‘Arrow’ Premiere: Let’s Talk About It

Photo courtesy of The CW

Last night was the premiere of The CW’s new series Arrow, based on the comic book superhero the Green Arrow (AKA billionaire Oliver Queen). Not only did the pilot episode succeed in packing in some serious character development (see: Oliver’s party-girl sister, scheming mother, douchey best friend, and philanthropic ex), it also managed to find time for plenty of action sequences, a glimpse into Arrow’s origin story during his five-year stint stranded on an island, and of course The CW’s requisite shirtless-in-a-towel scene. I think the episode can be accurately summarized by this brief interaction between Oliver and his friend Tommy (who looks like Jon Hamm’s slightly-less-attractive cousin):

Tommy: “What happened to you on that island?”
Oliver: “A lot.”

Thank you, Captain Understatement. We’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of how Oliver became the bow-and-arrow-wielding vigilante Arrow, and as producer Marc Guggenheim has said, he is one of the only superheroes with five years’ worth of an origin story. Arrow seems to have some definite Batman influences, with subtle Lost overtones, but as a television series, it’s different from anything else out there right now. If it maintains the right balance of character development and action, I think it has the potential to fill the void on The CW left by Smallville. What did you think? Did you watch? If you did, will you keep watching? How do think Stephen Amell did that ascending pull-ups thing with the bar in his training montage? Leave your thoughts on the premiere (and/or Stephen Amell’s torso) in the comments, or tweet us!

-L