonight’s episode was a little clunky, the final sequence was worth the wait.  Hit the jump for my recap and review.