If the opening scene of Arrow is any indication of how dark this season is going to get, I’m looking forward to it, even if it breaks my heart along the way too.
Ruelle’s “Madness” was the perfect song to play over Oliver’s (Stephen Amell) prison montage. It was dark and hopeless, all starting with Oliver waking up from a recurring nightmare of Diaz (Kirk Acevedo) killing Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards).
Stephen said that Oliver was nothing like the man we know, and there was nothing heroic about him but seeing it was harder than I expected. It’s a different role for Stephen to play. As broken as he his, and hard as it is for him, it was interesting to see Oliver go through this. He only fought back when he absolutely had to. The only thing getting him through is getting home to Felicity and William (Jack Moore). That was his driving force for surviving until he was attacked in the shower and sent a message that his wife was dead.
Diaz should really make sure the job is done before he sends a message to Oliver. He may not have finished the job, but his actions have certainly made an impact on Oliver. Emily said Felicity was done running and we quickly see that in the premiere, much to Oliver’s dismay. His attitude quickly changes when Felicity refused to go back into protective custody.
I’m happy that Felicity won’t stay hidden. They need her to find Diaz and it’s unlike Felicity to hide. I don’t think we can have an Arrow without Overwatch. She needs to do what she does best. I also don’t think we could last long with Oliver keeping his head down. Those guys at the end of the episode deserved what they got. I’m not sure what that means for his prison sentence but it looks like we are going to be seeing a very different side of Oliver this season.
The best scene of the episode was definitely when Oliver was fighting in the shower, and Felicity was taking on Diaz. While yes, I know that Felicity doesn’t have a fighting chance against Diaz, I love that she protected William, or at least tried to. I enjoyed the Felicity fight scene as much as an Oliver fight scene. She put up a really good fight, and I don’t think Diaz was expecting that.
I agree with her that she should be helping them find Diaz and not hiding. She should do what she does best, being part of the fight from a computer.
That was one hell of a fight scene for Oliver too, and it didn’t hurt that he was doing it naked. It had to be said.
My feelings for Rene (Rick Gonzalez) go back and forth, but I liked how he was teaching kids to protect themselves, and wanting to be back out there fighting for the city. I don’t like that Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) is against Rene getting back out there. The city needs a vigilante.
That brings me around to this imposter Green Arrow. Who do we think he is? Could it be Roy? We know Colton Haynes is back and he’s also good with a bow and arrow. The writers aren’t giving us the answer to this question just yet.
The flashbacks are long over, but now we’re getting flashforwards with William going to Lian Yu and meeting up with Roy. What does this mean for Oliver’s fate? Oliver has to get out of jail at some point, right? Does this mean Oliver will die? Is William going to Roy for help for Oliver in the future? So many questions.
The season seven premiere of Arrow is definitely setting up a great precedent for the rest of the season.