Fay and I just finished watching the penultimate S1 episode of The Flash and it was amazing. We're holding off watching this week's Arrow because the cast of both shows end up teaming up and it's basically going to be like a movie and it's going to be amazing. If I say anything else, it will be full of spoilers and so I'll shut up.

The reason I'm making this post is because I know that Ixzion and Kajak have watched at least part of Arrow. I don't know who else is watching it now, but summer will be a really great time to catch up and get ready for season 4 of Arrow, season 2 of The Flash, and the premiere of The Legends of Tomorrow, which is going to be a midseasom premiere. Also, as an added bonus, since Constantine has been officially canceled on NBC, it's being shopped to the CW. If they don't pick it up, Marc Guggenheim and Stephen Amell are both apparently interested in having Constantine as a character on Arrow. So basically, things are looking great for DC shows on the CW for the 2015-2016 season. As an added bonus, there have been mentions of the Green Lantern. Previously, it had mainly been talks of David Ramsey playing the Green Lantern, but this season, there have been multiple references to Ferris Air and in the last Flash episode, there was a reference to Ferris Air being shut down because a test pilot disappeared. That's basically the origin story for Hal Jordan, one of the Green Lanterns, so who knows where that will lead?

If you want to get caught up, seasons 1 and 2 of Arrow are already on Netflix. It's almost certain that season 3 of Arrow and season 1 of The Flash will be added shortly before the new seasons air in the fall. Even if you don't have time to catch up on the whole season before the premiere, the last 5 episodes will available on the CW and on Hulu. But trust me, once you get into it, you'll be binge watching it like crazy.

But why am basically proselytizing these shows? Okay, here are my reasons:

1. The plot is amazing and the character development, at least for Arrow, has been mind blowing. Most notably, Laurel Lance, Thea Queen, and Roy Harper have all three changed dramatically over the past 3 seasons. There's absolutely no reason to think this won't continue to be true on the Arrow and will also hold true for the other two. Basically, you can expect all the characters to grow and evolve.

2. You don't have to know the source material to follow the show, but there are tons of Easter eggs if you do. For instance, in S1 of Arrow, Laurel's mother lives in Central City and makes a reference to being able to be there "in a flash."

3. The shows can incredibly campy and love to lampshade themselves. In the most recent Flash a character referred to him as "The Scarlet Speedester" and Captain Cold played "Cold As Ice" on the jukebox. In early episodes of Arrow, Oliver ran around in a hood and greasepaint, leaving everyone wondering how no one realized it was him. In season 3, a character lampshades this in a flashback by pointing out that Oliver wearing a hoodie wouldn't fool anyone, even if he wore greasepaint.

4. It's diverse, at least in terms of race and sexuality. There's at least two canon same-sex relationships (and plenty of subtext for others) and there are several characters of color in major roles. It does have some Orientalism elements ("Look! Magical Chinese herbs that cure everything!") and we're still a bit confused as to why Ra's al Ghul is white, but hey, they tried.

5. Eye candy for everyone, especially Arrow. Apparently, part of learning to survive on a hellish island or being trained as an assassin is learning that shirtless is always better. This applies to both genders. Also, lots of leather pants.

6. Great dialogue. Both shows have their moments, but I think The Flash wins this because of Cisco, a scientist, and Joe, Barry's foster father. Joe tries to give a banana to an angry, telepathic gorilla and we find out later that it was Cisco's idea. Also, they're both founding members of the Barry Allen Fan Club, which is awesome.

7. Big name actors. John Barrowman and Alex Kingston from Dr Who both have roles. The guy that played Flash in the 90's show plays Barry's father. Jesse L. Martin from Law and Order and Rent plays Barry's foster dad. There are some amazing actors here.

8. Cool gadgets and amazing fight scenes. I won't even try to describe it. Just check out this trailer for Superhero Fight Club (I don't think there are any major spoilers that aren't pretty obvious from the get go):


So I was thinking that of I've convinced anyone else to watch the show or if you're already watching it, we could discuss it here.

EVERYTHING SHE SAID. I've talked to Ixz a lot about these shows, and I think they're probably one of the best things on TV right now.

Also these are the sorts of shenanigans going on behind the scenes in the extremely dark and gritty Arrow:



Also, Barrowman claims that when he agreed to do Arrow, his contract required that he have a scene with Stephen Amell shirtless. He seems to be what you would call "predatory gay."

Current seasons of both The Flash and Arrow have ended. I expect the seasons to get updated on Netflix soon.