The
return of Arrow with season 2, is one of the most anticipated events in current
tv and with the recent addition of quite a number of new characters, many have
questions about how will it all combine.
In a
recent interview to collider director Andrew Kreisberg talked about where the
characters are now, why Oliver returned to island, from vigilante to hero, The
Flash, Diggle and more.
“Collider: Arrow is one of those shows that a lot of
people seemed to have been waiting, during Season 1, to find something bad to
say about it, but instead found themselves totally hooked and enjoying the
ride. Did that give you a sense of
confidence, going into Season 2, or were you just focused on making it bigger
and better than last season?
ANDREW
KREISBERG: It’s funny because we really
felt like, in the second half of the year, we really found our groove. It was very spotty in the early episodes. There was a really good one, followed by a
less successful one. But, with the back
half of the season, we felt like the show was really firing on all
cylinders. And with that finale, we were
so proud of that script, and humbled and amazed that production was able to
pull it off, that coming into Season 2, we were like, “Oh, dear god, I hope we
don’t screw this up!” So, we did feel a
lot of pressure and we were nervous. It
feels like, so far, the early reviews and the reaction to it has been really
positive. We spent a lot of time
analyzing what worked about the show and what didn’t. We’ve looked at specific episodes this season
and said, “How does this remind us of what was successful about what we did
last year?” While at the same time, every
story goes through this, “What’s the Season 2 of it? What’s the 2.0 of this?” People are in such a different place than
they were, at the end of last season, whether it’s emotionally, professionally
or even geographically. So, we’re trying
to mix things up and have new character interactions. It was a daunting task, but it feels
good. These first nine feel like a
continuation and a heightening of what we were doing, at the end of last
season.
…
Do
you see this as the season that Oliver Queen goes from vigilante to hero, or at
least tries to?
KREISBERG: Yeah.
Last season, for him, saving the city was staying in the shadows, being
a vigilante, crossing names off of a list, and avoiding the police. By the end of the season, he discovered that
that wasn’t working and that didn’t help.
This season, he really decides that he wants to be a hero. For us, the entire series is about him going
from where he started in the pilot to becoming the Green Arrow. This season, it’s just about getting from
being the vigilante to being the Arrow.
It’s one step along the journey.
There will be mistakes and successes and stutter-steps. What’s been really fun for us, as writers,
this season is watching Oliver set these new goals for himself, and watching
him try to achieve them, surpass them, and fall short of them.
Did
you always have a plan to address a name change for him, as early as you are?
KREISBERG: Yeah.
Last season, Oliver didn’t care what anyone thought of him, as Oliver
Queen or as the vigilante. The term
“vigilante” and “The Hood” were all said so derogatorily. He realizes now, in the first episode, that
the example he set last year was taken up by this gang called The Hood, that
made a mockery of what Oliver did. So,
he decides he needs to reboot and rebrand.
It’s not just about hunting down criminals. It’s also about setting an example and being
a symbol of hope for people. With that
comes a name change.
…
KREISBERG: Especially going through the process with
casting The Black Canary and The Flash, we were all reminded that when we cast
Stephen [Amell], there was a hearty portion of people who were cursing us that
we didn’t cast Justin Hartley. You can’t
take that stuff too seriously. We’re
doing our own thing. As I’ve always
said, hopefully after our show, there will be another show about Green Arrow,
or a movie. What’s fun about these
things is that they keep coming back.
Everyone who takes a wack at the pinata on one of these characters gets
to bring their own thing to it. For the
most part, Greg [Berlanti], Marc [Guggenheim] and I are all huge comic book
fans, and we’ve all written comics, too.
We’re all just so happy and excited to be a part of this world that we
feel like, if we make ourselves happy, then we’re going to make a sizeable
portion of the audience happy. We were
never surprised about the audience’s reaction, last season, for the most part. The ones that we thought were super successful
seemed to be the ones the audience thought were super successful. So, we just try to keep applying that measure
of enthusiasm to what we’ve been doing.
…
Are
you also setting up this season to explore Diggle’s journey, as well, since he
clearly won’t be able to fully heal himself until he comes face to face with
Deadshot?
KREISBERG: Yes.
Episode 6, this season, is a big Diggle episode. We’re going to find out some interesting
facts about Diggle. There will be a big
surprise from his past. Oliver is really
the B-story in that episode. We’re all
really proud of it, and I think it shows the strength of, first of all, David
Ramsey’s performance as Diggle, but also the character and Team Arrow. Every episode is generally Diggle and
Felicity helping Oliver with a case, but this is really an episode with Oliver
and Felicity helping Diggle. So, you’re
definitely going to get a lot of new information about Dig, a new sense of
mission for him, and the resolution of his brother’s murder.”
Arrow
season 2 airs on Wednesday’s on The CW.
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