Today, Patrick and Al Reiser are discussing the Arrow pilot (episode 101). Pilot originally aired October 10, 2012.

Patrick: Origin stories are basically a requirement for TV shows. And given the nature of TV’s serialized storytelling format, that’s mind-boggling. Think of any show you’ve ever seen in syndication ever — do you ever find yourself asking “hey, how did the governing principals of this show fall into place?” No, you don’t. You don’t say “Hey, why do these people all hang out at this bar?” and you don’t ask “How did Mulder and Scully get these jobs at the FBI?” But tune in to the pilot episode of any TV show (dramas in particular, but comedies do it too) and you’ll get a long boring explanation of… whatever. Arrow doubles down on this crime, flooding the screen with exposition.

We meet our hero on a deserted island. This is Oliver Queen (Ollie to his sister… and to me as I write this). Ollie’s used his five years of alone-time on the island to transform his mind and body into an ever-ready survival-machine. Once he’s rescued and returned home, Ollie has a hard time fitting back in to his old life: his mother had remarried, his sister is on drugs and his ex-girlfriend is still mad at him for fucking her sister (women, amirite?). But Ollie is singularly focused on a Mysterious List of Names. He sets up a Green-Arrow-Cave in an abandoned Queen Industries warehouse, and quickly gets to work stealing from the rich and giving to the poor – in the order of 40 million dollars.

There are flashbacks throughout the episode that tell a tale — a tale of a fateful trip. The Queen men were aboard their private yacht when it met with rough waters and was capsized. Among those lost when the boat went down was Sarah Lance — sister of the aforementioned ex. The rest of the sequence is like the set-up to a weird riddle: Oliver Queen, his father Robert and a third guy drift in a lifeboat. Their supplies are limited, but Robert has a revolver. How do they use these tools to survive? Why, MURDER, of course! Robert tells his son to survive long enough to get back to ‘their’ city, and ‘right [his] wrongs.’

This scene is way more fucked up than the series’ producers seem to think it is. Robert shoots a guy in the head and then commits suicide on the off chance that this action will save his son’s life. This, by the way, is the son who — up until this point — has been your garden variety spoiled rich douchebag. Robert may say he wants to right his wrongs, but he’s also way too eager to shoot his problems away.

And that willingness to kill actually gets to the one thing I liked about this episode: the action is actually pretty cool. Stephen Amell may not have much in the way of acting chops (seriously, dude can’t even nail “brooding”), but his physicality in the role is impressive. This version of the Green Arrow is kind of a parkour ninja that also uses a tricked-out bow and arrow. Some of these techno-wonder arrows strain credibility past its breaking point (like the one that hacks the bad guy’s computer and untraceably transfers 40 million dollars to LOCAL BANK ACCOUNTS), but there are also your standard zip-line arrows and shit like that. And it’s that simple stuff that’s most rewarding. I don’t think there’s a good live-action Action show on TV. I’m not claiming that Arrow is that show, or even could be that show, but this episode did deliver two satisfying action set-pieces – and that’s refreshing.

But perhaps I’m only refreshed because the rest of the episode was mired in clumsily expository dialogue, oblivious scoring and weak acting. The only performance I enjoyed was Colin Donnell as Tommy Merlyn. The script gives Tommy all those jack-ass-best-friend lines, but Donnell is able to imbue the character with enough charisma, that I don’t hate him.

Look, the show has a lot of problems. But they’re mostly problems that can disappear as the series finds its legs. My impossible wish for this show is that the weak family-drama slides into the background, so the show can be a non-stop action extravaganza. But budgets tighten up after the pilot, and action is expensive. The nods to other members of the DC superheroes are fun (Dinah Lance a.k.a Black Canary and Tommy Merlyn most prominently), but it’s going to take a commitment to something to make this show worthwhile.

There was a lot I didn’t get to, but that’s why I called my good buddy Al Reiser. Al’s one of the first people to make me think really critically about popular culture, and he’s always had a knack for fueling my more obsessive natures. Also, we made it to level 11 in Battletoads in two-player mode, so you know he’s not one to give up (or let me give up), so he’s the perfect guy to jabber about this show with me. Al, what’d you think of tonight’s proceedings?

Al: Here was my thought process as I watched the show:

“Green Arrow? He’s like Batman, right? He’s got a manor, like Batman. He’s fueled by his parent’s death like Batman. He doesn’t have any superpowers like—HOLY SHIT, he just killed a guy!”

I appreciated that the violence in the show didn’t pull any punches. Sure, there may have been an off-handed line that he put some people in the hospital, but that’s only because hospitals have morgues.

He casually kills a good ten people in the episode. This is refreshing, because it easily could have been tazer-arrows or concussion-arrows or some other kind of stun-arrows, as the comic and cartoon Green Arrows have used in the past, but this iteration chose good ol’ fashioned kill-you-arrows.

This is actually an example of the greater (perhaps accidental) success of the show. Green Arrow is not a hero.

Here’s what we know about Adam Hunt: some lawyers are filing a class action lawsuit against him (or his company?) and his name is in the middle of a page of a dirty book Green Arrow has. That’s it. We can assume that he’s as evil as any greedy, 1% CEO, but the show doesn’t really elaborate on that.

Rather, they show us the multiple crimes the Green Arrow commits in an attempt to “bring justice to those that have poisoned [his] city.” In that effort, he murders some body guards, commits extortion, breaks into an apartment, murders more body guards and ultimately steals $40,000,000 (which, by the way doesn’t sound like that much for a super-rich CEO).

Green Arrow is a villain. And if that trend continues, I’m compelled to see how it plays out.

Patrick pointed out some problems with the show (which there certainly are a few), but I want to take a second and touch on some high points.

The opening sequence where Green Arrow is portrayed as animalistic is really well shot. It does a good amount of showing rather than telling. The quick cuts and the out-of-frame subject quickly pull you in. Of course, then a voice-over begins, but I’ll leave the criticism to my colleague.

There were some decent moments of humor in the episode, notably when Green Arrow ditches his body guard by jumping out of the moving car.

Final note of praise: when Green Arrow’s phone went off, I spent like ten solid seconds looking for my phone. Good work, sound guy. You nailed it.

Over all, the show had promise. It suffers from the sterile dialogue delivery that plagues all CW shows, but it had solid action sequences and an interesting moral ambiguity. If the show exists as an episodic, case by case, name by name series, it could be good hour of escapism. However, if the show decides to follow the long story arc of the mother’s betrayal and god-I’m-bored-already storyline, it runs the danger of just being a vacant hour before Supernatural starts.

On a side note, if you weren’t aware, archery generated the highest ratings in the London Olympics. Here’s a clip of the winners. They’re crazy good.

The desire to use bow-and-arrow puns when evaluating this show is almost overpowering. Herewith, a list of discarded archery puns:

• Patrick: “Arrow aims for high family drama, but misses the mark”
• Al: “Green Arrow made me quiver.”
• Patrick: “Waiting for the next action set-piece had me quivering with anticipation.”
• Al: “Oliver Queen is straight as an arrow.”
• Patrick: “The CW’s new take on the Green Ar-row is more of a Green Oh-no.”
• Al: “Adam Hunt seems like he’d be a good Arch nemesis.”
• Patrick: “DC’s new superhero drama comes wrapped in a bow… and Arrow!”
• Al: “The pilot hit the bullseye, if you know what I mean.”
• Patrick: “Last night’s premiere is bound make an Arrow-head out of you!”
• Al: “Oliver shoots for his own hand.”
• Patrick: “Board the Arrow-plane! Destination: EXCITEMENT!”
• Al: “Katniss Everdean.”

Arrow is on Wednesday nights at 8:00pm (7:00PM Central) on The CW. You can also watch full episodes of Arrow on www.cwtv.com