Arrow (but not Green Arrow)

Archery is so very hot right now!  Ok, so I had some high expectations for the CW's new series, Arrow.  Audiences at Comic Con loved it and I kept reading that it was one of the best new series this year.  So what did I think?  I liked it.  I didn't love it but I liked it.  I definitely thought it was one of the best shows CW has had since Vampire Diaries.  Arrow is a little Robin Hood, a little Revenge, and a lot of abs.


Meet Oliver Queen.  Oliver is a hottie, billionaire playboy who was shpwrecked and presumed dead five years ago.  He's returned to his life in Starling City (gimme a break!) and he's got a plan.  The plan is to take down those responsible for his father's death, which was in conjunction with the aforementioned shipwreck.  There's much more to that story and I'm guessing we'll be let in on it piece by piece each week.  

As mentioned, Oliver has a list of local bad guys in Starling City.  First up is Adam Hunt, a rich dude who seems to always evade the law.  Oliver's ex, Laurel, is a legal aid attorney who also has Hunt in her sights.  Luckily for her Oliver and his Arrow antics will keep her from having to do too much work.  Oliver goes after Hunt, scares him and his henchmen, and steals $40 million of his money.  Oliver takes that money and reimburses the poor folks Hunt had stolen from in the first place. Nifty.

Intermingled with his mission of the week are flashbacks to Oliver's past.  We see clips of the yacht before it went down and those who were on it (key folks include a half-naked girl who also happened to be Laurel's sister and his father who died after the wreck).  Plus we see bits and pieces of Oliver's time on the island where he washed up and, presumably, learned all his nifty skills with a bow and arrow.

Oliver spends his current free time in his family's abandoned warehouse where he's collecting information on Starling City's baddies.  Oh and he works out on his own private salmon ladder (a scene which I wanted to rewind but restrained myself).  Plus he shoots tennis balls with his bow and arrow.  He's good, y'all.  Very, very good.

The action in the show really adds to the fun.  He kicks serious ass and in a interesting way.  He doesn't always kill people and if he does it's totally because they're bad.  Plus since he's missed the past 5 years they get to make pop culture jokes about his life being better for missing Twilight. 

From left we have the sister, the driver, the Arrow, and the best friend.

Some of the supporting characters are filled out by Oliver's family, friends, exes, and local cops.  Oliver has a mother we don't know much about besides the fact that she remarried.  He's also got a high school sister whose name is Thea (unfortunate).  Thea has a bit of a recreational drug problem and gets into clubs too easily but other than that she seems ok.  Oliver's best friend and co-playboy is Tommy Merlyn (really?)  He even goes so far as to directly quote Top Gun, "target-rich environment" when discussing his plans for the newly returned Oliver. Tommy is more interested in throwing a welcome home party than to ask Oliver about his life over the past 5 years.  However by the end of the episode not everything gets past him.  We also have hired driver and ex-military dude, John Diggle (they're killing me!).  Diggle, aka Digg, informs Oliver of his "ability to keep [him] from harm will outweigh [his] comfort."  Ooookay.

SPOILERY BITS AHEAD>>>>>>SPOILERY BITS AHEAD>>>>>>SPOILERY BITS AHEAD

At one point during the episode, Oliver and his buddy, Tommy, are kdinapped.  But because he's so good at fighting, etc. he gets away from the kidnappers.  By the end of the episode we find out the person who hired the kidnappers was Oliver's own mother.  Her reasoning?  She wanted to find out what he knew about his father's death.  We know that the dad shot himself and another guy on a raft post-shipwreck, in order to allow Oliver to survive.  I guess she thinks asking him would be too much work so she has him kidnapped and interrogated instead.  Oookay.  Obviously we'll get more on this too.  I'm guessing dear mommy had something to do with the yacht being less than seaworthy.  I wonder if she's on his list too.

Apparently a hoodie and green eye makeup keep folks from recognizing you even if you're a world famous billionaire who has been all over the news lately.