Arrow Season 5 returned tonight and let me say, it started off with a bang! I'm not sure what exactly was different about the way this episode was shot or written but the tone reminded me a lot of Season 1 and 2 which is a great thing. Season 3 and 4 were hard to get through overall even though episodes here and there were fun to watch. This was hard because Arrow has always been one of my favorite shows and seeing how far it fell hurt.
I think one of the major reasons this episode feels like the show is turning back towards Season 1 was the villain or perhaps villains. The Green Arrow does not have superpowers and he works best when up against non-superpowered villains as well. By bringing magic to the show, the characters had to up their ante and became people we really didn't recognize. A lot of the plotlines seemed so contrived in order to get from Point A to B. This does not mean that I'm saying that all magic and superpowers are bad or that Arrow should avoid all of it but in fact that Arrow's greatest strengths are villains that are more human. And there's nothing wrong with that! Look at Daredevil and Luke Cage. Both their villains are very human and this doesn't take away from their badassness or make the show feel lame. Arrow has a different set of strengths than Flash and Supergirl and even Legends and they need to embrace it.
I really liked Church this episode. He was a great combination of creepy and insane and in one episode managed to take over all of the gangs in Star City. He feels like a credible threat and even though I don't think he's going to be the Big Bad of the season, he will be fun for a while. I also enjoyed seeing Prometheus and I'm excited to see more of him.
This episode introduced a lot more characters than we normally see on the show and whether or not they'll return, it gave the audience the feeling of a bigger world. Despite Quentin being a cop and a main character on the show, we've never visited any idea of the police having meaning. Oliver always worked outside the law so it was always a sense of the Arrow and the criminals. Maybe it was the fact that Oliver is now mayor and privvy to different sides of the government or maybe the Arrow writers saw how well Marvel Netflix was doing and decided to take a page out of their books but either way, I enjoyed it.
Laurel is now a statue and she's still being memorialized which I love. What was weird though was Quentin falling off the wagon and talking about how he has nothing to stay sober for. I know she's not around all the time but Sara still exists so it's not like Lance has no one! That's the problem with her being on the other show. She can't appear whenever Lance needs her or be there for her father as he recovers from alcohol again.
I liked the way Felicity and Oliver interacted this episode. There was no weird pining or brooding or angry conversations between them. When the show tries to focus on their relationship, they don't do it well. I liked how their glances at each other shows their relationship and one line at the end of the episode where Oliver admits he has no idea if Felicity would want him to let her go was perfect. It shows us everything we need to know about where they are and leaves the door open for the two to get together later on. And don't get me wrong, I love them together but I think the two need to be apart for a little while. Both had their own problems in the relationship and if they get back together, they need to figure themselves out first. Plus the Arrow writers seem to have such trouble with writing romance so maybe they should take a break from that.
Oh and Felicity has a new boyfriend who I think is one of the police officers we saw earlier but I'm terrible with faces and I might be wrong. How long will they be together? Five episodes? Midseason at the latest? What do we think she is telling this boyfriend where she is when she stays out all night doing Arrow business? Is she still the CEO of Palmer Tech? Does she have a job? Do we think this boyfriend might be evil?
I'm looking forward to this new team they build and I loved the Skpe call between Oliver and John at the end. It was precious that they're still talking and allows David Ramsey to still be on the show despite not being in the city. Even the flashbacks were much more interesting. I'm so glad that Anatoli is back because I was worried for a bit that the actor might be too busy to return and Russia would not have been Russia without him!
Anyway, overall I loved this episode and I'm so excited to be back. I'm looking forward to this season and I really really hope that it is another great one. We've had two seasons that weren't that great. It's about time for a good one. I doubt it'll ever reach Season 2 status but if it's as good as Season 1, that's enough for me.
Tune in tomorrow for my thoughts on new fall tv shows.
xoxo Allie
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