Watching the first season of Arrow for me back when it originally aired was mostly a case of "it's a superhero show, I'm a nerd, I'm honour bound to give this a shot" (the early '10s were simpler times, please forgive me). I didn't really get on with the grimdark heroics of the current-day story, nor with the bleak flashbacks, but I guess I was enough of a TV glutton back then to stick with it. Thankfully, both this show and the universe it spawned grew on me over time, but I still didn't expect much, going back to watch Arrow S01E01 again, a decade later.
Imagine my surprise when it turns out that the many subsequent episodes of character and story development seems to have retroactively lent a pretty significant amount of meaning and emotional resonance to a show that wasn't quite equipped to deliver much of the sort at the time. Don't get me wrong, it's still pretty rough around the edges, mostly due to the directors and writers at this point only having the most rudimentary idea how to get the best of out their assembled ensemble. But: because I know how much the work of most of the involved (both in front of and behind the camera) will improve over time, it's easier to forgive the clunky lines and line deliveries. Because I know where Oliver Queen is heading, and where he's actually been as this pilot starts, it's easier to look past the show's brutal super-heroics at the outset.
I can't believe it, I'm actually looking forward to the rest of this rewatch?
I had started watching this probably when it was about 3 seasons in. I binged the first season! I am in no way into superhero shows, but this I loved! I leisurely watched through to the end of season 5 and then stopped because working from home took over my life and I sorta moved on to newer shows.
I am now starting all over and I'm enjoying it again!
Was hesitant to start a superhero show about a character I didn't care about, but I've been diving into DC lately and was curious about this whole Arrowverse. This pilot is pretty strong, I was suprised how good the action was and the cast was nicely filled out. I'm definitely going to binge this first season over the next few days.
They don't even try to hide Vancouver.... where it is filmed.
Really amazing pilot, that really drags you into the story straight away. It's not often i'm sold on a series after only one episode but this episode really did it and the last scene with Moira just excelled the intrigue by so much more. I really enjoy the previous connection that the characters have with each other and with that much history it will be interesting to see how they explore the characters further into the series.
It was a really good start. Too bad that it got slowed down and boring further ahead...
I did not expect Oliver Queen to be so... Ready. I thought this show was going to start on the island with some kind of torment, not him getting rescued and immediately starting to clean up his city. This is going to be interesting for sure
A really good pilot, that introduces a lot of the key elements of S1. Does a great job introducing the characters (none of which I dislike; many of which I love). The “villain” is pretty bland, though (which is a problem I have with arrow in general).
Final Score— 73%
great pilot
I've been a big fan of the show for years
the tone definitely changes a little bit over the seasons
but this episode is a great grounded down-to-earth retelling of this classic character
I've finally started watching this show, and I'm already liking it. And from what I've heard/read, it gets even better. This will probably be one of my most favorite shows. I'll just have to wait and see.
10/10 Best pilot episode of all time, everything was spot on, from the narrative to the character development to the backstory, to the perfect soundtrack and the epic action scenes. And, every time I rewatch it still feels as amazing as the first time I watched it, so many goosebumps/chills. Season 5 of arrow seems to be getting back to its former season 1 glory after having had a terrible season 4. Remember, this show, and this very episode are the ones that started it all, the first good live action superhero dc comics tv show to ever exist gave way to shows like The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow.
Shout by Isabel ∞BlockedParent2016-01-27T01:51:59Z
Omg, that pilot was... amazing, I don't know why I waited so long to see this.