Hopefully that wig looks better in motion. Anyway, Arrow opened strong (for The CW) last week with 4.02 million viewers. For comparison’s sake, Smallville opened with 8.4 million and Birds of Prey opened with 7.6 million, both coming in drastically different television climates. It was the biggest debut for a CW show since The Vampire Diaries.
Here’s how “Honor Thy Father” is described:
Oliver (Stephen Amell) heads to the courthouse to get his death certificate repealed and is pleasantly surprised to run into Laurel (Katie Cassidy), who is there prosecuting Martin Somers (guest star Ty Olsson), a criminal with ties to the Chinese Triad. Oliver recognizes Martin’s name from his father’s book and sets his sights on taking him down. Martin orders the Triad to ‘take care of’ Laurel so they send their top mercenary — China White (Hu) — after her, an act that culminates in a battle between Arrow and China White. Meanwhile, Moira (Susanna Thompson) and Walter (guest star Colin Salmon) ask Oliver to take over the company.
I look forward to your thoughts, opinions, gripes, live-blogging, etc.
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This has been a nice surprise for me. Its captivating, not cringe-worthy (or as much as Smallville was, at least towards the end of the series) & it actually captures most of the spirit of the Green Arrow character, even though they changed some names around (I admit that Arrow does sound, slightly better, but only slightly, however Starling City will have to grow on me). My intro to Green Arrow was Diggle & Jock’s Year One so this episode is definitely the one I am most excited for & I hope its going to be great : )
Just curious, I’ve only seen trailers and clips and get the feeling I wouldn’t dig the show. You say they got most of the character, but he appears to be completely morose and humorless? And it looks like it focuses on an angsty failed romance or something like that? Not to mention he lacks a cool goatee.
@PsychoJudgeDredd: It captures the spirit of the character, for the most part, with a dash of Batman tossed in the mixed. As for the goatee–it’s the beginning of his career. In the comics he didn’t get a goatee until 28 years after his first appearance.
It doesn’t appear to capture it from what I’ve seen, but if I could be sold on it, in what ways would you say they’ve captured it? He’s sold as a guy shellshocked and whatnot who’s on a very serious quest for justice and whatnot. Does he have any of the personality he had in the books?
And just for the record, that’s no excuse on the goatee front. Ha, I mean that’d be like saying Daredevil should be yellow in the next movie.
@PsychoJudgeDredd: Well, he’s been back from having been stranded on the island for only about a week so he’s not exactly spending a lot of time cracking wise. I’d say that this version of Olllie seems to be, so far, closer to the more serious Mike Grell version from the 1990s.
I will admit that the humor from Ollie from the comics is pretty much abandoned on the show, but the core subject matter & the devotion to his city is still there. If anything it really is much more of Batman with a bow & arrow than Green Arrow from the comics, but its still very interesting. I would say that the transition from the comics to this show is very similar to The Walking Dead comics to their TV adaptation, b/c the comic actually had some humor in it, but the show pretty much is almost entirely grim & shocking. I guess that the melancholy is the thing for now &then in the case of Arrow, I accept it.
My dear Dredd, I might just recommend taking the plunge and watching an episode. All of your questions will be answered.
@PsychoJudgeDredd: That’s not like Daredevil SHOULD wear a yellow costume, but it would explain why it would make sense if he was. Also, Daredevil changed from yellow to red after seven issues. Not exactly the same track record as 28 years.
@Conor I agree there’s a lot of Mike Grell in this show, with touches of Year One here & there, but as long as they keep up with the Grell inspired stuff, this show should be consistently compelling, albei the action is pretty top notch i.e. Laurel’s home invasion from the Triads.
@SpiderTitan: Yeah, the fact that Grell and Diggle have been specifically name checked so far on the show tells me from where they are taking their inspiration.
Dammit, this is where being on the west coast sucks!
Just sayin’, delving way back into the back catalog of comics, before Green Arrow was as well known, seems like a reach. They probably just didn’t have a goatee because he’s supposed to look young and hip and goatees aren’t in or something. Ha, also as much as I love goatees, that complaint wasn’t an overly serious one. But clearly the show would be better with a goatee.
And yeah, it would be nice if there was room for humor and whatnot, to me this just looks like more of the same. But I might give it a look.
@PsychoJudgeDredd: Having tonight re-watched the first episode and then the second I feel better about answering your original question in that there’s a lot of the comic book Green Arrow in Arrow. He’s very much focused on taking down the rich and powerful (and corrupt) in Starling City and giving back to the people. When he’s “in character” as Oliver Queen he’s flirty and occasionally funny. He’s not exactly the comic book version but he’s a close echo. Also, he does have a goatee, it’s just a stubble goatee, but it’s clearly there.
Like any facial hair, it’ll eventually grow on you.
Conor hit it right on the head. This version is heavily influenced by Grell’s Green Arrow.
cablevision and cw had a fight so i cant get on my tv sucks
I know me too, argh! I have to wait for it to come on their website.
Christ, Speedy. The dude got off the island a week ago. Cut him some slack!
At least on this show it makes sense that the hero gets attacked in his civilian guise every other day.
Man. I like this show quite a bit, but it wants to be Batman Begins so hard.
Ooooh… Book related intrigue! I really like the flashback structure.
Oh snaps! Very nice cliffhanger.
Um…..wow! Talk about a twist of an the ending! Who the hell could that be? Are they taking a Morrison Action Comics turn here with Oliver? Can’t wait til next week, two words: DEAD SHOT!!!!!!!!!!!! : )
DEAD SHOT!!! i cant believe 3 episodes in and we see dead shot already. Thought they wouldve saved him for later. Maybe multi episode arcs. LOVE THE SHOW. Cant wait for when the bodyguard to finally figure things out
So far my favorite part of the show is any scene with Diggle. I see him and Ollie having a whole Britt & Kato thing happening. The show really drags when the sister or Laurel are around though. It gets very CW-y.
My wife, whom I cant get to read a comic to save my life, loves this show, so that’s saying something. Finally something new that we can watch together. I’m a long time Green Arrow fan and sure, its not the comic series, but I enjoy it for what it is. Don’t be turned off by it before giving it a shot (pun!).
Which I am noticing they’re doing (which I love) is keeping the show within a grounded/realistic tone that obviously is inspired by Nolan’s Batman Trilogy (or my generation’s most defining Trilogy, IMO), but that also means that they are keeping their villains relatively grounded as well & my question is whether DC has enough villains who do not have superpowers that would be able to fit into Arrow & no Flash’s Rogues do not count as their weapons are their superpowers & I mean to last the show for a healthy amount of seasons (if it continues to provide such great quality for that long), basically like 4 or 5 seasons worth of villains & that’s also assuming/expecting villains to make return appearances & some new ones crafted from already introduced characters (i.e. Ollie’s Mom & Tommy Merlyn, hint hint).
I’ve never followed Green Arrow before, but I am enjoying the show a lot. What are some good comic runs to catch up on the character? Year One and The Longbow Hunters have been mentioned and there is the current run. What else would you recommend?
I like Green Arrow’s role in JL Cry For Justice, definitely the two you mentioned….Quiver,Rise and Fall if not for Diogenes Neves art alone…a lot of people had mixed reactions to Green Arrows Brightest Day run but I liked it until the last few issues due to the art change. But you wanna go classic get Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams Green Lantern Green Arrow run in any HC collected editions you can find.
There was a Green Arrow revival in the early 2000s when they brought him back from the dead. The run started with Kevin Smith, followed by an arc by Brad Meltzer, and then a very long run by Judd Winnick. It was during this run that Deathstroke became a Green Arrow antagonist (resulting from events in Meltzer’s Identity Crisis). The book eventually got relaunched as Green Arrow/Black Canary with Winnick still writing for awhile until other writers came on board. I would recommend reading through the end of Winnick’s run. You can find all of these books in paperback on Amazon if you search for Green Arrow and the author, or they’re all available digitally through Comixology.
Do your self a big favor and don’t read the current series.
I really, really enjoyed this episode. I’m impressed with how quickly the show has gelled and I think a lot of that has to do with the cast being quite strong. I think my favorite scenes are between Oliver and his sister. They have an interesting relationship and she’s becoming a complex character. I also really like that Arrow not only uses his bow as a ranged weapon but also as a club. Real fun stuff.
I hope the numbers hold up!
Every time Paul Blackthorne was on the screen I’d yell “Harry!! Use your super wizard powers!!” and other variations of that. ^_^
Mr. Dresden needs to battle it out with Mr. Queen!
Wow, so I’m not the only one…man, I loved that show.
Was there an allusion to Ann Nocenti in there?
The woman who sues Somers and represented in court by Laurel, her last name is Nocenti. Her father, who has his throat slashed by China White, is also named Nocenti.
I was happy to hear a shout out to the current writer.
I’m liking Arrow, only the one thing that kinda irks me is the My Name Is Earl part. Other than that: Aces!
I really hope this show sticks around, I came in thinking it would be terrible….but I have thoroughly enjoyed it, The Cop is overacting a little, but I really like the bodygaurd, which makes up for the Cop.
This show has been great so far and I really hope that it lasts at least 3 seasons, but the dialogue is VERY cheesy. Especially Ollie’s geeky voice when he’s in his GA persona.
I’m quite enjoying this show. I think it’s the best adaptation of the comic character they could do for TV – a straight “port” over just wouldn’t work. I really like all the comic shout-outs they’ve done so far – Diggle, Grell, Nocenti… I had forgotten about China White in Year One. But I found two other comic tidbits I haven’t seen anyone comment on yet:
1. In episode 1, the head of security for Adam Hunt is named Constantine Drakon. You might recall him from the Winnick run as a bad ass martial artist who almost kills Connor Hawke.
2. When Ollie is marking through the Quinn’s name in the book, the name above it is “Danny Brickwell”, aka Brick.
Total geek service on this show! I love it.
Oh, and no spoilers here, but how about that ending on the island? WTF?
Omg right!?!
I really liked this episode.
I absolutely love this show! It is a lot of fun, the action is shot in a way hat you can actually tell what’s happening, the cast is strong, the sub plots are interesting, and it even has a great life hanger! I don’t want to spoil anything, but I did NOT see that last scene coming in a million years!
Did anyone realize that the China White played by the actress Kelly Hu is the voice of Cheshire on Young Justice? Does the bodyguard become BronzeTiger? I loved their fight scene.
I hadn’t read any Green Arrow but the characters are popping up all over. Oliver’s best friend is Merlyn GA’s arch rival in the comics. This show is awesome! XD
I must admit up front that I am a huge Green Arrow fan. I didn’t know what to think going into this new series because I very much enjoyed enjoyed the portrayal of Green Arrow on Smallville. I really love the show after the first two episodes. I love the relationship dynamics between Oliver and Speedy and with his bodyguard. The best scene in my opinion so far has been when Speedy walks into Oliver’s bedroom and finally sees the physical scars on her big brother. The look on her face and the proceeding scene near the tombstones was powerful. Some people have been criticizing Oliver’s lack of personality but I think it plays a big part in the story. He doesn’t know what to make of himself now that he is back in the real world. Can’t wait to see what happens next.
OK… so I was prepared to hate it…. But I like this show! Oliver is indeed a multi-faceted character…. Very Grell… and I also loved all of the name dropping…. But when does Dinah put on the fishnets and leather?