ARROW: PILOT {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The pilot of this dramatic series about Oliver Queen, a billionaire who returns from being stranded for years on an uninhabited island to become an archery-based superhero in his hometown of Starling City. Young billionaire Oliver Queen, heir to the Queen corporate empire, is rescued from a deserted island in the North China sea after his ship crashed there five years ago, claiming the life of his father Robert Queen. He returns with a mission: to cleanse his hometown of Starling City of corruption by corporate moguls. His return to the United States makes national headlines, as he was presumed dead. He reunites with his mother, Moira Queen, and is taken to his home, a palatial estate. He also reunites with Raisa, the house's maid, and his little sister Thea "Speedy" Queen, now seventeen years old. Meanwhile, lawyer Dinah Laurel Lance, known to most only as "Laurel," is involved in a suit against Adam Hunt, accused of fraud and theft against the city's underprivileged. She learns of Oliver's return and seems highly upset over it. Oliver starts recalling the circumstances of the shipwreck; Laurel's little sister Sarah was on board, and Oliver was cheating on Laurel with her despite warnings from his father. Oliver reunites with his good friend Tommy Merlyn, and together they have dinner with the Queen family. There he discovers that his mother has remarried to Walter Steele, one of his father's business associates. That night, Oliver has a nightmare where he remembers how his ship capsized while he was getting intimate with Sarah, and how she was pulled into the ocean and died. Oliver managed to escape on a lifeboat with his father and a crewman. He is awoken suddenly by Moira, whom he instinctively throws to the ground. He realizes what he's done and apologizes. The next morning he visits his sister and her friend Margo, both of whom hastily conceal the fact that they were about to do drugs. He gives her a Buddhist talisman symbolizing reconnection, discussing his hopes on the island that he would one day reconnect with her. Oliver then takes a drive with Merlyn to a poverty-stricken part of the city where an abandoned Queen Industries factory stands in disrepair. Merlyn explains that the economy went into a downturn after Robert Queen went missing. Next, Oliver visits Laurel at her office. They talk about their relationship and Oliver apologizes for allowing Sarah to die. Laurel seems to have nothing but spite for Oliver, saying that she wished he had died instead of her sister. They part ways. As Oliver and Merlyn make their way back to their car, they are ambushed by masked thugs and knocked out with tranquilizers. Oliver remembers something his father told him on the lifeboat about how he "ruined" Starling City before he awakens, finding himself tied to a chair in a warehouse. The masked thugs interrogate Oliver and shock him with a taser, demanding to know if his father is still alive and the nature of some secret Oliver knows. Oliver breaks out of his restraints and subdues all of the thugs, even chasing one of them down and snapping his neck. When the police deliver him and Merlyn back to his house, Oliver claims he was rescued by a mysterious man in a green hood. Merlyn corroborates this story, although he was partially unconscious at the time. The police are unable to trace the identities of the kidnappers. The leader of the investigation, Detective Quentin Lance, is Laurel and Sarah's father and like his daughter blames Oliver for Sarah's death. Oliver does research on Adam Hunt, whose name is recorded among many others in a book he brought back with him from the island. Moira assigns a bodyguard named John Diggle to guard Oliver, wary of another kidnapping attempt. He learns that Diggle is a retired airborne trooper who has worked as a bodyguard for over four years. Oliver quickly ditches Diggle and returns to the site of the abandoned Queen Industries factory. There he constructs a lair for himself, complete with crime lab, exercise equipment, and an archery range. He constructs equipment and trains himself rigorously. That night, as Hunt is walking to his car, Oliver ambushes him and attacks his guards with his bow and arrows, wearing a green hooded costume as a disguise. He demands that Hunt make a transaction of forty million dollars to a specific account by ten o' clock the next day, or he will return. With that, Oliver vanishes, leaving Hunt behind. Hunt informs Detective Lance of his encounter with the hooded man and the police set up a perimeter around Hunt's office, assisted by Constantine Drakon, Hunt's chief of security. Oliver heads to a welcome-back party Merlyn arranges in his honor, held in a building adjacent to Hunt's office. While there, he spots his sister purchasing drugs and confronts her. She gives a speech about how Oliver was essentially dead to the family for his missing years and there was no one to give her comfort, and that he has no right to judge her. He allows her to leave, but secretly swipes her purchased drugs and disposes of them. Laurel arrives and speaks with Oliver in private, apologizing for her earlier remarks. She asks about her sister's death and they seem to share a bond over her. Ten o' clock rolls around and Hunt has not made the transaction. Oliver tells Laurel to stay away from him, as he fears he will hurt her again. She leaves and Oliver tries to sneak out the back, and incapacitates Diggle when he tries to prevent him from leaving. At Hunt's office, his security is in place and the police are on the street. Oliver infiltrates the building and cuts the power before rushing in and taking out Hunt's guards with martial arts and his archery. He reaches Hunt and fires an arrow point-blank, apparently missing him. Drakon emerges and engages Oliver while the police move in. Oliver and Drakon knock each other unconscious. Oliver regains consciousness just as the police enter, and uses a zip-line to escape. The police raid Oliver's party and he and Merlyn are on hand to greet them. Oliver announces a cash reward for anyone who can capture the mysterious hooded hero of whom the police speak. The police leave and the party resumes; Merlyn remarks on the coincidence of the hooded man's appearance both to save Oliver and at the building next to his party. The next morning, Hunt finds the forty million dollars missing from his account. Unbeknownst to him, the arrow which Oliver fired, missing Hunt, was actually some sort of device which allowed Oliver to hack into his accounts and redistribute it to Laurel's clients who filed suit against him. Oliver crosses Hunt's name off of his list, recalling his father in the lifeboat shooting the crewman and himself in order to give Oliver enough supplies to survive, leaving him with a cryptic warning to "right my wrongs." Merlyn visits Laurel to talk about Oliver. She and Merlyn have something of a relationship with each other, although Laurel doesn't believe that Merlyn could truly commit to her. Unbeknownst to them, Oliver watches them from hiding in his hooded costume. He vows to get vengeance on those who "ruined" Starling City through corruption and greed. The episode ends as it is revealed that Moira is the one responsible for ordering Oliver's kidnapping. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CW
- DATE: October 10, 2012 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:44:33
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 108276
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, action/adventure; Drama, fantasy/science fiction; Comic books
- SERIES RUN: The CW - TV series, 2012-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David Nutter … Executive Producer, Director
- Greg Berlanti … Executive Producer, Developed by, Writer
- Marc Guggenheim … Executive Producer, Developed by, Writer
- Andrew Kreisberg … Executive Producer, Developed by, Writer
- Melissa Kellner Berman … Co-Executive Producer
- JP Finn … Producer
- Carl Ogawa … Co-Producer
- DC Comics … Based on characters appearing in
- Blake Neely … Music by
- Stephen Amell … Cast, Oliver Queen
- Colin Donnell … Cast, Tommy Merlyn
- Katie Cassidy … Cast, Dinah Laurel Lance
- David Ramsey … Cast, John Diggle
- Paul Blackthorne … Cast, Detective Quentin Lance
- Thea Holland … Cast, Thea "Speedy" Queen
- Susanna Thompson … Cast, Moira Queen
- Colin Salmon … Cast, Walter Steele
- James Sheridan (See also: Jamey Sheridan) … Cast, Robert Queen
- Jacqueline Macinesswood (See also: Jacqueline MacIness Wood) … Cast, Sarah Lance
- Annie Ilonzeh … Cast, Joanna De La Vega
- Kathleen Gati … Cast, Raisa
- Roger Cross … Cast, Detective Hilton
- Brian Markinson … Cast, Adam Hunt
- Laci J. Mailey … Cast, Margo
- Ben Cotton … Cast, Crewman
- James Bamford … Cast, Gunman #2
- Dalias Blake … Cast, SWAT Leader
- Simon Chin … Cast, First Mate
- Bill Croft … Cast, Grizzled Man
- Marrett Green … Cast, TV Anchorman
- Derek Hamilton … Cast, Mask
- Hiro Kanagawa … Cast, Dr. Neil Lamb
- Noel Johansen … Cast, Attorney
- Mi-Jung Lee … Cast, Starling Anchorwoman
- Laci J. Mailey … Cast, Margo
- Darren Shahlavi … Cast, Constantine Drakon
- Shawn Stewart … Cast, Guard #2
- Chang Tseng … Cast, Captain