Review 657: Arrow (Season 1)

 

Based on the DC comics hero Green Arrow by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, It's been five years since the disappearance of billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and his father, Robert (Jamey Sheridan). Both were thought to have drowned when their yatch The Queen's Gambit went down in a storm, but Oliver was not dead. Discovered by fisherman, he survived on an island in the North China Sea called Lian Yu. Returning home, his friends and family including ex-girlfriend Laural Lance (Katie Cassidy) and best friend Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell), his mother Moira (Susanna Thompson) and little sister Thea (Willa Holland) wonder if he's the same person the same man that has disappeared, (spoiler alert), he isn't. While reconnecting with the world he left behind, Oliver begins a secret mission given to him by his father in his dying moments    Creating the identity of "The Hood" a name given to him by the media, Oliver begins to try and make amends for his family's past and eventually protect his city.

The arrival of the Hood doesn't sit well with Det. Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne), Laurel's father, who thinks that it's a little conveniant that Oliver and this new vigilante arrive at the same time. Oliver soon finds he's not alone in his quest as he finds allys in his bodyguard John Diggle (David Ramsey) and hacker Felicity Smoak (newcomer Emily Bett Rickards). As Oliver begins to cross names off of his list, he uncovers a conspiracy

 

As the show goes on, we see Oliver's methods contrasted and challenged by introducing a number of dark versions of himself. Copycat vigilantes like the Savior and the Huntress challenged Oliver's ideal and brutal methods.

the score by Blake Neely is

 

At the centre of the show is Stephen Amell playing Oliver Queen, a charasmatic breakout, he expertly plays him as a complicated and multifacet character  At the begining of the season when he returns from Lian Yu, he has a mystery, he has a story; what has happened to him on that island? How has it changed him? Throughout the Season, Oliver's methods are shown to be extreme and Diggle and Felicity try to temper them.

Throught the show, he's surrounded by an eclectic roster of Main and recurring characters that filters out over the course of the season. Some of these characters come from the comics, while others are entirely new creations but not unwelcomes ones.

 

Arguably the best out of these new additions was John Diggle, initially presented as a foil for Oliver due to him constantly ditching him. One of the striking things about Diggle is that despite his tough exterior, he's a surprisingly perceptive person   As he tells Oliver "You need someone to remind you of who you are."

Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell) initially came off as an annoying, shallow, selfish, reckless, carefree, and fun-loving playboy and a reminder of what Ollie use to be before being trapped on the island. However, as the season went on, Tommy proves to be nothing more than a genuine and loyal friend to Oliver. There's nothing cynical about their relationship, there's nothing but brotherly love beyond that. Oliver and his family took him in when his father left him.

Thea initially comes off the stereotypical spoiled brat who resents her brother  but upon closer examination and as the season goes on, it becomes clear that Thea is a victim of circumstance; she lost her father and brother when she was barely out of middle school, had no efforts made to help her cope which left her feeling alone, depressed and disconneted from the rest of the world and fell into drugs and partying as a way of coping. When Ollie returns home, he's distant and judgemental towards her. So acting like a bratty teenager is fairly understandable. At first she's quite prickly to him as a result 

Malcolm Merlyn is the best type of villain for this show. Someone whose actions you may not agree with but you do understand their point of view. In his case, getting revenge for the murder of his wife and remaking the Glades at the expense of so many others after all of his previous attempts to do so ethically failed miserbaly into a place where such a tragedy can never happen again. Misguided and arrogant, but understandable.