Vigilante Justice at its Finest

The CW

Has Oliver Queen ever been this bad-ass? Depending on who you ask, that could be up for debate. But one thing is for certain--at times he makes Batman look tame. The CW has done a stellar job in bringing Starling City's (Star City in the comics) billionaire playboy by day/vigilante by night to the small screen.

This isn't the first time we've seen Ollie on CW programming. Justin Hartley portrayed the "Emerald Archer" in the hit show Smallville, which revolved around the mythos of Clark Kent and Superman.



Hartley as Green Arrow in Smallville

This time around we get a different actor with a different look. Gone is the blonde hair, sunglasses and Green Arrow moniker. What takes their place is an angry man under a hood who goes by just plain Arrow. Enter Stephen Amell. When Amell came onto the scene as the lead role, I will admit I was a little skeptical. I was kind of expecting (and secretly hoping for) the Robin Hood look...




Art from Quiver Written by Kevin Smith

But after watching seven episodes I'll tell you this--I wouldn't change a thing! Long live the striking resemblance to Chris O'Donnell in Joel Schumacher's Batman run. I apologize for even bringing those movies up.

Stephen Amell as Arrow

Here's a brief overview of what has happened so far. After a shipwreck, Oliver Queen is missing and thought to be dead. His father, Robert Queen, was killed in that same shipwreck. After five years on an island, he returns home to Starling City. Upon his return, Oliver tries to reconcile with his ex-girlfriend, Laurel Lance (will she ever become Black Canary?), and reconnect with family. Speaking of family, we find out that some members have an agenda of their own--especially Moira Queen, Oliver's Mother.

Once the welcome home party is over we are introduced to his mission: wiping out the scum of his city. A task his father asked of him right before his death. Oliver is however met with some opposition in the form of Detective Quentin Lance, Laurel's father. Detective Lance is hell-bent on arresting the vigilante. In the fourth episode entitled "An Innocent Man," Lance actually arrests Oliver on suspicion of being Arrow, or as the police call him "The Hood."I won't get into what led up to this...you'll have to watch.

And here's some incentive to do so...

Yep...that's Deadshot

Oliver isn't alone in his quest. He gets some help from John Diggle. When we are introduced to Diggle, he is hired to be Oliver's bodyguard--Ollie doesn't like this very much and finds ways to sneak away from Diggle's watch. This goes on for a little bit until Diggle is shot by Deadshot. Once Diggle comes-to, he realizes he is in Oliver's hideout. Oliver offers Diggle an opportunity to fight along side of him. At first, Diggle declines--but later accepts. We even get to see him in an Arrow costume at one point.

In most of the earlier episodes of the season, we get flashbacks as to what Oliver's life on the island was like. Trust me, it doesn't look fun. In these flashbacks we get to meet some characters including this guy...

Image from "Damaged" Episode of Arrow

I know...awesome, right? Freaking Deathstroke! We now know that Slade Wilson will be played by Manu Bennett in future episodes. But his character as seen from the above image is from an episode entitled "Damaged." Here we got a brief glimpse of Deathstroke and a pretty awesome fight scene between him and a vulnerable Oliver. There has been no mention of Deathstroke since. So we'll see where that goes.

The latest episode, "Muse of Fire," also made DC fans very happy. We were introduced to Helena Bertinelli a.k.a. The Huntress.

Jessica De Gouw as Helena Bertinelli

She is first seen in the show racing down a street on a motorcycle, opening fire on an associate of her father--who just so happens to be a mob boss.

Moira is injured during Helena's assassination attempt. Oliver sees it all, as he was on his way to meet his mom. Oliver chases Helena (at this point he doesn't know it's her), but loses her.

Later in the episode, Oliver and Helena go on a date. After the date, craziness ensues and the two learn of each others secret identities. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of Helena--judging by the way the two ended things in "Muse of Fire."

An all new episode of Arrow premieres this Wednesday, December 5th. This show is currently one of my favorite things on TV. I do not watch the CW at all. But for this...I make an exception.

If you haven't watched the show and now want to...I have done my job. But really, you can just go to the CW's website and watch them all from the beginning. You won't be disappointed.

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