The thing that frustrates a good number of non-comic people about the character Superman is they can’t understand how Lois Lane, supposedly a responsible and respectable reporter who works with Clark Kent and has seen Superman up close and personal, can’t figure out how they are one in the same. Just because he wears glasses as Clark is enough to throw her off the trail? It’s comical to a lot of people but comic book folks tend to let that one slip. OK, that's a bit a little harsh. We have been privy to this flaw for so long we accept it.

Near the end of the pilot to Arrow, there is a scene where one of the main characters pieces together all of the elements that have happened in the past few days since the re-emergence of Oliver Queen and the link to the 'man in the hood with the arrows' and questions if there is a tie between the two. Oliver tosses the question aside, but the question is so blatant and obvious you figure anyone remotely involved in the case, especially the police, should be able to solve the mystery of the green masked man soon. It's as bold of a statement as the next scene where the bad guy wonders how he's losing all the money from his account when he, and apparently the detectives who went over his place, somehow couldn't see the mini-arrow stuck in the wall near the computer with a blinking LED light obviously hacking his computer to download the files. The writers, showrunners and everyone associated with the production of this show saw the scene and didn't figure anything was wrong with the visual.

Arrow isn’t a bad pilot, and has the possibility of being a good show, but its execution reminds me a lot of another superhero type show called Alphas. Arrow is a superhero/ comic book inspired show that doesn’t want to be a superhero/ comic book show. It wants to be ripped from the real world while having people in masks running around fighting for justice or avenging some wrongdoing. Arrow, unlike a lot of superhero shows, has an advantage because most of the characters involved in Oliver Queen's comic book universe were non-super powered people. They have gimmicks and gadgets which are easier to explain than super abilities. That's a good point to the show. A point against the show is the stigma of being on the CW. To appeal to that fan base the show is going to be more Twilight in terms of characters ages and attitude. We aren't getting the old, bearded Green Arrow. That wouldn't be possible in the CW universe. We get, pardon the pun, comic book styled characters with old school comic book motivations. It makes for very wooden dialog, dated pop cultural quips and montage sequences of buff bodied people doing buff bodied things to whatever pop star is popular at the moment. All the better to promote them on the inevitable soundtrack if the show is a hit, I guess.

I have to hand it to the creators of the show that they did go a bit ballsy on the pilot. Even if this show was on CBS or NBC, I was surprised by the amount of outright violence in the pilot. He’s a guy using a bow and arrow as a weapon of choice which means hits are going to have the possibility of killing someone. There were lots of shots of arrows sticking out of people's bodies, some surviving and some not. Yes, this Arrow kills with the bow and with his hands. There is a shocking, no mercy neck snap he does because he doesn’t want the henchman ‘revealing his secret’ and this is before he becomes Arrow. There are other rough scenes that make sense if you remember this guy survived on an island for 5 years. You would figure he would be a bit ruthless and brutal. There are other bits of violence I won’t mention because they are spoilers but if you think Arrow is going to be like Smallville kick that out of your head. In the violence department, this is close to Person of Interest level of violence.

For the comic book fan of Green Arrow, there were so many people introduced who are familiar characters in the Green Arrow comic world I’m wondering if they were brought in too many too fast. It has already been made known that Huntress and Deadshot will be introduced in the next few episodes, but my concern is the realism the show is trying to convey might get overshadowed by introducing so many characters who will become part of his super hero universe. The creators are introducing characters specific for the show and the other additions are making the city almost awash in superheroes and villains in waiting. Deadshot is a good example of this. I believe by episode three we are going to see Deadshot. He's cool in the comics but the big red eyepiece and silver costume would be something of an issue in a realistic show. By the preliminary pictures, the costume they came up with looks silly. It is hinted that Merlyn, the archer foe of Green Arrow, is in the series and it is the character they introduced as the friend of Oliver, but his introduction look like a plot gimmicks. Are we to believe either the guy learns of Oliver’s secret and decides to turn evil against him or does Arrow stop some plot he has and he decides to have his revenge by becoming an archer? In watching the pilot, they may be setting up a classic CW rivalry between the two over a woman. Really, is that the best that can be done? Even more troublesome for me is Black Canary. She’s a crusading lawyer in the pilot, and from the indications in the pilot she is the former lover of Oliver and the current lover of his friend. Her father is a detective hunting down Arrow and is a bit skeptical about Oliver Queen since both showed up in the city around the same time. (There's that pesky coincidence again!) Maybe going from a crusading attorney to a crime fighter might work, considering her father is a detective and comic book fans know how much little girls with fathers in the police department grow up into crime fighters, but there is the vexing sonic scream. How will that come into play? If you really want to get into the woods of character introduction there is Speedy. Yes, Speedy is in the series, and the pilot brings up the drug issue right away. I pray they don’t do what they have established in the pilot, but they have the pieces in place with Speedy to have a groan moment if the character becomes a sidekick to Arrow. If they go in the direction with Speedy I think they're heading in, I want to ban Hunger Games from being read by television executives!

I know, this is one of those reviews where it sounds like I’m really down on the show but I end up saying I have to give the show a chance. On the positive side it looks like they are going for a grittier Green Arrow, more in keeping with Mike Grell's version of the character. I wish he had a bit more age on him but the show is on the CW so compromises had to be made. The bad parts are the compromises because it is on the CW. This could turn into a young people angst show, which would kill the possibilities for the show. It will take about three episodes to know if the show is heading in the right direction because right now there are enough good elements to see the creators might be looking to make a serious hero out of Arrow, but there are equally as many missteps and potential pitfalls where the show can go bad.