Writers Andrew Kriesberg (Warehouse 13, Fringe) and Marc Guggenheim (Green Lantern, Flashforward) did another amazing job of making the backstory motivate and intertwine with the reality of present day. The story is fairly simple. After five years on an island, Oliver Queen, the son of a rich millionaire with a bad reputation, comes back to civilization with heightened strength, agility and overall dexterity to make him extremely accurate, quick and extremely deadly. The complexity of the situations, the city and his family and friends make Oliver very confused.
Stephen Amell (Heartland, Private Practice) was incredible in his delivery of a young man with a major attitude change since his survival of a boating accident and being stranded and surviving on an island for five years. His eyes and quiet delivery of the ‘new’ Oliver Queen made you, as an audience, not only understand his feelings, but often sympathize with his situation of returning home only to learn his mother has remarried.
Katie Cassidy (Gossip Girl, Melrose Place) plays Dinah Laurel Lance who very convincingly makes you eager to see who she could ultimately turn into (spoilers that I know about but can’t tell). Katie's performance was sharp and strong and certainly is going to give Oliver a run for his money both literally and figuratively!
Jamey Sheridan (Homeland, Trauma) plays Oliver’s father who sincerely gives his son a reason to survive and has a dark past himself that only his mother, played by Susanna Thompson (NCSI, Kings) seems to be concerned about, to the point of deception. His father does give Oliver the ultimate sacrifice. His mother married someone close to the family played by Colin Salmon (Single Ladies, Death In Paradise) and it shocks Oliver to take some serious action.
Innocently, but extremely traumatized by her brother's disappearance, Oliver’s sister Thea played by Willa Holland (The O.C., Gossip Girl) gives him even more will to learn the details of who is trying to kill him for information about his father. There are some incidental characters like his best friend played by Colin Donnell (Pan Am) who is saved by not only Oliver but also by the Green Arrow himself. This has the potential to pan out into something really good in terms of a guy-guy relationship!
I was going in a little skeptical, and concerned but I was impressed with Stephen Amell and his strong, sexy, bold and yet quiet performance. If the series keeps up its strong storytelling and deep performances, the impressive action sequences, the artfully designed fight choreography and clever use of real arrows it will only make watching the show that much more enjoyable. I can’t wait to see how the season unfolds!
Pic 001 Stephen Amell is Arrow
Pic 002 - Cast of Arrow witth Stephen Amell
