Arrow Season 5 Review
Spoiler Free!
I’m going to miss all of my shows now that it’s finale season, but I think I’ll miss Arrow the most. If you left Arrow in the back half of season 3 or during season 4 – come back home.
Sure, it wasn’t perfect; however, there were only two or three episodes that felt like they were missing something. And that’s out of 23. And let me clarify – the weaker episodes or moments weren’t bad; they were just okay. There were few things that I would outright call bad.
The Middle:
The replacement – I’m trying to be vague; if you watched it or have been keeping up on news of the show, you probably know who it is. They brought in this character, set them up with an interesting backstory, and proceeded to do next to nothing with them. We all know why they brought that character on. However, it’s just a middle of the road deal because this character has some promise and I like how well they fit with the rest of the cast.
Those weak episodes – They were just okay. But it could be so underwhelming at times. The show would go on break and sometimes come back to this episode that’s just alright. It could mess up the pacing at times. It may flow better as a binge watch.
Flashbacks – So very hit or miss. Sometimes I would forget why they were happening. We would eventually have to get to Oliver in Russia since we knew about his Bratva connection from previous seasons, but sometimes it was really off. And I hate how he got over there; I know that’s a holdover from last season and they couldn’t just drop it, but it was so bad. The antagonist in the flashback was not nearly as interesting as the ones in present day. And it was hard to tell how much time passed. Did this event take hours, days, months? But when it was on, wow was it on. It could be incredibly exciting.
Main Villain Theme – It was just so silly, I laughed every time it came on, even when the character was doing something awful.
Lowlights:
New Cast Members – Susan Williams and Evelyn Sharp…they don’t serve much of a purpose. I just didn’t like anything about Susan while Evelyn was uninteresting and irritating, with seemingly one personality trait.
Disappearing Characters – Sometimes they gave a silly excuse for the character leaving. Once or twice is easy enough, but when it happens multiple times in the season it just gets to be too much. For some I guess it was a scheduling conflict; but there were others where they were just gone and no one ever addressed it. They paid attention to so many other little details that this feels lazy.
Character motivations/Out of Character moments – There weren’t many of these, but at times I questioned why someone was doing something only to find that there was never an answer. Or an answer that seemed reaching. The OOC moments were just jarring. The best example I can think of is Diggle, who suddenly was far too morally righteous. Things that never bothered him before turn into this huge deal for no reason.
Highlights:
Oliver Queen – He has a story arc and it’s actually good! It makes sense. There’s this wonderful parallel during the flashbacks and present day that shows how Oliver is the way that he is. They’ve been doing this the whole time, but it floundered the past two seasons. This season put us back on track. We can understand Oliver’s motivation again. We get his personality again. Oliver is finally back to his, “take no shit” attitude and he’s better for it. He continues to grow as a person and as a hero. And his interpersonal relationships are so great to see, particularly in the end of the season. Also, Stephen Amell is so so good. His acting has steadily improved and he can be very captivating, from humorous to serious/dramatic.
The 100th Episode – Now that was a celebration of Arrow. It’s impressive that they could do a love letter to the show right in the middle of a crossover. They managed to incorporate many characters that we’ve been missing for the past couple seasons. Not everyone could make it, but it didn’t feel like much was missing. This is the episode that showed real appreciation for the characters and the stories. Not every show can do this properly.
New cast members – Some new cast members were better than others. The new characters I’m thinking of are Rene Ramirez, Adrian Chase, and Rory Regan. All very different characters who actually felt like they added something to the show. I found their stories interesting and they felt like they belonged.
Antagonists/Villains – Again overall. Some were better than others. And in an effort to stay spoiler free, I won’t name any names. I’ll just say that they were often very compelling and delightful to watch. And they were introduced at the right time; not too early, not too late. A very welcome change.
Curtis’ Magic Hair – No explanation needed.
Overall Improvement – So broad, but I just needed a place to list out the rest of the stuff that doesn’t need an individual category. Better fight choreography; Oliver’s costume looks good again; trick arrows; better set decoration; better balance between tones (the fun and the darker stuff); better balance among characters; interesting social commentary; Felicity Smoak. Actually, you know what, that last one is going to get expansion.
Felicity – So many things went wrong with Felicity in that fourth season (and arguably the third season too). Best way I could describe her character evolution is comic relief nerd into superhacker self-righteous bitch who was a terrible partner. They fixed this. Felicity and her feelings and thoughts were valued, but she didn’t dominate. Her character owned up to multiple mistakes and they got back that dynamic where she could present a different opinion without doing it in a way that made her seem infallible. She’s flawed and that’s okay. It looks like they’re bringing her closer to where she used to be.
The finale – That may be the best episode of the whole show. If not the best, then it is certainly up there. So much promise for the next season. For the first time in a long time, I want to rewatch the whole series.
I’m sure I’m missing other things, but no point in over-inflating the amount written here. It was a good season and it leaves me hopeful for the next.
