Control: Rewatch Arrowverse…Arrow S1E1
I, Dalton Lewis, rewatched episode one of Arrow — which started a television universe of DC Comics properties like The Flash, Supergirl, and Batwoman. In Arrow Season One Episode One Oliver Queen almost dies on the Queen’s Gambit, a boat with his father, a seaman, and Sarah Lance, the sister of his girlfriend. He is that guy — sleeping with the sister of his girlfriend Laurel Lance. (Fans of the comics recognize her as Dinah Lance, The Black Canary.) The ship capitulates and starts to sink, and Oliver is stranded on a dangeous island for five years with nothing but his wits to survive. He lives through a living hell with barely enough food and water to survive, and he is rescued five years later by a passing fisherman’s boat.
What happens on those five years on the island? Episode one merely shows that five years on the island made him into a living weapon, capable of killing bad guys and righting wrongs. He sets his sights on Adam Hunt, a millionaire who makes money by ripping off normal, poor citizens of Starling City. Oliver Queen has a book with names — names of the corrupt people in Starling City, people he needs to stop because they have failed his city…
The five years on an island seems like a Purgatory metaphor. Oliver is superficial in everything that he does: he is a rich brat who does nothing for anyone except himself. There is, in fact, only one interesting facet of Oliver Queen’s personality before the island: he has a good heart. That helps him to go to Purgatory and not to Hell. When the boat crashes he finds himself in a situation in which he must learn to fight and scavenge and learn to survive himself — without money or servants. This turns him into a cocoon who emerges as The Arrow, a vigilante who fucks up people who mistreat others. This turns him into an avenger fighting against the rich people that are immune to the normal branches of law enforcement.
This has strong parallels to Batman Begins, and I think it’s an homage to that film but with a strong, independent Oliver Queen — someone with a set of skills different than the Dark Knight. The purgatory metaphor shows someone who was not defined by detective work or dead parents — instead someone who feels guilty about his American life of leisure and happiness while others struggled to make enough to get by.
His little sister? Seventeen and using drugs. His best friend? Twenty-five and sleeping around. His ex-girlfriend? An idealistic young lawyer trying to save lives and make a difference. His mom? Someone caught up in all the corruption and failure seeping through all levels of Starling City.
Sarah Lance? Dead, drowned. Oliver Queen’s father? Dead and drowned. Oliver survived and they didn’t. He has to make up for his dad dying for him by having the greatest life of all time.
Adam Hunt — the bad guy? He’s angry, he owns goons that are nameless, and he makes money off of ripping off poor people in his city. He rants at the cops to protect him from the guy with a bow and a green costume.
I think that the central metaphor works for us in the current day and time: we have a lot of failure, on a lot of levels, and someone has to find the rich and corrupt and teach them to behave on a lot of levels and work for the little guy, the normal person, the Covid-19 victims who get it because they don’t have the opportunities that the rest of us have. I like the Arrow metaphor in 2020, and I hope that the real world can have more Oliver Queens saving people instead of living off of them.
Thanks, and take care, friends.
