In Arrow (Mondays, Sky1, 8pm), a wayward playboy returns to his benighted home city after being thought dead for years. Operating as a deep-voiced, dark-clothed vigilante, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) sets about cleaning up the streets although, in lieu of any superpowers, this square-jawed billionaire must rely only on expensive gadgets and an insane workout regime to prevail.
It's Batman Begins with a compound bow, and 30 episodes in, Arrow – based on the long-standing DC Comics character Green Arrow – has found an enjoyable, if trifling, groove. Compare that to Agents of SHIELD, the much-hyped TV spin-off from Marvel's insanely successful movie universe, a show that has achieved impressive ratings but received underwhelming reviews. (Full disclosure: I like it more than most.)
Though they both have their roots in comics, it's a little unfair to compare the two series directly. Arrow may not have the high budget of Agents of SHIELD, but it debuted to far lower audience expectations, and has had an entire first season to work out any kinks (or insert some). Agents of SHIELD – on a scheduled production break this week – is still finding its footing, but could potentially learn from its scrappy rival. With that in mind, here are seven things Arrow does better than Agents of SHIELD.
Unadulterated action
When he's not firing arrows at bad guys with machine guns, Oliver Queen is wrecking henchmen with the mixed martial arts he learned while stranded on a remote island for five years. From Adam West's Batman to Xena: Warrior Princess, there's just something cathartic about a good brawl. Agents of SHIELD, though, seems unwilling to commit to fisticuffs, preferring to try to subvert the form. When Agent Ward (Brett Dalton) recently took on an entire pagan hate cult baying for his blood, he drifted off into a flashback mid-melee and snapped out of it amid a pile of duffed-up bodies. Poetic, maybe, but it would be nice to see him kick at least one person in the face every episode.
Soapiness
There is an undercurrent of angst in Agents of SHIELD, with Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) occasionally gazing out of a tiny aeroplane window pondering his mysterious death and resurrection. But since every single SHIELD character is primed to communicate in quips and pop-culture references, it can be hard to downshift into non-snarky melodrama. Every single Arrow character feels guilty about forbidden love or killing someone or being an alcoholic, and they're happy to talk about it at great length without cracking wise. Weirdly, these Sunset Beach excursions make Arrow feel more like an old-fashioned comic book.
Canny casting
In season one, Arrow staged its own mini Doctor Who convention by casting John Barrowman and Alex Kingston. For season two, it has signed up the striking Summer Glau, former female Terminator on The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but also a veteran of Joss Whedon productions Firefly, Serenity and Dollhouse, and someone you could reasonably have expected would turn up in a SHIELD uniform sooner rather than later. Biff, bang, gazump!
Fan service
Ironically, being so directly linked to the Marvel movie universe means Agents of SHIELD can't use comic characters earmarked for potential big-screen outings. In contrast, Arrow has gone berserk, raking up (admittedly second-tier) DC Comics characters and getting them on screen as fast as possible. Deadshot, China White, Deathstroke, Bronze Tiger, Amanda Waller from Suicide Squad ... these are all characters familiar to fans that pop up in the flesh rather than just being listed on a computer database as an in-joke. This Monday's episode goes even further, with the introduction of mild-mannered CSI guy Barry Allen (Grant Gustin). Bazza is destined to become The Flash, arguably a more recognisable character than Green Arrow, and now gearing up for his own TV spin-off.
Clever use of resources
Despite a healthy budget, Agents of SHIELD can't help but look a little cheap compared to its expensive movie siblings. Arrow is funded by the less flush CW network, yet manages to look more visually coherent, with Vancouver standing in for Starling City. Arrow is also unafraid to recycle, shooting on dark alleyway sets originally built for Zack Snyder's Watchmen movie. The show also gets the most out of another nearby resource: Stephen Amell's torso. Oliver Queen does a lot of one-armed push-ups, and has an impressive workout trick called the "salmon ladder".
Focus and momentum
SHIELD is an international agency with a broad remit and the word "logistics" in its title. This involves the team bouncing around the globe on various missions. Arrow is about Oliver Queen trying to save Starling City, which gives the show an enviable focus. But the real master stroke is the constant use of flashbacks to Oliver's lost years on Lian Yu, a remote – if not deserted – island. If the present-day plot is threatening to get a bit dull, the action cuts back to the island, where Oliver talks in a slightly more high-pitched voice and sports a Dawson from Dawson's Creek haircut. If the island storyline flags, the show jumps back to the present day. It's a cross-cutting technique that comic books use all the time, and it keeps things rattling along in a way that SHIELD just can't match.
Ninjas. Ninjas!
Arrow has no shortage of ninjas. As Marvel Comics godhead Stan Lee might put it: 'nuff said.