This Viewer Log is going to be
slightly different than the Jessica Jones
one. I’ll be doing this one periodically, given that Arrow already has a pretty well established fan base, and there are
just so many more episodes. For those who somehow haven’t heard of it, Arrow is a TV series on the CW Network.
It tells the story of Oliver Queen, as we see him progress from Playboy
millionaire to vigilante superhero. This is the CW’s second DC franchise, after
the long running Smallville. Let’s
get to it.
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| Technically, wouldn't his name make more sense if he was the Green Bow? |
The episode opens with a shabby
looking fellow performing parkour on an island. Shabby sees a fishing boat, and
then skillfully launches a flaming arrow into a signal fire set up some
distance away. In a narration, we learn that his guy is Oliver Queen, and he’s
been stuck on the island of Lian Yu in the North China Sea for about five
years. A news report fills in more of the gaps. The News Anchor tells us that
Oliver was a well-known partier in Starling City, who disappeared with his
father and several others when the family Yacht, The Queen’s Gambit, sank.
Back with Oliver, a doctor makes the assessment that Oliver was pretty screwed
up, physically speaking. Scar tissue over 20% of his body, several mended
bones, and a bunch of new tattoos that one seems to question. His mother, happy
to see him, takes him home. He brings a mysterious case with him, that he doesn’t
let anyone touch. At home, he meets Walter Steele, the CFO of Queen
Consolidated, and his sister, Thea. Smiles all around.
We jump to Dinah Laurel Lance, a
lawyer and Oliver’s old girlfriend. She’s doing lawyer stuff when she finds out
that Oliver is alive, and that her sister, who was on the ship, is for sure
dead. There’s a short flashback, which shows Oliver’s father, Robert Queen, on
the Gambit. The storm is getting
rough, and the captain is worried. We also see a younger Oliver, and Sara Lance…
in a robe. Did I mention that Oliver is a notorious booty hound? Robert tells
his son that “romancing” sister’s is a bad idea. Back with the Queens, the
family has dinner, along with Oliver’s best friend Tommy Merlyn and Steele.
Oliver learns that his mother, Moira, and Steele are married. He’s happy for
them, but clearly uncomfortable.
Another flashback to the ship. Sara
is “conflicted” with their relationship, but still enjoys Oliver’s attention.
The storm then sinks The Gambit, Sara
is swept out to sea, but Oliver is saved by his father and the captain. They
had a lifeboat. This flashback turned out to be a dream, Moira attempted to
wake Oliver, who promptly takes her down. Apparently Moira is willing to believe that a side effect of island survival is ninja fighting skills. Huh. Once alone again, Oliver opens the case; it’s filled with various items from the
Island. He gives his sister a stone from the island, and sees that she’s
experimenting with drugs. Not so great.
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| Oliver goes a little nuts with the eye shadow. Doesn't really seem to help hide his identity. |
Oliver goes out with Tommy.
Starling City has a pretty severe homeless/unemployment problem. Oliver stakes
out an old Queen Consolidated steel mill, and then asks to see Laurel.
Obviously, Miss Lance isn’t all that happy to see Oliver. Diddling your
girlfriend’s sister will do that. Oliver still tries to ask for forgiveness,
but she blows him off. After that, Tommy and Oliver are kidnapped by some
goons. Flashback, there are a lot of
these, to the lifeboat. Robert basically begs his son for forgiveness, for the situation, and his hand in whatever economic ruin that Starling City is going through. In the present, the
goons try to interrogate Oliver about his father’s fate, and what he may have
learned from the late Queen. Oliver takes the torture for a few minutes, breaks
free, and beats the snot out of them. In the end, he captures the last
surviving goon and snaps his neck, swearing that no one can ever learn his
secret.
After the encounter, Oliver is
interviewed by Detective Quentin Lance. Oliver feeds Lance a story about a man
in a green hood saving them, and Tommy was too disorientated to say anything
else. If the name didn’t tip you off, Lance is the father of Laurel and Sara,
and is also pissed at Oliver for his hand in Sara’s death. So…a pretty C- day.
Oliver starts looking into Adam Hunt, a wealthy business man that screwed a
bunch of folks out of millions of dollars. Hunt’s name appears in a ratty old
book Oliver is carrying, and is the other party in a case Laurel is working on. Oliver is introduced to John Diggle, his new
bodyguard. Oliver quickly ditches Diggle, and returns to the steel mill. He
starts setting up shop in the steel mill, smashing some stuff, and setting up a
rudimentary computer system. He does some training really quick, and then goes
after Hunt. Oliver takes out Hunt’s guards, and then threatens Hunt. He has
until 10 pm the next night to transfer all the money he stole. The next day,
Hunt gets the cops to help him set up a security perimeter around his tower.
Oliver goes to his welcome home
party, and despite some set back, slips away when Hunt doesn’t pay up. He
singlehandedly takes out Hunt’s forces, and only misses one shot. Oliver
escapes just before being caught by the cops, and flees back to his party
across the street. The craziness of the party give’s Oliver a decent enough alibi,
but both Lance and Tommy are clearly suspicious of Oliver and the Hood. We then
learn that Oliver’s one missed shot was anything but. The arrow was a trick
arrow that hacked Hunt’s system, and wirelessly downloaded the entire 40
million dollars that Hunt stole. Oliver crosses Hunts name off the list. In the
last flashback, we see Robert kill himself and the captain to increase Oliver’s
odds of survival. And in the last few seconds, we learn that Moira was the one
that arranged the kidnapping.
Overall, this was a solid opening
for Arrow. It covers the major plot
points, billionaire shipwrecked and then returns a master archer, goes out to
be a modern Robin Hood. Steven Amell is amazing as Oliver Queen. He can both be
the happy go lucky playboy he pretends to be, and the more brooding vigilante
that he has become. For some reason they changed Arrow’s home town’s name from
Star City to Starling City for some reason. That’s a minor change, though.
There were some pretty major changes too, such as his mother being alive, and
the addition of John Diggle and Thea Queen. All three characters are decently
portrayed in this first episode. The weakest link is Laurel. I’m not sure if it’s
the writing, or actress Katie Cassidy’s portrayal, but there’s something about
this version of Laurel that rubbed me the wrong way. But she far from ruins the
show. Arrow only goes up from here.
Next time, Arrow episode 2.
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