Arrow

ARROW:
Thought dead and stranded on a deserted island for 5 years, Oliver Queen (played by Steven Amell) has been brought back home to Starling City. Coming back with a mission to clean up his city, Oliver has taken on the guise as the Arrow, a hero who will stop at nothing to right the wrongs around Starling City. Although Oliver wants his friends and family to believe he is still the same man he was before the shipwreck that took his father, a lover, and almost himself away, everyone are seeing a change in the man they used to know.  While he shows the world his billionaire playboy side, Oliver Queen is no longer the rich, pampered boy he used to be, now he’s the Arrow, a vigilante who will make Starling City the city it once was.

WHY ARROW AND NOT GREEN ARROW:
First thing I want to say is why is the character of Oliver Queen being called Arrow and not Green Arrow? He’s wearing green, he’s using green arrows, even the arrowheads are green, and yet he’s just called Arrow. Alright, fine I’ll go with it, here’s the new show that might be the CW’s response to the empty void of Smallville, Arrow. It’s based off the character of Green Arrow where rich playboy Oliver Queen goes around as the vigilante to right wrongs and fight crime with a bow and arrow. This pilot episode of the new show has some promise and I think it could actually develop into something interesting but it walks a tight rope.

One thing that I noticed that I didn’t like about the show was how they paint a mask on Oliver’s face when he becomes Arrow. There’s a scene in the episode where he changes clothes from his costume with the green paint to a suit in a mere few minutes while being chased, uh yeah right. Give the man a real mask! Just because he has green paint over his eyes doesn't make him unrecognizable. Anyone with eyesight would be able to tell that it’s Oliver Queen, even with the hood and paint, especially since not only he was already publicly recognized but after being thought dead for 5 years to come back alive makes him even more recognizable. It would be like if Bill Gates were to be gone for 5 years to suddenly come back, paint a green stripe over his eyes, put on a hood, and expects no one to know that it was him, just not going to happen.

Aside from that I actually enjoyed the show. I liked how they didn’t portray the character of Arrow as this totally good guy who doesn't hurt anyone with the arrows he shoots them with. I’ve always wondered how the characters that use bow and arrows never actually hurt anyone when they shot them with arrows. Well, that’s not the case here, the people he shoots actually get hurt and are shown and told that they have been severely injured because of it. In this show the Arrow is being sought by the police department and though he is helping out somewhat, he really isn't a good guy.

Other aspects of the show that were good, there’s some decent acting being by Stephen Amell as he is basically playing 3 characters. One is his former self where he just wanted to party, another is the Oliver Queen that is back from 5 years on a secluded island, and the third is the vigilante Arrow. There are a few moments where Stephen Amell is a little overboard with the I’m a changed man but I’m still the same man bit but it hasn’t gotten too bad yet. I liked the other characters in this show as well. It has a good supporting cast that played well with the plot. Which the plot is a tried and sure format of having a big secret in the family that could bring them down or maybe make them lose money or gain money, I’m not sure the cause it wasn’t told, but it’s big enough that it has put the main character in the crosshairs of people that want to know what he knows.
 

Basically the only thing I didn’t care much for with this pilot episode was the flashbacks. Right off there was too much given away in the flashbacks in such a short amount of time. With this being the pilot episode I think it would have been best to have left out a few of the flashbacks and some of the information given in the flashbacks. Also there were too many of them happening through the episode. I get the character is going to have them, it’s a given considering they have the 5 years he was missing to explain, but considering how they really only showed on small portion of that time for the character, then the amount they will show for the remaining 5 year story will be an insane amount. Flashbacks are used to tell a back story in a quick and precise manner but in this episode they where used to the point they almost became a show themselves.