Synopsis:
After
a violent shipwreck, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen was missing and
presumed dead for five years before being discovered alive on a remote
island in the Pacific. When he returns home to Starling City, his
devoted mother Moira, much-beloved sister Thea, and best friend Tommy
welcome him home, but they sense Oliver has been changed by his ordeal
on the island.
While
Oliver hides the truth about the man he's become, he desperately wants
to make amends for the actions he took as the boy he was. Most
particularly, he seeks reconciliation with his former girlfriend, Laurel
Lance. As Oliver reconnects with those closest to him, he secretly
creates the persona of Arrow - a vigilante - to right the wrongs of his
family, fight the ills of society, and restore Starling City to its
former glory.
By
day, Oliver plays the role of a wealthy, carefree and careless
philanderer he used to be - flanked by his devoted chauffeur/bodyguard,
John Diggle - while carefully concealing the secret identity he turns to
under cover of darkness. However, Laurel's father, Detective Quentin
Lance, is determined to arrest the vigilante operating in his city.
Review:
Despite the Batman parallels, including returning home to find that his
ex-girlfriend has become a lawyer fighting for the little guy, Arrow
actually does have a few significant differences from Gotham’s dark
knight (besides being less rights restricted, I mean). For one thing,
there’s a reason the Green Arrow of the comics has traditionally worn an
outfit reminiscent of Robin Hood, and TV’s Oliver Queen looks like
he’ll be taking on similar themes: when a corrupt businessman is robbed
at arrow-point, he tells the police, “I’m not some grocer who got taken
for his register. I go to the front of the line.”
So far, it looks like CW is setting up Arrow as a fighter for the disenfranchised. I don’t find his motives entirely convincing at this point, given that the man we have seen on screen only has experience as a castaway and a party boy, unless a weak parallel between Oliver’s father closing his steel plant, and the general fall in standards of living counts, but it’s pretty timely to see a super hero working against the corporate fat cats, rather than being one of them. By the end of the pilot we find that Arrow is willing to go to great lengths to share the wealth around.
Altogether, I am pretty optimistic about the show. There’s corporate intrigue and shadowy bad guys, there are corrupt businessmen getting what they deserve, and the show’s lead actor, Stephan Amell, is convincingly menacing to both his enemies and to unduly curious bystanders. The action scenes are dynamic and flashily choreographed, and surprisingly fatal for a superhero show. The stage is set for some growing tensions as the series progresses, with Oliver’s sister, nicknamed Speedy, falling in with a bad crowd, dark hints about the nature of the family business, and a hit list that could be the length of a small black book.
Green Arrow has been a fixture of DC comics for a long time, including successful parts in the popular Justice League, unlimited cartoon, and in the long running series Smallville. If the 4 million people who tuned in for the premiere are any indication, Green Arrow has a good chance of standing on his own.
So far, it looks like CW is setting up Arrow as a fighter for the disenfranchised. I don’t find his motives entirely convincing at this point, given that the man we have seen on screen only has experience as a castaway and a party boy, unless a weak parallel between Oliver’s father closing his steel plant, and the general fall in standards of living counts, but it’s pretty timely to see a super hero working against the corporate fat cats, rather than being one of them. By the end of the pilot we find that Arrow is willing to go to great lengths to share the wealth around.
Altogether, I am pretty optimistic about the show. There’s corporate intrigue and shadowy bad guys, there are corrupt businessmen getting what they deserve, and the show’s lead actor, Stephan Amell, is convincingly menacing to both his enemies and to unduly curious bystanders. The action scenes are dynamic and flashily choreographed, and surprisingly fatal for a superhero show. The stage is set for some growing tensions as the series progresses, with Oliver’s sister, nicknamed Speedy, falling in with a bad crowd, dark hints about the nature of the family business, and a hit list that could be the length of a small black book.
Green Arrow has been a fixture of DC comics for a long time, including successful parts in the popular Justice League, unlimited cartoon, and in the long running series Smallville. If the 4 million people who tuned in for the premiere are any indication, Green Arrow has a good chance of standing on his own.
