For the last few months, I’ve been running myself ragged with things that keep me distracted. Whether it’s a show I’m watching or a game I’m playing or a book I’m reading, I’ve been allowing myself to stay up into the wee hours of the night, doing things to keep my mind occupied. As a result, I’m tired all the time, I can’t remember anything, and my jokes are all a “pun”-ishment. So tonight, on this fine Friday, I have decided to give myself a little break. I will actually, try to sleep early.
Therefore, my post for tonight will be a brief review of the premiere episode of “Arrow”. The first episode of “Arrow” had a lot of competition with the bevy of genre, superhero shows. One of those new shows was even spawned from Olive Queen’s shenanigans, “The Flash”. As a result, the writers of “Arrow” are going to have to pull all the stops this season if it’s going to keep the fan’s attention. Especially with how well “The Flash” was received. I mean, I liked that show a lot. Luckily, I believe they’ve pulled through with finesse, intrigue, and a lot of surprises.
*SPOILER ALERT*
The quick recap of the first episode of “Arrow” involved Oliver Queen and his little buddy Roy dressed as The Arrow and I’m guessing Arsenal (as Roy’s superhero name hasn’t been announced). Along with Diggle, they are stopping a gaggle of thieves stealing explosive arms from some no good villain of some sort. Chaos ensues as a new baddie appears on the scene with a new and improved Vertigo drug, that we saw in the previous seasons, and it is none other than Peter Stormare playing the Scarecrow. Captain Lance has a heart problem, Laurel becomes less annoying than her previous seasons incarnations, and love is in the air. Oliver and Felicity try to find normalcy in their dual lives, and nearly get killed on a date. Oliver gets all broody and the “will they/won’t they” continues as they set out to find the person who tried to kill them. Todd Ingram, aka, Brandon Routh, enters the scene with all the good looking smiles and whatnot, and steals Oliver’s company right from under him. Meanwhile, the Arrow crew try to find where Slippery Pete will strike next. Some Oliver leader-ing goes on and Diggle angering, and then some fighty fighty and day saving happens. Sara shows up with her Canary bad assness, meets up with Laurel, and Sara conveniently dies with some black arrows from her chest that makes you think Captain Jack did her in. Diggle and Lyla have a 6 month old baby, Oliver tries to give the love to Felicity, but she gets all butt hurt for some reason, and Superman has farting rodents on his computers.
*END SPOILERS*
All in all a very good episode that had me emotionally invested the entire time. There was a great amount of action, a scene chewing villain to whet the appetite, and I didn’t even mention the somewhat interesting flash backs to Hong Kong. The overall plot was all a set up for the season, which I’m fine with, and it gave a little more depth to the whole Olicity ship. Brandon Routh is fitting in his playboy shoes rather well, and he looks to be some competition for Ollie. The returning characters bring in that familiar warm blanket while adding the nuances of their new lives. Roy doesn’t get much to say or much screen time, but I’m sure that’ll change as the season continues, but so far he’s a pretty cool sidekick. Still the superior genre show in my humble opinion, and one that will probably have me me hooked in the weeks to come. This episode get’s 8 arrows out of 10.
