Arrow Season 5: 8 Ups And 2 Downs From 'Legacy'

By Andrew Pollard / October 10, 2016

After much hype and anticipation, The CW's Arrow has now returned to our screens, and what a return it was.

We've all seen how much negativity surrounded the show's previous season - be it the uber-dull flashbacks, the fall from grace of Felicity Smoak, or the odd 'Truman Show' bubble - but there was so much hope that Season 5 was going to be taking Arrow back to the high standards that it had set with its first two seasons.

Picking things up with Oliver Queen now as Mayor of Star City, we've got a Green Arrow who's largely working alone. Felicity is in the Arrowcave to help out, but Diggle is away in the military, Thea is trying to leave her Speedy moniker behind, Quentin Lance has hit the bottle again, and Laurel Lance, of course, is dead.

With the new threat of Tobias Church, and Prometheus arriving too, Oliver is sure to have his hands full on both fronts - both as Mayor and as the Green Arrow. Whilst Prometheus' presence was kept to a perfectly-played minimal here, we did at least get a nice introduction to Church in an episode that felt fresh and vibrant whilst also capturing so much of the charm that has previously made Arrow must-see TV.

So, with all of that in mind, let's have a look at what this season premiere got right, and what maybe didn't quite hit the mark.

10. Ups - Starting With A Bang

In the build-up to Arrow’s fifth season, we’d heard plenty from the show’s executive producers, and even Stephen Amell himself, about how this upcoming season was to be more full of brutal, bloody action that we’ve seen since the days when Oliver Queen was happily killing people as ‘The Hood’.

Living up to that hype, when we’re reintroduced to Ollie here, he’s in the middle of a brilliantly-choreographed battle with another returning face: Lonnie Machin, aka Anarky.

The fight between the Emerald Archer and Anarky here, whilst brief, was arguably as good as any fight scene Season 4 had to offer bar Thea Queen’s elevator-driven brawl with one of Damien Darhk’s Ghosts. Added to that, when the Green Arrow was done with Lonnie, he turned his attention to the fresh-on-the-scene Wild Dog.

Never one to be labelled much of a people person, the Master Bowman gave Wild Dog a verbal beat down before then firing an arrow into his leg. Nice.