Arrow Season 5: 7 Ups And 4 Downs From 'New Recruits'

5. Felicity As A Calming Influence

The relationship between Felicity Smoak and Oliver Queen was one of the biggest casualties of Season 4. Hell, the character of Felicity full stop was one of the biggest casualties of Season 4. To get into how the Felicity character was handled and portrayed during parts of last season… yeah, that’s something that’s already been covered to death over the past few months.

In New Recruits though, much like in last week’s Legacy, we saw Felicity back in a role that felt more like the more fan-friendly Felicity Smoak of yesteryear. What was great about her here was how Felicity was used as a calming influence on Ollie.

Angry at the questions from his new recruits, angry at their bungled attempts to ‘ring the bell’, and flat-out furious at how they handled the appearance of Ragman at the Amertek event, Oliver definitely doesn’t hold back in chastising the newbies whilst also making it abundantly clear that he thinks none of them are cut out for a place in his team.

But what’s this? Why, that’s Felicity Soak stepping in at the last minute, whisking Oliver away and feeding him some wise words that will ultimately see the Emerald Archer rethink his approach and his harsh instincts.

Major damage may have been done to the Felicity Smoak character last season, but it’s so far, so good for Team Arrow’s resident tech whizz where this new season is concerned.

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

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