Earlier today, my wife texted me a video clip. Her next text was the title of this article. (WARNING: This article contains late season 3 spoilers for Arrow. WARNING FOR ARROW FANS: This article contains an opinion that Arrow is a bad show.)


I gave up watching Arrow a couple months ago after Oliver Queen & Co. joined forces with Barry and the gang to fight one of the lamest villains to appear on either show. These episodes were bad for a lot of reasons, but in my opinion, the biggest was the fact that, other than Felicity, no one from Arrow really felt like they belonged in Central City.

A big part of what makes The Flash so great is that it is very self-aware. The writers of The Flash understand that it’s a cheesy comic book show. Thus The Flash is (for the most part) light-hearted and fun to watch as it pokes fun of itself and other superhero tropes. Arrow, on the other hand, is completely oblivious to how corny it is. It is essentially a daytime soap where the actors occasionally wear masks and shoot arrows at things.


It is the Snakes on a Plane of TV shows.

That particular Samuel L. Jackson classic was not funny from great jokes or silly scenes (although there were certainly a few), but rather because everyone in the film took everything so damn seriously. Like that movie, my wife and I find ourselves laughing at Arrow far more often than we are laughing with it. The difference is, Snakes on a Plane is supposed to be funny. Arrow is not.


I shrugged off Arrow the same way I shrugged off Gotham, but my wife recently decided to continue both shows on her own. While I was working, she offered me a live commentary via texts. Suddenly, this video came through to my phone:

That’s my wife laughing at the end of the clip. In case this gets pulled from YouTube, here’s a recap:

Oliver has a few stern words for Nyssa using his weird new “League of Assassins voice.” Nyssa says some stuff, and they proceed to have one of the lamest archery battles I’ve seen on this show (and that’s saying a lot). Oliver has her pinned with a knife to her throat when suddenly John Diggle and Laurel “I want to be important too!” Lance show up on the scene. Laurel uses her new and improved “Canary Cry” (the one Cisco upgraded for her in an earlier episode of The Flash) to break up the fight. However, instead of the neat little sonic orb her sister used, Laurel activates the new device by opening her mouth and acting like she is yelling with hilarious intensity.


For those that don’t know, the Black Canary in the comics emits her cry using her own voice, which she can vibrate to supersonic frequencies. The problem is, neither of the Black Canaries in Arrow have this ability. They rely on gadgets and tech to create the “cry.” In this case, Laurel wears a cute little collar around her neck that... is activated when she yells? I don’t know. Here is my wife’s response to this silliness:




Laurel’s choker almost made my wife choke.



Ha.

And yes, my wife is listed as “wifey” on my phone. Don’t hate! :P

Anyways, this is just one example of how Arrow is hilarious for all the wrong reasons, and why Laurel continues to be the worst part of all of it. If you have any other “great” Arrow moments, feel free to share in the comments!


Oh and as a bonus, to close out the scene with a big dramatic swell, Oliver decides to casually walk off the roof while holding a knife in one hand and his bow in the other.


I’m assuming a magic carpet was waiting for him?