Arrow (Season One)

Zach Goodier

Arrow is a CW show centered around the exploits of Oliver Queen, known in comic-land as the Green Arrow. The show starts us with his return from the dead, having been believed lost at sea for 5 years. As he secretly begins to take on his new persona and fight crime in Starling City, we are gradually given glimpses into his experiences over the last 5 years, starting with him being shipwrecked on a island whose only inhabitants are ruthless mercenaries and an old man trying to survive on his own. What follows is a story of Oliver’s return to society, as he struggles to right the wrongs of his father, and atone for his own past in the process.

Meet Oliver Queen, AKA "The Vigiliante," or "The Green Arrow."

From the get-go, this show takes on a somewhat darker tone that most comic-fans might be used to in the TV adaptation. Oliver’s hero is called the “the Vigilante” among the media and by the city’s inhabitants, and the name “Green Arrow” is quickly laughed off, for humor and as an attempt to make this show feel more mature than the comic it is based off of, apparently. This hero has no issue with killing people, as he quickly stacks up a body count of thugs and villains who are plaguing the city.

Flashbacks throughout the episodes give glimpses into how Oliver became the hardened, scarred man he is in the present. 

The story is a little melodramatic for my liking, with a lot of drama being drudged up through Oliver and his family drama, including a bratty little sister named Thea, and his mother,  Moira. While it is obviously an emotion first couple of episodes as everyone adjusts to Oliver’s return, it quickly turns into an overdramatic cycle of people confronting Oliver about keeping secrets (because hooded vigilantes can’t stay in every night), which spawns a repetitive cycle of his family grilling him about his absence from home and social functions, and not telling them about his experiences on the island. From there, the drama finds new ways to pop back up, making me wish they could find new ways of moving things forward.

Oliver tries to find others who can help him save the city, but not everyone shares his enthusiasm.

On the up side, Dark Archer is the main villain of the story arch, even if he doesn’t appear until later in the season. He does a great job of capturing a great anti-villain feel, and has a charismatic aura that makes him a character you hate to love. His ruthless dedication and advanced skills make him a dangerous opponent for our Vigilante. The fights between these two are amazing and really make it hard to tear yourself away.

Dark Archer is trained by the League of Shadows, and has plans for the future of Starling City.

There are appearances by other comic characters, and they help add some depth to the series, but they often spawn more drama as they become involved in Oliver’s life, both as a hero, and as a person. This always finds a way to impact his family and/or friends in a way that spawns more drama as they argue over whatever reasons the writers managed to dig up to make things tense. Characters like Laurel and Tommy provide some side-story and give Oliver friends, but they also tend to add to the drama by creating a love-triangle, the likes of which you’d expect from a teen anime.

There's a lot of foreshadowing for the main villain of season 2.

Overall, this show is great when it gets down to business and has the showdowns between skillful and dangerous characters, and a few supporting characters really carry their weight well throughout the season. However, there is also a lot holding this show down, like overusing drama to add tension, making things feel too much like a soap-opera, and some poorly written characters that just annoyed me… Still, very much like a soap-opera. Perhaps some of the writers only have experience on soaps, because whenever Oliver isn’t wearing his quiver, that’s the general feel this show gives off sometimes. It’s not like Game of Thrones, which is a character-driven dramatic story, this feels like a series with drama-driven characters, who are almost forced via writing, to find reasons to keep secrets and betray each other’s trust, and then resent each other for it.

Good:

- Quality action.

- Dark Archer is well-written and a worthy arch-villain.

- Elements of back-story are slowly revealed as they are relevant to the current plot.

Bad:

- SO. MUCH. DRAMA.

Scully Rating: 6.0 out of 10

Razer Black Widow Ultimate

By: Sean Dibble

Well, it didn't take me long to find another gaming peripheral from Razer that I instantly fell in love with. The Black Widow is a wired keyboard that any gamer desires. With its sleek design and ultra-smooth keystrokes, it’s hard not to fall in love with it. Additionally, for the more hardcore gamer, this Black Widow allows for programming of up to five (yes, five!) different keysets, all for different games if need be.

Design

The Razer Black Widow Keyboard is like most other Razer equipment, with the standard black base color with green highlights. Let me tell you, when you combine all your Razer equipment, your room will glow in a magical green that says you’re the ultimate gamer. The keyboard is slim and easy to carry around if need be. Like I previously mentioned, it has five sets of different keys that you can program for special games which you enjoy playing so you don’t have to go in and reset keystrokes each time you feel like switching it up. Instead of having to go in and reset the keys manually, the keyboard automatically remembers them for you, making it ideal for the veteran gamer.

We all know how useful USB ports are, but the seasoned gamer has more than their fair share of hardware. Counting the mouse, keyboard, external hard drive, printer, headset… you get the picture. Most PCs and laptops have a limited amount of USB ports, and when you have as much stuff as I do, your desk gets pretty cluttered. Razer found a solution for this problem. Remember that pesky headset you use to play games? Not only does this keyboard have USB port, but it also has both a microphone and headphone jack; perfect to plug in your other Razer headgear (or any other headgear. Whatever floats your boat).

Functionality

This keyboard practically screams functionality. With smooth and easy keystrokes, you’ll fly through whatever you’re typing. For me, it increased my typing speed a bit, and it even has an anti-ghosting function which allows you to quickly go from one key to the next without adding in extra characters where they aren’t needed. In the heat of gaming, there’s no telling how many times you might accidentally press an unnecessary key, so it’s a pretty ingenious addition if you ask me.

Again, gamers will love this keyboard due to the ability to store five separate sets of game command keys in it. This keyboard also syncs up with Razer Synapse (a cloud-based hardware driver installer) and it can constantly download the latest device updates for you. This way, your keyboard drivers are always up to snuff and ready to go.

Usually at this point in the review I would mention something bad about the item or game, but honestly… I’m at a loss. I can’t find a single thing wrong with this keyboard. It’s slim and easy to carry, looks sleek and sexy, feels great when you type, and it has a long cord (usually a negative, in my opinion); but what this cord allows me to do is to do all my typing on my big-screen television. I can move my gaming rig to the large-screen TV, which translates into a very happy nerd.

The Black Widow can be purchased for around $130, which might seem pretty expensive, but it’s more than worth what you get out of it in entertainment value. You’ll find that your modest investment was well-made and money well-spent. Who knows? With Thanksgiving and Black Friday just around the corner, you might find a pretty sweet deal on this keyboard… that is, if you can make it through the crowd of crazy, rabid Americans who have forgotten what the meaning of Thanksgiving is.

So, what are you waiting for? Go out there, get the keyboard of your dreams, and GAME ON!

Good:

- Super sleek design. Who can’t love it?

- Gaming preset keys, allowing for immediate action.

- Easy keystrokes for fast-paced gaming.

- Long cord, if you need to move somewhere.

- Compatible with Razer Synapse, so your hardware is always up to date.

Bad:

- Absolutely nothing, unless you want to count the price (which isn’t even all that bad).

Scully Rating: 10 out of 10

Deathrite Shaman

“Deathrite Shaman” is yet another outstanding Black/Green creature from Return to Ravnica, and this time, one with multi-format appeal! As a 1/2 for one, his body is certainly reasonable, but it’s his incredibly flexible glut of abilities that really define him. This creature does it all, and while messing with any graveyard shenanigans your opponent may have going on. Deathrite has three abilities, each one revolving around removing a card in a graveyard from the game (it is important to note that it is any graveyard – yours or your opponent’s).

He can dig a land out of the graveyard to produce a mana of the color of your choice. In standard, this doesn’t do much of anything, unless you run Ghost Quarter [Innistrad] (which may not be a bad idea, considering how many fantastic nonbasic lands are running around the format), but in old formats, this is incredible. A first turn fetchland [Onslaught, Zendikar] into Deathrite is a frightening set-up in either modern or legacy – especially legacy, where Wasteland [Tempest] is very much a thing.

Deathrite can also dig up creatures or instant/sorceries, at a boon of +2 life/creature or -2 life/spell. This is quite relevant in both standard and older formats. He’s hell on wheels against a reanimator deck as Deathrite can pop off the ideal reanimation target before the resurrection spell is cast. And in any given game of Magic, instants and sorceries will fly around, letting Deathrite turn into a repeatable source of burn, which can finish out some games that stall. These abilities do require a specific green or black mana, meaning he’s only at his best in a deck using (or splashing) both.

Good:

-One mana cost, in either of two colors, allowing for consistent easy casting

- 2 OUTSTANDING abilities, if you have access to the colors

- 1 very relevant Legacy acceleration ability

- Messes with graveyard strategies

- Uses either graveyard, so should have no shortage of ammo

Bad:

            - Small body

            - Specific color requirements for abilities, so only thrives in black/green

            - Mana ability isn’t relevant at all in standard

            - He’s an elf. No one likes elves. :p

Scully Rating: 8.8 out of 10

Projected Settled Value: $6-8