There’s a moment in Arrow’s third season finale where Captain Lance sarcastically quips, “The city’s under attack? It must be May.” If it had come at the end of a better season it would have gone over as a fun bit of meta humor, the show mocking its tendency to have the bad guys attempt to destroy the city in the season finale. Unfortunately, it came at the end of the show’s weakest season. As a result, it felt like a tired joke from a show which was more or less spinning its wheels. They were going through the familiar motions, and the spark was gone.
In the months since then, the show’s producers Marc Guggeinheim and Wendy Mericle have repeatedly promised a back to basics approach for season 4, with Guggenheim at one point rather accurately summarizing season 3 as unfortunately descending into “an orgy of plot twists.” However, we’ve heard the “this time it’ll be different” rhetoric from them before. For example, before each season they always say that they think they’ve really cracked a way for the flashbacks to work, but before long we’re back to cruelly mocking Stephen Amell’s unfortunate flashback wigs. The hostility toward season 3 is still hot enough that when I watched the season 4 premiere (“Green Arrow”) I noticed the following joke pop up Twitter during the “Previously On…” segment:
Previously on the worst season ever! #Arrow #Olicity
— Maggie (@thenerddess) October 8, 2015
But then a strange thing happened. “Green Arrow” started out strong. Guggeinheim wasn’t lying about his desire to change things up, using the time jump in-between seasons to push things forward. Oliver is not only content and happy to be living in the burbs with Felicity, who has some controlling interest in Ray Palmer’s company. He’s actually planning to propose. Back in Star City, Team Diggle has its own new Arrow Cave, and Thea is a full member of the team, helping them battle a group of super solders known as “ghosts.” However, they are outmanned and outgunned, and seemingly before the first act break the city’s mayor and district attorney are killed and an assassination attempt on Captain Lance in the middle of police headquarters just barely misses the mark. Moreover, it’s all the work of the season’s big bad, Damien Darhk, Ra’s al Guhl’s former BFF.
Oliver wasn't expecting that. "I'm Damien Darhk." @CW_Arrow #Arrow #GreenArrow 🎯 pic.twitter.com/AjqCxk9jmd
— Brandon Salmon (@BrandonSalmon) October 8, 2015
Make no mistake about it – this is season finale-level shit, and “Green Arrow” wastes no time getting to it. Yet it’s all just set-up for Oliver’s inevitable “Just when I think I’m out they pull me back in” moment. It took the proverbial end of the world to suck Oliver back into the life, and by the end of “Green Arrow” I believed what the producers had been saying – Arrow season 4 instantly feels like a different and much better show, especially since Neil McDonough is killing it as Damien Darhk.
Star City is about to meet a new shade of justice. #Arrow #ArrowPremiere pic.twitter.com/3dWDQUms1Y
— Arrow (@CW_Arrow) October 8, 2015
Oliver and Felicity can just be a couple now, freeing the show of the various unfortunate contortions it went through last year with the will-they-won’t-they of it all. Plus, whenever Oliver wants to give into his man pain and tortured soul act Felicity pulls him out of it.
There’s finally some breathing room to explore the side effects Thea feels from the Lazarus Pit, although her dialog could use some work.
Laurel is full-on Black Canary at this point, minus any unfortunate wig, and while it might seem cheesy for a kid at a train station to marvel at how strong she is we have to remember that some young kids do watch this show. That scene floored my nephew.
Diggle has trust issues to work out with Oliver, but he’s a much more active member in the field. Plus, the show finds time for the re-assuring presence of Lyla as well as a helpful reminder of how big their daughter is getting these days.
For a change, it’s everyone else who seems to be lying to Oliver, with Felicity working with Team Diggle behind his back this whole time, Thea not letting on how violent the Lazarus Pit has made her and Diggle keeping his information about HIVE to himself. However, somewhat refreshingly, Oliver and Felicity work through her lie after an open and honest conversation because they seem to be in a loving, adult relationship.
In 6 months we're all going to be really sad. For some reason. #Arrow pic.twitter.com/CW1hXmnmpv
— Everything Arrow (@EssentialArrow) October 8, 2015
And the 6 month flash-forward at the end to Oliver standing over a grave and commiseration in his misery with Barry Allen, promising that he will now be forced to kill Damien Darhk for good, is a real game-changer. It’s like Arrow’s version of the various How I Met Your Mother flash-forwards to Ted at someone’s wedding at some point in the future. We know where we’re going now, but we haven’t seen the full invitation yet. In fact, Guggenheim and Mericle apparently don’t necessarily know whose grave Oliver was standing over, although they do know that whoever they end up killing off will stay dead (no Lazarus Pit this time). That not only restores some actual stakes to the show; it gives the rest of the season an air of tragedy. We are being set up for Oliver’s triumphant birth as the bonafide hero Green Arrow as opposed to cold-blooded vigilante Arrow, and all of his consternation about it is offset by the guiding hand of love that Felicity has brought into is life. However, we know that he screws up royally and someone ends up dead, and the smiling, slightly higher-pitched version of Oliver we saw in “Green Arrow” will at some point transition back to the stern killer of old.
That, my friend, is damn intriguing. Who dies and how? Who is being written off the show? And when will this go down? We know it’s 6 months from now, but who’s to say that the season will progress in real time.
Well played, Arrow’s writers. Well played.
And yet I can’t help myself from still wanting to tease this show. In fact, Twitter did that for me:
The number one thing I've learned from #Arrow: Never, ever ever become a Starling City District Attorney. LIKE EVER.
— Mari Ness (@mari_ness) October 8, 2015
Everyone's cool with Black Canary just standing around in the police department? #Arrow
— Atomic Geekdom (@AtomicGeekdom) October 8, 2015
It's been 6 months Diggle and even your wife is over it. Let it go Diggle. Let it go!! #arrow
— SuperAgent Dorian (@AgentDorian) October 8, 2015
Rule #1 – Never let Damien make an example out of you. #Arrow #ArrowPremiere pic.twitter.com/imiEp5zBxV
— Arrow (@CW_Arrow) October 8, 2015
Can someone please just sit down with Oliver and get the WHOLE story of what he did in the 5 yrs he was gone? #Arrow #ArrowSeason4
— KD Fabián (@kaydeefab) October 8, 2015
Oliver: I've seen things, things indescribable to civilians…because I'm Batm….oh, sorry. #Arrow #DemBows
— Black Nerd Problems (@blknrdproblems) October 8, 2015
This premiere is fine and all but HOW DID OLIVER LIVE AFTER GETTING STABBED AND KICKED OFF A GODDAMN MOUNTAIN #arrow
— Brendan Weissman (@WeissmanReviews) October 8, 2015
But most egregiously:
Are we all seriously going to pretend that we don't see Oliver's face ALL OVER THE TV?!?!?! #Arrow
— Aisha Alexander (@IshLoVeSTV) October 8, 2015
Ok so your telling me people aren't gonna recognize the bottom half of Oliver's face lol ok😂 #Arrow
— sky (@skylabasir) October 8, 2015
This feels like a massive cheat. Maybe there will be more to it in coming episodes, but the show worked so hard last season to establish that Oliver could never be the Arrow again. Now, he goes away for 6 months, and several days after he returns to town a mysterious video from some new hero proclaiming himself to be the Green Arrow overtakes the airwaves. Captain Lance is clearly giving him a pass, but surely people in the city will put two and two together. Even if they lack the necessary deductive reasoning to figure it out, they could just look at the video and clearly see, “Oh, that’s Oliver Queen under that hood.”
There are several other continuity issues like that throughout “Green Arrow,” and for as much as I embraced it if you are not a fan of Oliver and Felicity as a couple then this episode must have been real a tough pill to swallow.
Even if you are okay with all of that you could also object to the notion that Damien has mystical powers, and/or that he has suckered Captain Lance into working for him.
But, ultimately, after that third season things needed to change, and thus far all the changes look like they’re for the better, although the jury’s still out on Damien’s mystical side.
THE BOTTOM LINE
There are several areas which beg to be nitpicked, but “Green Arrow” is a season premiere which feels like a balls-to-the-wall season finale. It’s not enough to make us forget all the mistrust built up by the show’s deeply disappointing third season, but it is a far better first step than I had anticipated.
THE NOTES
I usually take notes while watching the episodes, but this time I simply followed all of the live-tweets and any notes I might have thought to make were instantly put out there by other fans on Twitter. There are some good jokes in this lot as well as a now common refrain about the flashbacks:
Say my name. #Arrow pic.twitter.com/eVErd0UfR0
— Everything Arrow (@EssentialArrow) October 8, 2015
The most important question: What is Oliver doing cooking eggs on a slow cooker lol #ArrowSeason4Premiere #Arrow @CW_Arrow
— Steve & Steven (UNE) (@UrbanNoize) October 8, 2015
so the head of a super secret agency and a dead not so dead billionaire walk into a bar… #Arrow
— OH FRACK! (@OlicityDreams) October 8, 2015
Felicity's outfits get lower cut every season. By next season they're gonna have her in Miley's cast offs. #Arrow
— J. Chlebus (@J_Chlebus) October 8, 2015
"You seemed a little out of control" Whatever you say Mr. "You Have Failed This City" lol #DemBows #Arrow
— Blerds Online (@BlerdsOnline) October 8, 2015
Oliver went all "shame on you" when Barry de-railed a train trying to stop Cold. I hope Barry does the same that Oliver blew one up. #Arrow
— Nikhil (@the_hierarch) October 8, 2015
Still don't understand why the flashback segments persist. Know it's supposed to signify Oliver's growth, doesn't seem effective now #Arrow
— C. Archer@Gloryosky (@gloryosky) October 8, 2015
