Stars: Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, Colin Donnell, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Susanna Thompson
Writers: Andrew Kreisberg & Marc Guggenheim from a story by Greg Berlanti & Marc Guggenheim
Director: David Nutter
Network: Fox, airs Friday nights
Original Telecast: October 10, 201
With SMALLVILLE off the air, The CW has taken its own sweet time searching for a superhero replacement and now, two years later we have ARROW. Based on the GREEN ARROW comics, this is a much darker take than the Green Arrow on display on SMALLVILLE that was played by Justin Hartley.
This Arrow is more DARK KNIGHT than SUPERMAN (or SMALLVILLE for that matter) and it focuses on a revenge vendetta that Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) has on those who were responsible for leaving him shipwrecked for dead on an island for five years where he found his inner vengeance (and amazing kick-ass skills).
The show picks up when billionaire playboy and outright douche Oliver Queen has returned from his long absence. He’s changed since then and has discovered there’s more to life than partying. He’s left people in his wake too – his former girlfriend Dinah “Laurel” Lance (Katie Cassidy), mother Moira (Susanna Thompson) who may not be the person he thought she was, and sister Thea (Willa Holland) who deeply missed his guidance during his absence. And now he must not only be the awful Oliver Queen he used to, but also the Oliver Queen he is now (and hide that fact), plus the Green Arrow.
It’s pretty epic and I’m not going to pretend there aren’t some problems with this Pilot, but the good far outweighs the uneven. It’s epic storytelling and it’s a show that the CW desperately needs so it has something to pair up with SUPERNATURAL. It can only get better from here (case in point – SMALLVILLE).
While I did really grow to love the Green Arrow character from SMALLVILLE, I’m glad they did take this in a different direction and went into the gritterier comic book Arrow. It gives it a different palette and something we haven’t quite seen in prime-time superhero shows too.
If anything, the show will have to find a way to temper some of Queen’s previous douchebaggery. Yes, he does have to pretend he’s still an awful, shallow person, but the sooner we get past that and he’s allowed to show others he’s a changed person, the better. Especially when it comes to his estranged girlfriend.
Judging by the ratings, the CW has a hit on its hand. Can’t wait to see the show develop and grow and if these ratings are any indication, ARROW has a lot of revenge on the horizon and hopefully for many seasons to come.
Related: TV Review: ARROW – Season 1 – “Honor Thy Father”
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Article: TV Review: ARROW – Season 1 premiere – “Pilot”
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