Arrow - Season 5 Review

The last time I watched Arrow, I would describe the experience akin to having fishhooks slowly inserted underneath my fingernails, and then just enough pressure being gradually applied so that I would never be able to truly tolerate the pain. That's pretty much how the entirety of season 4 felt, and there wasn't much to hope for when season 5 came around. Although I felt no real compulsion to return to this series, which had hurt me so deeply, I figured it deserved a final chance. Maybe the showrunners would learn from their mistakes, and be able to return to what made the show so enjoyable in the first place.

And somehow, they actually did.

Arrow season 5 is, shock of all shocks, good. Actually, it's really good. Really good. As in, while this isn't revolutionary television or anything, it's at least as good as the first two seasons. After seasons 3 and 4, that's amazing. The bare minimum that this season had to accomplish was being watchable, and it managed to far exceed my expectations. From the opening of the season premiere, it was clear that a lot of effort was being put into recreating the atmosphere of season 2, with a dark, gritty angle given to the action once again. Since that was such an impressive part of the show in the beginning, it was incredibly satisfying to see such an increase in quality.

Even though the show got much better, it's impossible to ignore that this likely isn't the direction that the show was going to move in. I mean, season 1 was very dark and grounded, season 2 introduced semi-superpowers with Mirakuru, season 3 introduced an ancient, mystical ninja clan, and season 4 was centred around a villain who was just a magician. So, with that escalation into fantasy, a sudden return to that gritty aesthetic feels jarring, to say the least. Given the fact that Arrow takes place in the same universe as The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl, it's impossible to be completely realistic, and season 5 managed to strike a good balance. There were very few references to season 4, but they were brought up sparingly enough that it made sense.

Every episode just drew me back into Arrow's world further and further. The action had the brutality and impact that it's lacked for years, the writing put the right amount of time on the right characters, and there was an actual feeling of stakes. Those stakes came from a fantastic villain in Prometheus, who had a personal connection with Oliver (Stephen Amell) on both sides of his life, and had a tangible, imposing presence both physically and as an idea. In many ways, he was the best villain that the show has ever had, because he managed to break Oliver Queen more than any other villain before. A very charismatic performance from the actor who brought him to life - no spoilers - cemented him as a great villain, even if he was a huge departure from his character's comic book roots.

This season was, in many ways, a deconstruction of Oliver Queen, but a much more effective one than has been given in past seasons. Since this season was the end of the flashbacks arc, it makes sense to bring Oliver's character to the forefront of the show once again. And yes, after season 4, where Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) became the protagonist, Oliver needed to be the hero again. Having him facing the challenges of being mayor and being the Green Arrow made the dual-life conflict more believable, and how they addressed his past with murdering his enemies fit into his arc perfectly. His connection to Prometheus is what made that arc feel solid, since Prometheus was so essential to both sides of his life. It's really nice to see Oliver at the forefront of the show, and facing conflict that makes sense. It's been a while since we've seen that. One episode in particular had Stephen Amell giving his best performance of the entire show.

The side characters underwent a very interesting change, where the new characters added to Team Arrow were much more compelling than the characters who have been around since the beginning. Felicity's screen-time was greatly reduced (thank God), but she only really existed to provide some sort of technological solution when that was needed. Diggle (David Ramsey) continued his downward spiral into "bland moral support" mode, and his primary purpose was to question everything Oliver did. At this point, Diggle really contributes nothing to the show and should just be written off. Thea (Willa Holland) wasn't even around for most of the season, so she's irrelevant. Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne) was given a brief arc near the beginning of the season, but was mostly just around to be Oliver's support in the mayor's office. Curtis (Echo Kellum) was mostly irritating, but not completely unlikable.

The new characters initially made me a bit nervous, since there seemed to be an emphasis on taking the show in a new direction, while the showrunners were promising a return to the show's roots. But surprisingly, they all brought a fresh energy to the story, and showed the impact that the Green Arrow's actions have had on citizens very well. Rene Ramirez (Rick Gonzalez) brought a new style of comic relief, and the relationship that developed between him and Quentin was the most interesting to watch. Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkanavy) was essentially the new Laurel, and the writers treated her much better than they did Laurel through past seasons. It's a bit infuriating that they had to cover that particular track so blatantly, but there's only so much they can do with the Black Canary at this point. I even liked Ragman (Joe Dinicol) for his brief screen-time, and how he added a very limited form of mysticism to the team.

Above all else, this season wasn't afraid to lean back into fun. There were multiple references to the fanbase itself, including a cameo (of sorts) from a popular online artist. They also referenced Stephen Amell's supposed rivalry with the WWE's Cody Rhodes - aka Stardust - by bringing Rhodes in to play a recurring villain. It's also a lot of fun to see Dolph Lundgren as the main antagonist of the flashback storyline. These were small moments, but that the show could make me smile with clever little additions like these made the season as a whole more enjoyable.

All of this isn't to say that the show was suddenly a masterpiece. The writing still had quite a few problems, especially in regards to the relationships between characters, and the tackling of some social issues. One episode in particular, "Spectre of the Gun", addressed the issue of gun control, and it was just embarrassing. Characters threw around stilted dialogue that seemed to have been copied directly from Tumblr posts, and frankly, after season 4, Arrow has no business tackling any kind of social commentary. Especially considering that two of the protagonists, Diggle and Wild Dog, use guns as their primary weapons to kill many, many people. Overall, it's a filler episode that screamed "we're trying to be socially relevant!" more than any sort of actual message.

But really, being passable was all Arrow needed to do at this point. It did much more, but after the complete and utter disaster that was season 4, it just needed to be good in any way. That it managed to do that is surprising and relieving, because a show turning bad on you always sucks. That Arrow managed to essentially go from a parody of itself to the best version of itself within a year is very satisfying to see as a fan. I am interested to see where it goes next, since the flashback formula is going to be removed, and there's only so many times that Oliver's past can come back to haunt him. As a character noted in the season finale, "this seems to be a recurring theme for you." That's a fun little self-aware line, but it's also an utterance of the show's repetitive nature.

Arrow season 5 may not be the best season of the show, and it certainly still has the same problems that have always been lying under the surface of the show. But it brought great action, good characters, and an engaging story back to the forefront. I'm more invested in the show than I have been in a very long time, and there are likely big changes coming for the future, and I'm excited to see it. This show still has its problems, and those problems most likely aren't going to go away, but Arrow has returned to a quality where I'm excited for a new episode week-to-week. Comic book shows can be very hit or miss, and Arrow delivered a resounding hit this season.