Other than some minor digging when I read the show was on the CW schedule, and some familiarity with Oliver Queen from one of the few episodes of Smallville I have seen, I am a stranger to DC’s Green Arrow character. After last night’s debut of Arrow, I may have to amend that situation. If the rest of the season is half as good as the pilot, I have a new favorite show (and a realization I may have a thing for archery- Green Arrow, Hawkeye, Daryl Dixon, I sense a pattern here).
In a nutshell, billion dollar socialite party boy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) was in a boating accident with his father (Jamey Sheridan) and presumed dead. But in reality, he spent five mysterious years on a strange Pacific island. Now he has been rescued and has returned home wanting to make amends. And making amends includes dressing up in a green hooded outfit, utilizing some super archery skills and high tech arrows, and taking out names from a little black book one by one.
http://youtu.be/xaq6S_Hcwn4
What works about the pilot is the way the episode stacks the storyline. Plot and character development are shared with excellent timing. The Queens’ maid, Oliver’s best friend Tommy (Colin Donnell), Oliver’s sister Thea (Willa Holland), girlfriend Dinah Lance (Katie Cassidy) and Detective Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne) all react to Oliver in ways that tell us about his questionable past behavior without the need for more flashbacks beyond what happened during the boat accident. I love the nice bit of Hamlet thrown in when upon his arrival home he finds his mother has married a business associate of his father, Walter Steele (Resident Evil’s doomed, smooth voiced Colin Salmon) whom Oliver doesn’t seem to like or trust right off the bat. The added layer of family tension between Oliver, his much loved but troubled sister Thea and overprotective (or is she?) mother (Susanna Thompson) could make for its own CW show. Everyone seems to have a secret, some may even be bigger than Oliver’s.
The action is well done, quick paced. Mystery abounds and gives the impression the storyline will not run out of surprises anytime in the near future. I am not sure who in Oliver’s life we can trust. And I want to know what happened on the island! And there is a mix of humor to lighten the dark. Tommy’s rehash of what Oliver has missed in five years includes a rundown of the Superbowl champs “And Lost. They were dead the whole time. I think.” Oliver also has some physically engaging moments with his bodyguard Diggle (forced upon him by his mom) that give a laugh. I am curious to see how Oliver and Diggle’s relationship will grow and if Diggle’s intentions are ultimately good or bad.
I can’t say anything doesn’t work about Arrow but there is that gnawing bit of “Isn’t this sort of Batman’s story?” But we can all just suck up and deal because there are archetypes to a hero’s story and that is just the way it is; it’s new wine in old bottles, as they say. I also could do without the narration by Oliver, but it is not too intrusive. And while I am a Katie Cassidy fan (she was my favorite Supernatural Ruby) my initial impression is I didn’t feel any immediate chemistry between she and Amell. I hope we get to meet Dinah’s alter ego, The Black Canary, sooner than later and perhaps some vigilantes in disguise will heat things up between them.
- From weightlossandtraining.com
Now for a brief interlude from my hormones. The ultimate moment for me was Oliver’s workout / training montage. I didn’t know people could do that and it didn’t look like stunt double, so Mr. Amell, hats off to you sir, nicely done. I warned Proffitt by texting “hang on to your ovaries” before she watched. Back to all seriousness now.
I am really looking forward to keeping up with Arrow and following Mr. Amell’s career. I hope no ill falls Paul Blackthorne’s character because he is one actor that needs to be brought to the front line instead of his usual supporting roles. (Yes, I am still holding a grudge for the cancellation of The Dresden Files.) I hope the CW treats it as more of a serious story for grown-ups and takes more of the Supernatural route, avoiding the young adult soap opera marketer of fashion and music route with a “this week’s episode of Arrow featured music by ____” closing. And who among us is not excited and anxious to see John Barrowman’s appearance? All in all, Arrow may just make up ever so slightly for the lack of a more major storyline for Hawkeye in The Avengers.
This article originally appeared on our brother site Word of the Nerd
Written by Becca N
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You had me at “gratuitous work-out scene.”
I thought this might be good… and it was better than I thought, so that’s a plus. I am hoping they stay away from trick-arrows, and stick with the serious approach. By “trick” I mean things like boxing gloves on arrows… exploding tips or zip lines are fine and make sense.
I’m pretty sure I recognized a lot of Smallville sets… The Queen mansion looked a lot like Luthor mansion… the law office looked and sounded a lot like the Daily Planet… and the bad guy (besides being bald) looked like he was in Lionel Luthor’s old office.
Yes, Adam Hunt’s mansion is Lex’s. And the boxing glove arrow is just a crash airbag tipped arrow with a proximity sensor switch so it does make sense as a non-lethal takedown. But that doesn’t seem to interest this Arrow. In fact, that’s the part that disturbed me the most about this new version was the casual way he discards life. Not sure I like that, but it does fit the darker gritier aspects. Taser arrows would be the best, given recent real-world technological advancements.
-Jeff
I was hoping that this show would take some cues from the Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters mini-series by the awesome Mike Grell (whose name also gets referenced in the new TV show!)
That mini was dark and Green Arrow was more lethal with the arrows… and it was some of the strongest Green Arrow stuff ever. I’m glad to see this TV show going more that direction.
I suppose I’ll watch this eventually. Maybe after the whole season is done. I’m just a little skeptical if this is going to go down the smallville rabbit hole and into annoying re-hashed storylines…because it started out so promisingly as well.
Dieter was a bit disparaging toward Smallville so I never gave it a chance outside of two or three episodes I watched out of boredom waiting for Supernatural to come on. I’ll keep ya posted if Arrow takes a downturn.
Yeah, I hated Smallville, so I expected to hate Arrow too. But it turns out I’m really hooked.
Loved loved loved it, I think I have a new favorite show! Hopefully the rest of the season will be just as good. Any idea when the Barrowman’s first appearance will be? “A well-dressed villain” yum yum yum, can’t wait!
I did some digging and can’t find a date or episode to expect him, but we know he’s going to be awesome.
You should grab the free lead-in comic book from your local comics shop for further flashbacks and character intros. The Merlyn character is the one with the most promise (Ollie’s future nemesis in most realities).
The Dinah Laurel Lance character from the show seems to lack all of the various incarnations of the comic character’s back-story – either a 40′s-era fishnets detective, or the daughter of the Liberty Belle supersoldier or the Hong Kong street-toughened ultimate martial artist who can avoid being either sucked into the League of Shadows assassins brother like Merlyn or killed by them for her defiance. But I liked her character nonetheless (despite her not being blonde).
I just wanted to mention it was ironic that you felt Ollie was a Bruce Wayne knock-off. This is entirely Batman’s relationship with Ollie. He even remarks after seeing the Arrow-car and Arrow-plane “What else did you steal from me, an Arrow-cave?”. But Ollie’s best gadget arrows haven’t been seen yet. That’s what’s gonna keep me coming back. I also like the family-based plot twists and that fact that this story is different from the one I’m familiar with will keep me from knowing the story in advance the way the Dark Knight Rises telegraphed its only plot twist to those familiar with Batman mythlore. I share your hope that the show continues to avoid cross-marketing attempts.
-Jeff
Weird that Dinah isn’t blond since that actress is usually a blond. I’ll check and see if my local purveyor of comic goodness has that lead-in. Thanks for the tip!
To be fair… at least in the older comics… Black Canary was blonde… but Dinah always wore a brunette wig as a “disguise”… so theoretically, they can still go that route here.
Watched the pilot and it hooked me (yep, the workout scene was a nice bonus). This from someone who was never into comic book superheroes, so I have no clue about existing storylines in other media. Yet I don’t feel as if I need to go read them in order to follow this show. So far, so good.