Arrow Returns! We Need To Talk About That Betrayal, That New Big Bad, and That Final Scene...

Arrow returned to the CW with all kinds of new twists, turns, and a whole new Oliver

By Lauren Piester Oct 08, 2015 1:05 AMTags
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We're so conflicted, guys!

We're so happy to have Arrow back, but having it back apparently means that someone's about to die, and that's never fun. OK, sometimes it's fun. But it probably won't be fun this time, because Oliver was crying, and when Oliver cries, we cry. We cry so hard. 

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's break down that premiere!

First of all, we need a spin-off webseries, comic book, gifset, whatever-we-can-get situation with Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) living in that adorable house for six months with Oliver cooking and Felicity secretly helping Team Arrow behind his back, while failing at her own attempts to cook. 

"Felicity Smoak, you have failed this omelette." 

Like, are you kidding us? This is like shipper Christmas! 

A new part of us was born when Oliver put that ring in that souffle, and that same new part of us died when Thea and Laurel interrupted the proposal to bring Felicity and Oliver back into the real world of saving Star City from constant threat of destruction. 

Of course, it was probably a welcome interruption in the end, because as cute as Olicity may have been in that house, they couldn't stay there forever, just having brunch with the Hoffmans all the time. They're destined for bigger things, and those bigger things involve saving their city from our new favorite bad guy, Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough). 

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Damien's taking over Star City with a flair unlike any we've seen from any other villain, and while it's incredibly dark, it's also a whole lot of fun. Darhk is a whole new type of villain, not just in terms of the fact that he's willing to walk right into a major city meeting, but he's also got a new thing that other villains haven't had before: Magic! 

...And the help of one Detective Lance (Paul Blackthorne)! 

Wasn't that a fun shocker? Of course, Lance didn't exactly intend to sign up to work with the baddest guy this city's ever seen. 

"Lance is working with Damien," executive producer Wendy Mericle told reporters during a Q&A session, "but you'll see later in the season that he did not know what he was signing up for. We're going to play it as a sort of crisis for Lance in terms of why he chose to do it and what it means for him. He'd always been the moral center of the show and someone who lorded his morality over Oliver's and when all of this comes to a head, it's going to be very interesting to see how those two characters work it out." 

Lance's betrayal is also going to have a pretty big impact on his poor daughter, Laurel (Katie Cassidy). 

"When she discovers what happens in the premiere, there are going to be ramifications for her and him as well," Mericle teased.  

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For once, Oliver seems to the one with the highest moral compass, with Lance working with Damien and Diggle (David Ramsey) putting his own personal (and totally deserved) feelings towards Oliver above the safety of everyone around him, but that's not the only new side of characters we get to see this season. 

"It's cool to see Oliver finally have a little moral high ground to stand on, and it's also interesting to see both of those characters go to a dark place. I mean they've both been through a lot of things. We haven't really seen Dig have to—for lack of a better term—dig deep to find out what he's capable of in the name of finding out about his brother. So it's a cool thing to take these characters on this journey to see where they end up, and to really challenge them in that way." 

Plus, this means we get to explore some brand new character relationships! 

"One of the benefits of that is that we can have episodes crossing characters we haven't seen working together before," Mericle teased. "We will have some cool things coming up where Dig and Lance find themselves on the other side of Oliver, going on independent missions." 

Fortunately, Oliver's icy relationship with Diggle will improve before the season is over. 

"We're going to resolve that," Mericle promised. "It's something we wanted to explore, seeing them at odds and really honoring what Oliver did at the end of season 3, which was pretty egregious. It's going to take some time, but they will get back on track." 

CW

Even while on the outs with Diggle, it was clear throughout the premiere that Oliver is actually happy this season. Even with all of the horrible stuff that was happening (like the death of nearly all of the city officials!), he still seemed to be filled with a hope we've never really seen from him before, and is determined to use his new mantle as the Green Arrow to inspire instead of instill fear.

A lot of Oliver's new lease on life seems to be thanks to his relationship with Felicity, which is going strong! 

Even so, we might have to wait a while to see that ring pop up again, according to executive producer Marc Guggenheim, since the ring is not just a ring. It's also a representation of Olicity's relationship status. 

"What [the ring] does is that it does dramatize in a very clear way, not only where they are but when Oliver hides the ring, essentially, we're also dramatizing, OK, he's with Felicity, they're together, but things are not the same as they were back in Ivy Town." 

CW

Now, finally, let's chat about that final scene, in which Oliver cried over a grave and got a visit from one very adorable Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) in a flash-forward. 

Barry apologized for not being able to make it to the funeral, and Oliver admitted that while the death was not his fault, it is his responsibility to kill "him," whoever him may be. 

While neither Guggenheim or Mericle would tell us who was dead or even give us a straight answer on whether the writers know who dies yet, they did tell us that the death would be permanent. 

"They will stay dead," Guggenheim said. "We want to bring stakes back to the show, so we will be finding a way to handle the Lazarus Pit portion of season three in season four in a new, inventive way...It'll feel very organic and very earned. It's actually very elegant."

"We want it to have resonance," Mericle said. "If it doesn't mean something to the characters, it won't mean anything to the audience either." 

Obviously, a death is terrible news. We don't want to lose anyone from inside or around Team Arrow, but at least we hopefully have some time to prepare ourselves. 

Who do you think will bite the dust this season? Vote in our very morbid poll below, and then forget it's even happening and head to the comments to weigh in on the premiere!

Poll

Arrow's Big Death

Who will die on Arrow?
Oliver
0.5%
Felicity
30.8%
Laurel
9%
Diggle
9%
Thea
15.9%
Lance
20.7%
Malcolm
1.5%
Nyssa
3.3%
Someone else
9.2%