SPOILER ALERT! (stop reading if you don’t want to know what happens in this episode)
We can officially say that fall TV is back because Arrow is back! Things are definitely feeling a little different and people are a heck of a lot happier (well most) and I’m genuinely excited about this season. We’ve got a new baddie and a kickass team so you know I’m boiling over with excitement. Let’s just get into this premiere recap!
We flashing back five years prior to a long haired Oliver slinging arrow justice but not as awesomely as we know he can. Amanda Waller shows up to help him because she believes he needs to embrace his inner darkness not run from it. When he tries to get more info he realizes he’s been drugged and the bar is full of agents. He wakes up on an airplane and is forced to jump off by gunpoint to go after a target on the island.
Welcome to Suburbia
We open and Oliver is jogging in a quaint little suburb back home to Felicity where things look to be picture perfect (still kind of weird). We also learn that Oliver has been getting scars removed while Felicity has been running Palmer Technologies. Since Oliver is in happy bliss, Laurel (Black Canary) and Thea (Red Arrow) are fighting the bad guys with help from Diggle (who finally has some type of a mask or face gear or disguise). They come to the conclusion that they need help because the city has been taken over by disguised assassins, or ghosts, but Diggle doesn’t think they need him.
Quentin is at a meeting with the core leaders of the city to discuss how to keep the city afloat when their interrupted by Damien Darhk who tells them that he’s in charge of the ghosts who have been attacking the city and he’s pretty much going to kill them all. After a press conference the district attorney passes out after drinking poisoned coffee. Laurel calls Diggle to alert him that the city’s leadership is being attacked. Diggle and Laurel are too late in saving two of the members but Laurel gets to the precinct in time to save Quentin who suffers a flesh wound.
Back in the burbs, Oliver and Felicity are hosting their neighbors and we find out that Oliver is planning to pop the question to Felicity. That night over a candlelit dinner Oliver is about to serve dessert, which includes the ring in Felicity’s serving, but they’re interrupted by a visit from Laurel and Thea seeking help. They give Oliver the spiel and tell him that they need the arrow and he tells them he’s dead and he can’t. He then turns to Felicity who thinks they should already be in the car helping their friends.
Oh hey Star City
They head back to Star City to the lair where they find a disgruntled Diggle who doesn’t want Oliver’s help. Felicity hacks into Kord Industries databases and finds out that the ghosts stole cluster bombs. Oliver jumps right into handing out orders but no one jumps into action except Felicity. She pinpoints all of their heists and attacks making Oliver suspicious. He asks her if she’s been helping the team behind his back and she shakes her head no. He starts naming off instances from the past five months when she happened to disappear and she tells him that she was helping the team because she was bored and missed saving the city.
Diggle goes home and tells Lyla that Oliver is back. She’s already let it go that Oliver kidnapped her and reminds him that in times of war you do what you have to do. Back at the lair an from a gps tracker on one of the bombs and the team heads to a closed truck depot. At the location Damien is singling out one of his ghosts and uses him as an example by freezing (or frying) his insides. The team jumps into action and takes down quite a few of them but the police show up. Oliver asks one of the guys what they plan to do and he tells him that they plan to use the explosives on Star City Station.
The team goes to the station to try to track the cluster bombs and while there he tries to lecture/find out what’s really going on with Thea and why she’s being so aggressive but she tells him she doesn’t need his help. He then tries to talk to Diggle who tells him that he’s more angry at himself than Oliver because he doesn’t trust or love anyone; he’s incapable of doing it. He then hits him lower in the gut and tells him he’s as dark as Malcolm and Ra’s. Because it’s just one of those days, Oliver is then confronted by Quentin who also rips him a new one and pretty much calls him a monster, blaming the destruction of the city on him. Oliver goes back to the lair and tells Felicity that no one wants his help and they shouldn’t have come back. He tells her that Quentin told him a while back that all he brought back from the island is pain and darkness but of course Felicity tells him he’s wrong; he just needs to be a different kind of person.
The team returns with news that there weren’t any bombs anywhere at the station and Felicity realizes that the bombs aren’t at the station because they’re bringing them in by train in time for the station’s re-opening celebration. Diggle tells everyone to suit up and Felicity tells Oliver he should suit up too and reveals his new suit courtesy of Cisco. They help evacuate the station while Oliver and Diggle trail the train. Oliver hops on it and tells Damien to stop the train (at arrow point of course) but Oliver didn’t know who he was chasing. Damien quickly introduces himself and stops all of Oliver’s arrow then gets his hands on his chest and is about to kill him but Diggle shoots him from behind and he gets away. They jump off the train and Oliver shoots an arrow at the car holding the explosives causing it to explode.
Back at the lair Oliver tells them that he and Felicity missed them and plan to stay and help take down Damien. He then tells them what he knows about Damien and that he has a hive of operatives. Diggle flashes to when he was talking to Deadshot and he mentioned the Hive was associated with his brother’s death. Oliver asks him what’s wrong but he tells him nothing and goes home. Before he goes Oliver tells them that he has to do one thing.
They hack the network and Oliver declares that he as the Green Arrow will stand and fight for the city. Damien is doing some type of blood ritual when he gets a visitor, Quentin (shocked the ish out of me). We find out that he’s being strong armed into working with the Hive and Damien wants to know who Green Arrow is and who he loves so he can get him out of the way.
We flash six months later to Oliver talking to Barry at a tombstone and Oliver tells him that he’s going to make him pay. We end the episode not knowing who’s buried in the grave… but I have my suspicions of course.
Some takeaways…
- Let’s just get this out of the way. I’m pretty sure the person in the grave is Felicity. It could also be Thea but Felicity is at the top of my list and I have a plethora of reasons why. The main one being you can’t have a decent relationship in a high pressure combat type of show. I mean, you can, but you usually don’t because that ish gets old or desperate real quick. This is only the first episode of the season and I was already sitting here thinking of the many reasons why I didn’t want an Olicity story. The plus is that we can focus back on Oliver, the team and taking down threats instead of seeing Felicity crying every other episode. I could go on a rant about this for forever but I will just leave it at that.
- John Diggle. I get it but the whole “I’m angry with Oliver” bit is getting old. Get over it and lets all work together.
- Damien Darhk is going to be an interesting villain. I actually really like Neal McDonough, there’s just something intriguing about him. He’s a gorgeous man but then he has that look where I could believe he’d murder you without even blinking. So yea, I’m looking forward to seeing how he brings Damien Darhk to our screens each week.
- Totally random but I miss Roy. Just thought I’d put that out there.
What did you think about the season premiere? Who do you think is in the grave? Let me know below or on Twitter!
