Arrow season five review

Arrow season five review 

   

Intro: After two bad seasons and losing two key characters in the Green Arrow mythos, I didn't expect much from this season. Despite that, I'm willing to give this series another chance. sometimes I'm a three-strike person. Consider this Arrow's third chance. Besides, how can this show get any worse? Plus, this is the last season for the flashbacks. I'm curious to see how that will wrap up. Sidenote, I wish this series had ended in this season because I don't want this show to suffer the same fate as Smallville, as far as overstaying its welcome. With all that said, did season five recover, or did this show continue to go down the toilet? Let's find out... 

Arrow season five: This season takes place a few months after Team Arrow stops Damien Darhk from nuking the world, and Oliver becomes the Mayor of Star City. He's trying to balance being the Mayor and Green Arrow. One day, Green Arrow meets one of the amateur vigilantes that he inspired and sees that he's rough around the edges. After being reminded of the promise he made to Laurel, he decides to take them under his wing. Meanwhile, an archer called Prometheus has a grudge against Green Arrow and gives him grief by challenging his crusade. So Green Arrow has to stop him before things get out of hand.      

This season washed the bad taste out of my mouth that is seasons 3 and 4; however, this season could have been better. This is the story that the writers should have told after season two; the story of Oliver dealing with the collateral damage he caused in season one. You can almost watch this season without watching the last two. We see characters dealing with the aftermath of Laurel's death. The way this season ended will leave you speechless. The flashbacks in this season are fine. They deal with how Oliver got involved with the Bratva and became what he was in season one. The problems I have with it are that it created a plot hole for season one, and the solution to Oliver's dilemma he had since the season 3 flashbacks, makes him look stupid. This season's crossover episode reminds me of Superman's for the man who has everything, Comic Book.      

Oliver Queen/Green Arrow has an arc of overcoming his past; however, it's done in a way that deconstructs him. Oliver revealed something about himself; it's kind of hard to buy the reveal, and it didn't have much of a payoff. I don't like his attitude about Prometheus because he's the reason why Prometheus exists, and he doesn't feel terrible about the role he played in that. He showed compassion for his other adversaries, like Slade and Cupid, so why can't he do the same thing here? Also, I find it hard to believe that he can be both the Mayor and Green Arrow with no problems because being Green Arrow caused issues for him in the first two seasons. Also, he did something that could have exposed himself as the Green Arrow.  
   

After seeing Quentin Lance doesn't have much of a role this season, it made me wish he should've been the one who died in season four instead of Laurel/The Black Canary. That would make sense because he would die trying to stop Damien Darkh's plan, which would be his way of redeeming himself for working for him. To be fair, the reason why he doesn't do much this season is because he's still grieving over Laurel's death. 

Since Thea quit being Speedy at the end of season four, she doesn't have much to do in this season. Well, the writers kind of did something with her character, but that went nowhere.  

Besides learning how to live with what he did last season, Diggle doesn't serve much of a purpose this season. His subplot feels like filler.  

Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog (one of the new members of Team Arrow) is like Roy, but worse. I mean, Roy didn't come off as a wannabe tough guy. Also, for someone who used to be in the Navy, I expect him to be competent. Also, his backstory lacks the emotional weight it suppose to have.     

Rory Regan/Ragman ( another new member of Team Arrow) is the outsider looking in. My beef with him is that he's too powerful to be a part of this team. Really, he should have been a part of the crossover because he would have been helpful. Plus, we don't learn much about him.  

I'm not happy with what this series has done with Evelyn Sharp because she's underused. You'll be confused by her big reveal because it's unclear. 

Curtis Holt/Mr. Terrific is the friendly one of the bunch who can rival Felicity's hacking skills. What bothers me about him (Other than the fact that he isn't like his comic book counterpart) is that he tries to be funny, but he comes off as an old head trying to be cool, plus his jokes are not thought out. Also, why didn't the show remove him? The purpose he served in season four was to give us the idea that Felicity would die in that season. In this season, he's not as smart as Felicity due to him being more of an inventor, so what's the point of having him around? ( Sorry! I answered my own question.) 

I thought Felicity would go back to normal now that her and Oliver are no longer a couple, but that didn't happen. She still undermines Oliver, lies to him, and she got away with murder, and Oliver is letting it happen. In season four, Felicity sends a nuke to Havenrock. I know she didn't have a choice; however, when you do something wrong and regret it, you answer for it. That didn't happen in this season. She didn't think about that until she learned that one of the new members of Team Arrow is from Havenrock, and she had the nerve to tell this person that she's the one who killed his or her family. She didn't do that to give him or her closure; she did that to make herself feel better. Sidenote; I'm surprised that Prometheus didn't use this against her or have the Havenrock member turn against Team Arrow.    

Something tragic happened to Felicity this season that caused her to go AWOL on Team Arrow. I wouldn't mind the idea of Felicity going rogue if she had a better reason for it. The issue I have with this is that Oliver didn't confront her about it in a stern way. I kind of understand why he didn't do that; however, you need people on your team that you can count on. Another problem I have with this is that Team Arrow is being hypocritical about the situation. I mean, why do they have a problem with Felicity getting her hands dirty when they do it all the time? This is not a team of humanitarians! That's the theme of this season; hypocrisy. Almost everyone has double standards.  

I can see why people like the main villain, Prometheus; he challenges Green Arrow both physically and mentally. He reminds me of The Dark Knight Joker; you'll see what I mean when you watch this season. It's refreshing to have a baddie that doesn't want to destroy the city because people can get sick of seeing that. The mystery of who he is was handled well, regardless of the hiccups. This show failed to make him sympathetic. I can't get into details without spoiling anything. I wish that he and Green Arrow didn't fight each other so often because that takes away the build-up for their showdown in the last episode. Don't worry, it's not as bad as last season. 

Here are my grievances with this season; one of them is the new team members. There's no reason for Oliver to bring them into his war on crime because Oliver is not having a hard time fighting crime on his own. Plus, it makes him look less of a badax. When Diggle or Roy is in the field, it's because Oliver can't be in two places at once. Having a team would make sense if being the Mayor was taking up a lot of his time, but that's not the case. Even if that were the case, that would be an issue. What's the point of watching this show if Oliver is barely Green Arrow? This is why the creators should have saved the Oliver running for Mayor story for the final season. The reason I'm bothered by Oliver training the new team members is that they are comic book characters. I'm tired of seeing him train or school other comic book characters. I would like to see them stand on their own two feet. I'm glad the writers got rid of some of the members of Team Arrow because there are too many of them. This season also has head-scratching moments in this season.      

I have gripes with some of the episodes; the three episodes after the first one are rough. The two episodes after episode 9 will make you mad. This show did a PSA episode on gun control. I don't understand why people are upset over this episode. What's the point of Oliver being the Mayor if we don't have episodes of him dealing with these issues? The problem I have with this episode is that it feels heavy-handed and out of place. Also, I don't think that was the right thing to address, considering two members of Team Arrow use guns. Plus, the series addresses this subject before. There is an episode where Oliver and Felicity are trapped in a bunker. Do I really have to comment on that episode? The last episode is kind of rushed, and I wish "bleep" were in this episode.  

With all that said, this season was a return to form for the series. It makes you wonder what direction the creators will go from here?