Season 5A Arrow was excellent af. The hiatus of NeetzTalks is over! Lots of content hopefully added this week. To round up this season’s recaps, I’m writing about my top 2 of Season 5A.
The 100th episode (5×08) – Invasion! | This episode seamlessly integrated the four show crossover while serving as a beautiful love letter to Arrow and its roots. All of DCTV was spun off from Arrow and it was a real treat to see the return of Sara Lance, Ray Palmer, Laurel Lance, Cisco Ramon and Barry Allen – all of of whom were guest stars or supporting players on Arrow at one point. On the Arrow 100 side of the episode – every character had a chance to shine and show how far they’ve come. Thea Queen (Willa Holland) confronting her loss and her new fractured family was heartbreaking. Thea’s arc in the virtual world is the one that brings the most emotional weight for me. Additionally, Oliver’s (Stephen Amell) acceptance of her wishes to stay in the virtual world was a really great scene. (Honorable mention: Oliver reflecting on the people he lost prior to leaving the hallucination). The evolution of Thea Queen across five seasons has made her at times, a more compelling character than Oliver at this point.
I loved the idea of Arrow100 being Oliver’s version of Flashpoint and to echo home all of the loss and progress made by this team of broken individuals. I would have liked to see a more developed farewell between Sara (Caity Lotz) and Laurel (Katie Cassidy). The scene with Oliver confessing love to Laurel and just wanting to be married to her was my favorite of the Oliver/Laurel scenes. The Arrow 100 celebration aside, the plots involving the crossover players was thrilling and exciting with one caveat: the shot of Barry (Grant Gustin) and Kara (Melissa Benoist) being excessively violent against an already unconscious female villain did not ring true to either of these sunny superheroes. Ragman is my favorite of the new Team Arrow additions. The contrast between bright Rory and badass Ragman is very entertaining.
This episode could have been easily swallowed with the sheer amount of cast members but of all the crossover episodes, I think this is my favorite of the four. It brings all of Arrow’s greatest hits: the combat, the throwbacks to their most memorable villains (Slade Wilson!), the snark. 10/10.
Notable moments: Caity Lotz slaying Slade Wilson in an Herve Leger dress. GODDESS.
(captaincanarys.tumblr.com)
Shoutout to irl Tommy being a doctor in Chicago Med. Sara and Oliver musing about how this all started with both of them getting on that damn boat.
What We Leave Behind (5×09) | The hits and twists kept coming in this episode. The death of Felicity’s boyfriend at Oliver’s hand was so twisted. The reveal of Evelyn’s betrayal, which you can’t even hate her for because it’s so understandable. The connection of Prometheus to Season 1 on Arrow. The flashbacks to Russia. The reveal of Laurel Lance at the end?? I mean can it be January 24th already? 10/10
Notable moments: The fight scene in the escalator and the mirrored way it was set up to bait Oliver was so, SO good. The throwing star splitting the arrow! Genuinely love the way the DCTV shows uses their themes and musical cues for each character. Blake Neely is one of the best.
Season 5A Arrow has been such a marked improvement from Season 4. Stephen Amell doesn’t look as miserable these days to promote this season of his show. He knows Season 4 was a steaming turd. Without the weight of propping up backdoor pilots for new crossover shows and all that magic shit, Arrow has returned to its roots and its better for it. The reintroduction of Laurel Lance and the new synergy between all of DCTV makes me wonder if the Legion of Doom in Legends of Tomorrow is responsible in some way for Laurel Lance being alive again. In addition, could Barry’s continuing manipulation of the timeline on The Flash could have affected more on Arrow than Sara Diggle’s erasure from existence? I’m so excited to see if this is a real Laurel or a plant from Prometheus, once again showing how well he has studied Oliver by using the memory of Laurel Lance against not just him but their entire team.
Hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas holidays! I’m catching up with the shows as the weekend progresses. Legends of Tomorrow should be up next 🙂 Please follow our Facebook and Twitter pages to keep updated on new posts. Comments are also appreciated!
