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Replicant · Oct 7, 2012

STARTS OCTOBER 10TH

After a violent shipwreck, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen was missing and presumed dead for five years before being discovered alive on a remote island in the Pacific. When he returns home to Starling City, his devoted mother Moira, much-beloved sister Thea, and best friend Tommy welcome him home, but they sense Oliver has been changed by his ordeal on the island. While Oliver hides the truth about the man he’s become, he desperately wants to make amends for the actions he took as the boy he was. Most particularly, he seeks reconciliation with his former girlfriend, Laurel Lance.

As Oliver reconnects with those closest to him, he secretly creates the persona of Arrow – a vigilante – to right the wrongs of his family, fight the ills of society, and restore Starling City to its former glory. By day, Oliver plays the role of a wealthy, carefree and careless philanderer he used to be – flanked by his devoted chauffeur/bodyguard, John Diggle – while carefully concealing the secret identity he turns to under cover of darkness. However, Laurel’s father, Detective Quentin Lance, is determined to arrest the vigilante operating in his city. Meanwhile, Oliver’s own mother, Moira, knows much more about the deadly shipwreck than she has let on – and is more ruthless than he could ever imagine.

Please use spoiler tag if you want to discuss plot point that has not been shown as part of the episode yet. Especially if it's related to the character's story from the comic books.

CAST

Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
Stephen Amell plays Oliver Queen, a billionaire playboy who moonlights as a crime-fighting vigilante looking to clean up the streets of Starling City

Katie Cassidy as Dinah 'Laurel' Lance
Cassidy plays Laurel Lance, a brilliant and tough attorney who fights for the rights of the less fortunate. Laurel is also Oliver's (Stephen Amell) ex-girlfriend, and is struggling with her feelings towards the former playboy.

Colin Donnell as Tommy Merlyn
Tommy is the long-time best friend of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell).

David Ramsey as John Diggle
John is Oliver's (Stephen Amell) former military turned tough-as-nails bodyguard hired by Moira Queen (Susanna Thompson) to keep an eye on her son.

Willa Holland as Thea Queen
Thea is Oliver's (Stephen Amell) younger sister who seems to be following in her older brother's footsteps when it comes to living life in the fast lane.

Paul Blackthorne as Detective Lance
Paul Blackthorne plays Detective Lance, Laurel's (Katie Cassidy) father, who is on a quest to bring down Arrow (Stephen Amell).

It's been reported that the show will also get recurring cast in the form of Kelly Hu as Chien Na Wei/China White and Jessica De Gouw playing the role of Helena Bertinelli/The Huntress.

AVATARS

Here's hoping this is actually somewhat decent instead of downright boring/awful. But several early reviewers seem to like it so maybe it'll be a nice surprise.

Darklord · Oct 7, 2012

Why didn't they use the Green Arrow guy from Smallville? He was a fairly major character later then they dump him for some random guy?

The Elite · Oct 7, 2012

I've seen the pilot. Thought it was dogshit. Lead actor is stiff and the show takes itself way too seriously. The nauseating levels of CW style melodrama didn't help either.

Actions is good though and having Green Arrow in costume from the get-go is nice I suppose, but it hardly saves the Pilot.

Angelus Errare · Oct 7, 2012

Is the photoshop alignment measurement pop up there on purpose?

Great OP btw

EdibleExplosives · Oct 7, 2012

Dat photoshop.

Nice OP, shame the show looks shit.

Replicant · Oct 7, 2012

Darklord said:
Why didn't they use the Green Arrow guy from Smallville? He was a fairly major character later then they dump him for some random guy?

They want to reboot the story and introduce Laurel Lance IIRC.

Angelus Errare said:
Is the photoshop alignment measurement pop up there on purpose?

Great OP btw

Yeah. Didn't expect someone to recognize it as PS measurement though. :/

Router · Oct 7, 2012

Looks horrible. Why must they do this?

*edit*

At least he kills people. I was expecting nothing but bad guys being pinned to walls by their clothes.

Kevin · Oct 10, 2012

I don't expect to be blown away by this but I'll give it a try. IGN has a review up for those interested:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/10/10/arrow-pilot-review

Medalion · Oct 10, 2012

He's not even Green...just Arrow

Lol

beyond_death · Oct 10, 2012

I will give this a shot.

Agent Cooper · Oct 10, 2012

I'm the most hyped for this.

jb1234 · Oct 10, 2012

Early reviews are good so I'll check it out. Leading man is hot, which doesn't hurt.

BuddyJoeHooker · Oct 10, 2012

I'll watch, counting down to the Huntress appearance.
I also want to see if Geoff Johns can write a decent episode.

Mysterious Stranger · Oct 10, 2012

Is this guy in it?

Medalion · Oct 10, 2012

BuddyJoeHooker said:
I'll watch, counting down to the Huntress appearance.
I also want to see if Geoff Johns can write a decent episode.

If we go by his Smallville written eps

I'd say 50/50

Wiktor · Oct 10, 2012

I think it looks interesting plus seems surprisingly brutal.
And it's on CW, which has been making some really awesome shows lately

The Elite · Oct 10, 2012

I'm surprised by the positive buzz this is getting. Just didn't work for me at all.

WillyFive · Oct 10, 2012

Everything about this looks terrible, and those who saw the unfinished pilot say the same thing. It just reeks of The Cape.

trineo_feo · Oct 10, 2012

DoctorWho said:
I'm surprised by the positive buzz this is getting. Just didn't work for me at all.

Yup, good reviews in general. Will watch.

~Devil Trigger~ · Oct 10, 2012

i have to give it a shot.

Slayven · Oct 10, 2012

Mysterious Stranger said:
Is this guy in it?

God I hope so.

Subitai · Oct 10, 2012

So this is what is on before Supernatural. CW officially owns me on Wed. evenings!

My Name Is Luke · Oct 10, 2012

YEAR OF THE BOW KEEPS ON TRUCKIN'!

Jagxyz · Oct 10, 2012

WillyFive said:
Everything about this looks terrible, and those who saw the unfinished pilot say the same thing. It just reeks of The Cape.

Awesome, I enjoyed the cape.

fallengorn · Oct 10, 2012

Will watch whenever they drag Deathstroke into this. (Probably sweeps)

ivysaur12 · Oct 10, 2012

Stephen Amell going up the salmon ladder shirtless was one of the greatest accomplishments in modern television.

Besides that, extremely mediocre pilot and no better than anything else the CW has put out.

RatskyWatsky · Oct 10, 2012

Sepinwall - Arrow

It's all well-done for what it's trying to be. Perhaps in time it'll find its own distinct take on Green Arrow, even if it's not exactly what O'Neill, Grell and other writers did with him on the page. As a fanboy myself, I saw enough in the "Arrow" pilot to not mind coming back at a later date to see what the show's become, but not necessarily enough to be in a rush to do it.

B

Mo Ryan - Arrow

"Arrow" doesn't reinvent the superhero drama for television, but it reminds you how much fun a straight-up rendition of the classic elements of the genre can be. The enjoyability of "Arrow's" pilot begins with leading man Stephen Amell, who brings the right mixture of charisma, sly wit and brooding presence to the dual roles of playboy Oliver Queen and Arrow, a hooded vigilante armed with a bow and arrow. The frosting on this superhero cake is a supporting cast full of excellent utility players such as Katie Cassidy and Paul Blackthorne (I've been waiting for both those talented actors to land regular gigs on shows worthy of their talents forever). My fingers are crossed that future episodes are as brisk and well-made as the pilot and that the unfolding mythology gives "Arrow" a chance to offer up not just scenes of escapist derring-do but reasonably compelling character-driven stories. The truth is, all the producers of this show had to do is give me a halfway justifiable excuse to look at Amell for an hour a week, but even if you're not an abs aficionado, you may enjoy the opening chapter of this superhero saga.

AV Club - Arrow

An unexpected strength of Arrow is how well it understands its limitations. Trying to recapture the tone of Christopher Nolans Dark Knight trilogy on a CW budget should be a recipe for disaster, but Arrow is careful in playing to its strengths and minimizing its weaknesses. Amell doesnt show a lot of range in the pilotand voiceover is clearly not his forte, although anyone would struggle a bit with Olivers over-explanatory monologuesbut hes good at playing a grim badass, as well as someone pretending to still be a rich jerk, which are the two main modes the pilot requires of him. The task of making arrows look cool onscreen might seem like an obvious case for some bad CGI, but Arrow demonstrates Olivers incredible skills by showing just his initial shots from the bow and then the final results, leaving the seemingly impossible part of the shot to our imagination. The flashback scenes set on the open oceanan area the CW has rather infamously struggled to portray well in previous showsare carefully shot to minimize the amount of dodgy-looking green-screen backgrounds. The result isnt perfect, but Arrows strong sense of whats in its wheelhouse and what isnt results in a pilot refreshingly low on cheese.

B

Tim Goodman - Arrow

Intricate plot development is not that important at The CW. As long as Arrow has action, arrows, fighting, flirting and a brewing romance, its all good.

Subitai · Oct 10, 2012

Hype! Tonight is gonna be epic!

Wiktor · Oct 10, 2012

ivysaur12 said:
Stephen Amell going up the salmon ladder shirtless was one of the greatest accomplishments in modern television.

Besides that, extremely mediocre pilot and no better than anything else the CW has put out.

Umm..I don't get it. CW has some truly great shows airing today, so if Arrow reaches that level I doubt many people will be dissapointed

Replicant · Oct 11, 2012

ivysaur12 said:
Stephen Amell going up the salmon ladder shirtless was one of the greatest accomplishments in modern television.

Besides that, extremely mediocre pilot and no better than anything else the CW has put out.

I can't @ this stealth shade against Nikita.

On topic, here's a pic of Jessica DeGouw, who plays The Huntress, in case someone wants to know what she looks like:

Unspeakable Evil · Oct 11, 2012

Its on about now. Gonna check it out.

slade · Oct 11, 2012

ivysaur12 said:
Besides that, extremely mediocre pilot and no better than anything else the CW has put out.

That's great. Hope it lasts as long as Supernatural. Hell, I would even take it lasting as long as Vampire Diaries or even Nikita.

ivysaur12 · Oct 11, 2012

AdrianWerner said:
Umm..I don't get it. CW has some truly great shows airing today, so if Arrow reaches that level I doubt many people will be dissapointed

It has one guilty pleasure that's a nice lesson in pacing (The Vampire Diaries) and one okay drama that's a good escapist television (Nikita). That's it. They're the bottom of the barrel of network television which already pales in comparison to cable dramas.

They like a shitty ABC Family and SyFy merged into one failed attempt at profitability.

truly101 · Oct 11, 2012

Why is it not emerald city. Hopefully WB/DC doesn't have such ridiculous restrictions on this as they did Smallville

Unspeakable Evil · Oct 11, 2012

truly101 said:
Why is it not emerald city. Hopefully WB/DC doesn't have such ridiculous restrictions on this as they did Smallville

Green Arrow is from Star City. On this show they changed it to Starling City.

spindashing · Oct 11, 2012

Slayven said:
God I hope so.

TIMES IS HARD

I guess I'll check this out.

~Devil Trigger~ · Oct 11, 2012

Speedy eh...

RetroMG · Oct 11, 2012

Wow, I knew John Barrowman had been cast in this but I had no idea Paul Blackthorne was going to be in it. Between Jack Harkness and Harry Dresden, my wife's going to be in geek heaven.

EDIT: Just watched the extended promo. God damn, this looks fantastic.

Somnia · Oct 11, 2012

I really enjoyed the first episode. The preview looks even better, I hope the ratings came in ok for CW so it sticks around.

edit: Ruby looks a lot better as a brunette.

Nakazato · Oct 11, 2012

going to watch it on Hulu Tomorrow my CW isnt HD ; ;

Kabuki Waq · Oct 11, 2012

other than his really awful Cheesy saving the City talk the pilot was decent. I like the little twist at the end.

I also like that Green Arrow Kills ppl.

TheFallen · Oct 11, 2012

Kabuki Waq said:
other than his really awful Cheesy saving the City talk the pilot was decent. I like the little twist at the end.

I also like that Green Arrow Kills ppl.

Hunt said he put his guys in the hospital, so I'm not sure how many he's actually killing.

Anyway, I enjoyed the pilot. I'll be sticking around.

sazabirules · Oct 11, 2012

It wasn't anything special but it made me want to watch next week.

Veelk · Oct 11, 2012

That was pretty okay. If they make the moral ambiguity that he displayed in the pilot the driving force of his character, then this could turn into something really good. But right now, it's a brainless "I'm going to bring peace and justice to my city...by killing every motherfucker in my way" revenge tale. Even at the end, his father seems shady as fuck. He says he wants Oliver to 'right his wrongs' and he shows it by mercilessly executing the other survivor to get his way?

This isn't a bad starting point to his character, but revenge stories without any self awareness are not my thing and I hope it evolves into something more than that.

krypt0nian · Oct 11, 2012

This is why I laugh at critics. That was at least enjoyable, and by NO means terrible. TV GAF told me this was going to be terrible. :lol

I'm on board.

bearythebear · Oct 11, 2012

Seems like a fun CW show. Will continue to watch.

sca2511 · Oct 11, 2012

Enjoyed it. Will continue watching.

Shadow780 · Oct 11, 2012

I'll give this a shot, Nikita didn't became awesome almost a full season in.

krypt0nian · Oct 11, 2012

Excited that John Barrowman will be a reoccurring character. <3

Rafa=FedKilla · Oct 11, 2012

The girl that plays Helena is a goddess.

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