#arrow 1x01

Plot: We all know this one. Oliver Queen gets rescued after five years ‘stranded on an island’ and has to deal with readjusting to normal life. The world has changed while he was away, and with an ex that hates him, a police chief that’s out to get him, a bodyguard who won’t let him out of his sight, and a sister who’s very into the party lifestyle, he has a lot to reckon with. Oh, also he’s a vigilante who hunts down enemies from his dead dad’s old notebook now. So normal stuff.

Speaking of dead dad, we also get flashbacks to their boat capsizing, Sara Lance being no doubt killed at sea, and Ollie’s dad shooting their captain and himself in order to give him a fighting chance at survival. Your regular Arrow trauma train basically. 9/10

Villain: Adam Hunt, an evil businessman who has swindled millions from innocent people, and is embroiled in a lawsuit from Laurel’s legal aid firm. A bog standard starter villain, but having the connection to Laurel at least links him a little more with the active story.

Oliver kills all his bodyguards but leaves him alive, plants a ‘money hacking’ arrow in the wall and returns all the stolen money in a real ‘Robin Hood’ moment. 6/10

Action: As our intro to ‘the Hood’, I’d say the action delivers. It’s mainly Oliver against a bunch of mooks, and watching him effortlessly work through them quickly shows how much of a threat he is post-island. 8/10

Soap Opera Factor: Look, at the end of the day it’s a CW show. We’ve got your checklist of shirtless hunks, nightclub parties and petty romantic drama. We can let it slide as a lot of the drama is expository this episode, but it’s easy to chuckle as Oliver moodily watches Tommy and Laurel flirt from a fire escape, or as Thea lays into her newly-alive brother for disapproving of her drug habit. Just enough trauma to keep it balanced though. 5/10

Stinger: SHOCK HORROR! Moira Queen was involved in the shipwreck?? And she had Oliver kidnapped to see what he knows?? (Oh yeah, that was a subplot too.) No notes. 10/10

Overall Rating: 7.6/10

An enjoyable intro into the world of Arrow, which tees up enough questions and fun action that you’re bound to at least tune into the next episode.

Shirtless Oliver, a series: 1x01 Pilot.

I think a good pilot episode can make or break a show. If the first episode isn’t good, there’s no reason for people to keep watching. It needs to set up the overall premise of the show, introduce the characters, and give us a feel for what to expect in future episodes. And it’s much easier said than done. There are hundreds of shows that barely get through the first few episodes on air before it gets canceled. So a good pilot is extremely important to keep a show on the air. Here are some of my favorites.

Parenthood

Parenthood is one of those shows that make you emotional every time you watch it. And the pilot episode is no different. It introduces us to the entire Braverman clan, and there are a lot of them. But because this is a show about a family, it also tells us why it’s starting now. Sarah’s out of money so she drives her kids back home to her parents’ house. And that’s what sets us up for the rest of the show. The show overall goes in waves. There’s the hectic family dynamic when they’re all together. But then, there are the quieter moments, the ones that open the watergates. And that’s truly why the show works. And the pilot episode is good enough to get you through the rest of the show.

Gilmore Girls

Most Gilmore Girl episodes have very little plot. And it’s part of what makes the writing so brilliant. But this is a pilot episode so there has to be something other than the fast talking to hook people. So it sets up the rest of the show when Lorelai asks her parents for money. Which is the last thing she wants to do. But Amy Sherman-Palladino said it best when she said “I knew from the dinner scene in the pilot that dinner table scene in the pilot, we had the show”.

Sherlock

Sherlock is a popular show for a reason. And just to be clear, I’m not talking about the unaired pilot (because truth be told, I haven’t seen it). The actual first episode of the show does a brilliant job establishing the overall tone of the show and introducing us to Sherlock Holmes. And the plot of a serial killer playing games with his victims is incredibly intriguing. When Sherlock comes face-to-face with him, it’s an intense scene. And one that really makes this pilot episode.