Even with the soapy melodrama, occasional bad acting and a considerably lower budget (probably 2% of the budget of this show per episode): _Arrow_ managed to create better characters and more visceral, memorable action scenes in its first 2 seasons compared to this show. Heck, I’ll even go as far to say that it looks better, despite using incredibly basic set ups and filmmaking techniques. Getting Hailee Steinfeld was a great choice, but her character isn’t leaving a very strong or likable impression. In comparison, Joss Whedon managed to make you care about Clint’s character within 15 minutes of screentime. Well, enough to make you care as a side character.

Moreover, this feels like a studio giving their impression of a Marvel Netflix show, like _Daredevil_ or _Jessica Jones_, but it doesn’t understand what makes those shows good. It’s so tame and uninspired. The comedy is flat out lame and cringy at points, with the role playing scene probably being the lowest low of the entire MCU so far. The recent Marvel projects have had such a weird shift in terms of comedy. They used to be great at making mass product films that were at least a little bit clever and subversive. It’s no surprise that a lot of people who worked on _Community_ also work behind the scenes at Marvel. It’s like they fired those writers after phase 3 ended, and hired the _Friends_ team instead. Their quality control is spreading very thin.