Arrow-Pilot

****

This new series from the creators of the short lived series Eli Stone, has gotten a lot of hype over the summer. For good reason. It has everything a good comic book based series needs to succeed today. Action, drama, hope, off-kilter moral compass and of course, eye-candy.

The previews were apatite-wetting teasers, including the San Diego Comic Con comic that gave eight pages of lead-up story. I have been looking forward to this show since last year when I heard they were shooting the pilot in Vancouver, with a bit here in Victoria.

Now that the pilot has aired, I have to say I quite enjoyed it. The opening sequence got the action going, with Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell 5) running parkour-style across his little Island to light a signal fire, with a flaming arrow from 1000 ft away. Once he's rescued by the Chinese fishermen, the show has him quickly back in his home town of Starling City (why not Seattle?), but not everyone is happy to see him.

Business rivals of his father, Robert Queen, (James Sheridan 0), start trying to find out what he knows. An abduction of Oliver and his friend Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell 0) causes the first appearance of the man in a green-hood. The fight scene reminds me of something from The Black Widow in The Avengers, but that movie wasn't even out when this pilot was shooting. Back at home Oliver, Tommy and Moira Queen ( Susanna Thompson 13) talk with the police about a sketch of the man-in-the-green-hood (sketch by Green Arrow artist Mike Grell). Detective Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne 52) dismisses the sketch, and Oliver and Tommy's version of events, until businessman/criminal kingpin Adam Hunt (Brian Markinson 76) has a threatening encounter with the same hooded figure.

While the police, headed by Detective Lance (why is a detective heading a police protection force?), and Hunt await 10pm, the time of Arrow's deadline for $40Million to be deposited into a bank account. Tommy is hosting a massive welcome home party with a huge crowd. Perfect for Oliver to disappear into while making his attack on Hunt, then reappearing in as Lance and the PD storm in to investigate.

John Barrowman

At the end of the episode we get a twist, in the form of Moira also being desperately interested in what her son learned from his father.

Now that it's here, I have every intention of watching and enjoying the adventures of Oliver Queen. Watch for Doctor Who's John Barrowman to show up as a "well dressed man" in a reoccurring role, and name drops like "Judge Grell", a reference to Mike Grell, writer/artist/painter Green Arrow: Longbow Hunters.

I'm curious why the show's IMDB listing is so poorly lacking in information.